J

 

Fuck him. I can’t deal with secrets. Seeing him every day at work is going to hurt like a bitch, but it will be so much harder to know he’s keeping something from me.

 

I thought I could handle it, give him time, but every nightmare just makes it worse. Whatever he suffered in his past is completely affecting him…us.

 

I know I have three or four beers left in the fridge and they are calling to me tonight. I just need to forget everything for little while. I’ll deal with Cole tomorrow.

 

I hear the distant sound of my phone ringing, but I have no idea where I left it. Assuming it’s Cole, I look through the living room. I find my phone sitting on the kitchen counter and see it’s Jules. She always knows when I need to talk. I swipe the screen to answer just as I hear a knock on the door.

 

“Hey, Jules. Hang on. There is someone at the door.”

 

“Okay.”

 

I open the door. The sudden sharp pain to my head makes me drop the phone and I am suddenly picked up, causing me to kick my legs. I panic, screaming and kicking as I try wiggling out of the tight grasp.

 

A hand covers my mouth. “If you know what is good for you, you’ll shut the fuck up.”

 

I open my mouth to scream, knowing no one will hear me. I heard my phone shatter when it hit the floor, and I live in a corner apartment with no neighbor. I’m on my own. Instead of screaming, I bite down on the inside of his hand. He drops me to the floor. I hit with a thud. He bends and grabs my leg, pulling me back toward him, but I kick at him with my other leg.

 

“You bitch.” He kicks me in the ribs. The pain is enough to make me gasp for air, holding my side. I still try to get away from him, but at a much slower pace. He stands over me. “Not so tough now, are you?”

 

“What do you want from me?”

 

“I need you to beg me. Beg me to let you go.”

 

“Please, don’t hurt me. I’ll do whatever you want.” The tears I have been trying so hard to stop finally run down my cheeks. “Please.”

 

“Oh, you’re going to be a fun one,” he says, reaching down for me. I scramble back, ignoring the pain in my side. I kick out one more time, hoping to connect with something vital. Instead, I’m met with air. “Kick me, bitch. I dare you. Let’s go.” He leans down and grabs my hair, pulling me up to a sitting position. I can’t let him take me somewhere else. If he gets me out that door, I’m on my own. No one will find me.

 

I scream and kick, swinging my arms. One of my kicks must have hit his junk because he doubles over. I take the opportunity to scramble to my feet and try to make it to the door.

 

I’m not fast enough to get completely out of his grasp. He pulls my hair, making me stop. “I don’t fucking think so.” He pulls his free hand back, landing a punch on the side of my head. I’m stunned, falling to the floor. My vision blurry, I watch his boot come toward me, landing on my side. The crack of at least one rib is the only sound I hear when my eyes close. The painless, blissful darkness engulfs me.  

 

*

 

The pain in my stomach wakes me. It’s a constant dull ache that won’t go away, regardless of what position I put myself in. The more awake I become, the more I realize everything hurts, especially my head. It feels like someone tried to split it in two. I try to raise my arm to touch my head, but I can’t move my arm. What the hell? I pull repeatedly with no success. I hear a scrapping against the floor with every moment. I can pull myself into a seated position, but that’s it. It feels like I’m on a mattress.

 

My eyes fly open, but I can’t see much. I don’t remember being anywhere this dark before. There is absolutely no light. I keep struggling to move, but each tug or pull has my body screaming out in pain. Breathing is hard, and I’m exhausted. I need to figure out how I ended up here.

 

Think, J.

 

The last thing I remember is walking into my kitchen looking for my phone, then the guy in my apartment. I have no idea where I am or how the hell I will ever get out of this.

 

It feels like hours pass. There is no sound. The quiet is almost overwhelming.

 

A banging sound has me jumping. I must have dozed off. I scramble to sit up, shielding my eyes from the blinding light the open door lets in. With the light behind him, I can’t make out any features. All I see is a shadow of a man. A big man.

 

“Help me,” I beg.

 

He laughs. “Help you? Cunt, you’re just collateral damage. Darren wanted a fight. We brought an army.”

 

“Please…”

 

“You have no idea how hard I get with you begging.” He adjusts himself.

 

I gag, thinking about him touching me. He closes the door behind him, then pulls on a string hanging from the ceiling, turning on a single bulb in the middle of the room, making me squint. When my eyes finally adjust, I see I am in a small shed. There is nothing but a mattress on the floor, a metal eye hook to the right of it with the chain connected to my wrist by a metal band, and a bucket in the corner.

 

“I have to pee,” I say, wiping the tears from my face.

 

He turns and points to the bucket. “Piss in that.”

 

“You want me to piss in a bucket?”

 

“You either piss in the bucket or get your nose rubbed in it like the bitch you are.” Laughing at the joke he made, he crosses his arms and leans against the wall. “You going to go?”

 

“With you standing there?”

