Sweetest Torture (Sweetest Kill Book 2) (5 page)

The chain is only about 6 feet
long. So it gives me a little moving room, but not much. The fact that I have 2
chains on the same leg is really weighing down my one limb. It’s starting to
hurt already. I decide to lay down and try to get some sleep. I have no idea
how long Red is going to keep me here. I haven’t eaten since early this
morning, and between the pain and the hunger I need something to distract me. 

The man comes back moments later,
he has a video camera. He advises me not to speak, he does all the talking. He
tells Dean that he has a week to make contact with his agreement to the demand
for the money and the man. He tells him that if he doesn’t not follow through,
they will not hesitate to kill me. The man with the camera still in hand walks
up to me and kisses me roughly on the lips, aiming the camera so that Dean will
see what he has done. I yank myself away from his grasp. The man turns the
camera off, and crosses the basement. Laughing at my reaction.

I lay back down, wiping my mouth
with the back of hand. I fall asleep quickly and I don’t wake up until I feel
someone kicking my foot.

I slowly open my eyes, whoever is
kicking me isn’t trying to hurt me, but is rather trying to get my attention.

I look up and notice a fairly good
man standing over me. He is dressed in dark blue jeans, with a black polo style
t-shirt. His eyes are dark green and I notice that he is muscular, not Dean Muscle,
but very close to it. He’s the biggest man I have seen since I was taken. Which
worries me until I look at him more closely.

He doesn’t look mean like the other
men all have. In fact, something in his facial features makes me feel like he
is probably not here to hurt me, or scare me.

“You are Olivia, yes?” he asks

I slowly nod my head. I know he
looks nicer than the others, but I still remember the rules. I don’t want to be
hit again.

He crouches down so that he is
nearly sitting on his knees, he reaches his hand out to me to shake “I’m Adam.”

I hesitate, but eventually I take
his hand. Eyeing him speculatively

He notices and laughs lightly “I am
Red’s son, Ashley is my sister.”

I quickly scoot as far back as I
possibly can away from him. The chains rattle against the sudden movement. The
clanking metal is loud and I worry that it will attract attention of other’s
upstairs. I don’t want him near me.

He notices this and frowns. “No,
you don’t have to be afraid of me. I am here to help you.”

I still don’t move. I don’t trust
him. Red and Ashley are the only people who have really tried to hurt me to
this point.

“There are a lot of things you need
to know, none of which I can tell you here.” He pauses and looks towards the
stairs on the other side of the basement. “There is a room upstairs, it’s
barred and it is fitted with a security system so you cannot get out, but I am
going to take you up there. You will have your own bathroom and a comfy bed.”
He moves to begin unbuckling my chains.

“Why would you want to help me? You
guys hate me.”        

“
I
don’t know you, and I
don’t hate you. I will explain everything to you once you are moved but I can’t
let them know that I am giving you any information. You have to trust me, which
is easier for me to say than for you to do. Just try and find a way to do it.
Go to the new room, do what people ask you to do and I will explain what I
can.”

I nod. I don’t really know that I
trust him, but I know that being in any room is better than being in this
basement where anything could happen.

“Are they going to come into my
room?” I don’t ask who I mean specifically, I don’t know who I mean.

He looks at me “I am going to take
charge of you for Red, so no one should be in that room but me.”

He is pulling me gently upstairs.
He stops me pulls me so that he can whisper in my ear “the house is bugged, so
do not let on that we are talking. Just do as I say until we get you into the
room.”

I nod in agreement and his grasp on
my arm tightens as we pass through the hall.

We walk up the stairs. I notice
that there are not many people here anymore. Before when the stocky man brought
me to the basement there were about 10 people as we passed. All standing
against the wall, all looking scary, all looking like they wanted to see me fried
for a crime I apparently committed.

