Crush (Hard Hit #5) (2 page)

The smile pulling at the corners of Andrei’s mouth felt evil, even to him. “If we were in my country, I would’ve already cut out your tongue, and you’d pray for the merciful death your brother received.” Andrei snapped back into carefree mode. “But we lose our topic, eh? If you wish for quiet time, you may don your dunce cap and sit there quietly to think. Why would a grown man wish to spend lots of time with a child, not his own, showering him with expensive toys? I wonder…”

Andrei let his unspoken accusation hang in the air. While he waited for Orlando to truly think over the warning signs he must’ve missed through the years, Andrei enjoyed the view. Orlando possessed the most beautiful skin color. It was smooth milk chocolate, coating perfect angles. His muscular jaw ticked as he stared into space. A line appeared between his brows, and the tick increased.

The ugly images that were no doubt running through his head brought Andrei no pleasure. But there was no justice in the world, and there never would be unless Orlando turned his anger toward the real reason his brother had died. Andrei hadn’t been exaggerating. The brother Orlando had known and loved had died long before meeting Gannon. Gannon merely extended the boy’s life another two years. If they’d never met, Seb probably would’ve killed himself, or worse, because Andrei knew firsthand that death was the easy choice.

Orlando finally broke. “You’re one sick motherfucker. You know that?”

Andrei sighed as Orlando continued his hate-filled spew. Rising to his feet, he snagged the cloth he’d used to bind Orlando’s mouth earlier and crossed the room. He lost track of the many ways Orlando cursed him before Andrei got the gag back in place. Throwing one leg over Orlando’s thighs, Andrei straddled the man’s lap. He enjoyed torturing the man underneath him a little too much.

“You’re a beautiful man. Such perfection, really.” Orlando went still, focusing on Andrei like a wild animal, expecting the worst. His eyes were a golden brown. Gorgeous. “It’s a shame you have the potty mouth.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Orlando grumbled around the gag, somehow sounding clear as a bell. With a low chuckle, Andrei climbed off and went in search of a phone. He had an alibi to set.

*

Orlando watched in forced silence as Andrei crossed the room. Rage might’ve owned him if not for whatever the man had drugged him with. It didn’t want to leave his system. He was tired and his ribs ached, but he couldn’t show this big motherfucker an ounce of weakness.

Andrei picked up a phone from the table. “Hush now, Sexy Chocolate. Papa has to make a call.”

Orlando had no intention of going quietly. If dude wanted him dead, he’d know Orlando had been there. A sinister smile stretched the other man’s lips, as if he knew exactly what Orlando was thinking. Instead of leaving the room or forcing Orlando to be quiet, Andrei straddled Orlando’s thighs once more. If Orlando wasn’t already in so much fucking pain from taking a bat to the ribs from Gannon’s new man, he’d try bucking the smug son-of-bitch off his lap. Andrei’s eyes flashed dangerously, daring Orlando to make a move. His attention shifted as a muffled voice came through the phone pressed against Andrei’s ear.

“Noah,” Andrei said, sounding like a man who’d cornered his prey. “I have you now.”

Humor flickered in Andrei’s eyes as Orlando drew in a deep breath and yelled around the gag in his mouth.

“That noise?” Andrei asked, never losing his smile. “I have Sexy Chocolate tied to a bed, screaming in pleasure around my cock. You should join us. We’d give you the time of your life,” he finished, with a wink for Orlando.

Orlando felt the murder in his stare. It was out of his control. This crazy dude keeping him hostage was psycho enough to do anything. The way he’d been attempting to fill Orlando’s head with garbage was probably some form of psychological torture.

Andrei released a heavy sigh. “You don’t know what you’re missing. Could I tempt you into dinner instead?”

Giving up yelling in hopes of gaining info on his whereabouts, Orlando strained to hear every word passing between the pair. He never broke eye contact with Andrei. The last thing he needed was to be seen as weak. If Andrei was leaving for the night, one of two things was about to go down. Orlando would have his chance to escape or Andrei was moments away from killing him.

