Max dragged me down the hallway, his fingers biting into my skin. Another bruise to add to the collection that he’d already given me. I took in all of my surroundings, making sure I remembered certain marks on the walls.
Several doors lined the hallway, all exactly the same as the one to our room. My mind was spinning, were there girls in those rooms too? I couldn’t hear anything but that didn’t mean they weren’t in there.
My whole body screamed in pain the longer we walked, my feet hurt from the floor, my ribs made it hard to breathe and my head was spinning. But I wouldn’t let myself show how much pain I was in. I wouldn’t look weak in front of Max. Not anymore.
“Keep up,” he growled, walking faster.
I kept my mouth shut this time. I’d gotten what I wanted, out of that room. All I needed to do was figure out the layout of the building and find possible escape routes. I wasn’t going to wait for someone to come and rescue us, I needed to rescue myself and take the girls with me.
I had no doubt that Ty was looking for me but that didn’t mean I could rely on him to come and save me.
We went through a set of doors after the brute swiped a card in the reader. So I needed a card to get through these doors, I filed that away, already figuring out how to get one as I watched which pocket he put it in. The whoosh of the doors sent a blast of cold air over me. Shivering, I wrapped an arm around my middle, gritting my teeth when my ribs screamed in pain again.
My feet hurt as we walked on the jagged concrete floor, each step scraping against the already open wounds. I longed for a pair of shoes, especially my boots. I loved those boots, they were the one thing that Ty had got for me before we were even together, plus, they were the most comfortable boots I’d ever worn.
We came to another door, this one different from the others. It’s color a deep red and had no peeling paint, in fact, it looked like it had been painted recently.
“Stay there,” Max growled and pushed me up against the wall. I kept my face level with his, I wouldn’t look down, I wouldn’t show him one millimeter of weakness.
He nodded at the brute and pushed through the door. I moved my eyes to the brute, giving him the same look that I’d given Max. Men like this got off on making a woman submit. Having once been one of those women, I swore that I’d never submit to anyone ever again.
I didn’t know how much time passed before Max came back out but when he did, his face was a mask of confusion and anger as he headed straight for me. I gritted my teeth and planted my feet on the floor, ready for whatever he was about to do to me.
“In you go.” He smirked. He seemed so pleased with himself, he obviously knew something that I didn’t.
Taking a small step forward, I hesitated. Was this all one big elaborate set up? What the hell was I walking into? Or the better question was, who was I walking in on?
The brute pulled the door open, giving me a small push on my back which caused me to stumble into the room. The door slammed shut behind me, I looked back at the door, then slowly spun around and took in where I was.
The door that we had come through didn’t look like a door at all from inside here. It was concealed really well, and if I hadn’t just come through it, I’d never have known that it was there.
The whole room was bathed in light and swathes of purple and gold material. A giant desk sat off to the side, opposite a leather couch. The whole room was grand, and it occurred to me then, I was about to meet the boss. The one behind all of this.
The giant double wooden doors opened and I inhaled a deep breath, preparing myself for whoever I was about to meet.
“Hello there, Miss Anderson,” she sang.
I frowned, closing my eyes and opening them again, not believing what I was seeing.
“Serena?” I gasped.
I knew it. I knew all along but then again; I couldn’t believe I was right.
She cackled as she moved closer, circling me and looking me up and down. “I don’t know what he sees in you,” she sneered, backing away and covering her nose. “Jesus, you stink.”
“That’s what happens when your left for days in your underwear with no fuckin’ toilet,” I fumed at her.
She harrumphed and walked over to her couch, sitting down and crossing her legs in one fluid, controlled movement. It didn’t go unnoticed; the extra perfume that she was wearing or how perfect her makeup was.
“So it was you all along?” I stepped forward not caring when she scrunched up her nose in disdain at me. She’s the one who made me look and smell like this so she could put up with it.
“What was me all along?” she leaned back, her eyes assessing me, she wanted to hear me say it.
“Taking those girls?”
