Hope Restrained (Estate Series) (16 page)

Xander stood dumbfounded by her words. Already believing her
too beautiful to be real, he couldn’t fathom that there was another woman alive
who looked identical.

Before he could respond, she slipped the clothes from her
body, the moonlight brushing across her form. Each of her injuries was dark
against the smooth expanse of her skin — the wound to her shoulder where
she’d been shot, the bruises that marred her face and chest from where he’d
struck her when they’d fought. It was the perfect disguise, anger and violence
that marked her skin, making it believable that he’d treated her as nothing
more than a whore.

Moving in front of her, he tugged the chain and she fell in
step behind him. Before they reached the dimly lit area around the building he
stopped and turned to look at her over his shoulder. Even vulnerable, she wore
strength — the true heart of a warrior beating within her chest, hungry
for the moment when she’d enjoy letting the blood of her enemies run free from
their bodies.

He approached a side door, turning the handle to find that
the door swung open freely. He tsked at how they’d left the building exposed
and at their arrogance in thinking they were impervious to attack. However,
their carelessness wasn’t unexpected. Very few dared attack any property owned
by The Estate and the authorities were paid to not notice their activities.

Slipping through the doorway, he listened to the silent
interior. The only sound he could hear was the faint rattle of the chain he had
around Hope’s throat and the soft sound of her bare feet stepping in behind
him. They were in a small storage room in the back of the warehouse, one that
didn’t appear to have any person inside for a long time. Cobwebs hung from the
ceiling and you could barely traverse the floor because of the amount of boxes
and other junk that littered the floors. Weaving his way through the maze of
obstacles, he approached an interior door and placed his ear against it to see
if he could hear activity on the other side. There was nothing and he began to
worry that he’d been wrong to think they’d brought the women to this place.

Turning the handle slowly, he pushed against the thick wood,
the hinges creaking in protest at the movement. He closed his eyes against the
putrid smell that assaulted him suddenly and turned to look at Hope before
opening them again. The expression on her face gave away the fact that she knew
all too well that it was the smell of death that permeated the air. Looking
back out into the expansive space he saw cages lined neatly in five rows, some
covered with sheets while others were left open. Other miscellaneous tables and
equipment was also strewn throughout the room.

Leaving the storage room, he kept to the wall as he moved
through the space. Just enough light shown through the musty windows that lined
the top of the building to let him see that the cages were empty. Moving
slowly, they searched the entire building to find that nobody was there.

“Check the cages.” Releasing her chain, he pulled a gun from
its holster to guard the perimeter while Hope walked silently, looking through
the steel traps in the center.

“They’re empty.” She kept moving between the rows, but held
her nose as she approached two covered cages. Pulling the sheet up, she doubled
over coughing. Xander walked over, the smell causing his body to retch as he
moved closer.

“Um, I spoke too soon.” She pointed down into the cages she’d
uncovered and Xander looked down to notice that one held the decomposing body
of a woman and the other held the decomposing body of a man. “It appears our
friends have been here for at least two days. The bodies aren’t too badly
rotted, so it couldn’t have been longer than that.” Hope paced the edges of the
cages, looking in closely. “This one isn’t my sister, so that’s good news I
guess.” Peering closer at the body, she winced. “Holy shit, this woman died a
painful death.”

Xander stepped over to examine the dead woman, not surprised
that it appeared she’d bled out. Blood flooded the interior of the cage, her
naked lower torso covered more thoroughly than the upper part of her body. Every
inch of her skin was marred by bruising or cuts — some healed, but by the
way her body was left after death, some worsened. “Do you recognize her?”

Hope looked up, holding her hand beneath her nose. Moving to
the other side, she peered in to look at the face. “For a second there, I
thought it was the woman who let me in the mansion, but …” She peered closer,
her expression tightening against the stink. “… it’s not her. This woman is
much taller, and her hair is lighter, I think. It’s hard to tell with all the
blood.”

“A woman let you in the mansion?”

