Quintessentially Q

Wrapping my arms around my nakedness, I shouted, “I’m no longer yours to torture. I belong to another. Someone who will be extremely pissed if you lay one finger on me.” My teeth started to rattle, despite the humid air and hot bath.

I can’t let him take me. I can’t.

“If you leave now, I’ll forget you were here. I won’t tell my owner to hunt you down and rip you apart.” All I wanted was for Q to appear and blow Leather Jacket’s brains all over the bathroom walls. Killing him had been my intention ever since I left Brax.

Leather Jacket threw his head back and laughed. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about me, slut. Your so-called owner won’t be a problem for much longer.” He inched closer, leering down at me. “He did a very bad thing. Time for him to pay.”

I pushed off to the other side of the bath, but Leather Jacket moved like a demon. He jumped into the tub, clothes and all, and grabbed a chunk of my hair. His metallic stench filled my nose as he forced my head under the water again.

I thrashed, I wriggled, I tried not to scream, but the sheer terror erupted my lungful of air into hot water.

The heavy thud, thud of my heart went wild as I inched closer to drowning.

The agony lasted forever while my lungs screamed and died a painful death, but at the last second, he hoisted me up, dragging me to the edge of the tub.

Clinging to the side, I sucked in hungry gasps, choking on droplets running over my face.

“Now that you’re clean. Get the f**k out. We have somewhere to be,” Leather Jacket ordered.

“What—?” I couldn’t finish, heaving for breath. “I’m not going anywh—”

With a savage jerk, he pulled me upright. I screamed, trying to free my hair from his claws. He tugged so hard chunks tore from my scalp. “Let me go!”

I twisted, trying to get his wrist to bend enough to get free. He was too strong. My weak body wobbled and weaved after nearly drowning. I cursed my body for failing. I couldn’t fight.

He hauled me from the tub and against his horrible body. The cold zipper of his jacket dug into my na**d br**sts as he breathed rancid breath over me. “Not gonna happen. Time to take a little ride.”

I lashed out and kneed him square in the balls. He dropped me, clutching at the towel rail in agony. I didn’t wait another second. With my head pounding and strands of hair falling to the floor, I bolted.

Straight into another man.

His arms whipped around me and his unnatural broken smile crushed all my hope of freedom.

Jagged Scar.

The man who held me down while the bitch tattooed and inspected me. The same bitch who inserted a tracking device into my neck.

Fuck.

The tracker! I wanted to kill myself for being so stupid. The moment I arrived in Australia I went on the waiting list for a day surgery to remove. But they kept pushing me back—emergencies bumping me down the line. There was nothing I could do, and then I went back to Q.

For four days I romanced and teased the man I’d returned to. I didn’t even stop to think about such a life-threatening device tracking my every move.

Shit, Tess! I should’ve told him. I should’ve made sure it was removed straight away. I should’ve butchered my own body to remove it.

This was all my fault.

Jagged Scar clicked his tongue. “Just realized, didn’t you? I have to admit, people tend to forget about that part.” He sighed, sounding almost apologetic. “It really is a shame to do this, but your circumstances have changed.”

My brain couldn’t focus on one thing. Run, fight, run. Trembling, I said, “They were paid for me. Let me go. Please.”

Leather Jacket limped toward us. I cringed as Jagged Scar spun me to face him. I didn’t care about being naked, I only cared about killing these men and running to Q. Tears bruised again at the thought. I didn’t know where Q was. I had no clue which floor, or even which building he was in.

Oh, God. I’ll never see him again.

Leather Jacket scooped up Q’s shirt on the seat in the corner. He threw it at Jagged Scar. “Dress her.”

He nodded and let me go to open the shirt. The thought of being dressed by these bastards was too much. They had no right to touch Q’s clothes.

I snatched it off Jagged Scar, growling, “I can do it myself.” It took a few attempts to undo the buttons and shrug it on. It hung on me like a dress. The whiff of Q’s aftershave crippled me, and I wanted nothing more than to give in to the huge wracking sobs building in my ribcage.

But I didn’t have that luxury. I had to be brave and fierce. I had to stay sharp and ready to maim.

