Hope Restrained (Estate Series) (3 page)

The man fell back, and Xander looked up, rubbing his jaw as
his noticed the man reaching to cup his own shoulder. He pressed back against
the wall where he’d fallen and a line of blood smeared down where he’d slid
along the painted finish.

Standing finally, Xander approached the crouched figure,
keeping enough distance between them so as to prevent the intruder from kicking
out at his legs.

Within seconds, Aaron, Jason and another guard stood at
Xander’s side — Jason and the guard’s guns aimed towards the masked man
and Aaron’s knife held in his palm.

“Remove your mask.” Xander’s instructions were spoken
slowly, forcefully.

The intruder didn’t move — so still, in fact, that
Xander straightened his spine in preparation for a fight. Two clicks sounded as
Jason and the guard readied their guns. Aaron took a step forward, his
anticipation of the kill too pressing to remain patient. Xander reached out,
stopping Aaron when he attempted to pass.

“Wait.”

Aaron turned to argue, but the intruder shuffled up into a
seated position, blood pouring from his shoulder to the floor. Xander stepped
forward, grasping the top of the mask in his fist. Pulling at the material, it
peeled away revealing the identity of the intruder.

The four men froze when they discovered that it had been a
woman who’d attempted the kill.

She looked up suddenly, the gold color of her eyes swirling
with hatred and pain. Her long brown hair, previously tucked and concealed
beneath the mask, now fell around her shoulders. Silently, she looked between
the men, her gaze searching their faces, stopping briefly on each one. When she
looked back to Xander she kicked out, catching Aaron on the shin with her boot.
He lunged forward, but Xander grabbed him just before his knife could sink into
the woman’s chest.

“No! We can’t kill her.”

Aaron’s eyes burned into Xander when he yelled, “She
attempted to kill Maddy …”

“Xander’s right.”

Aaron and Xander turned to look in the direction of Maddy’s
voice, while Jason and the guard held their guns on the female assassin.

When Maddy approached them, she reached up to run her palm
along Aaron’s cheek. “Please, Aaron, let her live for now. Don’t you want to
know why she’s here?”

Hope’s shoulder was on fire and her eyes locked on the brown
haired man who’d first chased her. Holding his stare, she was surprised when
she heard the woman’s voice, so soft and docile, Hope couldn’t believe the men
listened as they had. When the woman approached, Hope finally looked away from
the men to fall upon the petite beauty. Her dress spilled along her frame, painted
across her skin like crushed, liquefied rubies and garnets.

Reaching up, the woman caressed the face of Aaron
Carmichael. Hope assumed she was another criminal, or possibly a
lady
of The Estate — one of the
pampered bitches who spread their legs for the men within the network.

To Hope’s astonishment, Aaron appeared to calm when the
woman touched him. Hope’s eyes looked over the group of men that stood before
her, but flicked back to Aaron when he finally spoke. “Take her to the cell. We’ll
interrogate her after tonight’s meeting. Xander, stay with her. Jason can
escort Madeleine and I to the ballroom.” Xander nodded and grabbed Hope by her
injured arm. When she winced, he smiled.

“Does that hurt? Imagine how it will feel if you struggle
against me.” His hands searched her body slowly, forcefully, in search of
weapons she had stashed. Pulling away the three knives she had tucked into her
clothing and retrieving her gun from the floor where it had been shot from her
hand.

She sneered up at him, but allowed him to lead her away from
the group. She couldn’t let herself be taken captive — her sister’s life
depended on her freedom. A desperate rage bloomed within her body and she knew
she had to keep fighting to escape. Her heart started a frantic hammer, but she
breathed slowly, calming the reaction of her body to the futility of the situation.
She had nothing to lose if she fought — fighting was just as futile as
giving up, you end up dead regardless.

It would be impossible to defeat all three men with her
injury and having her weapons stripped, but one man alone — with him she’d
stand a chance. They moved quietly down the corridor, and when she’d heard the
doors close behind the other men who’d reentered the ballroom, she struck out quickly
with her uninjured arm, the bone of her forearm impacting with Xander’s nose.

“Fuck!” He released her in response to the pain and she took
the quick second of freedom to drop to the floor, swinging her leg out to catch
the back of his feet. Her injured shoulder twisted and it felt like a spear had
been driven down her arm. She grit her teeth against the pain, realizing that
there was no time to stop.

When Xander fell to the ground, she heard the back of his
skull crack against the stone tile and used his stunned moment to retrieve the
thin knife she had tucked in her clothes. Bringing the knife down, the blade
sliced into his thigh, but his reaction was a second too fast for her to avoid.
His fist impacted with her chest, knocking the wind from her lungs. While
gasping, she rolled backwards, just out of reach of his hand when he attempted
to grab her.

