Chapter Thirty
Larissa
"Do you think he saw us?" I asked when we were in the car again.
"He did," Jason said from the driver's seat. "From what I could see, he wasn't happy, either. He was furious."
"I knew he'd show up," Jude said. "This was a good plan to draw him out and find the exact location where he's staying. We have different vehicles following them. He won't even realize he has a tail."
I looked at each of them. "Did you doubt my plan? I knew he would have someone watching the estate."
"Never doubted it," Caspian said. "I just didn't want you involved."
"I told you that I can take care of myself." When would they learn? Amon put me through hell, but he'd also trained me to be a killer. Before I could get angry, Jude pulled me onto his lap.
"You're going to have to give us time to remember what you've been through," he said as if he read my mind.
We'd always known what the other was thinking. It was as if we could read each other's thoughts, or maybe we thought a lot alike.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, then interlocked my fingers. "I guess it will just take all of us a little time. The three of you have changed as well. I see small differences. You're not as easy-going as you used to be."
"But we never stopped loving you," he said, pulling me closer, lowering his lips to mine, and tasting me. His tongue sparred with mine, sending flashes of fire down to my pussy. His erection nudged my hip. It was all I could do to keep myself from straddling him and then unzipping his jeans and unleashing his cock. I wanted to make mad, passionate love with him. I just wasn't sure I wanted to with an audience, plus, Jason was driving. Soon, though. Very soon.
I sighed, knowing this was exactly where I was supposed to be. We'd all been through a fucking nightmare. I didn't even want to think about losing one of them. That was why we had to stop Amon. That was why I had to go after him, even if I did it alone. I only hoped it wouldn't come to that. They had to see I needed revenge as much as they did.
Jason pulled to a stop in front of the house, and we climbed out. As we were going inside, Caspian's phone rang. He answered and put the person on speaker so we could all hear.
"I see you have Larissa back," the voice on the other end grated out.
Cold chills ran down my body. I took a step away from the phone. Jude quickly wrapped his arm around me, holding me close so I would know Amon couldn't hurt me. I'd been all tough, but just hearing his voice sent cold chills of fear running down my spine. It was all I could do to keep from dropping to my knees and lowering my eyes.
"Is she there? Can she hear me?"
"What do you want, Amon?" Caspian asked before I had a chance to say anything.
There was a slight pause, then he began to speak again.
"I see you know my name."
"We know a lot about you," Caspian casually said. "We know that our father took out your warehouses and killed your father in the process. I believe that was a bonus on our father's part," he drawled. "I'm guessing you were leaving one of them when the explosion occurred. We know you're crippled because of it, and that you don't mind hurting innocent young girls. And we also know that you're a sick son of a bitch."
He laughed. "And I'm not done yet. I'll come after all of you. I'll kill you one by one, but first, I'll make you watch your Larissa die a slow and painful death."
I stepped forward as all my anger began to pour out. "It won't be that easy, you bastard. Remember, you trained me well. You made me into a killer, but the tables have turned, and I'll come after you. I remember everything you did to me. It's my turn for revenge."
"I made you stronger!" Amon screamed. "You should be thanking me! They'll only use you. I treasured you."
"Like an animal? You made me wear a fucking collar and chain, then kept me in a cage. Oh, I remember, believe me. You tortured me. You never gave me strength, though. That was already inside me. Now, I'll use it against you. I'll watch you die a slow and painful death. I'm coming after you!"
The phone abruptly clicked, and I knew my words had gotten to him. I looked at the three men. "It's my right to go after him for what he did to all of us. He put me in a cage. I became nothing better than a wild animal. He shamed and tortured me. I'll go with you or go alone, but don't even think about going without me."
They were frowning, but I had to say what I had to say.
Caspian looked at his brothers as if silently communicating, then met my gaze again. "We'll need a plan. He has at least two dangerous men working for him. They won't hesitate to shoot first and ask questions later."
"I know."
Ezra didn't look happy. "If you're caught, he'll put you through more torture until you'll be begging him to kill you."
I guessed what he was trying to do, but it wouldn't work. "If you think you're going to scare me, you can't."
"We need to know everything you know about Amon and his men," Jude said. "We'll also need to know your skills."
"She can fight as well as any man," Ezra grudgingly admitted. "And she's good with long sticks. She rapped my muscles more than once."
"But I kissed them and made them better." I purred and saw the spark of desire in his eyes.
There was no time for flirting, I reminded myself, but damn, I was happy to be with my men again.
"You can add bow and arrow and knives to the list. I'm okay with a gun, but I prefer not to use one. I also have good balance and climbing skills." I drew in a sharp breath when I remembered how I'd become adept at that ability. Amon initially kept the beam low, but I would still fall. Every time I did, the lash would strike the back of my bare legs, making them sting and burn. The lash wasn't meant to mark my skin, only to remind me I wasn't good enough.
"Rissa?" Jude asked.
I realized I'd gone to a dark place. "I'm okay." I smiled at him. "Amon taught me well."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ezra was watching me closely as well.
"It's not a matter of wanting, but that I have to see this to the end."
"Then we need a plan," Caspian reiterated. "And we need to know how many men work for Amon."
"As soon as we had a name," Jude began. "I started researching everything I could find on him. I can pull a report together within a few hours, and we can go from there."
"Rissa, go with Jude and see what you two can find."
