Secret Love (Love Stings Series Book 2) (17 page)

I delete the voicemails without listening to them. My mom and brother accusing me of being a whore is the last thing that I want to hear right now. They’ll show up since I’m not answering, so I need to be gone. Quickly, I throw on my tennis shoes and grab my purse.

Once I’m in my car, I don’t know where to go. I don’t want to go to Damien. He’d get upset for me, and I don’t want him thinking negatively about my dad. I don’t want to go to Abby and Ben’s. Maybe I’ll go to Taylor’s. I shoot her a quick text and drive toward her home, but I get a text from Damien asking me to come to the club. I text Taylor and tell her sorry, that I have to go to the club.

It’s probably a good thing I’m heading to the club so I can tell them I’m not dancing.

Chapter Nineteen

Damien

My head lulls to the side, and I can barely hold it up. The cobwebs can’t seem to clear. Where the fuck am I? I try to move my arms, but they’re weighted down. My head tilts forward, and I can see that they’re tied to the arm of the chair. As my adrenaline kicks in, the details about how I got here comes back to me.

When I stepped inside, the place was extremely quiet. I moved through the club and back toward Rafe’s office. After knocking once, I went inside and found the usual suspects.

“Come in and have a seat, Damien. We’ve got some things to discuss.”

I grabbed a seat next to Bridgette.

“Damien, we had a visitor earlier that might interest you, a Jackson Travis. You remember him. He’s the man who attacked Carrington.” My hackles had risen because something was not right. I kept my face emotionless. “He brought us a peace offering.” Rafe got up from behind his desk and walked around it. He was holding a folder in his hand. “Imagine our surprise when he showed us this.” Rafe held a picture in front of me of my ID for the DEA. “We trusted you, and now you’re going to pay.” A fist connected with my temple, and everything went dark.

I’m fully alert now and see that I’m in one of the private rooms. Tucker comes in a minute later. I jerk in my chair. I’d recognize that red hair anywhere. I’m gagged, but I scream out. Tucker ignores me. He lays Carrington’s unconscious body on the sofa and stands in front of me.

“All I had to do was text her from your phone and she delivered herself right to us. We’ve got lots of fun stuff planned for the two of you, fucking traitor…Pig!”

He punches me right in the face. My head swims, but I breathe through it. I try to talk to him through my gag, and he slips it down.

“Let her go, Tucker. She’s not involved in any of this. Don’t punish her because of me. Please, she’s innocent in all of this. She doesn’t even know who I am.” He puts the gag back in my mouth.

“We know she is, but we have plans for her while you watch, and it’s part of your punishment.”

Tucker hangs something from the ceiling and walks back over to Carrington. He slaps her cheek until I watch her jerk awake. I watch helplessly as she realizes something is very wrong.

“Tucker? What’s going on?” Her voice sounds tearful.

“Sorry, sweetheart, it’s nothing personal.” She fights him as he picks her up like she weighs nothing.

The moment Carrington sees me, she goes ballistic. She slips out of Tucker’s grip and runs to me. “Baby, what happened? What did they do to you?” Tucker grabs her and pulls her away from me.

I try to call out to her, but I know she can’t understand me. A minute later, Tucker has her arms shackled above her head twenty feet from me. “Please don’t do this. Leave us alone.” She’s crying in earnest now, and I struggle against my restraints.

“Sweet, sweet, Carrington. We’re going to have so much fun today. Hang tight.”

He laughs as he walks out of the room. The sound of the door locking echoes through the room, and I work the gag partially out of my mouth.

“D-Damien, what’s happening? Why are they doing this?” Her arms are stretched high above her, but at least her feet are touching the ground.

“Baby, listen to me, okay? I’m going to try and get us out of here, but I need you to do what I say,” I say to her after I work the gag out of my mouth.

“But why are they doing this? What did we do?”

“It’s not you, baby. They’re doing this because of me. I lied about who I am. I lied to you, and I lied to them.” I take a deep breath. My stomach turns. “Baby, I’m with the DEA. I was working here undercover, and that motherfucker, Travis, somehow found out and told them. I’m so fucking sorry.”

She doesn’t say anything. Her cries say it all. I want nothing more than to hold her, but I can’t fucking move.

