Chapter 17

17

Jordan

" J ordan?"

The sudden shout of my name snaps me out of my nap.

I must have been dreaming because it sounded like Maddie's voice calling out for me. In reality, I know I'm never going to see her again, or speak to her, or touch her. The crazy bastard is going to torment me until he kills me by accident or gets bored and kills me on purpose.

The camper door flies open and then I'm certain Eli must have put something in the pizza or cupcakes to make me hallucinate.

There's no way Maddie is actually here in this disgusting human trafficking trailer that smells like blood, cum, and death, staring at me strapped down and naked on the table.

"Oh god," hallucination Maddie gasps. Her sad brown eyes blink back tears at the sight of me.

Shit. It's her. It's really her.

And while I'm glad to see her, relieved, a small part of me is…filled with dread because I know that nothing is going to be the same as it was before. For now, I'll try my best to pretend.

"Hey, baby. Miss me?" I joke.

"Jordan...I'm-I'm so sorry," she says as her palm covers her nose and mouth and then begins to break down and sob.

"It's okay. I'm okay. Really. Just, do you want to try and pick these locks?" I lift up my wrists and ankles as high as I can to show her. First thing first, I want to get off this hard, uncomfortable table. "I don't know where he keeps the keys."

"Here." She holds up a small key between her fingers. "I-I have the key."

"Great." How the fuck did she get the keys from Eli? "Let's get the fuck out of here before he comes back."

"I don't think we have to worry too much about hurrying." Maddie rushes over and then squats down to work on my cuffed ankles first, hopefully avoiding any puddles of my piss. Her hands are shaking like leaves as they work the keyhole. The clank of the cuffs falling off is a relief and a terror all at the same time.

God, how will I explain to Maddie what happened, what Eli did to me for hours? Days?

I can't. I won't.

She doesn't have to know.

If she asks why I'm naked, I can make something up like Eli was trying to decide where to cut me open first or something.

I lay my head down on the table as she slips into the booth to free one wrist then leans over to unlock the last one. As soon they fall away, I sit up on the table and Maddie throws her arms around my neck.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry," she repeats in a whisper.

"It's okay, baby. It's not your fault."

"But it is my fault," she says, lifting her head. It breaks my heart to see the tears running down her cheeks. It takes me a moment to remember I can actually lift my arms high enough to wipe them away now that they're free, so I do, even if my limbs tremble from days of non-use.

"Eli...he came here for me."

"He's a sick fuck," I tell her. "This is on him, and only him. Now, let's get the hell out of here."

"Can-can you walk?" Maddie asks. Her eyes dip down to my naked lap and quickly lift back up to my face.

"My legs and arms are pretty numb, but I think I can manage to get them working after a few minutes."

She nods and says, "And your clothes? Where-where are your clothes?"

"Over there." I point to the pile on the counter, a foot or so away from the remaining jar of Maddie's cupcakes. She sees it and pauses a moment before grabbing up the bundle to bring it over to me.

Then, one garment at a time, starting with my boxer briefs, she helps me get dressed.

I feel ridiculous that I need her assistance to put on clothes, something I do every day.

Or something I did every day before I was held hostage by Eli. Thankfully my phone is turned off but still in my jeans. There's even battery left when I turn it on.

Finally, I slide my foot into the second un-tied left boot and then we're ready to go. I stagger a little when I stand on the black plastic covering the floor, so Maddie slips her arm around my waist to steady me as we walk to the door.

I just want to get outside as fast as possible. Being freed only to have Eli come in and hurt Maddie or chain me back up to make her watch him hurt me would be way too cruel. Because I don't really think Eli would hurt Maddie.

There's no one around us in the surrounding woods, not even a nearby road.

"It's a bit of a walk to get to the car," she says. "If I hadn't noticed the worn path in the grass, I would've been looking for hours."

"How the fuck did you find me?" I ask her.

Staring straight ahead as I watch her face, she says, "I shot Eli and made him tell me."

"You shot Eli?" I exclaim.

"Yes."

Holy shit.

"Is he...is he dead?"

I'm not sure if I want him to be dead or alive which is so fucked up.

"He's alive," Maddie says. The sense of relief is confusing as hell. After all, she just saved my ass from where he was holding me hostage, restrained and naked on a table. "I left him back at the apartment. And um, I told him I would make you promise not to kill him."

"What?" I exclaim. "Why would you do that?" I ask her.

Turning to face me, she says, "He wants to die, Jordan. I just don't want it to be you who does it."

