Hope Restrained (Estate Series) (19 page)

“In order to dominate, to control and to have power over
another person, you must take something from them that they would not willingly
give. To make it even more meaningful, you must break their mind by perverting
their emotions, making them feel pleasure when they detest you for having done
it. You must turn something good within them into something horrible. There is
a distinct look in their eye when that happens, a true break in their spirit
that is magnificent to witness.” He smiled and Hope saw nothing but lunacy
behind the green and blue of his eyes.

“I’d like to show you what that looks like.”

Patrick moved quickly around Xander to approach Hope’s cage.
She remained completely still, hoping he would forgo caution because he
believed she was too drugged to fight back. He knelt down to look at her. “I
have a surprise for you — I kept her alive — your sister.”

Her heart raced in her chest, the resultant sound like
thunder in her head. Tears welled at the back of her eyes and she flinched at
his words. Not knowing their truth, she was stuck in a vise between fighting
the bastard when he removed her or playing the role to ensure her sister would
live.

“Sometimes, it takes
patience and cunning to free yourself … it might be the only thing that saves
you and your sister’s life …”

Maddy’s words again, disembodied and floating through Hope’s
thoughts. She relaxed, breathing again to calm her body and her heart. The
latch of the key in the lock made her jump.

Breathe in … breathe out …

She looked up at him, studied the cruel expression on his
face, every movement of his body. She’d kill him, she’d sink to the same level
of evil where he existed so that the ‘look’ he used to taunt Xander would be
the last thing she saw in his eyes when he died. He pulled his gun again.

“You fight me, I kill you, and what I was about to do to you
will be done to your sister instead. Considering you are identical, Xander will
see what I want to show him regardless of which body is laid out across that
table.”

Hope blinked her eyes, pretending that she couldn’t respond.
It was obvious he knew she was no longer as helpless as when she’d first been
drugged and caged, but she’d play the role anyway. At some point, Patrick would
drop his guard and when that happened, Hope’s true darkness would come alive.

“Let’s go.” He grabbed the leash that was still secured
around her neck. Bringing her face close to his, he said, “I’ll have to thank
Xander for the chain once I’m done with you.” Yanking so hard, the bones at the
back of her neck popped, he ripped her from the cage, replacing the gun in his
pants, he grabbed her hair and dragged her to the table. She fought back feebly,
pretending to not have the strength to protect herself. It was only half a
ruse, she was not yet over the effect of the drug, but she had regained enough
strength to know that in a few hours, she’d be in a position to end the bastard
that held her.

“Bend over.” She forced her body over the table, the razor
sharp and stinging cold once again attacking her skin. She grit her teeth
against it, used the painful temperature to awaken her body more and chase away
the remaining influence of chemicals from her blood. One by one, the familiar
clicks of the shackles sounded as they were closed over her ankles and wrists. Her
chin fell into place at the notch cut into its edge. Her eyes aligned with
Xander’s and she died to see the torment, the anger and the pain that turned
the sapphire blue into something resembling an angry sea. The tendons at his
neck stuck out and he continue to struggle against the chains. She closed her
eyes, hardly able to bear watching the emotions he was feeling play over the
expression on his face.

Opening her eyes again, she locked her gaze to his. She
studied him so intently; she could see her reflection in his eyes. Patrick’s
hands rubbed over her body, greedy fingers gripping at her skin.

“Oh yes, this is what I’ve been waiting for.”

His voice disgusted her and she kept her eyes locked to
Xander, noticed how his expression went blank — lethal. She’d seen it
before when she attempted Aaron’s life, knew that in his head, images of
Patrick’s death played out.

No, my beautiful boy …
it won’t be you that kills him … that privilege will be all mine …

She couldn’t speak to him, couldn’t do anything but look at
him while Patrick readied himself to do revolting things to her body.

And then Patrick filled her; rutting against her like an
animal, taking her body, but not her mind. Xander’s hands gripped the armrest
of the seat, the metal chains at his wrists pressed against the skin so tight,
it turned white around the links. He was struggling to break his constraints
and Hope looked at him, tried to convey to him that it was okay, that she wasn’t
hurt or broken by what the bastard did to her. She’d been trained, raped by her
own network when she was young to ensure there wasn’t one thing a man could do
to her that would break her. She never told Xander the true extent of her
training, didn’t want him to know just how thorough her network had been. But
now — now she wished she had told him because it could have eased the
pain she saw swirling violently in his eyes.