“Hmmm, I don’t know what you mean.” She smirked.
She knew exactly what I meant. Why she was playing all coy now, I didn’t know.
“There’s only you and me here, Serena,” I said, stretching my arms wide, not caring that my whole body ached with the movement. “What’s the matter? Can’t admit to what you’ve done? How sick in the head you are?”
“Oh.” She pushed forward, standing on her sky high pumps, not even wobbling a little. “I can admit it. I took all those girls for money. Simple as that. But you…” Walking forward she came to a stop right in front of me and leaned down into my face. “You were purely for personal reasons. I can’t have my husband running off with a piece of trash like you.”
“He’s not your husband,” I gritted out.
“Oh, honey, he is, and I’ll be making sure he comes back to me. I just need to get you and your offspring out of the way first.”
“Excuse me?”
“I got rid of one before, shouldn’t be too hard to do it again.” She smirked, taking a step back.
“What-”
She snorted, her lips spreading even wider. “Ah.” She sauntered over to her desk and balanced on the edge. “He never told you.”
I counted to ten in my head, trying to keep my cool, if she was saying what I thought she was then…I couldn’t even comprehend it.
“Hmmm, interesting,” she said, looking over at the windows, not paying any attention to me. That was her first mistake. “See, when I found out I was pregnant with that…thing…I had to get rid of it. I couldn’t share Ty. I won’t share him, he’s mine.” She turned back to me but it was too late.
“You fuckin’ bitch!” I screamed as I lunged at her. There was no stopping me, my hand flew out and slapped her, the sound echoing throughout the room.
Gasping, she turned to me, her arm moving out in a pathetic attempt to hit me back. I was faster than her though. I’d trained with all the guys, and even though I didn’t have my full strength, I knew that I could take her down. I opened my palm, my hand coming up and hitting her nose. Blood sprayed everywhere as she screamed for help. I didn’t stop though, I took her down to the floor and was just about to hit her again when I was lifted off her and dragged to the other side of the room.
I was raging, the anger uncontrollable. She was bat shit crazy if she thought that was a valid reason for aborting a baby.
Max came forward, bending down and checking on her before turning his angry eyes to me. “Take her back,” he growled at the brute who had a hold of me.
He dragged me out of the room, another man appearing out of nowhere and walking with us. Once I was away from her, I started to calm down. This would be my only chance to get out of this place, there was no way that I’d be allowed out of this room again after what I’d just done.
Once he’d swiped his card and we went through the doors, I started to struggle in his arms. He lost concentration and tried to restrain me so I dipped my hand into his pocket, pulling out his card.
He threw me into the room when we came to the door and slammed it shut behind me. I landed on my hands and knees, and lifting my head, I was relieved to find Lindsey and Ava sat together.
We all sat there and waited over two hours for Corey’s contact to turn up. He’d apparently refused to meet anywhere but a secure place. We were all on edge at the prospect of actually finding Kay today.
Corey was pacing back and forth and had been for the last hour, mumbling to himself.
“Will you just sit down?” Evan asked. “You’re making me dizzy!” He moaned, holding his hand to his head and looking away.
“Don’t look at me then,” he growled.
“Chill the hell out Corey and sit down.” I said in a tone that meant he wouldn’t argue. He was making us all even more on edge. What we needed was to all calm down and get it together. We couldn’t do this if none of us were ready for what we could be walking into.
As soon as he sat down, he pulled his cell out and jumped back up. “He’s here.”
We all stayed where we were and waited while Corey met him outside. We’d discussed it and we’d come to the conclusion that it was best for Corey to meet him at the gate and escort him in.
I didn’t know this guy from Adam, and if Corey said that he was incognito then he could be bringing some real danger with him. Danger that we didn’t need, or want.
I blew out a breath and held my head in my hands, I was so tired, tired of all this but mainly I was frustrated at not having Kay beside me.
The sound of the door opening had me lifting my head. I could hear Corey saying something to him, but couldn’t quite make out what it was.