This is the first time I notice
that the building has a home like feel to it. If I weren’t being held against
my will, I might feel soothed by the sounds. Someone is playing classical music
softly in one of the rooms below. There is the smell of fresh bread wafting
through the area.5

. Pictures of family members hang
on the walls. I notice several of Ashley when she was younger, and Adam the man
before me. If I didn’t know any better I would say these were good people. But
I do.

I do know better.

Adam leads me down the hall. The
room he is taking me to is all the way at the end. I notice that the door is
not a typical wooden door. Instead it is metal and heavy, almost like a fire
door. There is a code to get in. Adam nods for me to look away while he enters
it, I hear 4 quick beeps and the sound of acceptance as the door unlocks.

When he pulls me through, I see
there is a large king size bed, with dark red bedding. There is a small couch
towards the corner and a TV with a small stack of DVD’s beside it. Several
paintings hang on the wall. I notice that one is Monet’s Water Lilies. It’s one
of my all-time favorite paintings. Even though it is an oil painting it’s the
entire reason I fell in love with landscaping photography. People tend to
forget the beauty that nature gives us every single day… It’s the first calming
thing I have seen since I entered this hell.

Adam closes the door behind us. I
hear the beep and pop of the door locking and the electronic keypad securing. It’s
terrifying how that sound made me feel. I am trapped. It feels more real to
know there is no getting out that door.

There are thick black iron bars on
the windows. There is no way to open the window. I lean over to look out,
hoping I will see another building that I perhaps missed the first time I
looked out the downstairs windows earlier.

I am disappointed to notice that I
am facing the open field. No buildings. No roads. No other signs of life or
freedom.

“The bathroom is through there.”
Adam grabs my attention, I look at him to see he is pointing to the white door
on the other side of the room. He motions for me to follow him. I do. The
bathroom is large as well. There is a spa style bath similar to the one that
Dean had at the club building. There are several different types of shampoo and
soaps lining the bathtub. The sink which is a beautiful expensive looking
marble, is loaded with makeup and lotions.

“You must keep a lot of women
here.”  I say quietly

“No, you are the first. I bought
all of this in I didn’t know what you would like. I wanted you to be as
comfortable as possible. The dresser is also filled with clothing, I might not
have picked the perfect size, but they should work.”

I shake my head “why are you doing
all of this?” I can feel the tears welling in my eyes. “I just want to go
home.”

He nods in understanding. “I know
you do Olivia, and you will when everything falls into place.”

“What does that even mean? You mean
when Dean pays your father the money he thinks I cost him? Or when Dean gives
up one of his best employees? Dean isn’t going to do that. Which means I am
probably going to end up dead. I am never going to see my niece again. I will
never hug my mom again. I will never hold my baby.” I am sobbing at this point.
I can’t be strong. I can’t pretend my life isn’t over. I’m never going to get
the chance to be a mother. I am never going to watch my niece grow up to be the
beautiful woman I know she is destined to be. I am never going to fall in love
and be loved in returned.

I don’t know which one of those
hurts the most. But combined, the weight of those realizations take my breath.
Suddenly I am gasping, I can’t get enough air. My heart feels like it is
racing, I am sweaty. I feel as if there are a million little pin pricks all over
my skin. I am shaking, spots are forming in the corner of my eyes. Suddenly my
knees give out. I am still gasping. I barely register the feel of Adam sitting
on the floor beside me, rubbing my back, telling me gently that everything is
going to be okay.

I don’t know how much time passes.
I don’t know if I have fallen asleep, or if I have passed out but when I come
to, Adam is still sitting beside me. He’s texting on his phone and he doesn’t
look happy.

When he notices me alert he doesn’t
smile. “You had a panic attack.” He states matter-of-factly. He’s annoyed with
me or maybe himself, it does not really matter.

I have never had one before. I have
felt nervous, I have felt fear, but I think a combination of the last few days
has really just taken its toll on my body.

