Page 38 of Denial

“No, King! You don’t get to say that shit to me. Hope is your fuckin’ blood and you’re just sittin’ there as if she’s out shoppin’ or havin’ a fuckin’ spa day with the girls. That’s not the fuckin’ case! She’s been taken and now she’s bein’ fuckin’ beaten. All because some sick fuck wants another person he sees as his property. Either fuckin’ way we lose here,” I yell as my dad and Killer step up before me.

“Carson, King’s right. You gotta calm down or you won’t be goin’ to get Hope back with the rest of us,” my dad says, using his calm voice that he thinks makes my brother and me calm down but only pisses me the fuck off.

“No one’s tellin’ me that I won’t be there to get Hope and bring her home!” I yell, starting to fight against King and my brother all over again.

“Take him to his room and lock him in. If he wants to destroy shit, he can do that to his own stuff. Deegan, start cleanin’ up this mess. When Jinx calms down, he’ll be out to help you. Jinx, you won’t be let out until I know for a fact that you’ve calmed the fuck down,” Vault orders and I want to argue with him, but I won’t go up against him when I’m filled with as much rage as I currently am.

King and Devil take me to my room and unlock the door before shoving me inside. Devil is the one to shove me and he does it just hard enough that I end up a few feet from the door. King has it closed and is locking it before I can even get fully turned around. Walking up to the door, I start pounding my fists against the wood so hard that I hear the creaks as it threatens to crack under my hands.

“Let me the fuck out! I know someone is out in the hall and you can hear me!” I shout, tears filling my eyes because all I can think of is Hope being hurt after getting kidnapped. My girl has already suffered through so much and this is just one more horrendous thing happening to her because of someone else. “Let. Me. Out!”

“You gotta calm down, Carson. Please calm down. We all want to bring Hope home and I hate seein’ you this way. As soon as you calm down, I’ll let you out. I promise,” my brother says through the door and I can hear the pain in his voice but I can’t help myself as I continue to pound my fists against the wood.

It feels as if an eternity passes before I’ve completely worn myself out. Sliding down the door after turning and placing my back against it, I sit on the floor and stare into nothing. My eyes are heavy as my heart feels as if it’s ready to beat right out of my chest and I can’t suck in a full breath of air. A lone tear slips from my eye and slowly rolls down my cheek as images from the video play on repeat in my mind. Dropping my head as I pull my knees up to my chest, I rest my forehead on my knees and let one image play after another to fuel the rage filling me so I have it when I go get my girl. That’s what I’ll use to take out every stupid fucker who thought it was okay to touch her in any way.

I hear murmured talking through the door that’s still at my back. Pushing myself off the floor when I hear the lock disengage, I turn to face Killer as he makes his way into my room. Killer shuts the door quietly behind him and takes a look around because I didn’t make a mess in here. The only reason I didn’t is because Hope just cleaned the room and I’m not about to make a mess before we bring her home.

“Feelin’ any better?” Killer asks me as he pulls out the chair at my desk and takes a seat.

“Not at all. I won’t feel better until Hope is in my arms and I know she’s okay,” I answer him honestly as I walk over and take a seat on the edge of my bed.

“I get it. You have lost your girl, but she’s my Baby Girl. My daughter that I held from the second she was born and who I spent so many years lovin’ and protectin’. Hope will always be my Baby Girl even when she’s old and gray with a ton of grandbabies runnin’ around. I’m so fuckin’ pissed that I want to race out of here with no plan in place or even a clue about where she’s bein’ held. But, if we both take a few seconds to think of the situation we know the only one who is gonna get hurt will be Hope. We have to play this shit safe and put any potential risks to Hope above everythin’ else. So, I need you to get your head in the fuckin’ game and calm down. I’m not gonna let you stay back when we go get my daughter because you can’t control your emotions. Lock that shit down, Jinx. You can do this,” Killer states as he stares at me and I know it’s taking every ounce of control he possesses to do the same thing he’s asking me to do.

“Killer, it’s fuckin’ guttin’ me to know she’s out there after survivin’ a fuckin’ hitman and bein’ laid up for so long after his attack on her. It seems like she can’t catch a fuckin’ break and I should’ve been with her. I didn’t fuckin’ protect her,” I state as Killer gets up and makes his way over to me.

“You have been doin’ nothin’ but protectin’ my daughter your entire life, Jinx. Every time she got in trouble, got hurt, or anythin’ else, you’ve been at her back and silently supportin’ and protectin’ her. If you think I don’t know that, then you need to pay more attention to the shit goin’ on around you,” he says and I smile because I know exactly what he’s talking about.

Whenever Hope was doing something, I was always close by to make sure she didn’t get hurt. Killer was always a few more steps behind even if Hope never once saw him. Hope’s dad knows way more about everything she’s done over the years than he’s ever let her know. The day she first got on a dirt bike after he told her she wasn’t allowed to ride one, Killer was there cheering her on as she rode around the backyard of the clubhouse. If he wasn’t at work or on a run, Killer was busy running behind his girls to make sure they were protected.

