Breaking The Silence (Fatally Flawed Book 3) (21 page)

Chapter 2

Mia

              The drive to their compound is chilly and miserable. I’m no mind reader but I’m almost certain Torch sped up after I molded myself to his back to get warm. He had every intention in keeping me as cold as his heart must be, but the joke was on him. After I could no longer feel my fingers I reached up under his shirt, placing them on his chiseled abs. Apparently those arms aren’t the only thing he works out. He never so much as flinched, but I’m sure I heard him say a few choice words, through the stupid helmet he made me wear. What a bunch of night and shinning armors, giving us damsels their helmets.

              I’m still trying to get the knots out of my hair from a mixture of not bathing and that helmet, when the door to the room opens, and in walks an older man, with black hair that is turning grey on the sides. Torch and Taz are not far behind.  As soon as we pulled up to their compound, they herded in through what I assume to be a backdoor, into a hallway that lead to this room. It’s not so bad, a little messy, but the huge king-size bed looks really comfortable. There is a joining bathroom, and a flat screen television mounted on the wall in front of the bed.

              “The name’s Buck,” the older man sticks his hand out toward me, “I’m the president of this club, me and my boys here, need to ask you some questions.” His golden brown eyes, look like they hold years of wisdom and gives me a false sense of trust. My intuition is telling me he is legit, but my gut also told me to take out that trash by myself.

              “You can ask all the questions you want, that doesn’t mean you’ll get any answers.” I reply back, not taking his offered hand.

              “Damn. Torch you weren’t kidding with this one. Spitfire suits her perfectly.” Buck jokes, with laughter in his voice.

              “Oh really, Romeo, told you all about me.?” I question with fake sweetness in my voice. “Well did he also tell you that I beat the shit out of my last captor. We have no intention on answering any of your damn questions until you do something for us.”

              Buck starts rubbing his chin with his left index finger, clearly thinking about his next move. “Alright I’ll bite, what do you want?”

              “Food for my girls, clothes, and a shower without anyone peeping in on us. I think we can all agree we’ve had enough of that shit.”

              “Done. After you have showered, changed, and eaten you will answer my questions, is that clear?” Buck says, in a commanding voice. Now I know why he runs this club, hell, he has me wanting to salute him as he exits the room.

              “We will bring you ladies some sandwiches and drinks.” Taz says.

              “There are other showers down the hall that Taz can bring you three to. Mia is going to stay here, and let me take a look at her ribs.” Torch orders while walking toward me.

              “I don’t think so buddy! We will all stay in this room together, no one is taking them anywhere. Now if you don’t mind, you can get the hell out of here, while we wash the stench off ourselves.” My reply has him stopping suddenly, putting his hands through his short brown hair.

              “Must you fight me on every turn, Woman. I’m just trying to help you.” He starts rambling, “This is my room for crying out loud.” He pauses for a split second, that damn dimple reappearing. “Alright let’s go, we can lock the door to this room, I’m the only one with a key. I’ll just have to take you to Taz’s room.”

              “In your dreams lover boy, I’m not going anywhere alone with someone nicknamed Torch.” He charges forward, causing me to flinch the slightest bit, and he notices. His voice gets lower. Almost like he is trying to talk a suicidal man down from a bridge. “No one will hurt you or your girls, you have my word. Be smart, Mia. We both know you’re not going to be much use to them if you don’t allow me to look at your ribs.”

              His words have their desired effect on me, I look to Rebecca nodding my head, letting her know she is to be the strong one in my absence. Sammy and Scarlett need that. “We’ll be fine Mia, please don’t worry.” Sammy offers, seeing the look I give Rebecca.

              Walking down the same hall, we entered the building through, we go into the last room on the right. This room looks bigger without a massive bed taking up most the space. It’s not dirty at all, almost too clean. I’m not a messy person, but I’m also not a total clean freak. Taz must have OCD, everything literally has a spot, nothing just lying out in the open. Torch opens the bathroom door, looking at me expectantly, keeping the door held open for me. I walk through, my senses on full alert, having been in this situation a time or two. I trust very few people, and not a single one of them on that short list has ever been a male. You can’t trust a species that thinks only with their dicks, it will only cause pain and heartache.

              “You can relax, Spitfire, your completely safe with me.” He whispers, looking down at me.

              “Let’s just get this over with, Romeo, I need to get back to Sammy and Scarlett.”