“Sorry.” I mumble

“You said something before you
started freaking out. You said you would never see your niece again, you said
you would never hug your mom and then you said you would never hold your baby.
But you didn’t say your niece and baby together, do you … do you have a child?”
he asks

“Will that change things?” I retort

“If you have a child that is safe
and sound with a family member….well then no, but if you are… If you are
pregnant then that changes things. Considering that I have looked into you
fairly thoroughly the last few months I think it’s doubtful I would miss a
hospital document of you giving birth… So are you… Pregnant?”

I pause. I watch him for several
moments. I haven’t said the words out loud. Not once. When Dean was telling me
he didn’t believe he could be the father, I knew that if I was pregnant it was
his baby, but the words “I am pregnant.” Have not left my mouth. Should I tell
him? Does it put me into graver danger if I tell him that yes I am in fact
expecting? What if it changes things for the better? What if it means that they
will let me go because I am pregnant? Maybe one of my captors has a soft spot?
I decide to be naïve and optimistic.

“Yes, Adam. I am pregnant.”

“Fuck.” He shouts. He stands up
quickly, storms across the room to the door and enters the code to the door.
Slamming it behind him when he exits.

Optimism just bit me in the fucking
ass.

A week passes.

Adam doesn’t talk to me. He brings
me in a tray of food. Looks at me briefly and then leaves. Slamming the door
behind him.

I watch TV. The movies are all
crime dramas and romances. I find that a little sick in humor. I have a feeling
that these are movies that interest Adam, rather than what he thinks I would
enjoy as for the romance, well just not interested in seeing other people fall
in love. There are several cable stations, but I notice quickly that all news
stations are blocked. I have no idea what the date is. I know it has been
around a week, but I have no idea what the time of day is. I have no idea
exactly how much time has passed.

I cry. More and more each day.
Until one day, several days later I feel like I can’t cry another tear.
Something in me snaps. No one is coming for me, Dean would be here if he knew
where I was. Adam isn’t going to help me. What is crying going to do? I can sit
here and feel sorry for myself, I can feel the emotions of sadness,
hopelessness and despair but what the hell does it fix? No one cares. No one is
going to make me feel better.

I wonder what Jaxon and Josslyn are
doing? I wonder if they know nearly 2 weeks later that I have been kidnapped or
if they think I am just busy with work. Jaxon and I talked nearly every day,
but he knew I was with Dean, maybe he assumes I am closing myself off to be with
him? I wonder what Alexis thought the night when I didn’t leave the club? I
know she would look for me. I know that she would know that I wouldn’t go this
long without talking to her. Would Ryan have stopped her and told her not to
bother looking for me? Would she go to Jaxon and tell him that she has a bad
feeling? Would it even matter? My brother and best friend don’t have the means
nor the knowledge to expect that any of this has happened that I was being held
captive by a crazy mob guy. I don’t even think that Jaxon knew what Ashley’s
family did. He didn’t know they were a crime family, he never would have gone
near her. I would have heard him mention it.

No. Jaxon wouldn’t know I had been
kidnapped.

Later that evening I took a long
bath. When I was done I crawled into bed and turned on a movie.

Adam came in shortly after.
Carrying my dinner on a tray.

“Everyone is out on a job.” The
first words spoken since he asked if I was pregnant days ago.

I say nothing. I just begin eating.

“We can talk.” He adds

I nod, still eating.

“Dean received the video. The first
night you were here. He hasn’t contacted my dad further. I talked my dad into
giving him more time.”

“How do you know he got it?” I ask

“We have a computer guy, he was
able to see when the email was opened and the video was downloaded.”

“The man said that he had a week or
I was dead.” I note

Adam nods

“He’s not going to pay. I think
everyone here is really overestimating the 4 month relationship we had.” I
laugh bitterly

“He loves you.” Adam states

“No. He does not. He has never told
me, and if he did don’t you think he would have already answered Red?”

“Red is a dead man. He’s been on
borrowed time for a while now. That’s why he is desperate to get that money. He
has a huge debt to pay, he tried to sell my nice…
your
niece for money.
Do you know what happened when he found out Ashley was pregnant?” He asks