I’m not sure how much time passes, but I hear the lock disengage, and the door swings open. Rafe, Bridgette, and Tucker come walking in. I take a blow to the face from both Rafe and Tucker, but I don’t feel it because I’m watching Bridgette walk slowly around Carrington.

“P-Please l-let me go. I-I didn’t do anything. Bridgette, please.” My girl sounds so broken right now, it’s killing me.

“Sweet, little Carrington. We can’t do that, and Damien…or, I’m sorry, David needs to pay for what he’s done, and unfortunately for you, you’re part of his payment.”

I struggle against my bindings as Bridgette pulls out a large knife. Carrington cries as Bridgette cuts her sweatshirt and yoga pants off, leaving my girl in her bra and panties. “Oh baby, you have such a beautiful body.” Bridgette drags her hand over Carrington’s stomach and then up to her bra-covered breasts.

“Stop touching her, bitch!” I yell. I feel a hand grip my hair, wrenching my head back. A fist hits my stomach, causing me to wheeze and gag.

Rafe gets in my face. “You shut the fuck up. This is all on you. You tried to weasel your way into our operation so you could gather information to have us shut down. I trusted you.” He punches me in the stomach and then in the face.

“Please stop hitting him!” Carrington pleads.

“Oh, she wants me to stop hitting you, Damien. Maybe I’ll just go over there to Carrington.”

I jerk harder against my bindings while Rafe moves to stand right behind Carrington. He winds his arm around her and palms her breasts. Carrington tries to fight him off, but he’s too strong.

“I’ve been dying to get my hands on you.” Rafe bites her earlobe, and I want to fucking kill him for touching her.

Tucker’s arms are wrapped around Bridgette, and he’s kissing on her neck. My eyes move back to Rafe and Carrington. Rafe gives me a smile that makes my stomach turn. Rafe hits Carrington with his elbow right in the stomach. Carrington cries out and gasps for air.

“Motherfucker!”

I throw my chair to the side try to break it, my eyes never leaving Carrington as Rafe grabs her hair and pulls her head back. She coughs and spits while still gasping for air. Bridgette leans forward, dragging her tongue up Carrington’s neck.

“I’m sorry,” I mouth to her as I watch the tears slide down her cheeks.

The three of them aren’t paying attention to me. I wiggle a little in my seat and feel one of my bindings loosen a little. “Get the fuck off of her.” Tucker and Rafe come over and pull me up off of the floor. “If you’re going to kill me, just fucking do it already. Let her go.” I hold perfectly still so they can’t see that my left hand can move a bit.

***

At least four hours have gone by since this ordeal started. I was hoping they’d have to move us due to the club opening, but apparently they’ve shut the bar down for tonight, just for us. I’ve loosened the rope a bit more, but my arm is sore as fuck. Carrington’s arms are still above her head. Her cries come and go, and they ignored her pleas to use the bathroom so she ended up going right there on the floor. The look of humiliation on her face recharged my motivation to try and get the rope loose.

“Baby? How are you doing, Carrington? I’m going to get us out of here.”

Her head is hanging forward, and she’s not really responding to me. I’m not sure if it’s because she’s mad at me or because she’s zoned out. I honestly hope she’s zoned out. It’ll help her deal with everything for the time being.

“I want to go home.” Her voice is so quiet that I can barely hear her. “Please just let me go home. I don’t want to die.”

Her words break my heart. I start working on the rope again, this time a lot harder. The sound of me sawing on the rope with a tiny piece of metal sticking out of the chair echoes in the room loudly, or at least to me it sounds loud.

I feel it give a bit more. If I could, I’d give a happy shout, but I don’t. The door opens and Bridgette walks in; grabbing a chair so it’s in front of me, she sits down, crossing one leg over the other. We stare at each other, neither looking away. I have no clue why they sent her.

“You know, David. You’re a very good actor. We were all fooled. I’ve always prided myself on the ability to read people, but you fooled me. When I brought Rafe and Tucker on, I knew they were special, and I was right. They’d been running and dealing for two years and never got caught. When I decided to expand the business, they were wonderful assets.”

She’s the boss. Sonofabitch. They were good about keeping it a secret, that’s for sure.

I’m not saying shit to her. I want her gone so I can work on the rope some more. Bridgette looks behind her at Carrington and then back at me.

