Deception, p.37
Deception, page 37
I freeze, struck by her words.
“I always am,” I say, my voice cracking. “Goodnight, Noel.”
We both know this is more than just goodnight. It’s goodbye. Forever. At least I hope. And I hope the triplets know what they’re doing. If they don’t get her and her family someplace safe, then she’s risking much more than a job. Dad will bury her and her family if he discovers her aiding in my escape. A housemaid has no chance against a tech billionaire.
She remains for a beat and then gives me a clipped nod. “Goodnight and good luck.”
* * *
I stare at my reflection in the foggy mirror. Somehow, I made it through tonight unscathed. Dad must have drunk himself until he passed out. Thank God for small mercies.
Now all I have to do is wait for my guys to show up.
When I exit the bathroom, all relief is sucked from my lungs. Sitting on my bed, clean and dressed in sweats, is my father.
I’m happy I brought my clothes into the bathroom with me. I wrap my arms around my middle, chancing a look at his face to gauge his mood.
“You’re different,” he says in a cold voice. “Since you came back.”
I don’t dare ask how. He doesn’t want an answer or to discuss this. I’m smart enough to keep my mouth firmly shut.
He stands, swaying slightly. “Too ballsy for your own damn good.” His jaw clenches. “Did you fuck them at my birthday party? With my friends and colleagues on the other side of the wall?”
Swallowing hard, I blink back tears and shift on my feet. There’s no right answer here. If I lie, he’ll call me a liar. If I admit that what he’s saying is true, he’ll rage. All I can do is remain quiet. It’s the safest bet right now.
“I asked you a question,” he roars, backhanding me across the face.
Since I was expecting some sort of hit, I manage to recover and not crash to the floor. Holding my stinging cheek, I meet his stare. All the hate for him burns in my eyes. I hope he can feel the fiery heat of it. I hope it hurts.
“I raised you better than this,” he bellows. “To be a lady, not a fucking whore. And look at you!” He shoves me against the wall, smacking me on the neck where Scout bit me. “Spreading your legs for not one prick, but three.”
He grabs my jaw in a painful grip, wrenching my head up to look at him. Tears freely leak down my face. My heart seems to slow to a stop.
This isn’t how this is supposed to go down. He was supposed to get drunk and pass out. I was going to be safe until they rescued me.
“When I caught her fucking him, she looked just like you do now. Guilty!” He spits in my face. “She deserved what I gave her.”
My mind reels at his words as I try to catch up to what he’s saying. “W-what?’
“Speak when you’re spoken to, child!” He drags me by my jaw and then pushes me facedown on my bed. “I don’t have my belt. My hand will have to do.”
A spanking.
I can handle a spanking.
His fingers grab the material of my sleep pants, yanking them down along with my underwear. I clench my ass, waiting for the hit.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
The strikes are hard enough I know I’ll bruise from them. More bruises. The story of my life. A sob rips from my throat. I hold on to the comforter, praying for this to all be over soon.
It will be.
A few more hours.
Over and over he smacks me until I feel like I’m going numb. And then it’s over. Whispered apologies and soft caresses. I hate those more. My mind is curling around itself, blocking everything else out, especially him.
I’m not here.
I’m not here.
I’m with them.
Don’t think about the hand or the warm flesh rubbing against my sore ass.
Think about Sparrow and Sully.
And Scout.
Scout. Scout. Scout.
A furry pink cat paw sticks out from beneath the pillow.
“There’s a surprise for you, too. In case you need it.”
Did he leave me a phone? To call him in case it got too bad?
Awkward caresses in terrible places make me gag, forcing me to rejoin reality and take note of my body. My pants and underwear are gone. I want him off me. Away from me.
Scout.
I need Scout.
Not hours from now. Right now!
Fumbling under the pillow, I reach for the phone, hoping I can somehow call him without Dad noticing.
He didn’t leave me a phone. He left me something heavy and metal.