“Until then,” Andrei said, disconnecting his call and making Orlando realize he’d lost focus. He’d missed his chance at learning anything. Andrei kept his gaze locked on Orlando’s face. His stare was the most intense thing Orlando had ever encountered. “You disobeyed me.” Andrei’s tone was harder than any he’d used with Orlando before. He loosened Orlando’s gag, allowing it to fall around his neck. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Go fuck yourself.” Leaving his mouth, Orlando’s retort lacked the fury it had in his head.

“I do so often. I’m quite magnificent.” His stare turned calculating, fascinating Orlando against his will. The man had more facets than anyone he’d ever met, or possibly ten personalities. Either way, it was mesmerizing to see. “You know, it’s a scientific fact that being gay runs in families, especially for males. Did you know, if one brother is gay, there’s a seventy percent chance so too will any other brothers. Which is it, Orlando? Are you the seventy or the thirty?”

In spite of himself, Orlando snorted. “I thought you knew everything about all things?”

A crooked smile touched Andrei’s lips. “Perhaps I wish to hear you own it.”

Instead of playing into his hands, Orlando tried changing the subject. “So your buddy on the phone, what would you have done if he’d agreed to share? That would’ve really fucked up your lie.”

Andrei hummed, as if giving Orlando’s question its due. “I knew he wouldn’t accept.”

“How?”

Leaning in close, Andrei stared into Orlando’s eyes as he answered. “I can read every man’s profligacy by his eyes. They flash with wickedness, show hunger, greed, or disinterest. Whenever Noah fucks someone, he’ll be greedy, expecting their full attention. He wouldn’t care to share. You have a similar glint in your eyes.”

Orlando tried unseating him then. Andrei didn’t budge, while Orlando paid for the move. A searing lash of fire raced through his mid-section, stealing his breath. The bastard on his lap chuckled.

“Fuck me,” Orlando gasped around the pain.

A forlorn sigh passed Andrei’s lips. “I’d love to, but I don’t fuck the unwilling, and you’re not there yet.”

Orlando tried breathing through the pain by focusing on Andrei’s claim. Anything to keep from blacking out. “Jesus. Why are you so perverted?”

Andrei’s face hardened, showing a side Orlando hadn’t seen before now. “It makes people uncomfortable,” Andrei said, surprising Orlando with his honesty as much as his expression. “When people are off balance, they’re weak. Never underestimate the power of words. They leave more damage behind than a knife to the gut.” Andrei pulled a knife from his back pocket and flipped it open, as if emphasizing his words. With his focus locked on the sharp blade, Orlando forgot to breathe. In a surprise move, Andrei sliced through the ropes holding Orlando’s hands. “I’ll be gone for a while. There’s a bathroom through there,” he said, pointing at a door to his left.

“You claim it’s only words, yet you rush out for a booty call.” Even Orlando couldn’t explain the bitterness tinging his tone. Andrei surprised him further by remaining serious.

“This isn’t me rushing out for a piece of ass. I need an alibi.” He slapped Orlando’s thigh and climbed from the bed. “Now, be good while I’m—”

Orlando sprang, intent on wrestling the knife away. Taking advantage of Orlando’s weakened state, Andrei easily spun from his hold, landing a solid elbow to Orlando’s injured ribs. A shadow appeared around the edges of his vision. Fainting looked like a real possibility with every passing second. With a shove, Andrei pushed Orlando down onto the mattress. As the darkness reached up, intent on swallowing him whole, Orlando heard Andrei’s muttered curse.

“Dumbass.”

In his last moment of consciousness, Orlando chuckled. Andrei had never sounded more American.

*

Orlando’s eyelids weighed a ton. Several times, he tried lifting them, only to lose the battle again. He finally pried them open. For a split second, Orlando experienced a moment of ignorant bliss before reality slammed down on him once more. The unfamiliar room reminded him he was a prisoner.

Rolling to one side, he took great pains to care for his ribs while hoping the room would stop spinning. He knew without looking that Andrei was gone. He wondered if the man was part of the Russian mafia or a hit man. He had a powerful presence Orlando could feel without having to set eyes upon him, and the room was empty of that oppression. When he finally made it into a sitting position, Orlando stole a moment to get his bearings. The room was disconcerting. Without any windows or clocks, it was impossible to tell if it was day or night. Andrei could’ve been gone minutes, hours, or days.