As soon as I saw who it was though, I shot out of my chair.
“What the fuck are you doing here!” I ran at him; it was all his fault. He was the one behind all of this, what the hell was Corey thinking letting him onto the compound?
“Whoa! Ty, calm the fuck down,” Corey said, jumping into my path and holding his hands out.
“That’s the fucker who’s been taking the girls!” I shouted. The rage bubbling inside me, I could practically feel my whole body shaking from it. Made even worse by the calm that he exuded back at me.
“I think we need to sit down and discuss a few things.” He pulled the sleeves of his suit down and looked around. “You have an office?”
His eyes met mine and I was flummoxed at how calm he was. This wasn’t the person that I had met a few months ago, this was a completely different version. Before I could answer him, Corey waved his hand in the air and showed him to the office while I stood staring at their backs, wondering what the hell was going on.
“What the hell?” Evan murmured beside me.
I nodded at him, thinking exactly the same thing. Stomping after them, I slammed my office door shut and sat behind my desk. “Explain,” I gritted out.
“Well…” He leaned forward. “Shall we start at the beginning?” I raised a brow at him in answer, waiting for him to explain.
“I was brought here to investigate the disappearance of some girls. Which you probably know all about, seeing as you’ve been following me.” He raised a brow but I didn’t answer him. “My name isn’t Daley, and I’m not the one who has been taking the girls.” He paused and leaned back. “That would be your wife.”
“Serena?” I leaned forward. My head was spinning with this information. I tapped my fingers on the desk, trying to stay calm. Kay had tried to tell me, time and time again that she didn’t trust her, that there was something about her. Why hadn’t I listened? Why had I just assumed she was jealous?
Kay wasn’t the jealous type. I should’ve known that.
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I thought back to the last couple of months. I’d let Serena into the compound, she’d seen that we thought it was Daley. She’d known what we had going on here. She never did have anything for us, she was looking for information. How had I been so stupid?
“Yep, and I’m guessing that the latest girl is someone you know?”
“Kay,” I gritted out. “It’s Kay.”
His eyes widened and I could see that he hadn’t known that. “Ah, shit. I didn’t know. She’s a nice chick.”
“She’s also my little sister, you dipshit.” Corey growled from where he was stood off to the side.
He leaned back in his chair, caught off guard. “I didn’t know you had a sister,” he said to Corey, his eyes assessing him.
“Yeah, no one did.” His eyes moved to mine. I could tell that he still wasn’t happy about me and his sister being together but he’d just have to put up with it because that wasn’t changing any time soon. If ever.
“I think your gonna need to fill me in on everything, and then we can go from there,” Daley said. He still hadn’t provided me with his real name but I guessed that he probably wouldn’t due to the work that he did.
We sat there for over an hour telling him everything. Every little detail of the investigation. If he was going to help us find Kay, then I wouldn’t be leaving anything out.
Apparently he was aware of Max, he’d become Serena’s lap dog and would do anything that she said.
Daley told us that it all made sense now, he was doing it so that he could get revenge on Kay. I’d shown him the pictures of Kay’s injuries from Max. Looking at them, I hoped that she hadn’t been hurt this time and that we’d get to her before it was too late.
But in my gut, I knew that she was hurt. Call it a connection, call it what you will, but I just knew.
“I’ve got an inside contact. It’s time we took this place down.” Daley gritted out and stood up. “Between us all, we’ll be able to get those girls out and take that evil bitch down.”
“I want Max,” I growled.
“Yeah,” Daley said, looking between the two of us. “You can have him. I’d kill the fucker if he did that to my sister.” Buttoning his jacket up, he then said. “If I had one of course,” and winked.
Corey followed him out and I was left alone.
Slumping back down in my chair, my stomach rolled. This was the first time we had been this close to getting Kay back.
I owed her one big apology for not listening to her in the first place, but if she was with Serena then that meant she probably knew.
She knew what had happened, what had broken me.