When my body is flipped onto my back, I grab hold of the metal. As my legs are wrenched apart, I aim it.
This is going to happen—again. What he first took from me, when I was so fucking young and every time thereafter, was wrong and sick. It’s happening all over again. Like it’s his right to take and take and take.
No.
I scream the word. Over and over and over. A plea. A demand. A warning.
He doesn’t listen.
Squeeze.
The bang is loud, echoing in my ears. It’s effective in stopping all the prodding. I gasp when his body slumps against mine. Warm liquid oozes out of the hole I made in his chest, soaking my own.
A gun.
I have a gun in my hand.
Help me.
I need help.
Deep, soul-crushing sobs begin wracking through me. What did I do? How could I have done it? This is real. I really did this.
“I’m t-tired,” I choke through my tears. “D-Dad, I’m t-tired.”
He’s not saying anything.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
“Read me a story,” I whisper. “Like when I was little.”
So quiet.
So, so quiet.
My teeth start chattering so hard my jaw aches. A chill races down my spine, cooling every vein in my body. I’m so cold. I just want to sleep.
I’m tired.
I’m tired.
“Daddy, read me a bedtime story.” I shake his shoulder. “Dad! Dad, wake up!”
He slides off the bed, falling to the floor with a loud thud. I’m drenched in crimson.
So. Much. Blood.
“Wake up!” I scream, shuddering so bad the bed creaks. “Wake up!”
But he doesn’t.
He’s going to sleep forever.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sparrow
I can’t get her out of my mind.
How stunning she was, wrecked and her supple lips parted as Sully and I took turns fucking her mouth.
“I’m done waiting around,” I grind out. “Let’s do this shit already.”
Our original plan to dig up dirt and expose him was fruitless. We wasted a fucking week on that shit. We all know Alexander Croft isn’t squeaky clean because he abuses his own children, but he is really good at cleaning up trails. I had the best people on it, because I took advantage of any and all Morelli connections I’d made over the years. Even they couldn’t find anything hard to nail him to the wall on.
“I’ll call Ty,” Sully offers, waiting for Scout to tell us to hold back.
Scout’s nostrils flare and then he nods.
Thank fuck.
Ever since we left her at the party and came back to our apartment, we’ve all three been on edge. Our need for her is a living, palpable thing. It’s starting to become maddening.
After tonight, she’ll always be with us.
No one, not even her billionaire daddy, will stand in our way.
“Do you think Ty has left the party yet?” Sully asks, fishing his phone from his pocket.
Scout holds up a hand, his brows pinching as he reads something on his own phone. The next second he’s on his feet and jabbing a finger at the front door.
“We have to go. Now!”
Sully jumps into action, shoving his feet into his shoes, and then we’re out the door. As we make it into the elevator, Sully and I shoot Scout a questioning look. His expression is thunderous, the rage beneath the surface a violent tornado waiting to be unleashed.
“He hurt her?” I guess, unable to keep my own fury at bay.
“When doesn’t he hurt her?” Scout seethes. “She called Ty.”
An explosion of jealousy detonates inside me. I want to demand to know why she called him instead of us, but Scout is already powering forward.
“From Alexander’s phone. Ty’s number was saved on there and she didn’t have ours memorized.” His words cool my blood a bit. He continues, his eyes flickering with malevolence. “Ty said she was crying so hard he couldn’t even understand her. She kept asking for us. He’s still at the party, stuck schmoozing with his family.”
Alexander hurt her.
Or worse, raped her.
Even though Landry didn’t tell us what happened before with her father, Scout did this week while she was away from us. Retold every horrifying detail that she told him. It’s unfathomable to me how you could do that to your own daughter.
If I find out we sent her back to that monster and he managed to get his hands on her again like that, I will burn his entire empire to the ground. I’ll kill him myself with my two bare hands.
The drive to her building is a blur. My car is the fastest and I take every street, pushing the speed limits of my car. We make it to her place in record speed, but it feels like every second is flying by.