“I will give my life to ensure she’s safe and gets to keep on livin’ her life, Killer. That’s one thing you never have to question,” I promise him once again before I take a deep breath in and slowly releasing it. “I’m calm and I’ll remain that way. I won’t get left behind when everyone goes to get my girl.”

“Okay. King found somethin’. Let’s go see what the hell is goin’ on,” Killer states as we leave my room tighter and I find my dad and brother waiting for us in the hallway.

Killer nods at my dad as they have a silent conversation. Devil stands at my side as the four of us make our way downstairs to the common room where Fox and King are still busy working on their laptops while the rest of the guys are sitting around, eating, having a drink of water or something else non-alcoholic, or just talking. Killer and I make our way straight to Fox and King with my dad and brother following along behind us. I’m ready to find out where the hell Hope is so we can bring her the fuck home where she belongs.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Hope

THE OTHER WOMEN and I have been talking when we’re not sleeping and trying to heal our bodies from the beatings and other trauma we’re being forced to endure. It appears as if I’m one of the few lucky ones being held here against my will. So far I haven’t been sexually assaulted and the beating I’ve suffered through wasn’t really all that bad after the attack from the hitman. Plus, the training I received growing up means I can take a punch from a man and while it may hurt like a bitch, it doesn’t render me completely helpless. The same can’t be said for the other women and girls locked in the cages. What I hate is the fact that none of us know how long we’ve been held here. There’s no window in the room we’re locked in and it’s not as if we’re being served three meals a day. So far, no one's brought anything to eat and I can see the toll it’s taking on the women around me who have been here for a longer period of time.

One thing I did learn is that we’re all from vastly different walks of life. Some are high powered business women, there’s a few women who were homeless and just trying to get through each day the best they could, and even more who were living paycheck to paycheck just trying to support their kids and family members the best they could. Most of the girls who aren’t of age were kidnapped right off the street and have been left alone in the cages since they were taken. That’s not our only difference though. I’m the only one who’s been trained to fight and defend myself from most attacks that I could ever face in life. We also don’t look anything alike. It's as if the assholes have chosen a smorgasbord of women to fit anyone’s taste and desire at any given time. Fucking disgusting!

Most of the women don’t bother speaking when we’re alone in the room. They either can’t talk because of the pain from injuries that have been inflicted on them, or they refuse to risk getting punished for saying a single word. One of the girls hasn’t said anything since she was locked in her cage and we’re all wondering if she can talk. None of us have the balls to ask her because we know she can hear as she follows the conversations we have. Her eyes look at whichever one of us is speaking and then she moves to the next person who contributes to the conversation.

I haven’t been dragged out of the cage and taken to the same room as before. When the assholes enter the room, they drag one of the other women out as she tries to fight back, depending on which woman it is. None of us can ever guess how long she’ll be gone because the times vary. Sometimes the woman is only gone long enough to take a quick shower in cold water. Other times, she’s gone for what feels like an eternity only to be dragged back in exhausted, beaten, and bearing the scars which will most likely never heal from what’s been done to her. For a while after each woman is brought back into the room, they don’t speak or look at any of us. Whatever’s been done to them is stripping them of all their confidence and self-esteem while filling them with shame and guilt. They’re all going to need help to get past the mental and emotional damage being done to them on a daily basis.

As I lay on the floor of the cage thinking about everything that’s been going on with the women surrounding me and how we’re going to get out of here, the door of the room opens so quick and hard that it slams into the wall behind it. The same two men who took me the first time enter and stare at the cage I’m in. Apparently it’s my turn to be taken once again. Yes, that’s something I’ve noticed. Whoever comes in to grab a particular woman is the same one, or ones, who come in each time to grab her.

“Don’t fucking fight us when we open the door,” Slimy Man One growls out, knowing I’m not going to do anything less than fighting back against the two of them.

“You have no right to tell me what not to do,” I inform him as I watch him take the keys from Slimy Man Two and unlock the door of the cage.

“You touch one of us and Boss Man will have your fucking head. He’s already pissed at your family and plans on taking that shit out on you today,” Slimy Man Two states with a smirk on his face that shows the loss of his teeth and makes me notice the scar he’s got running down the side of his face for the first time.

“Well, I’m pissed that I’m here being held against my will with so many other innocent women who don’t deserve anything that’s being done to us. So, if you really want to argue about who has the right to be more pissed or upset, I’d say everyone in this room would win that one hands down. And don’t even get me started on the fact that no one’s brought us anything to eat or drink. But, I guess that’s how you fuckers feel you’ll control us and keep us weak enough to manhandle and take what’s not freely being given to you,” I argue back, my voice full of the hate coursing through my veins as I try to figure out how to get the better of these two assholes.

Slimy Man Two pulls out a wicked looking knife from a sheath on his belt and points it directly at me while Slimy Man One grabs me by the hair and yanks me from the cage. I don’t scream out in pain or try to fight back as a plan formulates in my mind. One of the lessons we were all taught growing up is how to face an attacker that has a weapon like a knife. My dad, Uncle Fox, and Tank all taught me how to disarm the fucker and grab the weapon for myself. I have to fight the urge to smile because these two idiots are nothing compared to anyone I trained with over the years.

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