Blackness Within (54 page)

She’s been basically living with me for over a month. I like her with me. We haven’t talked about where we’re going in our relationship. I’ve told her she’s it for me and she’s basically told me the same, but we haven’t gone into the specifics of what that means for our future.

I sure as shit don’t want us living separately. I don’t want her living at Blake’s where I need to have sex in silence. I want her with me, in my wing, in my bed.

“That’s okay. You’ve got that meeting early tomorrow. You can drop me off at the apartment and I’ll see you tomorrow or the day after,” she says nonchalantly.

“Grey, what’s goin’ on?” I ask turning my gaze to her at a red light.

“Huh?” she asks with a furrowed brow and a crinkled nose.

“We haven’t spent a night away from each other since July. What the fuck is goin’ on?”

“Sully, nothing’s goin’ on. I just wanted to spend some time with my brother. That’s all. I miss him.”

She’s telling the truth. She’s an awful liar so it’s easy to tell if she is. Although she basically never tries because she knows she can’t.

“I don’t wanna spend the night in my bed alone,” I grumble.

“Okay, I’ll spend the evening with Blake and then I’ll come over,” she says sweetly, giving me what I want.

I pick up her hand and place a kiss on her knuckles, grinning triumphantly. It’s time to talk about what we’re doing and where she’s going to be living. I’m ready to call the guys and have them pack her shit up and bring it to our place. It’s time for her to be with me. I’ll talk to her tonight about it.

Natasha

I can’t believe I left my purse at work. I never do that, but I was in a rush to leave work tonight. I knew Sully was waiting for me and I was running late.

I park my Prius, tell Zeus I’ll be right back and walk toward the hospital to see a familiar face walking in my direction.

“Ben?” I call out and his gaze snaps to mine.

“Hi, honey,” he says sadly as he stops in front of me.

“Why are you here?”

“Dad’s cancer’s back. Been back a while now. We’re getting ready to move him to hospice care.”

“Oh, Ben, I’m so sorry,” I say wrapping my arms around his small frame.

Ben’s dad is a nice guy. He’s been battling cancer since Ben and I first met. I’m sad to know he’s losing this time. And Ben’s losing his dad.

“It’s been a rough week,” he mumbles, pulling away from me and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“I can only imagine. How’s your mom holding up?”

“Not good.”

I feel like an asshole. I haven’t reached out to him since that weird night at the apartment. I wanted to talk to Ben, but I never knew what to tell him. So, I just avoided him. He’s the only person that stuck by my side while Blake was struggling and my mom was being my mom. Now his dad is dying and I didn’t even know it.

“You wanna get some coffee or something?” I ask, nodding toward the hospital.

“Actually, I have some of your stuff in my car. I grabbed what I could from the fire. You wanna come get it? It’d save me a trip.”

“Sure.”

I follow him to his car. A brand new gunmetal Porsche.

“Nice car,” I compliment as he unlocks it.

“Thanks. I noticed your boyfriend drives a Mercedes. Cars never used to matter to you, Natasha,” he says sardonically.

I feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Someone’s watching me. Fuck, I’m sick of this feeling. I also don’t want to fight with Ben about Sully. It’s pointless.

“I don’t care about cars. I was just complimenting you.”

“So you don’t care how much money Brian O’Sullivan makes? You don’t care that he lives in Mission Hills behind a gate? You don’t care that he defends murders and rapists?” Ben snarls leaning into the hood. I forget that’s where the storage is in a Porsche.

“I don’t wanna fight with you, Ben. Just give me my stuff and focus on your father. He needs you right now.”

“That’s where your wrong,” he says in a cold voice I’ve never heard him use.

I move to pull my mace out of my purse, only to remember that’s why I’m here in the first place. Shit.

He slams the hood shut and prowls to me. I back away until I see something in his hand.

“Ben,” I say shakily.

Then he lunges.

That’s the last thing I remember.

O’Sullivan

Buzz, buzz.

“Hello?” I answer groggily.

“Mister O’Sullivan?” a male voice asks.

“Yes,” I say clearing my throat, looking to my alarm clock that reads 2:03 a.m.

“This is Doctor Blankenship. Zeus’s vet.”

“It’s a little late, Doc,” I huff into the phone.

“Yes, it is. I just got a call from Animal Control in North Kansas City. They have Zeus. His microchip was scanned and they contacted me when they couldn’t reach Miss Reynolds. Can you go collect Zeus or contact Miss Reynolds?”

“Shit. I’ll be right there.”

I hang up and spring from the bed. I’m still in my sweats. I passed out waiting for Natasha. She never showed up and now Zeus is in North Kansas City. What the hell is she doing there?

I call her phone, only to end up at her voicemail.

I try again.

No answer.

I text.

No response.

I call Blake.

No answer.

What the fuck is going on?

I hop in my car and fly toward Zeus, dread creeping up my spine.

I can hear Zeus barking and snarling from the parking lot. He’s pissed off. I don’t blame him. I’m not too happy either.

“Please tell me you’re here for him,” a slight man at the desk says.

“I’m here for him,” I assure the guy that looks like he’s gone a few rounds with Zeus.