I glanced at Jude as we walked toward his office. "I'm not that good with computers. I was only mediocre in high school. I'm sure a lot has changed since then."
"That's okay." He grinned. "I'm a genius. I can work a computer forward and backward, and I'm good at hacking into someone else's computer."
"But if you know the password? How hard would it be then?"
He chuckled. "Wouldn't be hard it all. Why, do you know Amon's password?"
"I think so. Sometimes, he would use a laptop when we were in his room together. He had a habit of talking to himself. I don't think he realized he was saying things aloud. He always used the same password."
He stopped and stared at me. "You're kidding."
I shook my head. "If he hasn't changed it, and I'm not sure he would think to do that, and if he hasn't, then yes, I know it."
"You might've just made our job a lot easier."
I hadn't thought I could help Jude, but maybe I had. We went inside his office and sat side by side at his desk. He opened his laptop. I gave him the password, and he immediately entered Amon's account.
"He has a lot of files." He ran the cursor over them, then paused on one. "This one has your name on it." He automatically clicked on it. There were more files. He randomly picked one that said case study number six and opened it.
I froze as I saw a video of myself naked on a metal table. My hands were strapped down. Nadine jabbed the needle into my arm, smiling the whole time. I couldn't move. I couldn't think as I stared at the video that showed some of the torture I went through.
Bernard approached me and placed the pads on either side of my head. As he stepped away from the table, his gaze stayed on my naked body. Amon placed a padded tongue depressor inside my mouth to bite down on. Then Amon flipped a switch, and my body stiffened. I rose off the table.
It was as though I was on the table again. I could feel the electricity going through me. The pain washed over me again and again. I sucked in a breath.
"No more. No more. Please, turn it off."
Jude turned in his chair and took me in his arms, holding me close. "My God, Rissa. I don't know how you survived. It's over now. The bastard will never hurt you again. We'll make sure of that."
When my body stopped trembling, I moved away. "I know we will."
"We can stop here if you want. I can finish this on my own."
I raised my chin and met his gaze. "No, let's get back to work."
"Are you sure you're okay? You look a little pale."
"Yes, I'm sure. I need to do this."
He slowly nodded. "Okay, then."
Jude closed out of the file and began scrolling down them. My gaze landed on a file and I stopped him. "What about his accounts file? He was always complaining about not having enough money. Let's see where he stands financially."
Jude opened the file and began to scroll through it. "He's in deep shit when it comes to money." He scrolled farther down. "He hired mercenaries."
"So, he'll have extra men working for him," I said.
He looked at me. "That's going to change things. If he doesn't run out of money to pay them. If that happens, our work will be done for us."
"No, we're the ones who need to end him."
"Agreed." He continued looking through Amon's finances. "Here's where he bought a recent plane ticket. He owns his own plane, so why buy a ticket? Never mind, the name on the ticket is Nadine."
"That's his sister. She's an evil bitch, just like her brother. She would've sent me back to you in pieces if she had her way. She's the one who put the lashes on my back. He'd been furious about that. He didn't want my skin marked." I grimaced. "He tried to make me believe I already had them, and one of you had beat me. He fucked with my head."
His lips pressed into a thin line before he relaxed again. "Well, it looks as if she's gone back home. That will be one less person we have to deal with right now. Eventually, we'll take care of her, too."
We reviewed more files but found nothing else we could use. It was getting near dinnertime, so we stopped and went to join the other two.
As we sat around the dinner table, we discussed our plans. Some things we discarded immediately, but some of our ideas were sound. After dinner, we moved to the den. Caspian went behind the bar and poured three drinks. When he happened to look at me, I raised an eyebrow. He poured a fourth glass, and I smiled. I'd never really had alcohol except for a taste, but I didn't want to feel left out anymore. I was part of this group.
After we had our drinks, Caspian raised his glass. "Salute."
We echoed the toast.
I brought the glass to my lips. I liked the smoky aroma. I noticed the guys drank theirs at once, so I did the same. My eyes immediately watered as I began to cough and choke. They laughed. I glared at them as soon as I wiped the tears from my eyes.
"That was nasty. How do you drink it?" My throat still burned as Caspian handed me a bottle of water. I quickly gulped some of it down.
"It's an acquired taste," Jude said, handing me a tissue.
"I don't think I would ever acquire a taste for that. It was horrible."
Caspian handed me another glass with something clear and bubbly in it. When I looked at him with a question in my eyes, he continued, "It's only a soda. Sometimes, we use it to mix drinks."
I took a tentative sip and discovered he was right. Much better. There may be some things our little group did that I didn't want to join in with.
"Was that the first time you had alcohol?" Jude asked.
I frowned. "I once tasted beer over at the clubhouse."
Caspian and Jude frowned. Ezra hung his head. When he looked up, everyone was staring at him.
"She wanted a taste. I let her have a sip. She didn't like it. It was no big deal."
"I did beg him," I admitted. "And he's right. I didn't like it."
We joked and teased for a while. I enjoyed feeling as if I'd never left. This was the way it should've been. It was starting to sink in, the more I was around them, this was where I was always meant to be.
After a while, we got back down to business. We finally came up with a plan we could all agree on. We would strike tomorrow night. Finally, I would be utterly free of Amon.
When Caspian suggested we get a good night's sleep, we came to our feet, but I slipped my hand in Jude's. I knew we wouldn't go right to sleep. I think he knew it, too.