We need to get to her.
I can’t explain the overwhelming sense that something is deeply wrong.
All carefully laid out plans are thrown out the window as desperation sets in. We’re being reckless, but it doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is her safety.
For someone with a bum leg, Scout takes the lead, damn near sprinting through the lobby. The elevator ride is pure torture. When it finally dings to deposit us onto her floor, we clamber out, the three of us on a mission to get our girl.
The front door is locked. It takes a few hard kicks until something cracks. I’m able to shove the door with my shoulder until it finally breaks loose. Once inside, we split off. Sully says he’s going to look for Della while I follow Scout through the apartment toward the sounds of her crying.
We step into her bedroom and the coppery scent of blood floods my nostrils. The hairs on my arms stand on end. Lying on the bed, with a phone clutched in her tight grip, is Landry.
Bloody, sobbing, shaking Landry.
I start for her, but Scout grabs my bicep. I’m about to shove him away when I notice the gun beside her. Scout’s gun.
Fuck.
We knew it might come to this. It was supposed to be a last resort, and we weren’t even sure if she’d actually use it. But here we are and our strong girl did what she had to do to protect herself.
“Hey, baby,” I croon, despite the rage at her father threatening to consume me. “Are you okay?”
She flinches at my words, her blue eyes finding and snagging my own. “I shot him.” Her face crumples as it sinks in. “Oh my God.”
Scout inches toward her and holds out his hand. “Let me hold that for you, prickly princess.”
“I’m going to go to jail.” Her bottom lip wobbles. “What will happen to Della?”
“You’re not going to jail,” I assure her, my voice hard and steely. I’ll drive her ass to Mexico and smuggle her over the border before I let that happen. “Give Scout the gun.”
She stares at the gun for a long beat, tears steadily streaming down her cheeks, before finally nodding. He takes it from her and begins wiping it with his shirt. As he walks around the side of the bed, I sit beside her and take her bloody hand in mine.
“Look at me, Laundry. You’re going to be okay.”
Scout lets out a small sigh. Our eyes meet. He doesn’t have to say a word. It’s written all over his face. Alexander Croft is dead on the other side of the bed. As much as I want to rejoice because he can’t lay another finger on Landry or her sister, this is a big fucking problem and it’s about to explode in a high-profile way.
“Della? W-where’s Della?” Landry asks, seemingly disoriented. “Did he hurt her?”
“She’s fine. Sully is with her. If she was hurt, he’d have told us by now.”
Satisfied with that answer, she leans into me. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“This. I…he was on me…” Another loud sob. “I was trying to wait for you guys, but I didn’t want it to happen again. I was scared.”
That motherfucker not only hurt her, but he fucking raped her like the pedo-creep he was. Tonight, he probably would have done it again. It’s evident she thought he would. This whole thing is a clusterfuck because Alexander is so fucking clean.
She’ll go down for this. Or, at the very least, be dragged through a public trial and shaming. It’ll be too hurtful for both her and Della. This isn’t fair. Even beyond the grave, Alexander will make her life a living hell. Every dime to his name will be in question when it should rightfully go to her. If only we could figure out—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The roaring sound of Scout unloading the rest of the rounds in the gun has Landry screaming and me pulling her into my arms. Scout stands over the body, the gun still pointed at Alexander even though he’s done shooting.
“What the hell happened?” Sully hollers from somewhere in the apartment.
“Everyone’s okay,” I call back. Then, I turn my attention back to Scout. “What the hell did you do?”
“She was scared,” Scout says, his voice nonchalant like he didn’t just unload into a dead body. “Called us to come get her.”
I frown at him. “Yeah.”
“When we got here,” he continues, staring at Landry with a small frown, “he was attacking her. Trying to rape her.”
“Scout—” I begin to say but get cut off.
“So, I shot him.” He steps over the body and sits on the other side of the bed beside her. “I shot Alexander because he was trying to hurt you.”