“What do you think we should do with her? I’d like to take her home and keep her. Rafe said that he’d love to keep her. Who do you think she’d like to be with more?”

She stands up and moves behind her chair and leans forward, kissing Carrington’s cheek. “I’ll be back.”

As soon as she’s gone, I start furiously working on the rope. I feel the exact moment that the rope gives way enough for me to slide my hand out. With quick movements, I get the other rope undone and then work on my legs. My body protests when I stand up, but I ignore it. When I reach Carrington, I undo the restraints around her wrists.

“Baby, I’m going to help you put your arms down. I’m not going to lie, it’s going to hurt, but try not to make any noise.”

“O-Okay.” As I lower her arms, she bites her lip as she moans. She sounds like a wounded animal. I try to rub her shoulders and arms for her to help get the blood flow going.

“I’m fine,” she tells me.

As I move toward the door, I don’t hear anything. The idiots have phones in the rooms, so I make my way toward it and dial 9-1-1. I give them my badge number and the information I have.

I slip my jacket onto Carrington since she’s just wearing a bra and panties and her panties are wet.

“We’re going to try and sneak out the back, okay?” I whisper. She nods her head and then reaches up, touching my eye that I can’t see out of. I kiss her hand, and tell her, “I’m okay.” I slide my hands into her hair and kiss her lips. “I’m going to make this right.”

With her hand in mine, Carrington and I move toward the door. I test the door, and it’s locked.

“Okay, baby. This is what we’re going to do.”

I tell her my plan and hopefully, by the time shit goes down, backup will here.

Chapter Twenty

Carrington

Damien, or David, hands me a leg of one of the metal chairs and moves me so I’ll be behind the door when it opens. He grabs his own chair, and then we wait. My whole body trembles as I hold my makeshift weapon and wait for the signal to go. I just want to go home and shower all of the yuck off of me. I feel disgusting. Just the thought of any of them touching me again makes my stomach turn violently.

My thoughts are all over the place while we wait for someone to come back. Once this is over, I just want to move on and forget this chapter of my life ever happened. My relationship is ruined with my dad. Damien lied to me about everything, and I knew something was wrong with Bridgette. I just wasn’t expecting her to be the big boss of everything.

With my forehead resting against the wall, I take some deep breaths. I can feel Damien’s eyes on me, but I don’t look. I can’t. I’m so hurt and tired, and I’m mentally done. I have just enough fight in me to help get us out of here.

I hear a noise in the hall. Damien nods at me, and I hold my chair leg up, ready to swing it.

The lock disengages, and the door slowly opens. Tucker steps into the room, and I watch as Damien swings his chair at him, taking him down with one shot. Damien grabs my hand, and we move quickly. We run out into the hall, heading in the direction of the back door. I hear the unmistakable click of a gun behind us. We both turn to find Bridgette and Rafe standing there. Rafe looks really mad.

“You better hope that Tucker wakes up,” he growls at us.

Damien moves so he’s in front of me. My body is trembling so bad that my teeth are chattering. I move closer to his back, burying my face in his shirt, trying to take comfort in the warmth of his skin and his familiar scent.

“He’ll wake up. He just took a blow to the head, but not hard enough to kill,” Damien says. We keep inching backward toward the door. All I want to do right now is make a run for it, but that’ll just get me shot. “Why don’t we let Carrington go, and you can do whatever you want to me.”

“Oh, we’re going to do whatever we want with you whether she’s here or not. Better yet, Carrington, come here.” Neither of us moves. “Maybe if I put a bullet in him, you’ll move.”

My body tenses. I don’t want Damien getting hurt because of me. I step around him, but Damien wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me toward his chest. “Let her go, Pig.”

Rafe fires the gun, aiming at the floor by Damien’s feet.

I scream and jump. Tucker comes stumbling out of the room and lunges for Damien. He knocks into me, and I go flying backward as Tucker and Damien hit the floor. Bridgette stalks over and, with a firm grip in my hair, pulls me up off of the floor and drags me with her over to Rafe. She thrusts me toward Rafe.

“Get her out of here.” Rafe grabs me in a punishing grip and starts dragging me toward the front of the club. I fight him with everything I have.

We’re almost halfway through the club when chaos ensues. The club is immediately filled with smoke, and there’s a lot of shouting. I get down on the floor, covering my head, trying to cover up my coughing. I’m not sure how much time passes before the smoke clears.