Oh fuck.

If Maddie finds out what Eli and I did…she'll never look at me the same. I should want him dead. As long as he's alive, there's a huge risk of losing Maddie.

"So, you're telling me I can't kill the man who kidnapped me and spent days…torturing me?"

"I'm not telling you that you can't kill him. I'm asking you not to. Please ."

"Why?"

She's begging me not to kill the crazy bastard after she shot him, which doesn't make any sense. Until… "What did he do to you, Maddie?" I ask in concern. All this time, I was so focused on how he fucked with me, I thought she would be safe from him thanks to the threat of her father's wrath, and the fact that Eli's obviously in love with her.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Fuck. It must be bad then.

"Why not?" I ask her softly.

"Because I don't want to fucking talk about it!"

"Okay. I'm sorry," I reply.

"Shit. Hold on," she says, turning back to the camper. "We have to burn this hellhole down."

Oh fuck. My DNA is in it along with the dead guy's and Eli's.

"I'll be right back," Maddie replies and then she jogs up the three steps of the camper, disappearing inside.

The next time she opens the door, dark smoke follows her. "Well?"

"I turned on the kitchen burner and threw Eli's clothes on it. When they caught fire, I lit a shirt and tossed it on the booth cushion. Hopefully the rest will catch soon and not burn down the woods."

"Hopefully," I agree. "Should we wait?"

"No. I'll just call and report seeing smoke in the area as soon as we get to the car.

We walk away from the burning camper and are thankfully far enough away to avoid shrapnel when it explodes behind us.

"Jesus. Faster, we need to move faster," I mutter while grabbing Maddie's arm to pull her away. "The flames must have reached the gas tank. Someone will definitely see and report it now."

At least by now my DNA is hopefully burnt up. Good thing Eli removed the dead guy this morning.

Neither Maddie nor I say another word as we keep walking. Finally, her car, the one I helped her buy even though she doesn't have a license, comes into view sitting parked on the shoulder of a highway.

The passenger door is unlocked when I grab the handle and slip inside while Maddie goes to the driver side. I don't trust my feet enough yet to handle pressing pedals.

Once she closes her door and I close mine, she presses the button to lock the doors and we both heave a relieved sigh.

"I'm sorry, Jordan," she says again before she cranks the car and pulls off the shoulder onto the highway.

"Stop apologizing. It's not your fault. You saved me." I don't mention that I feel like a gigantic pussy for having my wife come to my rescue but...yeah, I do. Which reminds me… "We never got married the night we met in Vegas, did we?"

"What?" Maddie glances at me so hard, even the car swerves to the right, the tires touching gravel before returning to the road again.

"Eli said..."

She shakes her head, her long brown hair that looks stiff and greasy like it hasn't been washed in a few days barely swaying. "No, we're not married. I'm sorry that I lied to you, but I-I was desperate to get out of Vegas."

"You were desperate to get out of Vegas, sure, I get that," I tell her. "But once we got to Rockland, you could've told me the truth."

"And then you would've kicked me out! Your mom probably would've had me dragged through the city."

"No, she wouldn't have."

"Josie hates me, Jordan. Especially now, after you went missing…"

"She doesn't hate you, but whatever. Stop using her as an excuse for lying to me."

"Fine. Maybe…I thought at first that maybe you were only with me because of the marriage."

"I wouldn't have kicked you out of the apartment," I tell her honestly. "I was a goner for you the second I woke up on that plane and saw your face. I may not remember much of the night before that...Did you drug me?"

"No, you got drunk and blacked out all on your own."

Right. I do remember being tipsy when I met Maddie in that Caesar's Palace bar. The reason I intended to get drunk was because my last night in Vegas, away from the rest of the Savage Kings, I was going to try to hook up with a guy, to get it out of my system, off my mind, once and for all.

Then Maddie sat down beside me wearing a baseball cap, nearly passing for a guy before she turned her face toward me and smiled.

Clearing my throat, I say, "Okay. What else?"

"What else what?"

"What else did you lie to me about?"

Her fingers tighten on the steering wheel. "So, um, my real name is Madison not Madalyn. Did Eli tell you who my father is?"

"Dante Salvatore or something, an Italian mobster in Vegas, right?"

"Yes. And it's Salvato."

"And Eli works for your father?"

"Yes."

"So, he came here to bring you back to Vegas?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to go back with him?" I ask her.

Sneaking a quick glance at me before her eyes return to the road leading us back to Rockland, she says, "Do you want me to go back to Vegas?"