“Scream for me, bitch.”

She watched Xander and her rage grew more intense, clouding
logic, demanding that she fight against the bastard that was inside her. She
knew she should play feeble, but she just couldn’t give the asshole what he
wanted.

“Oh, please, stop.” There was no emotion in her tone and
Patrick stopped suddenly when he heard her droll words.

Discreetly, Xander grimaced. It was a quick twitch across
his face, but enough to make her realize she’d made a mistake. But she couldn’t
help herself and she didn’t care what was being done to her, only what was
being done to the people she loved.

After pulling out, Patrick shoved himself back in his pants
and moved away from the table. She waited for him to hurt her, to force the
reaction from her he wanted. Even if he were to slice her open, she decided she
wouldn’t give it to him. It was a decision she would soon regret.

“You want to play games with me, bitch? An ominous warning
hung on those words. “Let’s see if your sister would like to play as well.”

Hope’s fists clenched and the table shook when she pulled at
the shackles binding her wrists and ankles. Fuck! She closed her eyes at how
stupid she’d been to mock him.

“But first …” Patrick walked to where he was standing
between Xander and Hope. Grabbing the needle from the side table where he’d
placed it, he stabbed it into Xander’s neck, and pressed down on the plunger,
shooting the deadly dose into Xander’s body.

“… I’ll kill your fucking boyfriend.”

Hope’s mouth opened and a sound she’d never known was
possible escaped her. It was the sound of loss, of heartbreaking pain and
absolute misery. It felt like her body, her mind and her heart shattered and
her eyes looked into Xander’s, tears streaming down her cheeks when she watched
the haze creep over his vision and his body, that had previously struggled against
his chains, suddenly falling limp and loose against the chair.

A dark room now. Bursts
of light when the door opens and closes. Food and water at Honor’s feet. “Lap
it up like a dog,” they say.

He hasn’t come back … her
angel. They took her far from where he could find her. Far, far … but he will
find her. As soon as she finds her way out from the darkness and into the
light, he’ll find her. And then he’ll take her — away from the monsters,
from their malicious hands and angry eyes.

Her stomach growls but
she won’t eat their food. They’re making her crazy like them, so she doesn’t
eat or drink until her mouth is so dry, she has no choice but to swallow small
bits. She hears the screaming still. The women he didn’t choose. Only the
screaming, the walls are too thick for their other sounds and Honor thanks the
walls for making the other sounds go away.

The door opens and she
looks up, her eyes desperate to see his large form fill the doorway, to know
that he’s found her, to know that he’ll take her.

A man enters — not
him — not her angel. She cries silent tears.

He grabs her by the
arm, his fingers digging into the skin that hangs loose from her muscle. She
can’t fight and when he rips her to her feet, her knees fail, she falls, only
to be ripped up again.

“I suggest you come
with me. Your angel has a request.”

Pounding … her heart
is suddenly pounding and her body shakes because it pounds so hard. Her lips
hurt when they smile, he’s come for her, he’s come.

She walks out of the
darkness, the light blinding her eyes, but she blinks back the tears. So many
people, and the bad sounds return — the crying, the women getting sick. The
monsters surround her, the room terrifyingly bright. She looks for him, looks
at each face — not him, not him, not him.

He’s not there.

They lead her to the
front. She looks up.

It’s not her angel.

It’s her mirror.

~
   
~
   
~

Hope … Xander tried to blink his eyes into focus, not
comprehending that the woman they led out of the side room wasn’t the girl he’d
just seen strapped to cross on a wall. The drug Patrick had injected coursed
through his system and he felt his skin become sticky with heat and sweat. His arms
and legs wouldn’t respond to his desire to move and his tongue swelled in his
mouth and down his throat, making it feel like he couldn’t breathe. His eyes
opened and closed, the woman, Hope — no, her sister — being dragged
to the front of the room.

After Patrick had drugged him, he’d called on his men to
assist him in removing Hope from the table and securing her into a heavy wood
cross. When she was secured, they’d drugged her as well. He moved his head to
look up, to see that her hazy eyes still widened when she watched her sister
come into the room. Tears fell along her cheeks and her body trembled where it
hung. Her chest beat out with exhaustive breath and he knew her heart raced
against her chest. She struggled against the effects of what they’d given her,
but she was failing to remain alert.