She shakes her head. “I shot him.”
“No,” Scout growls, voice hard as steel. “I shot him. Once I got him off you, I rolled him over to make sure he was dead. Thought he was still breathing, so I shot him until I was sure he was gone.”
“What the fuck, Scout?” I demand.
“It’s what happened.” He leans over and kisses Landry’s cheek. “Landry’s just confused. Help her remember.”
Fuck.
He’s really going with this.
“Scout…”
“Sparrow.”
Scout levels me with an unwavering glare. He’s already made his mind up.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” I mutter under my breath.
“And she’ll be fucking safe from any backlash. That’s all that matters.”
* * *
Detective Rodriguez crosses his arms over his chest, studying Scout through narrowed eyes. “So, let’s go over this again. You’re telling me, you shot the victim—”
“He’s not a victim,” Scout snaps. “He’s a rapist and a child abuser.”
“My client has told you his story several times,” Sarah, his attorney, interjects. “Mr. Mannford is cuffed and in your custody. Take him to jail until you people admit that he acted in Landry’s defense. His brothers and the girls can go home to get some sleep. This will all look different in the morning.”
Rodriquez rolls his eyes, jaw clenching. “I just want the truth.”
When I called Leo to tell him that plans drastically changed, he told me to keep Scout quiet until his attorney, Sarah, arrived at the station. Of course, Scout hasn’t shut up. Repeating his truth over and over again until it’s starting to feel real.
“Are the girls okay?” Scout demands, turning his attention to me.
I hold up a picture Sully sent me from the hospital of both Della and Landry. “They’re fine. Just getting examined, but okay.”
Scout relaxes and nods.
“It’s just not adding up,” Detective Rodriguez presses, shaking his head. “None of it. If I had to guess, you were protecting Miss Croft. Which I don’t quite understand. If he really was assaulting her—”
“He. Fucking. Was.” Scout glowers at him. “No ifs.”
“Mr. Mannford,” Sarah warns. “You don’t have to say anything else.”
“Then she would be acting in self-defense,” Detective Rodriguez finishes in exasperation. “It wouldn’t make sense for her boyfriend to say he did it instead.”
“Look, man,” Scout spits out. “I don’t know what to tell you. I fucking shot that piece of shit. I’m not sad about it either. The way I see, I did not only these two girls, but the whole goddamn world a favor.”
“Then I’m going to have to book you,” Detective Rodriguez states with a huff. “With your past criminal record, you’ll have a harder time escaping this than a teenage girl who was acting in self-defense.”
Scout shrugs. “I don’t know what more you need from me. I confessed to this shit and yet here we are. Just let my girl go home with my brothers. She needs a shower and sleep.”
Detective Rodriguez sighs heavily and stands. “All right, then. I guess we’re done here.”
Two unis walk over and assist my cuffed brother to his feet.
“Take care of her,” Scout orders, pinning me with a hard glare. “I’ll come after you if you don’t.”
I want to remind the fucking idiot he’ll be in jail, but they’ve already pulled him out the door before I get the chance.
Detective Rodriguez pins me with a hard stare. “You sure there’s nothing you want to admit to me. Now that your brother’s gone?”
As if I’d ever sell my brother out to the fucking police.
“Nope,” I grind out. “Are Landry and Della free to go home with Sully?”
He ponders this for a moment and then nods. “As long as the hospital clears them, I have no issue with that. She’s eighteen and Della is family. You have my card. Call me if any of your stories change.” He gives me a pointed stare. “Might make things easier on your brother.”
“Got it.”
Scout is taking the brunt of this, and it sucks, but it’s necessary. I understand that. With Della’s mom deceased and now Alexander gone too, she’ll need Landry more than ever. Scout can sit in a jail cell until Sarah manages to get him free, but it would kill Landry being away from Della, even while they sorted it out. I just hope, for everyone’s sake, it doesn’t take long.