It sounds like it’s far away when I hear someone yell, “She’s in here.”

I don’t dare look, and I try to make myself as small as possible. A hand touches my back, and a frightened scream leaves my mouth. “Miss, you’re okay. I’m an agent, and I’m here just to get you outside and to the waiting ambulance. I’m going to pick you up, okay?”

I nod my head. As he moves to scoop me up, I whisper, “I-I a-accidentally w-wet myself.”

He gives me a warm smile and nods before lifting me like I weigh nothing. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and bury my face in his neck as the tears start to fall in earnest.

The cool air hits me as we step outside. I start trembling so bad that my body starts hurting. The man carrying me picks up speed, and then I’m lifted out of his arms and laid on a gurney.

“Miss, we’re going to try and warm you up. You’re shivering pretty bad right now.”

The man lays a couple of warm blankets on me. I curl in on myself as the EMT checks my vitals. He talks to his partner, but I don’t listen. I just close my eyes and imagine I’m somewhere else.

I hear another voice and recognize it’s Damien, or David…whatever he really goes by.

“Agent Michaels, we’re taking her in to get checked out. They’ve recommended you get your face checked out.”

“I’m riding in here then,” Damien says.

“Sir, that’s against policy.”

“I don’t give a shit. I’m not moving.”

I hear more grumbling and then hear the doors shut. Damien rubs my back as the ambulance starts moving. My eyes start to feel heavy, so I welcome sleep.

***

I’ve been poked and prodded since they wheeled me in to the emergency room. At first they wouldn’t let Damien stay with me, but that was the only way that he’d agree to let anyone check him out. I ignored everyone and only spoke to the nurse when she was in the room and then the doctor when he came to look me over and tell me that he was ordering x-rays of my shoulders since they’d been stretched for so long. An agent came and got Damien a while ago, so I’ve been alone.

“I want to see my daughter and I want to see her now.”

I hear my dad’s voice from the hall just before the curtain is moved and he walks in, followed by my mom. I roll over so I’m facing the opposite way. I don’t really want to hear,
I told you so
, right now.

“Oh, my sweet girl. Are you okay?” My mom is right in front of me, stroking my hair. A tear leaks from my eye, but she quickly wipes it away. “No tears, baby. You’re safe. We talked to Damien and he told us what he does. I’m not real thrilled that he lied to my baby, but he’s a good man who is very worried about you right now.”

A hand on my leg causes me to jerk it away. I look and see that the hand belonged to my dad. Lying back down, I shut my eyes and wish they would just leave. The doctor comes in a few minutes later.

“Carrington, how are you feeling?”

“Cold, tired, and sore. My stomach’s been cramping a little.” The doctor looks at my chart and then back up at me.

“Did you know that you’re pregnant?”

My ears starting ringing. “What? No.”

“I’m going to order an ultrasound, but the cramping has me worried. Now, you said that you were hit in the stomach hard. Is that correct?”

Tears fill my eyes, and my mom grabs my hands in both of hers. She pulls them to her mouth and kisses them. “Um, yes. O-One of the m-men hit me with his elbow, really hard.” My dad growls and curses under his breath.

“Okay, we’ll get that ultrasound ordered right away. We’ll try to get them in here as soon as possible.”

As soon as the doctor’s gone, I look at my dad, expecting to see disapproval on his face, but instead I see a look of sadness and uncertainty. My mom sits on the side of my bed and bends down, kissing my head. “It’s going to be okay, my beautiful girl.”

Since Damien left earlier, he hasn’t been back. I guess now that his case is done, he’s done with me.

The tech and the doctor come into the room, and I ask my mom to stay. My dad kisses my forehead and excuses himself. They put my legs in stirrups, put a condom on the wand, and then put some of jelly on the end of it. “Okay, Carrington. You’re going to feel a little bit of pressure.”

I feel the wand enter me and then the pressure he said to expect. “Okay, here we go.” He moves the screen so I can see it. “Here’s the heartbeat. From your last period and the measurements, I would estimate you’re about five weeks along.” He moves the want a bit. “What do we have here? There’s another sack, but I’m sorry to say there’s no heartbeat.”