Hope looked up from the body and nodded. “Well, ‘let me in’
is probably the wrong way to phrase it. She opened up one of the exterior doors
and I knocked her out and left her outside when I entered the west wing. I
figured I’d be in and out pretty quickly, so by the time she woke up, it wouldn’t
matter if she ran around to tell you what happened, because I’d be long gone by
then.”

Xander blinked, his mind remembering back to the night Hope
had attempted Aaron’s life. “Can you describe her to me?”

She shrugged. “Petite, brown hair, didn’t look at her long
enough to get an eye color. She looked like Maddy somewhat.”

He closed his eyes in recognition of the woman Hope had been
describing. Opening them again, he said, “The decorator? Fuck! You knocked out
our decorator?”

Hope shrugged again. “It gave me access to the building.”

Moving to the second cage, Xander eyed her again before
looking in at the man’s body. Hope moved to his side and asked, “Do you
recognize him as one of yours?”

Xander grimaced. “If he still had a face, I might be able to
tell. However, it appears they didn’t want him to be recognizable when found.” He
peered down at the skull, bits of flesh left behind from where they’d peeled
the skin off entirely. “I’m unsure if they did this before or after he died,
but I assume it was before death.”

“Why?”

“Because that was a parlor trick thought up by Joseph. He was
quite
creative
when it came to
punishment.” Images flashed in Xander’s head; distant and broken memories of a
woman screaming — of a baby crying — and of his father’s body
falling to the ground.

“You people are some sick bastards. We like things much more
short and sweet where I come from. Death is one thing, playing in the remains
is a whole new level of crazy.” Hope moved beside him again, peering down at
the man’s remains. “So, what do we do now?”

Surveying the warehouse again, Xander stepped back when he heard
the faint sound of car doors closing outside the building. “We wait.” He
grabbed her chain, pulling her close to him. “Kneel down at my feet.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re about to have company.” Pulling his gun from
its holster, he aimed it in the direction of the back door. Three men spilled
through, their heads moving on their shoulders as they looked over the
building. Finally spotting Xander, they raised their guns in his direction.

“And who the fuck do we have here?”

Xander remained still. “I need to see Patrick. Go get him
before I kill all three of you and find him myself.”

When the men recognized his voice, they raised their guns
higher, not able to tell exactly where Xander stood due to the shadowed
interior of the building. When they didn’t move fast enough, he shot one in the
head and the other in the stomach, leaving the center man looking at his
friends on the floor. When the man looked back up, Xander stepped into the
small bit of moonlight that streamed in through the window.

“Would you like to join them?” His tone was a warning. Every
man in the network knew that, whereas Aaron was the fastest with a blade,
Xander was the best marksman of The Estate.

“Patrick has nothing to do with our unit.” The man attempted
to lie, but the chopped quality of his words gave away his dishonesty.

Xander smiled. Cocking his gun, he raised it, noting how the
other man immediately stepped back, holding his hands out in front of him in a
defensive position.

“I guess that means I’ll have to find him myself.”

“Wait!” The man dropped his gun to the ground and reached
into his pocket to pull out a phone. He appeared to be fumbling over the
numbers and Xander fired off a warning shot to speed him along.

The man finally put the phone to his ear. “Tell Patrick he’s
needed at the warehouse.” He paused, listening to whatever the person on the
line had to say. “I don’t give a fuck how pissed he’ll be, tell him he needs to
get his ass here now. Xander is here.”

Flicking the phone off, the man replaced it in his pocket
and looked back out into the expanse attempting to see where Xander had stepped
back into shadow.

“Thank you.” One shot fired and the bullet met the man
between the eyes.

“Well, that was rude. He made the call.” Hope spoke
sarcastically behind him.

Xander chuckled, knowing full well that she would have done
the same thing. “The fewer men Patrick has at his disposal — the better.”