Eyes opening and closing, he slipped away for brief seconds,
the images playing out before him appearing more like still photographs than
moving objects. In and out, he fought to remain conscious even when he felt his
body shutting down. His heart split apart and he struggled against the chains,
felt weak and defeated when he could barely move even his finger. When the men
had approached Hope, holding her sister between them, he looked up at Hope’s
face, tears distorting his own vision to see what they were planning to do. When
Hope finally comprehended what was being done, her expression fell —
partly in response to the drugs and partly because she obviously knew that what
was about to happen would destroy her.

Patrick approached Hope’s sister, leaning in close to her to
whisper something in her ear. Hope struggled in her chains behind them.

“My angel …” Her words were disjointed and Xander wasn’t
sure if she’d actually said something or if his mind was succumbing to the
poison coursing through his veins.

He faded out, caught in a wave of numbing intoxication. His
breath hissed out over his lips, his eyes rolling back in his head and his
teeth chattering against each other. His body began to shake violently, his
stomach twisted over itself until its contents pushed their way up his throat. His
head fell to the side and he retched — over and over until his abdomen
cramped tight and he couldn’t straighten his body.

“Disgusting … clean … hose …” Words, he was only getting
words and they didn’t make sense — didn’t sound real. Forcing his eyes open
again, he saw Patrick’s face — angry, ugly, his features swirling and
changing, evil made fluid and alive.

“Yes, your angel wants this.” A demon whispering beautiful
words, Patrick leaned over to speak to Hope … not Hope. The woman shook her
head no, but after a moment, and after more words Xander couldn’t understand,
she reached out and took a thin metal chain from Patrick’s hand.

Xander shook away his confusion, desperate to stay
conscious, to remain sane. His eyelids were too heavy and they closed again,
reality disappearing, replaced by starbursts behind his eyes. His throat
swelled again, another wave washing over him and rendering him lost — suspended
within a thick and soupy fog. He heard Hope cry out.

“Hit her harder, Honor. You can see how much she likes it.” Patrick
chuckled and Hope screamed again.

Xander’s eyes opened.

Hope’s body writhed against her chains, unwanted pleasure
revealed in the way her hips moved. His breath caught in his chest, his eyes
trying to blink closed again when he fought to remain awake. Hope’s sister
stood in front of her, whipping her with the chain, leaving bloody trails along
her body. Hope responded to the pain, too drugged to resist. Her nerves were
operating at a hyper-aware level despite the fact that her mind knew getting
off on it was wrong. Patrick stood back, the wicked machinations of his brain
obvious in the distorted and liquid expression on his face.

“Tell us how much you like it, Hope. Scream for me now,
bitch!” Patrick’s voice and laughter rang out while Xander fought to train his
gaze on Hope’s face.

Tears rolled down her cheeks even when she was driven to a
point of release. His eyes never left her face, he couldn’t bear to look away. She
didn’t look back, staring instead out ahead of her, death sitting quietly
behind her eyes.

And that’s when he saw it. While he fought to stay with her,
and while he slowly slipped away, he saw it. The look Patrick had talked about
— the one that meant her spirit had broken, Xander recognized it and his
soul felt like it shattered right there beside her.

Finally succumbing for the last time, he closed his eyes,
his memory racing through images of his life — the look in Hope’s eyes taking
him back to the time he’d seen it before.

~
   
~
   
~

“Gregory Shipp. You’ve
been caught stealing money from my network, from all of the men in this room,
from my wife who sits beside me.”

Xander looked up at
the man on the stage. He was scared, his little knees knocking together as he
attempted to move closer to his mother.

The man walked towards
the front of the stage, his eyes locked to Xander’s father. “You’ve been a
member of my network for quite some time, Mr. Shipp, and as I’m sure you are
aware, there have been three other occasions where some ignorant fool has
attempted the same thing.” The man paused and Xander fidgeted, not
understanding what the man said. “Do you recall what happened to those men?”

His father looked up. “Yes,
Joseph. The men were executed, they were shot.” Xander’s fear grew into
absolute terror, scared that he heard his father’s voice, weak and cracking
— his dad was scared, and he’d never seen his father scared.

The man on stage
nodded.

“They were. So I
assumed, as someone who’s seen that, you would have known better than to
attempt the same thing. However, since I am obviously wrong for having assumed
that, I realize that I need to step up the punishment. Shooting a man isn’t
enough, is it? You still thought you could steal from The Estate. So, Mr.
Shipp, I’ll be stepping up the punishment tonight, hopefully deterring the next
ambitious soul who thinks he can cheat the network.”