Jagged Scar didn’t capture me again, and I stood trapped in the middle of them as Leather Jacket pulled something from his trouser pocket. His black eyes glinted, enjoying my fear. “Do it.” His gaze flickered behind me to Jagged Scar.

My heart lurched into my throat and I ducked, trying to avoid whatever was coming, but it wasn’t enough. The punch to the side of my head sent stars exploding behind my eyes; I slammed to the marble floor. My knees screamed and I braced myself on my hands, trying to shake away the agony.

“Fuck me, look at you,” Leather Jacket muttered. “We thought the man who owned you was a pu**y, but looky here.” A disgusting finger trailed along the base of my spine where the shirt had risen and poked the bruises on my ass. He prodded the fresh fingernail cuts Q gave me in the helicopter. “Kinky bastard, isn’t he.”

Jagged Scar laughed. “At least we know she likes it rough. That’ll entice a few others to buy a secondhand slave.”

My ears rushed with horror. “I’m already sold! You can’t do this!”

Both men laughed. “It’s not up to you anymore.” Leather Jacket squatted in front of me, brandishing the item from his pocket. He kept it hidden in his large meaty fist.

All the hatred I felt for them burned my heart and soul. I’d planned on hunting them. Tracking them like animals and making them pay for what they did—bring retribution for all the women they hurt. Now all of those goals were dust.

Because of one stupid error, my life was over. For good this time. I’d had my second chance and blew it.

“Give me your arm.” Leather Jacket smiled. “I have a present for you.”

I didn’t want any f**king present. Gritting my teeth, I snarled. “Fuck you.”

Jagged Scar chuckled behind me as Leather Jacket smirked. “I’ve missed your fight, puta. Just wait till I’ve got you all alone. You’re gonna pay for breaking my finger.”

I swallowed hard as memories of him coming to find me in the dark threatened to pull me under. “You shouldn’t have tried to rape me.”

Leather Jacket stopped smirking and glared with so much hatred it was like standing in a cauldron of hell. He lashed out and stole my arm. “You’ll regret that.”

I fought. Of course, I fought, but Jagged Scar grabbed my shoulders and held me in place while my arm was straightened and locked between Leather Jacket’s body and elbow. “I’m gonna enjoy this. Say goodbye, slut.”

With snake-like reflexes, he jabbed something sharp and painful into my arm. Almost instantly a foggy cloud descended, turning my brain to custard, my limbs to candyfloss.

No!

I clung to lucidity, but it was no use. Second by second, my heart silently poisoned me by allowing the drugs to ooze through my bloodstream.

My eyes went first—wonky and unclear. Then my limbs disappeared from my control until I fell headfirst into Leather Jacket.

He cradled me in his ra**st arms as the final stretch of my nightmare closed in on me.

My thoughts shrivelled up, my breathing went shallow, and the last thing I heard sent my hopes directly to hell.

“Welcome home.”

Chapter 7

I long to see your creamy skin blush, welted and marked it gives me a rush…

I stifled my groan as I rounded the corner to my office to find Frederick slouching against the doorjamb. Arms crossed, dark hair slicked back with gel, and sporting a tweed jacket with slacks, he looked like a poster boy for Country House and f**king Garden.

How we ended up being friends I didn’t know. We roomed together at boarding school, and when I went back to finish my exams after murdering my father, he knew something major had happened in my life. Not because I was gloomy and my normally snappy self, but because for the first time, I sported a smile and an air of relief. I finally did the world a favour by killing my old man, and I wanted to share my good fortune.

I never told him exactly what happened, but somehow he tripped me up enough to give away my history. To unveil most of my secrets and give me someone to confide in.

The moment he saw me, his lips twitched into a smirk. He ran a hand through his glossy g*y-ass hair.

Glowering, I pushed my way past into the boardroom, eyeing up his carefree smile.

“Quoi?” What? I demanded when he put his arm up to barricade me from entering.

I only knew five people in this entire building. And those five people I trusted only so far. Frederick was one of them, but he was also the only one who got away with driving me batshit crazy with his antics.