              “Pull up your nightie, so I can see how bad the bruising is.” He commands, his hands lying still at his sides. I do as he ask once again, it’s not like this damn teddy is leaving anything to the imagination. I have on a bra and thong underneath it, but they are too small for me, showing off more of my C cups then it should. He moves his hand slowly to my side, carefully grazing his fingers over my sensitive skin. The bruise is the size of a grapefruit, and is already blue in color. “Can you take a deep breath?” I suck in as much air as I can, but it sends a sharp pain through my ribs, causing me to let out on a whimper. “I don’t think they are broken, most likely fractured, which still hurts like a bitch. I should go back there and put another hole in that’s bastard’s skull.”

              “You’re not fooling anyone.” I mumble, “if you weren’t evil like them, why in the hell did they try to barter with you, using us as your prize?”

              “Let’s get one thing straight, Mia. We’re nothing like those animals. That was a business deal that went wrong. We had no idea they were into human trafficking.”

              “Say I believe you, why would you hold us here? Instead of letting us go.” I reply back, missing his hand that’s no longer on my side.             

              “That is club business, none of your concern. Now get in the shower and I’ll bring you back some clothes and pain medication.”

              Shaking my head at his demand, I pull the nighty up and over my head, fully expecting him to do what any other man would do, try to take advantage. He surprises me when he mumbles under his breath, before turning around and leaving the bathroom. I’m left standing by myself, completely dumb founded by his response.

              A few minutes later, while I’m soaping up my hair, I hear the door open again. I instantly know it’s Torch, because all the oxygen seems to get sucked out of the room whenever he is near. “You know you shouldn’t be ashamed of who you are.” I state, “I actually think it makes you more likeable, and it makes complete sense, all the hot ones are gay.”

              “What the fuck are you talking about?” He yells over the sound of the water, “I don’t fuck dudes.” 

              “You don’t have to worry about it Romeo, your secret is safe with me.” I declare, popping my head out of the shower curtain.

              “What in the hell gave you the impression I suck dick, Woman?” He asks, with a scowl on his handsome face. 

              “You walked away from a half-naked woman. I don’t mean to beep my own horn but I’m not ugly. Most guys love my body.”

              “Just because I didn’t jump your bones you think I play butt darts in the dark with guys. I walked away so I wouldn’t make you uncomfortable, but I can rectify this situation. Move over, I’m showering with you.” He starts to walk toward the shower, raising his shirt, showing me a glimpse of that perfect body.

              “No…No…NO! Alright I believe you. Just take a step back, Romeo. This shower is only big enough for one.” I regret it almost instantly. I should have let him at least get his shirt off all the way. 

              “You just turned me down, which could mean only one thing. You must like the taste of pussy.” He says turning his back to me, but not before I catch a glimpse of that sexy dimple.

Chapter 3

Torch

              We bring the girls into Buck’s office. It’s at the end of the club house, so they had to walk through the main party space. Being it is only a Wednesday night, the activities going on are not as bad as they will be on Friday and Saturday. There are still a couple of club whores hanging around, trying to find a warm bed to sleep in tonight. Just as we’re walking through, one of the whores I have fucked on occasion walks up to me, “I’m glad your back, Torch. How about we go catch up in your room?”

              “I’m busy.” I say, not stopping to talk. She knows if I needed her I would’ve found her.

              “Oh I see, well from the looks of your little group, you should bathe in rubbing alcohol afterward.” She sneers, just as Mia is walking by her. I move to get in between the two girls, before the shit can hit the fan. We really don’t have time for this, but part of me wants to see if Spitfire would rip this bitch in two.

              “That’s enough, you need to leave Mandi. Go home to your kids.”

              “What? Your kicking me out. I’ve been here for years, Torch. These bitches look like they just came off the streets.” She tries to plea her case, while staring at Mia.

              “You’ve got to be kidding me. Now I see why you are playing for the other team. With pathetic whores like her walking around.” Mia speaks up, trying to step around me, going after Mandi. She looks fierce with her long black hair, and dark brown eyes. “Listen skank, you keep talking shit and I’m going to yank you by your hair and throw you out myself.”  

              “Torch you’re going to let her talk to me like that?” Mandi questions in a whinny voice.

              “Leave Mandi, I’ll see you on Friday.” I command as I pull Mia behind me, while making sure the other girls are following me as well. When I finally enter Buck’s office, I hear everyone laughing while discussing cat fights. They must’ve been watching everything from the large glass wall that allows Buck to keep a watchful eye on everyone. By the press of a button the glass becomes a one-way mirror. It was a lot of money, but worth every dime.