“I was gonna sedate him, but I’m here on my own and the dart gun broke last week,” he explains, leading me down a short hall.

We stop in front of a door and he says, “I’ll stay out here if you don’t mind.”

I clap the guy on the back and open the door to find Zeus snarling and gnashing his teeth until he sees me.

“It’s okay, Zeus. I’ve got you.”

I unlock the cage and Zeus jumps up at my chest. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s frantic, panicked.

I clip a leash on his collar and he drags me toward the door. The animal control guy waves me off. I’m sure I should fill out some paperwork, but he just wants us gone. Fine by me. I’ve got a woman to find and yell at.

As we exit the building, Zeus yanks on his leash in the opposite direction of my car.

“Come on, Zeus. We need to find Grey,” I chide him and give the leash a tug.

He turns and growls at me before lunging the other way. What the hell is wrong with him? Maybe he needs to shit.

I follow the eager dog to a grassy patch on the other side of the parking lot and try to halt his progress.

“Zeus, come on. It’s late. We need to find Grey. Take your shit and let’s move.”

He spins around, grabs the leash with his teeth and jerks. I watch him closely, his eyes are pleading with me to follow him.

I stand completely still until I understand.

He knows where Natasha is.

Fuck!

“Go!” I yell and he drops the leash, spins and bolts.

I motor my legs as fast as they’ll go. I left my phone in the fucking car. I don’t have any way to call for help. This is a mistake, but if she needs me, I’m not turning back for a phone. I’ll save her. I’ll always save her.

Natasha

I hurt from head to toe. Every inch of my body is screaming in pain as I open my eyes. I’m on a bed with a quilt pulled up to my chin. I can’t move my body though. I’m not tied down. There are no ropes around my body. But I can’t move a muscle.

I’ve been drugged.

Ben.

“You’re awake,” Ben’s chipper voice calls out from somewhere in the room. “I’m glad. I have a present for you and I didn’t want you to have to miss the best part.”

A lamp flicks on in the corner and I find great difficulty in moving my eyes to look in the direction of the glow.

When my gaze lands on what’s waiting for me, my breathing begins to come in short bursts and my heart gallops forcefully in my chest.

Midnight eyes lock on mine and I try to scream. This isn’t happening, please this can’t be happening. No sound comes from my lips, but tears stream down my cheeks as I stare at the man that stole me from my life and sucked my soul dry.

Ben steps in between us, facing Roman. I try feverishly to get my limbs to listen to me. I’m pleading with my legs to respond in my head. But nothing happens. Not even a twitch.

Squeaking wheels draw my attention back to Ben and Roman. Ben’s backing toward me slowly. Why isn’t Roman moving himself? Why isn’t he stalking toward me in a rage of fury?

Ben stops, stands up straight and moves to the side.

Now that Roman’s closer, I can see he’s tied to the chair with rope that was shadowed earlier. He’s trapped too. He’s trapped too? I’m so confused.

“He stole you from me,” Ben explains in an ominous voice that makes my stomach flip. He’s like a stranger. His average features look dark and sinister in the low light. His dull brown eyes look lifeless and devoid of anything human. “That’s not what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to get rid of your piece of trash brother. That’s what he was supposed to do.”

I want to scream at Ben. I want to rip his face off, but I’m forced to lay here and listen to him.

“It was a great plan, Natasha. First, I paid those junkies to steal Vojtech’s baby. That was easy. They didn’t remember a thing after the roofies I slipped them at your brother’s crack house. Neither does your brother, I suppose. Once the baby was missing, it made it easy to shuffle millions of dollars of drug money offshore in your brother’s name. Ten million dollars and a missing baby. He was supposed to kill your brother and rid you of that burden!” Ben screeches, shaking from head to toe, pointing in Roman’s face.

Roman’s midnight eyes haven’t left mine. He’s panting and struggling against his bounds. If Ben dosed him with the same thing he gave me, it’s worn off for Roman. Ben doesn’t notice because he’s pacing and telling me this crazy story.

“Why did you have to get that baby, Natasha? Why couldn’t you just go home and wait for me to comfort you when your brother was murdered? Why?” he screams, lunging into my face.

My toe wiggles as my brain tells my body to jump at the aggressive move. The drugs are wearing off for me too.

“Then you let Brian O’Sullivan take care of you and sent me away. I could have fixed this for you. If you just would’ve let me. Why didn’t you let me? Why did you push me away and whore yourself out to him?”

I close my eyes to avoid his deathly stare. How could I have spent years with this man and not know he was capable of this? He was trying to have my brother murdered. All this time I thought Blake made horrible choices that put my life in danger and it was really Ben trying to take my brother from me.

Wrath boils in my chest, as I will myself to move. Nothing happens other than another toe wiggle. I’m trapped here.

Ben moves away from me and I open my eyes again. I find Roman’s midnight stare on me, but he’s not moving under Ben’s watchful gaze.

“Then Vojtech got you. I saw what he did to you. I hacked into their monitoring system and I saw him. I watched every time he forced himself on you. I watched every time he made you come. I watched every time you cried out his name. I watched him deceive you, lie to you. And you bought it. You believed every word he said. Well, you were wrong, as you always seem to be with men, Natasha.