“You are starting to really piss me off!” He lunged towards
her, but Hope was able to sidestep him and use the few seconds it took for him
to stand up to sprint down the hallway towards what she hoped was the exit
outside. Blood rushed through her veins and she couldn’t hear anything over the
white noise in her skull and the pounding of her and Xander’s boots through the
empty corridors; each of her steps were mirrored by his. Her heart raced, her
body moving gracefully and strong — a weapon itself in the way she moved.
He lunged for her as they rounded the last corner. Twisting to avoid him, she
felt the movement of the air from where his hand had passed.

Steeling herself for the fight that would not be avoided,
she struck out again, but with her injured arm, so she didn’t have the strength
or speed necessary to battle someone his size. He’d been anticipating the
strike, moving quickly to avoid the blow. Normally, she’d counter, but her
shoulder prevented the move. Reaching out, Xander grabbed her injured arm, taking
advantage of its weakness to spin her so that her back was against him. When he
had her tucked against him, his chest collided against her from his labored
breath, the heat of which rolled along her neck causing the fine hairs to stand
on end. He was so close she could smell his cologne. It was something foreign,
a spice or musk.

Lunging forward, she simultaneously kicked back with her
leg. Her foot impacted with his knee, pushing him away and causing him to
release her. Quickly, she turned to face him and shoved her hands against his body
while he was still off balance from her kick. He fell, but reached out,
grabbing her and pulling her down alongside him. The jolt through her body
stunned her, the pain of her shoulder impacting with the ground instantly
crippling her, but exciting her at the same time. She’d been trained to enjoy
it, to crave it. Pain would not be the factor that slowed her down.

He rolled on her within seconds, his hands coming down
heavily on her arms, his legs and feet pinning her shoulders, abdomen and hips.
Sweat slid down his jawline as he scowled down at her. She struggled against
him, desperate to free herself from the impossible hold in which he’d trapped
her. His body pressed into hers, the pain of his hold floating in exquisite
waves throughout her body. The mixture of adrenaline and endorphins was a heady
sensation that rushed through her veins when she fought.

“I’ve had enough of your bullshit.” Seething with anger, his
words were broken and strained from his heavy breathing. “I apologize for
having to do this, seeing that you are, technically, a woman and all.” Before
she could react, he reached behind his body to pull the gun he had tucked into
his waistband bringing it around quickly and striking it against her temple. She
felt the pain of the hit only briefly before a black tunnel overtook her.

~
   
~
   
~

As soon as she was unconscious, Xander rolled off of her and
leaned up against the wall while he inspected his injured leg. The pain was
excruciating and he couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid as to miss the thin
blade. Growing up with Aaron, Xander was well aware how many weapons could be
hidden on a person’s body. “Fucking bitch!” He kicked out with his other foot,
striking her in the side of her unconscious body. He hated this woman — for
her attempt on Aaron’s life and for stabbing him — but, still, he couldn’t
help but be intrigued by her skill as a fighter. He knew he was a tough
opponent for most men, but for a woman? He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t
just been part of it.

Pushing himself up, he calmed himself before grabbing her
legs and picking them up off the floor. He chuckled while looking at her limp body.
“I’d be a gentleman and carry you if you hadn’t stabbed me in the leg. Unfortunately,
you’re just going to have to deal with being dragged.” He laughed to himself
again and pulled her through the corridors to a small holding cell which had
horrified him to discover after Joseph’s demise, but now one for which he could
be thankful. When he entered the room, he immediately placed her by a wall. Four
shackles were attached to chains in a bizarre pulley system. The pulleys were
then attached to four individual cranks. When he’d first found this cell, it
had taken him a minute to figure out the purpose behind it, but, after
remembering Joseph’s tastes, he was disgusted to think about what could be done
with the elaborate setup.

With the chains, Joseph had created marionette puppets out
of the person unlucky enough to wear them. They could be positioned in whatever
fashion he would have wanted, the pain inflicted either by the position they
were set in, or in what was done to them while they were chained. And, judging
by the condition of the room when it had been discovered, what had been done to
those poor souls was ghastly and horrific. Even after the room had been
scrubbed down with bleach, the stains from the blood could not be removed. Rust
color splotches marked the floor, the walls — even the ceiling. Normally,
Xander would use any other room, just to avoid the latent energy contained
within this cell, but in his current situation, this cell was exactly what he
needed.