His bladder screamed for relief, and his throat burned from lack of moisture, giving him something else to focus on. After a quick trip to the bathroom, Orlando checked the bedroom door, surprised when he found it unlocked. He slipped from the room, expecting Andrei would appear at any moment, stopping him. With the door open, Orlando stared at his surroundings, shocked. There was next to nothing outside the room where he’d been held. The door opened into a kitchen-type area. Orlando couldn’t even call it that. It was more of a pantry with a small refrigerator that came to his waist and microwave. There wasn’t a sink, and only about a foot of counter space on either side of the fridge.

The one detail standing out above the rest was there wasn’t a way out. How the fuck they’d gotten inside or how Andrei had left was completely lost on Orlando. There wasn’t a window, a door, or a hatch on the ceiling. It was as if he was inside a box. For all he knew, that was exactly where he was—in a box where he’d been buried alive. To stave off the panic growing inside him, Orlando opened the fridge. It was stocked with canned drinks and lunchmeats.

He pulled out a drink and a pack of ham. His mind betrayed him. What did Andrei know about Seb that he didn’t? Orlando had seen things and questioned them before brushing them away, but was it true? Fuck. It didn’t change anything. He downed one soda. Seb was still dead and Gannon was still walking around as if it didn’t happen.

Closing his eyes, Orlando tried to bring an image of Seb to mind. He couldn’t. Two years, that was all it had taken to steal his baby brother’s memory. God. It wasn’t fair. There was no real justice in life. His stomach growled, reminding him of his body’s needs. Giving up on solving anything right now, he searched the shelves, finding a loaf of bread and a bottle of mustard. There were also a few paper plates and a box of silverware.

Orlando popped the tab on another canned drink while he fixed a couple of sandwiches. As he shoved food in his mouth, his gaze searched the room. He had to be missing something. The caffeine flooded his system, bringing with it nervous energy. Surely the way out was staring him in the face. He found nothing. His mind raced with possibilities. All of them bad. With no clues on how he could escape, Orlando went back to searching the tiny structure. There were no phones, laptops, or technology of any kind. For all he knew, he could be in the middle of the desert or sitting in a truck trailer on the freeway.

Giving up, he dug out a paring knife from inside the box of silverware and tucked it inside his sleeve. He didn’t know how much time he had. Andrei could return at any moment or not at all. Before panic could set in, Orlando pushed that stray thought aside and settled back down on the bed to wait.

*

Dinner with Noah had been surprisingly nice. Not that Andrei hadn’t always thought of Noah as a pleasant person, but the man was quieter than Andrei imagined. They’d been out on the town in groups before. The last time their teams were matched against one another, they’d partied for two days afterward. That weekend, there’d been several other players involved. This was the first time they’d attempted to do anything with only the two of them. Noah had been polite. It was peaceful, especially in the wake of the business with Orlando.

“How much longer are you in town?” Noah asked as Andrei walked him to his front door.

Since there was no safe answer, Andrei went with the truth. “I’m not sure. It is halfway through our bye week. I suppose I must head back soon.”

Noah leaned against his front door and crossed his arms over his chest. “Is this really your last year? I can’t see you in retirement.”

Andrei shook his head, fighting back a sad smile. “Me either, honestly, but here I am.”

"You’ll do great," Noah said, sounding as if he meant it. “Whatever you choose to do from here," he tacked on.

“I’ll be working for Kieran Steele.”

Before Andrei could go into detail, Noah snagged the tails of Andrei’s shirt and tugged him closer. Andrei went willingly. They were well matched in height, and the realization that was what Andrei was thinking about when their lips met was, at the very least, disheartening. There was nothing wrong with Noah. He had talent. It was Andrei. The harder he tried to want it, the more it eluded him.

Flattening his palms against the door on either side of Noah’s body, he deepened their kiss even further. The heat level rose a hair. His body was on board. Andrei’s brain wasn’t.

“You coming in?” Noah asked against his lips. Andrei considered banging his head against the door.