              I lead the group of girls to the empty chairs across the desk from my brothers. Mia chooses to sit in the middle between the blonde, with the green eyes, and the youngest one of the group according to Carlos. They all look terrified, watching every movement we make.

              “No need to be nervous ladies,” Buck offers leaning further back in his seat, “we just want to ask a few questions then Torch will show you to the rooms you’ll be staying in.”

              I see the red head look at Mia, desperately, making my fury grow. There is no telling what happened while they were with Carlos. He was a new client of ours, from Mexico, who bought guns from us. We went into this deal expecting everything to go smoothly. When he brought out these girls, blindfolded and bound, I knew the shit was about to go down. The youngest one reminds me of my sister, that just turned sixteen, and just thinking about what was probably done to her makes my blood boil with rage. 

              “Let’s start with names, as you know I’m Buck.” He then turns his head looking at every one of the members standing around, silently telling us to introduce ourselves.

              “You ladies already know me as Taz.”

              “We haven’t met yet. I’m Saint, the prettiest one of the group.”

              They all look to me waiting for me to introduce myself, “Torch.”

              Buck clears his throat, then looks to the girls. With a grunt of irritation. Mia looks up at us. “I don’t see how this is important, if we are your prisoners, our names are irrelevant.”

              “Who said anything about prisoners? You’re not being held captive woman.” I explain to Mia. The disgust, I feel toward the allegation, present in my voice.

              “I’m glad to hear that. We’ll just be on our way then. Thanks for the food and shower.” Mia stands up, but before she can take a step toward the door, I’m in her face. Our bodies so close, if she were to take a deep breath we would be touching.

              “Sit back down and answer our questions like you agreed to do.” I command, hoping like hell she argues back. I would love nothing more than to have to take her over my knee to get the answers I want.

              She must see the unspoken promise in my eyes, because she does as she was told and sits down, “I’m Mia.” She offers with a slight trimmer in her voice. I walk back over to my spot with the guys, hoping like hell this doesn’t take all night.

              “Rebecca.” The brunette says, looking at me with curiosity in her light blue eyes. They probably see me just as they did Carlos and his buddy, but right now we need answers so I’m fine with playing the bad guy.

              The blonde, with grey eyes is the next to speak up. She says her name is Sammy. She looks young, just a few years older than the red head that’s name is Scarlett. Rebecca finally peers over at the rest of the group, convinced I’m no longer a threat. Mia still hasn’t looked my way since our little exchange.

              “Ask your questions, so we can be on our way.” Mia speaks up.

              “Do you know where you were being held?” Taz asks.

              “I heard them say something about Puebla, many times when they would talk to one another.” Rebecca answers. Mia looks over at Rebecca, giving her a slight nod of her head.

              “I can speak some Spanish, so I would listen in sometimes. That’s how we knew we were going to be traded for guns, before we were thrown in that van.”

              “How many men were there at any given time?” Buck questions, now leaning over with his elbows on his desk.

              “Two sometimes three. Vienna was the one we usually dealt with. That sick bastard loved to remind us he was the sole reason we were still alive.” Mia says.

              “Do any of you know how long you were there?” I reply, trying to put a timeline together.

              “To the best of my memory I was there for a month. Give or take a few days. Sammy and Rebecca were there about two weeks before that. Scarlett was the first to be abducted.” Mia responds with finality, making me realize just how hard this is on her.

              “Do we need to worry about anyone that could be looking for you?” Buck asks.

              “If you mean family, no. It’s really none of your business but we all grew up in group homes.”

              “No one is judging you, believe it or not, we just want to help.” I say to her, guilt eating at me for the shit life they’ve lead. My life hasn’t been all rainbows and lucky charms, but I did have a family growing up, and I have my brothers now. These girls only have one another, and it took being kidnapped and tortured to find that.

              “It’s been a long day, if you don’t mind we would like to be shown to our rooms now, that is unless you are going to let us go.” Mia says. 

              “I’m sorry, Mia, but it’s too risky to let you go right now. Those men that took you have more friends than you may realize, not to mention the cops would want to know how we found you. We’re nothing like them assholes, but we are not exactly law abiding citizens.” Buck declares to her.

              “Mia he’s right, we have nowhere else to go, no one else to keep us safe from Carlos’ family.” Scarlett says. I don’t think she realizes the mistake she just made. None of these girls have said the name of their capture. I’m positive it’s because they didn’t know it. How is it the youngest of the group, that also was there before anyone else, know that information? My gut is telling me that’s not the only thing Scarlett is hiding.