Tugging the pulleys out from the wall, he was able to secure
one shackle to each of her wrists. She was dead weight due to having been
knocked out, so he used the cranks for the chains to drag her across the floor
and up so that she was hanging from the wall. He lifted her enough that her
feet barely touched the ground. She winced in her sleep when the arm of her
injured shoulder was forced above her head, but she didn’t wake as a result of
it. He smiled to know he’d caused her pain: the bitch deserved it after
attempting to take the life of his friend. Walking towards her, he went through
her clothing again in search of weapons or identification. She moaned when his
hands ran over her hips, her thighs, and higher over her stomach and chest. Xander
bit back his reaction to the sound, not wanting to feel anything for this woman
beyond his hatred for what she’d done. But he found himself staring at her, his
eyes studying her body. Her hair fell in dark waves down her back, perfectly
framing an angelic face. Every muscle of her arms, legs and torso were sculpted
and toned, but not so much that she was bulky. Her body curved slightly in all
the right places, but she was still lean and fit. She was a fighter of some
sort, but the to what extent, Xander didn’t know.

She was clean and he cursed under his breath that he’d have
to extract the information from her rather than it being as simple as reading
an I.D.

After taking one last look, he turned to exit the cell on
his way to speak with Aaron about what should be done with their guest.

~
   
~
   
~

“Stop laughing, Aaron, it isn’t fucking funny! I’m telling
you, that bitch is a skilled fighter. We need to find out why she’s here and
who sent her. There could be more coming and we can’t allow our guards to be
down if that occurs.”

Chortling in an attempt to stifle his laughter, Aaron
eventually gained control of himself before responding. “I find it hard to
believe you were so badly beaten by a woman. You’ve been fighting me since we
were kids; I’ve never actually had the opportunity to stab you. You know better
that to leave yourself open.”

Xander rolled his eyes while breathing out a frustrated
breath. He winced from the antiseptic that Maddy brushed across the skin of his
leg before responding, “I didn’t expect it. I was surprised by her strength. Whoever
trained her was, obviously, very good at what he did. But a woman?”

Aaron nodded and sat on the corner of the wing-backed chair
facing the couch. “I’ve heard of a female assassin within a smaller network. We
have limited information on her, but I know there was a rumor that she could
compete against me.”

“Why would Joseph let something like that slip by?”

“She was never a problem, from what I know. Unless she did
anything that threatened The Estate, Joseph wouldn’t have concerned himself with
her; none of that matters. She’s attempted something now and we have to deal
with this quickly. It pisses me off that someone has dared strike out at The
Estate.” Aaron stood up, pacing back and forth, rubbing his hand across his
chin while he thought.

“All done.” Maddy packed up the small medical kit they kept
in the apartment and smiled up at Xander. Turning to look at Aaron, her voice
was almost a whisper when she asked, “What are you two going to do with her? I
assume if she’s been trained, she’s a threat, but will you treat her
differently than you would a man who’d made such an attempt?”

“No.” Xander’s response was solid and immediate. “That bitch
deserves what’s coming to her, Cricket, and I don’t want you concerning
yourself with her.” Standing, he pulled his pants back up, now that Maddy was
no longer tending to the wound. He looked down at the hole from where the woman
had stabbed him. “Fuck. And these were my favorite pair.”

“Xander, I want you to do whatever is necessary to gain
information from her. After that, you are ordered to kill her. She attempted my
life, or possibly, the life of Maddy. I don’t give a shit what her reason is,
she will not leave the compound alive, do you understand me?”

Xander looked up at Aaron, noticing how his eyes narrowed
from his rage. He nodded. “She’ll be dead before the morning. You have nothing
to be concerned about there.”

“Must we kill her?”

Soft and delicate, Maddy whispered her question. Standing,
she stared at Aaron, crossing the room so that she could touch him. “I’m tired
of the constant slaughter. We’re trying to bring down this network, but it
seems like everything we do only serves to make it stronger. Maybe, we should
let whoever sent her send more, let them start a war that kills off the network
while we run as far from it as we can.”

Aaron’s face softened. “It’s not possible, Mouse. If anybody
is going to be targeted within the network, it will be you, Xander, or me. There
wouldn’t be a war, because there is no loyalty — not to anything that is
worth their lives. They are loyal to the network, to the money and the power,
but not to me specifically. The Estate members will follow whoever controls it.
If more are sent and I’m killed, they’ll take control, The Estate will exist
indefinitely.”

Xander pitied Maddy when he saw her face fall at Aaron’s
words. He knew she hated living in this place, knew she still felt trapped,
held within a waking nightmare. However, she wanted it destroyed and the only
way to accomplish that task was to remain a part of the very thing they hated
the most.

“Use any method necessary to get the information we need,
Xander.” Aaron looked up from Maddy, anger evident in his eyes. “We can’t look
at her like a woman brought in, we have to look at her as a threat. I expect
her to be treated as such.”