The Barter System (50 page)

“Oh, hell yes.  Welcome
supreme hottie.  Come help me relax before I go on-stage.  I bet your mouth
will be heaven, your pussy even better.  I’ll make you feel good, baby.  Come
here.”  He gestured at his half-hard cock and Riya thought she seriously might
be sick.

“Bobby, you totally
misrepresented yourself to me.  There is no way, on this earth or in this
lifetime, I would have made an arrangement like this with you in your current
condition.  You are obviously strung the fuck out.  You don’t look like you’ve
eaten in days, or bathed for that matter.  What happened to the brilliant
musician who applied to be part of my research?” 

She was truly depressed
about his condition.

He zipped his pants but
didn’t button them, standing and moving her way.  He was tall and lanky, his
dirty leather pants barely clinging to his hips.  He wore a tank top and she
was very scared those were track marks on his inner arms. 

Oh my god, all my darling
subjects and this was going to be the last memory?

He walked closer and she was
guarded but when he stuck out his hand to shake it, she extended her own in
reflex.  His other fist coming up to crack her against her cheek was totally
unexpected.  She hit her knees and couldn’t see.  Flashbulbs were everywhere in
her vision and she was dizzy.  She heard him slam the door behind her.

“Where did that guy go,
bitch?  Let me tell you…”  He kicked her in the middle of her back, sending her
to all fours.  Was he wearing combat boots? 
Of course he is, Riya, you
silly twit.

He circled her, taunting,
“Superior bitch, who the fuck you think you are?  My fucking manager applied
for this shit, figured we could use the publicity or blackmail the fuck out of
you later.  Like I’d go after a supermodel ice bitch.  Puh-lease.  And I ain’t
strung out.  I just do a little to take the edge off.”  He kicked her in the
ribs…hard…and she couldn’t breathe. 

“You fuckin’ whored yourself
to lots of guys, what makes me any different?”  He unzipped his pants and
pulled out his now fully hard cock with one hand, “Now you can do for me what
you did for them, bitch.”  He took her hair in his hands yanked her head back
brutally.

“You put that disease-ridden
cock anywhere near my body and I will bite it the fuck off,” she managed
weakly. 

“Oh, you can guaran-fucking-tee
you’ll be sucking this cock, baby.  Open wide.”  He laughed and gripped the
hinges of her jaw, forcing her eyes to water and her mouth to open. 

He was so intent on her
face, so turned on by her pain, he never saw her fist coming up between his legs
until Riya racked the shit out of his balls.  He went white and hit the ground
in front of her. 

She was furious with
herself. 
Stop being a goddamn girl, Riya.  Get.  The.  Fuck.  Up.  Get up
you dumbass.
  Was she talking out loud?  She didn’t know.  That hit to her
cheek was making her ears ring.

She crawled to a chair and
pulled herself to her feet.  Making sure she wouldn’t pass out, she approached
him, still writhing on the floor.  As the door burst open behind her, she gave
him another kick hard enough to win the fucking World Cup. 

“Suck
that
, bitch,”
she hissed at him. 

She turned to see her driver
with a gun in his hand.  She tried to say…something.  He caught her as she
fell.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Last week of October…

Oh my god, that light is
slicing open my brain.  It is so loud. 

Where the fuck am I? 

“Riya?  Girl, you’d better
wake the hell up before your father rips all of us limb from limb.  I’m so not
kidding.”  That was Tawny’s voice.  What the hell was Tawny doing here?  Had
she called her?  “Riya, please sissy, please open your eyes.  I’m so scared Pop
is going to have a coronary.  They had to cuff him, honey.  Please wake up.”

Focusing, she whispered,
“Can you turn off the light?”  She didn’t recognize her own voice.  What the
fuck had happened?

“Oh thank Christ, got it,
chica
. 
Don’t go back to sleep.”  The overhead light blissfully went out.  Tawny’s face
appeared over her head.  “Oh baby, baby.  I want to take that asshole’s other
ball.  Do you want something to drink?” 

“Tawny.  Shut up for one
second.  PS, I love you.  I don’t mean to be nasty.  My head is about to
explode.”  Riya swallowed and her throat felt raw.  Blinking carefully, she
realized she was looking at acoustical tiles.  “Tawny, what day is it?” 

“Tuesday morning.  They
brought you in last night.”

What the hell…she’d been out
for hours?  “Dad is here?”  Tawny nodded.  “Are Micah and Max here?”  She
nodded again with wide eyes.  “Am I going to be okay?”  Tawny nodded and
started crying, Riya felt tears drop on her arm.

“No permanent damage, thank
god, but you look like shit.  Fucker fractured your cheek and busted your
gums.  You had like, all of your ribs fucked up and one ended up puncturing a
lung.  You’re bruised everywhere from trying to protect yourself.  Pop is
losing it, Riya, really and seriously
losing
it.  Do you think you’re
okay to see him?”  Riya nodded and her neck was agony.  Tawny frowned,
“Whiplash.  Try to be still.” 

She left and Riya may have
fallen back to sleep.  When she opened her eyes, her father was leaning over
her.  She smiled, thinking, as she always did, how nice he looked.  Dark hair,
swarthy skin, powerful shoulders, and laughing green eyes.  They weren’t
laughing now.

“Daddy, don’t cry.  I’m
going to be fine.  Just fine.”

He sobbed and laid his head
next to hers on her pillow, his hands smoothing back her hair.  “Riya, I’m
going to tan your behind for this.  I was so scared.  I already lost your
mother…if I’d have lost you.  No, no, I’m not even going to think about that. 
Not going to say another word about it because you’re moving back in with me
and I’m hiring a bodyguard.  You’ll have a driver.  I’ll start having your
stuff packed.”

