23. Isabella

When I wake up,I'm surrounded by darkness.

My head swirls as I try to remember what happened. Then it all comes flooding back.

I fought. Kicked and screamed until someone placed a cloth over my mouth and then everything went silent. I feel groggy, like I got run over by a bus. And then I remember…

Priest.

Oh, God.

Is he alive?

Did they kill him?

I try not to make a sound, the last thing I need is anyone thinking I'm awake. That might mean they'll kill me slowly…

I try to peek around, but I've no idea where I am. It"s dark and I'm sitting on… a comforter?

My blood turns to ice as I hear voices approaching. My hands are tied. My legs too but I'm not tied to anything. I'm also gagged, my jaw aching as I muffle my own sobs. The idea of hopping my way to freedom quickly diminishes as the voices get closer.

"Why not?" I hear a loud bark. "What the fuck is taking so long?"

I wince.

The chills that run through my body just now is nothing compared to the fire in my belly that makes me want to rip his eyeballs out. Leo. I know that voice anywhere.

"They're holding off," the other voice says. "I don't know what else to tell you."

"And that piece of shit, what's his name again?"

"Rueben. Haven't seen or heard from him, probably skipped town with the money."

"He's too stupid to do anything newsworthy. I should've slit his throat when I had the chance."

"What do you want the men to do?"

I close my eyes.

Oh. My. God.

The plot thickens.

But I still don't know how Leo found me.

I shudder to think that he could have known about my existence for some time, but the question remains; how? Nevertheless, I need to get out of here.

"They can keep watch of the compound. I want to know the second the MC moves in, understand?"

"Yes, boss."

Boss?

Since when did Leo become the boss of anything?

Cold shivers run up my spine when I hear a hand on the door handle. It creaks open and then closes but I keep my eyes squeezed shut and try as best I can to keep my breathing at the same level.

I hear the tread of footsteps approaching. "Isabella…" What? The way he says it sends a cold sweat over my body. "Wakey, wakey, my little liar."

My heart thuds so hard in my chest that I'm sure he can hear it.

"I want to know all about what you've been doing since you faked your death that night." He gets closer, so close that I feel the bed dip with his weight. "I want to know everything that you know about that asshole I killed."

Oh, my God. Priest is dead? He's really dead?

I feel his fingers brush up my arm and I try not to flinch. "I know you hear me, pretty little liar. And soon we'll be together again. Just like I planned." Leo's lips press against my cheek. "I'm going to fuck you into submission, my dirty little slut. And if I find out you fucked that asshole before me, I'm going to kill everyone he's ever come into contact with."

Ripples form on my skin as I murmur. Trying my best to make it seem like I'm just having a bad dream.

"Sleep well." He trails a finger down my neck, over one breast and down my torso, cupping my pussy with his hand. "You should've known by now, Isabella, there is no escaping me. No matter where you go, I will find you."

I hear him stand, then walk over toward the door as he opens it and leaves.

I don't even know how I had the strength to keep breathing, much less stay quiet. His touch felt like bugs crawling on my skin. Tears escape my eyes as I try to think fast. Not that it'll matter; I can't get out of this with my hands and feet tied. What if… What if I could get them loose? I glance around. I need to let my eyes adjust to the darkness, so that's what I do…

A few minutes pass, or it could be longer. Leo's promise echoes through me as I dread him coming back because I can't play unconscious forever. At some point, I have to face him.

Anger boils in my blood.

What he did to Priest… I can't even think about it. I can't even imagine a world without him in it, and I meant every single word I said. I love him. If Priest isn't here and Leo did this to him, then I'll kill him. I will fucking kill him. I'll do whatever it takes. I'll pretend to be his dirty little liar slut. I'll let him think that it was my lapse of judgment, that my uncle made me do it, that my family did horrible things — which wouldn't be a lie — and he'll either kill me or forgive me. Death would be a breeze at this point in time, but I'm still holding out that Priest could be okay. That he was just unconscious… Even as I think it, I remember his lifeless body as I was wrenched out of the truck.

I close my eyes.

I can't deal with any more loss. Not this time. This time I'm taking my power back.

I sit back on the bed as best I can. My shoulders ache. My wrists hurt. My legs feel paralyzed. Do I just wait here until that mad man comes back? I guess there's nothing else I can do except wait. It's not like I can go anywhere.

I don't fear him, not anymore. What I do fear is not having Priest in my life. It won't be a life without him in it. That I know without a single shred of doubt.

I must fall asleep somehow, because when I wake, a guard is tugging my gag off and I start to struggle against him. "Hold still," he growls at me.

"Bastard!" I scream at him, unsure what he's going to do and if he really is freeing me.

He rolls me away from him and I feel his hands at my wrists as he cuts the ropes free. Then he leans to my ear. "Come quietly and this will go better than planned. If you try to run, it'll only end badly for you. There's nowhere to go."

"Fuck you!" I spit. If I'm going down, I'm going down with a fight.

He ignores me, pulling the ropes free as he moves to my ankles.

Why is he letting me go?

I stop struggling so he can get rid of the ropes, but I feel like gauging his eyeballs out now that my hands are free. I stare down at my wrists; bloodied and bruised from the ropes. I also realize my shoulder aches. More than aches — it could be fractured from the roll over. My entire body feels like I"ve been run over — which effectively I was — by Leo's van.

"Where are you taking me?" I demand.

He doesn't answer.

"Where?"

He catches my wrists as I kick my legs at him once they're free. "Like I said, I wouldn't try anything. There's nowhere for you to go."

He yanks me by the arm off the bed as I wince in pain. "Ow! You're hurting me!"