The doors opened on
the side of the large room. Everybody turned to look and Xander moved to grab
his father’s hand — the palm sticky with sweat. Xander squeezed tightly,
shaking his father’s arm, begging him to look down at him. He wanted to protect
his dad, but his dad wouldn’t look away from the man on the stage.

Looking up again,
Xander noticed a beautiful woman moving quickly down the stairs, her eyes glancing
over at him — filling with pain immediately when she saw him. He became
more nervous as she looked at him, but then she turned and disappeared out the
large doors.

“You have a very
beautiful family, Mr. Shipp.” The man looked over at Xander, an angry grin
playing over his lips. “What a good looking boy. He looks to be my son’s age.
What is his name?”

“Xander.” His father’s
response was choked and fearful.

The man on stage paused
for a moment, the room became quiet and Xander’s small heart was beating so
fast he became dizzy.

“Aaron has been asking
for a playmate.”

His father squeezed
his hand so tight, Xander grimaced to feel the bones rub together from the iron
grip.

The man turned his
eyes back on Xander’s father. “Since you have stolen from me, I believe it’s
only fair that I steal from you. An eye for an eye. You took from me the one
thing I worked so hard to gain — you took my money. So, I will take
something that is important to you.”

“You can have all the
money in my account, Joseph, it’s more than I took from the network; three
times more. You can take it all, just please don’t take my son.”

Tears streamed down
his father’s face and Xander looked over to notice that his mother cried as
well. She hugged his baby sister to her chest, shaking her head and attempting
to back away from the large men that moved to surround them. He didn’t know why
the man would take him, didn’t understand what was happening and why his
parents were so upset.

“It’s not just your
son I’m taking, Mr. Shipp. I have a much larger acquisition in mind … your
entire family, in fact. But first, I’ll take your life.”

When the blast
sounded, Xander jumped and his father’s grip released his hand. He felt
something warm splash down on him, and he raised his tiny arms to see small
drops of blood speckled over his skin. The sound of the large body falling to
the floor surprised him. Turning he looked the dead eyes of his father.

His mouth opened and
he screamed. Running to his mother, he wrapped his arms around her legs, felt
her body shake with her own mournful cries. He was pulled away from his mother
— held back to the side where he watched another man approach her,
silently stalking her with a mean look and ugly face. His mother took a few
steps back, shaking her head in defiance, but another man, held still as the
first man approached her, stopped her.

Xander tried to pull
away, desperately to free himself of the iron grip that held him, but he was
too small. He couldn’t do anything but watch and tears burst from his eyes.

When the man reached
his mother, he stopped in front of her and smiled.

“Emory, we are not
monsters here. Take care of it quickly.” The man on stage laughed.

The man turned and
ripped Xander’s sister out of his mother’s arms. She screamed and his sister
screamed and Xander covered his ears to try and block out the terrifying sound.
He saw the man’s hand slip inside the blanket covering his sister, and with a
flick of the man’s wrist, his sister stopped crying — however, the shriek
that tore from his mother’s mouth was the most painful sound he’d ever heard. She
fell to her knees, shaking and crying and the man who held his sister smiled
again. He walked away and placed Xander’s sister in his tiny little arms,
smiling and patting Xander on the head. Sitting down on the floor, Xander held
his sister in his lap. His mom was always afraid he’d drop her, so he placed
her down carefully until his mom could come and help him hold her.

The men surrounded his
mother, she fought against them and they tore at her clothes. Xander was so
shocked — so scared — that he sat there quietly, too afraid to
scream or cry. He didn’t understand what was happening.

The beautiful woman
reentered the room.

“Stop!” The man on
stage yelled.

The men obeyed and
stepped away from the table on which they were forcing Xander’s mother.

“Arianna, so good of
you to rejoin us. I need you to do me a favor.” The man pointed down at Xander
and his sister.

“Xander here is going
to be staying with us for a while, I thought he could be a good friend to our
son considering they are around the same age.”

Xander’s mom began to
scream again, her body choking on the force of her sobs.

 
“Can someone please shut that woman up? I
can’t think with her screaming and crying like that.”

They tied something
around her mouth and Xander looked from his mom to the woman who’d reentered
the room. His tiny heart pounded in his chest and he cradled his sister to him
closer, glad that she’d fallen asleep and wasn’t scared like him.

Smiling once that had
been accomplished, Joseph turned back to his wife. “As I was saying, please
take the child back to your suite. He’ll be staying with us indefinitely.”