"No. I want you to stay."

"If I don't go back with Eli, he'll just tell my father where I am, then it won't be up to me. He'll come here and you…he'll probably kill you before I can beg him not to."

I don't know what the hell to say to that. What I want to say is that she's a grown woman, and it's her decision whether she goes back. But I hold my tongue for now.

After being gone a few days, it's odd how normal the apartment building and parking lot look when Maddie pulls up. One of the club's prospects is still lurking, and I told him to go, that everything was fine, which was a huge lie.

I start to think that maybe I'm what's different since our apartment seems exactly the same as it did when I left days ago. Well, other than the asshole sitting against our bedroom wall.

I start to ask Maddie what the hell he's doing in our bedroom when I see the blood seeping from his leg.

"Jesus. You actually shot him!" I know she told me she had, but I still can't believe it.

"She sure, did." The fucker says it as if he doesn't believe it himself but sounds weirdly proud of her. "Good thing I like pain, but now what, Maddie? You two going to make me sit here until I bleed out and die?"

No, that would give him too much time to run his mouth. But the fucker threw my gun in the dumpster and Maddie asked me not to kill him, so I doubt she'll let me have hers. She even said please as if he matters to her or some shit.

"Well, Maddie?" Eli demands.

"I-I don't know yet. Just sit there while I talk to Jordan." She pulls her gun out from her purse and points it at the bastard while I take a seat on the bed, my legs tired from the walk up the steps to the apartment. "And speaking of Jordan, if you ever touch him again in any way I'll unload this gun into you. Do you hear me, Eli?" Maddie warns the dickhead, looking like a complete stranger. A hot stranger, but still.

"Wait. What was that?" I ask her. "What do you mean if he touches me again in any way?"

Eli cackles while Maddie turns to me, giving me sad, puppy dog eyes. "Jordan, I know what he did to you."

"You know what exactly? What bullshit did he tell you?" I ask, getting to my unsteady feet.

"I know about how he's…tortured you, withholding orgasms."

Oh fuck. Oh, I'm definitely killing the son of a bitch now. "He told you? You told her!"

"Even better, I let her watch," Eli replies with a smug grin.

Did he just say watch ?

"What do you mean you let her watch?"

"There was a live video feed," Maddie explains quietly, then bites down on her bottom lip.

"No, there wasn't."

"I installed it while your face was covered by my shirt."

"Oh my god." I sort of remember that, the shirt that smelled like him. Then the things that happened after he removed it. "You saw…you saw what he did to me?" I ask Maddie.

"Yes, and I'm so sorry he put you through all that, Jordan."

Pity. Her voice is full of pity. And she's known this whole time, even when she found me in the camper.

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" I shout at Eli.

"Please don't," Maddie begs, stepping in front of me with her palm on my chest. "It's…it's nothing to be ashamed of, Jordan. It's okay if you…enjoyed it."

"I didn't enjoy it!"

She gives me a look that says she knows I'm lying but won't call me out on it.

As if reading my mind, Eli says, "Oh, baby boy. She knows you liked it. She saw how hard you were. And while there was no audio, I'm sure she could see the word ‘please' on your lips as you begged me to keep going."

"Oh, my fucking god," I mutter as I take a seat on the edge of the bed to bury my face in my hands. I want to die. I want to melt away into the mattress and disappear forever.

"It's okay, Jordan. You didn't have a choice," Maddie whispers from nearby.

"Don't pretend like you didn't enjoy every second," Eli says. Then he adds, "Maddie why don't you tell him what I did to you, so he feels better? Tell him how I made you beg for my tongue and my cock."

"What?" Dropping my hands I get to my feet, looking between them, then our messy, unmade bed. Maddie always makes the bed perfectly. Not to mention the strong scent of rubber and cum in the air. "Maddie? Did he, did he restrain you too?" I search the headboard, the mattress for handcuffs or some sort of rope, but there isn't any.

Eli cackles as if he finds the entire conversation hilarious. "No, I didn't restrain her. All I had to do was ask, and she did whatever I wanted her to do. Maddie, get on your knees so I can fuck your mouth. Maddie, come sit your ass down on my cock and ride it. Maddie, spread your legs wider and let me eat you out again. She really loved that part. It was probably a close tie between tongue fucking and taking her from behind. She moaned my name like it was the best sex of her life. But I'm sure she comes hard like that on your dick too, right?"

"Maddie…" My throat clenches up as I stare at her, silently begging her to tell me he's lying. That every word he's saying is just his way of trying to torment me, and that none of it actually happened.