He slaps my face. "Shut up!"

I shudder, my whole body rigid as I let him tug me along. We proceed out of the room and down a dark hallway. We seem to be in a house. A large house. Probably Leo's, not that he ever let me come over even though we were engaged.

We get to a large grand staircase and I shrug out of his grip. "You don't have to grip me so hard, asshole!"

He turns and then raises his hand to me as I cringe, waiting for the blow, but it never comes. Instead, I hear a popping sound and I dive out of the way as the dude topples sideways, half of his face blown off by the blast of a gun. I shriek, blood spattering the side of my face as I duck and find myself falling down the stairs on my hands and knees.

When I come to a stop, I look down and see Leo and four guards standing around. One of them puts the gun back into the holster.

My eyes meet Leo's and he smiles. "Isabella." I don't know when his words became so menacing, but he says my name and it feels like nails scraping down a chalkboard.

"Why?" I whisper as he moves closer. "Why are you doing this?"

He holds out one hand to me but I ignore him, getting back to my feet as I wipe the blood from the side of my face with my sweater sleeve.

"So many questions, my little liar."

I shake my head. "Being away from you was the best gift I've ever received. I want you to know that, before we go any further. That being free of you and my father and uncle… It was the best thing that's ever happened to me."

One eyebrow shoots up in surprise. He laughs and I cringe further into myself. I always knew Leo was unpredictable, but this is him unhinged.

"You lived on the streets like a tramp," he scoffs. "But I suppose being a biker's little whore is better than being a whore on the street corner. He's dead, by the way."

Tears spring to my eyes. "You're lying." Please be lying… Please by lying…

"None of that matters now anyway, Isabella. All that matters is you're back where you belong by my side. Ready to take your place as queen."

I shake my head. "I'd rather swallow bullets than be your queen," I spit. "I can't think of anything more repulsive than being with you."

He grips my jaw hard, making me look at him. "Such a smart mouth." His eyes roam my face. He was always a handsome man, but something in his face has changed. Maybe it's the madman in him, but he looks like he's about to go off like a ticking time bomb. "You never did quite know when to be quiet, did you, Isabella?"

Every time he says my name, I want to smack him in the face.

"I hate you," I tell him. "I really fucking hate you."

He laughs again, running a knuckle over my cheek bone. It's nothing like Priest's touch. Everything Priest did was with kindness and love. This man doesn't have one inch of kindness or love inside him. I just don't know why he's keeping me alive. I've nothing to live for if Priest is gone.

"Oh, you'll learn to fucking hate me," he promises. "In fact, I've wondered what to do with you for a while now. Do I sell you to be a concubine in the Middle East, or do I keep you for myself? Locked away like my own personal little slave." He smiles. "The things I have planned for you, my darling. They'll make you scream for me to kill you."

I hold my head up, unwilling to let him see how terrified I am. I have no doubt he's here to make my life a living hell, to make me pay for what I did, but I won't go down without a fight.

"I won't be screaming too loudly," I whisper. "Because there's nothing you can do to me that will make me sell my soul. Nothing. It's not yours and it never will be. It's mine."

He strokes my cheek once more and whispers at my ear, "You say that now, but after I've done passing you around to my men, you'll wonder why you ever ran away from me. If you could only learn to keep that smart little mouth shut."

"You just shot a man who dared touch me," I fire back. "Are you sure you're not mixing your metaphors? Because it seems to me that nobody is allowed to touch me."

He smirks. "Believe nothing that comes out of my mouth, little liar. I am going to fuck you, little girl, make no mistake about that. Then I'm going to make sure it's my name you moan like a fucking whore until I decide what to do to you next."

I swallow hard. "Do your best, pencil dick. I'm not the same girl that left all those months ago. I'll die before I ever scream your name."

He brings his mouth to mine, his hand squeezing my jaw as he kisses me. I try to squirm away, kicking him in the shins but he pulls me against his body and crushes his arm around me so I can't escape. It's disgusting. I practically wretch when he pulls away.

"You'll learn to do as I say, Isabella." He kisses the top of my head. "Trust me, it'll work out better for you if you don't shoot that mouth off, but we both know you can't reign in that temper, can you?"

"Fuck you!" I spit again.

He shoves me back and I stumble, holding onto the banister for support. "If you try to leave this house, you'll be captured and tortured," he tells me. "There is also nowhere for you to go, so it's fruitless trying. You'll join me for dinner in an hour so I suggest you go and clean yourself up." He looks at me with disgust.

"Then what?" I can't even believe the words leave my mouth, but I have to know.

He smiles wickedly. "Then we're going to see your uncle and you can explain to him what the fuck's going on." He holds up a finger. "That's if the motorcycle club you like to hang with don't all get killed by then. I've set a trap, by the way. It was almost too easy, which just goes to show how pathetic bikers with no brain cells are."

I shake my head. "They'll find you, and when they do?—"

"They'll what? Do you think they care about you, Isabella? The only one who did was that asshole that died in the crash. In fact, they'll blame you for his death. They'll want revenge. They'll come after you. So you see, sticking with the devil you know is far better than the devil you don't." He turns his back on me and walks away as I stand there, tears streaming down my face.

He's right.

The club will hate me.

Priest is dead because of me. His club brothers will want me to pay. If it weren't for me then he'd still be here. I slap a hand over my mouth so Leo won't hear my sob.

I don't even try for the door, though if they shot me trying to escape, that may be a comfort to me right now.

Instead I slink down the banister to my ass and bury my face into my knees as I hug myself.

I don't know how. I don't know where. But I'm going to get out of this.

I have to.

It's what Priest would want.