 

“Where do you want me to go? Yes, with me standing here. Let me see that pretty cunt Justin told me about. I’ve stroked off to his stories of it. He says you are a feisty one. I like my girls to put up a fight. That fight you put up in the kitchen… Shit, you had my dick so hard.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“Oh, cupcake. It’s funny how you think you hold the power here.”

 

He walks over and grabs my arm, pulling me up to a standing position and dragging me over to the bucket. While holding my bicep with one hand, he uses the other to yank at my jeans to pull them down.

 

I start to scream and kick. The hand on my bicep tightens, his fingers digging into my flesh. “Keep fighting,” he says in a husky voice.

 

Oh god. He’s getting excited.

 

I can feel him harden against my hip. I know I need to calm down, but I can’t. I’m shaking, my heart’s racing. When he has my jeans unbuttoned and pulled down past my knees, I stop kicking. It’s only making me lose my footing and lean on him anyway. Holding onto my hair, he pushes me toward the bucket. I fall into the wall, then hover over it. I hate that he wins, that he has the control.

 

He throws a roll of toilet paper at me. “Clean up and get back on the mattress. We need to talk.”

 

I do as he says.

 

When I am back on the mattress, I pull my knees up and wrap my arms around them. I’m not sure if I’m trying to hide myself or stop the shakes that are flowing through my body.

He leans against the wall, watching me, licking his lips. The way he looks me over has my stomach turning.

 

“What do you want from me? Why are you doing this?”

 

“What do I want with you? Oh, sweet J, there are so many ways to answer that question. I want to make you scream, beg, and bleed, but that’s beside the point. I am doing this because I was told to.” He crosses his arms. “Justin made some big promises to the wrong people. He’s not holding up his end of the deal.”

 

“What does that have to do with me? I haven’t been with him for a while. Any deal he made should have nothing to do with me.”

 

“See, that’s where you are wrong. This deal was made years ago when Justin trusted the wrong person. He got greedy. He started pocketing cash and product. When you work for the DiMarcos, whether directly or indirectly, you don’t steal from the boss…ever. Justin thinks taking you will—”

 

The door flies open, sunlight pouring into the small space. I shield my eyes.

 

“That’s enough. She doesn’t need to know anything more. I know Darren will pay for his precious daughter. She is the only thing that means a damn thing to that man.”

 

Justin.  

 

“Why are you doing this, Justin? I’ve moved on.”

 

“J, you think I was involved with you for you?” He laughs. “The pussy was good, but not that good. I only stuck around because I figured out not everyone was so loyal to your old man. Not everyone thought he walked on water.” He walks over to the man leaning on the wall. “Get out. J and I have some…unfinished business.”

 

He nods, winks, and blows me a kiss before closing the door behind him, locking me in with Justin.

 

He stands for a long time just staring at me before he walks over and crouches down until we are eye to eye. “It’s a good thing you have such a tight relationship with dear old daddy. I know Darren will pay whatever is asked of him. I need the money back that Mark took. I would have gone after that piece of shit, but he skipped town. I tossed his house and looked for anything I could, but it looks like he knew I was coming. They packed some bags and left everything else. He left so fast, dinner was still sitting on the fucking stove.” His hand cups my chin to make sure I look into his eyes. “If this goes south, you’ll die before I will.” He tosses my head back into the wall with a thud.

 

The pain is immediate and sharp. I see stars swimming in my vision and know, without a doubt, Justin will kill me before any of the DiMarcos kill him.

I rub my head and wipe my eyes of the tears threatening to fall. “Why didn’t you just come to us? I could have asked Pop to help you.”

 

He starts pacing the room. “Help me? You would have thrown that bitch attitude in my face and shut the door on me. Don’t worry. He’ll pay now.”

 

“What about your kids? How can you do this to them?”

 

He turns and is on me within seconds. He grips my chin, pulling my legs out so I am lying on my back with him straddled over me. “Don’t talk about things you know nothing about. I take care of what’s mine.”

 

“You took such good care of them, I didn’t even know they existed the entire time we were together.”

 

My head snaps to the left when his hand makes contact with my cheek. “You knew what I wanted you to know.” I try to fight back, but he’s kneeling on the chain, giving me limited mobility. “You want to show what a tough girl you are?” The punch has my brain spinning, darkness threatening to take over. “Fight me, bitch. Let me make this clear to you. You can fight all you want, but I will win. I will get the money from Darren to pay off DiMarco. If you die in the process, so fucking what.”

 

“Fuck you, you piece of shit. They will find you and kill you.” In my head, I’m yelling, but it comes out as a whisper. I push my hip up to try and move him from on top of me.

 

“Who is going to find me? Daddy and your new toy? I have them covered. Don’t you worry, princess. Until Daddy gets me my money, you and I are going to have a little fun.”

 

I never saw the punch coming. I remember the pain radiating through my cheek, then nothing.