~
   
~
   
~

The amount of men that came pouring into the building
through the back storage door wasn’t surprising to Hope. She sat on the cold
floor at Xander’s feet, waiting patiently to see if Xander could convince the
men that he was now on their side. Her body stiffened with rage when the man
who’d held her sister’s chain came walking through the crowd. Xander lowered
his gun, obviously aware that holding it against the amount pointed back at him
was useless.

“Xander.” Patrick walked towards them, hands casually tucked
in his pockets, his voice echoing throughout the large open space. “I’d ask why
you thought I had anything to do with the warehouse, however, given the bitch
who sits at your feet, I’m not surprised you figured it out. I should have
killed her in her cell at the mansion when I had the chance.”

“Thought you had a thing for twins, wouldn’t have worked if
I was dead.” She heard the chain shake softly from Xander tightening his grip. Tugging
it quickly, he caught her off guard, her body left splayed over the floor from
the force of his pull. She looked up at him, her eyes opened wide with fictitious
fear.

With a blank expression, he looked down at her. “Speak
again, whore, and I may just give you to him so that he can play out his
fantasy.” There was no emotion to his voice except for the hint of violence. His
action had been a warning and she knew she’d fucked up by stepping out of
character. Pushing herself from the floor, she brushed off the dirt and
crouched once again face down at his feet.

“I see you got the bitch under control — for the most
part, at least. I imagine that must have been a fun task. It’s a pity I wasn’t
the one who had the privilege of training her.”

Hope’s stomach turned at his words and she wanted nothing
more than to dig his eyes out with her fingers.

“I can’t say it wasn’t enjoyable.”

Even though Xander spoke the words to play a role, she knew
they held truth. She smiled under the curtain of her hair thinking of how much
of a bastard he could be.

“Yes, well, given her outburst, it appears she’s not as
easily trained as her twin.” Patrick’s tone was mocking. The smile slipped from
Hope’s face and rage rattled along her spine.

“Enough small talk. It appears we have a common problem. After
I figured out that you were behind the attempt on Aaron’s life, I came here
hoping we could work out a deal.” Fury dripped from his words and it was
obvious to Hope that Xander was angry at Patrick’s reference to her sister.

Patrick’s sickening laugh sent chills running over Hope’s
skin. “I heard you’d fallen out of Aaron’s good graces. Such a shame. How does
it feel to be the intended target of the executioner’s blade?”

“Cut the shit, Patrick. We both have our reasons to kill
Aaron Carmichael — one, so that I remain breathing and two, so that you
can continue in your …” He turned to gesture towards the cages. “… habits.” He
paused before adding, “I have information that can help you kill Aaron and you
have the resources I’ll need to make that attempt a success.”

Stopping in his tracks, Patrick folded his hands behind his
back, feet set shoulder width apart. Hope peered out from behind her hair,
watching the confrontation unfold. Patrick glanced down at her before returning
his gaze to Xander and asking, “What did you do to piss Aaron off to the point
of demanding your execution?”

“I refused to give up my new toy. I presumed since he has
one, it was only fair that I be allowed my own. Apparently, he didn’t agree.”

Patrick huffed out an indignant breath. “Then we see things
the same way. Many men within the network are angry with the new rules set in
place since Joseph’s death.”

“So, let’s do something about them.”

Patrick stood staring at Xander for a few minutes, the
tension settling around Hope’s body like a suffocating blanket. Finally,
without speaking again, Patrick raised his hand to his men indicating for them
to lower their guns. Hope shoulders sagged with the tiny bit of relief it gave
her.

“We have rules; one being that everything is shared.” Patrick
glanced at Hope again, his vile thoughts written openly in his expression.

Tightening the chain around his hand, Xander responded, “She’s
mine to touch, only. However, if you require a showing …”

Patrick smiled. “That will have to do. We’ll need to leave
here. The women have been moved to another location.

Xander nodded before pulling on Hope’s chain. She stood up,
her naked body exposed to the crowd of men in the room. Xander looked back at
her. Although his face carried no expression, she noticed how his eyes teemed
with fury at what he’d have to do.