Wetting her lips, keeping her eyes lowered to the floor, she says, "I made a deal with him." A deal, she says, not a fucking denial.

"What kind of deal?"

"Three nights with him and he would let you go without hurting you."

"Three nights? Three nights with him?" I exclaim, the volume of my voice rising with each word. "You mean…not three times using your body but three whole nights fucking you?"

"Last night was just the second," she says without lifting her eyes to mine.

"Just the second…Jesus, Maddie! What were you thinking?"

She huffs and props her hands on her hips. "I was thinking that I didn't know where you were or what he was going to do to you! The deal was to keep him from hurting you or killing you. It was all for you!"

"All the orgasms you had were for me. Right," I scoff with a roll of my eyes. "And you actually thought that son of a bitch would have kept his word?" I ask her.

"He's got you there," Eli says.

Pointing a finger toward his face, I warn him, "You shut up and stay the fuck out of this."

"Jordan, I'm sorry, okay? I thought…I thought that was the only thing I could do until I got up the nerve to shoot him and demand that he tell me where you were!"

"Why didn't you shoot him the night before last?" I ask her curiously.

"That is a damn good question," Eli agrees with a nod. "You had the gun, the one you stole from your father when you ran away, so why didn't you shoot me the first night, Maddie?"

She chews on her thumbnail and says, "I…I guess I thought I might accidentally kill him and never find out where you were."

"Bullshit!" I yell. "You liked it!" When she won't look at me, I turn to Eli. "She liked it, didn't she?"

"Hell yes, she did. I lost count of how many times she came each night."

Wow. How am I getting more truth from Eli than Maddie about this? All she gives me is half-truths and straight-up lies.

"Did she really come while you were fucking her?" I ask him.

"So many times. Why? She doesn't come on your cock?"

"Not usually."

"Will you two stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Maddie exclaims.

"We're just comparing notes," Eli tells her. "And it looks like I should give Jordan some pointers. Maybe a demonstration would work better."

"Shut up!" I shout at him. To her, I ask, "What the hell Maddie? How could you just let him fuck you over and over again?"

"I was trying to protect you! You have no idea what Eli is capable of doing to you."

"Oh, trust me, I have an idea now. I can't believe you thought he would fuck you then keep his word."

"What other choice did I have?"

"Here's the thing, Maddie. I can handle him. I didn't need you to save me."

"How exactly did you handle him, Jordan? Do you think you were handling him when your dick was in his mouth, and you were begging for more?"

"Unlike you, I didn't have a choice!" I remind her. "I couldn't leave or stop him because I was handcuffed and tied down. You, though, you made a deal with him to willingly let him fuck you! I don't know which is worse, all the lies you've told me or the fact that you could so easily cheat on me. It's like I don't even know who the fuck you are!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I fucked him and I'm sorry that I lied. I hated lying to you, but it was the only way to escape my prison."

"Your prison. Oh, come on."

"My father is a mobster!"

"So?"

"So, he refused to let me leave the casino. I couldn't go to college or have a normal life. I didn't have any friends."

"At least tell the boy why Dante was so protective," Eli interjects, butting in yet again.

"My father has enemies who would kill me to hurt him."

"Which is why it was so stupid for you to run," Eli mutters.

"Nobody knows who I am here. I was confident that Daddy wouldn't publicize my disappearance. And Jordan is a member of a biker club. They're not some pushovers. The Savage Kings carry guns and hurt people who hurt them."

"Yes, baby boy did a terrific job of protecting you from me and the fucking PI human trafficker he brought right to your doorstep. Should we give him a little gold sticker that says so?"

"Fuck you!" I yell at Eli.

"I'd rather fuck you," he replies. "Would you let me fuck you? If it was to keep Maddie safe?"

My anger deflates as I finally realize why Maddie was so quick to let Eli inside of her.

"Thankfully, he doesn't have to ever touch you again," Maddie tells Eli. To me she says, "Maybe it's best if I just go back to Vegas and end this nightmare for you."

No.

I don't say the word, but I think it.

Even after everything we've been through, all the lies and the cheating, I don't want Maddie to go.

"Maddie, sweetheart, do you really think I would have suggested you fuck me if I didn't think you wanted it?" Eli asks her. "Do you think I would've sucked the boy's dick if I didn't know he wanted me to do it? He loved every second. He may not admit it, but I know these things. I bet he wants to fuck me now just to get back at you for doing it first."