He asks my mom about twins, but all I can hear is
no heartbeat
. I see the doctor’s lips moving and my mom’s moving as she nods her head. The doctor pulls out the wand and helps me sit up.

“Carrington, I want you to follow up with an OB/GYN this week. Your body will absorb the other sack or the other baby will. It’s completely natural for this to happen, and since there were two separate sacks there should be no risk of miscarrying, but that’s why I want you to follow up this week. They’re going to get your discharge papers together, and we’ll get you out of here.”

It takes an hour before I’m finally released. The aide comes in with a wheelchair, and she helps me up and into the chair. She starts pushing me down the hall with my mom following closely behind. I wasn’t sure where my dad went until we make it out front and he’s standing by the doors, staring blindly out the window.

He sees us and comes over to tell Mom that he’s going to get the car. Great, he can’t even speak to me. I’m sure he’s now even more disappointed in his knocked up, former stripper daughter.

After loading me in the car, they head toward town. It doesn’t even dawn on me that they drive right by my apartment. When we reach my parents’ home, I climb out of the backseat. My mom wraps her arm around my waist and we follow my dad inside.

“Sweetheart, your brother changed the sheets in your old room. Go lay down and I’ll bring you some soup in a little bit.”

***

Damien

It’s been a week since everything went down, and things have been crazy. We’ve interrogated Rafe, Tucker, and Bridgette multiple times, but we haven’t gotten very far. The plan is to try and get them to flip on each other. My boss, Hector, wanted me to take some time off, but I’m doing everything in my power to make sure these three pieces of shit stay behind bars. One good thing is that piece of shit Jackson Travis is locked up and won’t be out for a long time.

I’ve had to fill out so much paperwork and write so many reports, I’m over it. I’ve been camped out in a hotel in Charleston this past week since this is the office I’m working out of. I’ve tried calling Carrington multiple times, but I haven’t been able to reach her. I did get a hold of her mom, and she assured me that Carrington was okay, but I felt like there was something I was missing.

My hope is to be done here in the next few days, get down to Beaufort, and talk to her to see where her head is at. I hated just leaving her, but I knew her parents would be there, and I wanted to start working right away to make sure the evil trio stays where they are.

Fuck, if I’m being honest, part of the reason is because of guilt. It was my fault that she even went through everything that she did. I didn’t protect her the way I should’ve. I never should have gotten involved with her, but I did and I fell in love with her.

I had to let my parents know what happened and assure them that I was okay after my mom stopped crying. It was time to tell them everything about Carrington. My mom asked lots of questions about her, and when the time is right, she wants to meet her.

I really need to see her, so I hop into my Jeep and head to her parents’ place. I try to play out different scenarios in my head, but I might just be better off winging it.

An hour later, I pull in front of Carrington’s parents’ house because I know that’s where she’s staying. I climb out and make my way toward their front door. Her mom opens it before I even have a chance to knock. She looks extremely surprised that I’m here.

“Damien?”

“Hi, Mrs. Carter. I was hoping I could see Carrington.”

She opens the door for me, and I step inside.

“That’s good. Maybe you can convince her to leave her room. I’ve gotten her out once for a doctor’s appointment, but other than that she won’t leave. She’s in the second room on the left.”

My eyes go to the pictures on the wall, and a smile graces my lips as I look at pictures of Carrington from baby to teen. There is one that catches my attention. It’s her parents and her as a tiny baby. You can just see the love that they have for her. It’s a black and white photo. Her dad is lying on his back, Carrington is on his chest, and her mom is lying on her side with a hand on Carrington’s little baby diapered butt. They’re looking at her like she’s the greatest treasure in the world, because she fucking is.

I move down the hall, giving a little knock before opening the door. My girl is asleep in her bed. I toe off my shoes and slide into bed with her. I pull her into my arms, and everything feels right with the world. I sift my hand through her hair. While I hold her, I close my eyes and pray that she forgives me for everything.

I don’t fall asleep, but I slip into a relaxed state and it feels fantastic. Carrington stirs next to me, and I kiss her forehead.

“Damien?”

“Yeah, baby, I’m here.”

With quick movements, Carrington lunges for the side of the bed, throwing up into the garbage can. I rub her back as she pukes over and over. When she finally stops I help her back up on the bed. I get a closer look at her. She looks exhausted, pale, and there are shadows under her eyes.