“Daddy?”  He wasn’t
listening.  Just petting her head and holding her hand and talking to her like
he had when she was six and the girl down the street backed out of her driveway
and clipped her bike tire.  She’s lucky her mother kept him from making her
wear padded gear 24/7.  “Daddy?  Listen to me, okay?  We need to have a long
talk, but I can’t do that right now.  I’m really tired.  I need to see Max and
Micah.  I need to see them, Dad.”

His face hardened, “I am not
letting those men near you, Riya.  No, they took advantage of my sweet baby
girl.  I will not allow those deviants anywhere near you.”

Where she found the strength
to yell, she wasn’t sure but hearing Max and Micah referred to as deviants was
devastating.  “Dad, if you do not bring my men in here this minute, I swear I
will have you physically removed and not allowed to see me until you
apologize.  You have no idea what you’re talking about.  Stop judging them
because you don’t know them.  No one took advantage of me and I am far less
innocent than you want to believe.  I love them and I want to see them.” 

She managed to turn her head
enough to see Tawny on the other side of the bed, “Tawny, now.  Right now.  I
want
Max
…I want
Micah
and I want them
this instant.
” 

Tawny looked hesitant,
eyeing Riya’s father.  Riya pulled herself up in the bed.  She was sitting on
the edge, dizzy and about to throw up, connected to…stuff. 

She was crying and shouting,
“I want Max and Micah now…now damn it…
let me see them!
  You don’t
understand, Dad…you don’t understand.  I love them and I’m so tired and I
need
them
.” 

She tried to stand using the
table but it was on wheels and she lost her balance and hit the floor,
dry-heaving and in unbelievable agony all over.  “Nevermind, I don’t want them
to see me like this.”  Suddenly there were hands in her hair, pulling it off
her shoulders and rubbing her back. 

“We’re right here, love.  Oh
sweet Riya.  No, no, no, don’t cry.  Please don’t cry.”  Max was turning her,
lifting her so gently, Micah was keeping leads out of the way.  She was placed
carefully back in the bed.  A blanket pulled over her. 

Reaching for Kleenex, Micah
crooned, “There, love, don’t cry.  We’re right here and you’re going to be
okay.  Ssh.”  They were smoothing her hair from her face and stroking her
temples. 

“We should have gone with
you, Riya, we’re so sorry we didn’t,” Max told her in utter sorrow.  “By the
time Jack got inside, you were disappearing down the hall.  Some idiot kid
started shrieking about him being a cop and the place went crazy.  He had to
fight the rush, by the time he busted in the door, you’d field-kicked the
soon-to-be-dead-man and passed out.” 

“Dead man?”  Riya said,
confused.  “I…I killed him?”

“No, darling,
we
are
going to kill him,” Micah said furiously.  “You ruptured one of his balls,
which had to be removed.  I’m so proud of you for that, love.  But he’ll die as
soon as we get an opportunity.  Max just bloodied his nose the one time and
they put an extra cop on him until he can be taken into custody.”  They looked
absolutely serious and the only thing that comforted her was that she had time
to talk them down.

Max picked up, “Jack called
and we got here as fast as we could.  We called Tawny from your phone. 
She…called your dad.”  He leaned in close.  “We’ll do whatever we have to for
your happiness, Riya.  Even if that means…means letting you go.”  He laid his
head on her shoulder and she knew he was struggling for control.

“Ssh, Max…I promise you both
it won’t come to that.  I’m not going anywhere.”  He lifted his head and kissed
her on the temple.  “I feel so sleepy.  Please, please don’t leave.  I feel
like if you leave, I won’t see you again.  Promise.  One of you has to stay at
all times.”  They nodded and soothed her as she drifted off to sleep.     

The next day was more fog
than clarity due to the painkillers they were pumping into her.  Riya refused
to discuss anything with her father when she wasn’t equipped to defend
herself.  This infuriated him to no end…but not as much as the presence of the
two men she loved.  That made him absolutely apoplectic. 

She made either Max or Micah
stay with her at all times, the other leaving for short periods to handle
business or shower and change.  They read to her and brought her something
funny every day from the gift shop.  They tempted her to get better so they
could get the bagels from the place she fell in love with across from their
building. 

Every time their phone rang,
they were talking about her, and she knew it was the other members of the club
calling to check in.  She’d known everyone for such a short time but was
already attached to Blythe and Melody, as well as their wonderful husbands.

On her fourth day, Riya felt
a little better and wanted to leave.  When the doctor came in, she told him
firmly, “I want to go home today.  I can recuperate there.  Make it happen and
I’ll get all these alpha males out of your hospital.” 

Then she smiled with a small
tilt of her head and the man blushed to the roots of his hair.  He told her he
would do everything possible to make her happy, that if he was very sure she
would be able, he’d send her home. 

When he backed out of the
room grinning at her, Tawny turned and stared at her incredulously.  “Um, BFF,
where in the
hell
did you learn to do that?”  At Riya’s questioning look
she said snarkily, “Handle a man like that…a full grown man?  You were so shy
before.”

Riya was very quiet for a
long moment, then said, “Tawny, you’d be very surprised what I’ve learned about
myself and the world around me in the past couple of months.  That was me
wanting something very badly and using whatever skills God gave me to get it. 
I want out of here.  Today.”

Her father was beaming. 
“You don’t have to worry about a thing, Riya.  You know Marta will be so happy
to have you to fawn over.”