Ink & Bone (New York Crime Kings Book 5) (4 page)

Click.

I jump, my chains scratching together as the door on the other side of the room opens. My heart pounds much quicker than normal, threatening to explode. I hold my breath and, for a moment, a brief flicker of hope ignites in my chest at the thought of Jai finally coming to rescue me. It’s extinguished, sucked from my body, the second I lay eyes on familiar tattoos. The skull, the throat, the hands…my stomach rolls.
I’m never getting out of here.

I lower my head as Skull saunters into the room, his inked hands stuffed into the pockets of his loose, black slacks. “How’s things?”

How’s things? I’m having the time of my life, obviously.

“You’ve been in here for hours.” He chuckles. “I bet Travis five bucks that you’d scream the house down, demanding to be let out within an hour.”

I spit. “Sorry I cost you five dollars.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he says, his Australian accent coming in thick. “Five dollars is nothing. You made me hundreds of millions today.”

Guilt punches me in the stomach. The drug…it’s going to be sold to children on the street. How can I live with myself? I keep my head down. I want to hold myself, to cup my face in my disgusting hands. “Unchain me, Skull.”

“Unchain you?”

I flick my head up, pleading as he strolls closer, amusement lighting his features. “Yes, please.
Please
.”

I have to get out of this room. I can’t be here. It’s too quiet, too barren. I can barely keep my body up, and my neck aches.

Skull stops a foot short of my podium and tilts his head on the slightest angle, as if to see me better. “I don’t know if I want to unchain you.”

My lips tremble. “
Please
.”

He nods his head, his black eyes flaring. “All right.” Pulling his hands from his pockets, he slaps them together, and orange explodes from his palms on impact, sending goosebumps over my skin. “But first, let me make something clear. I can make your life a living hell. I can leave you like this, unlock the doors, and let my men run through you like a fucking train.” He smiles. “Or you can shut the fuck up, do what I say when I say, and refrain from causing unnecessary disturbances.”

“Unnecessary disturbances?”

“This is a work place. My fortress of solitude. Disturb my peace and I will have you thrown to the dogs.” He narrows his dark eyes. “Understand?”

“All I have to do is be quiet? I don’t have to do anything else?”

“You’ve done enough for today.” His lips twitch into a sardonic smirk as he reaches out and brushes the inside of my thigh. I gasp as my muscles vibrate under the tips of his fingers. “Unless you’re feeling particularly…
ardent
.”

I pull against my chains, desperate to shake him off. “Get your hands off of me.”

“You needn’t worry about me, Kitten. In fact, by my side is the safest place for you.” He leaps onto my podium and kisses my cheek. “Wander too far and there’s no telling what
position
you might find yourself in.”

I lean away from him. Is that a threat? Are the people he surrounds himself with that inhumane? I swallow hard, realizing the stupidity of my silent question. “I’ll do whatever you want in order to keep your pack of filthy dogs away from me, but just know that Jai is coming for me.”

Skull chuckles. “Oh, I’m counting on it.”

After giving me his shirt, Skull tugs me through the house. The rich, earthy smell of his cologne swirls around me as the cotton fabric brushes against my skin. To be honest, I’m not even sure it’s cotton. Whatever it is, it must have been expensive. More than my monthly rent kind of expensive. It sags off my shoulders and brushes against my thighs.

A bad feeling creeps over the surface of my skin as I stare at the destruction from Joel’s raid in search of Monique. Blood stains the floor, and bullets are imbedded in marble. The dust has settled, and I feel it sticking to the soles of my feet as I eye the men strolling around the foyer. They carry rifles. They wear bullet proof vests and stomp around in big, black boots. Even though they work for Skull, even though they’re disposable souls that cower at his feet, they’re still commanding. They still intimidate the fuck out of me.

I tug the black shirt down around my ass as Skull leads me through his compound, one hand on the small of my back, the other gripping my leash. I swallow, and my throat squeezes against the thin leather.

“I said I wouldn’t cause you any trouble,” I say, peering sideways at his white tank top. The thin material clings to his broad chest, tight enough to make out the lines of his ink underneath it. “So can you remove the collar?”

He shakes his head as we approach a wide, marble staircase, his men paying us no attention. “No can do.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t trust you.” Skull glances down at me, his hand pressing on my back. “And besides, it’s a little sexy. Maybe I’ll have Monique wear one when I get her back.”

“You won’t get her back.” I tug against him, but he urges me forward. I don’t push it.

“You sound so certain.”

“Joel isn’t going to give up easily.” Reluctantly, I climb the stairs with him, clenching my jaw as he slides his hand onto the curve of my backside. “Why does the girl mean so much to you, anyway? Do you love her?”

He scoffs. “I couldn’t care less about the girl. It’s the principle. It’s the fact Joel Stone betrayed me.” Skull glances over his shoulder. “I saved his life, and he stabbed me in the back.”

“You saved his life?”

“He was on a war path. He came to me when he was hungry for blood, and I gave him purpose. As it turned out, he valued pussy over loyalty, over family.”

“You’re not his family,” I point out.

“And neither are you.” I clench my teeth. “Bottom line is, Monique wasn’t his to take. I own her.”

“You can’t own people.”

“The thirty-two billion dollar human trafficking industry would disagree with you.”

“It’s disturbing that you know how much a disgusting, criminal organization such as that makes a year.” I pull away from him. “Out of curiosity, what other despicable shit are you into? Murder, rape, drugs, human trafficking—”

Skull snaps toward me, and I jolt backwards, pressing my spine against the cold, marble bannister, as he leans into my face. “Racketeering, profiteering, illegal gambling, underground fighting, tax evasion, armed robbery—honestly, Emily. You’re boring me.” He tightens his grip on the leash, his threat ringing loud and clear.

“How can you have such a disregard for human life?”

“Ha.” His dark eyes glisten. “Human life. You say it like it’s a precious commodity.”

“It is.”

Stepping back, Skull whips off his white tank with ease. I try not to stare at his body, but it’s right in my face. The tattoos…the skulls, the faces…they cover every inch of him, smoothing perfectly over the rises and dips of his muscles.

“You talk too much,” he says with a tug on the leash. I squeak as it throws me forward, and he catches me by the neck. “You spit this out and I’ll shatter your jaw, understood?”

“Spit what out?”

I grunt as Skull stuffs his shirt into my mouth, and I gag as its clean, dry fabric touches the back of my throat.

Biting down, I scowl at him.

“Ah,” he sighs, rather pleased with himself. “Much better.”

Taking the lead, Skull escorts me up the stairs, along the second floor, and into a room at the most northern point of the compound.

His bedroom.

I try not to panic as he drops the leash and closes the door behind me.

“This is where you’ll stay,” he says, tugging on his white tank top, pulling it from my mouth. “Right under my nose.”

I survey the room. It’s nicer than I thought Skull’s personal space would be. The walls are a magnificent red, the trimmings a rich chocolate. I glance at the king-size four-posted bed in the middle of the room, and my stomach twists. “Surely you don’t expect us to share a bed?”

“I can always have Laura lay down some newspaper in the bathroom if you prefer?”

I’d rather hang from a skyscraper by my nipples than share a bed with this monster. “Newspaper sounds fine.”

Skull’s black eyes flare. “Suit yourself.” He scratches his chin, keeping his eyes on me. “Laura!”

I startle, then swallow.

“Yes?”

My attention flicks over Skull’s shoulder to the leggy blonde who steps out of the bathroom, her body barely covered by her skimpy, silk robe. She leans against the doorframe, allowing her robe to slip off her slender shoulder and expose her left breast.

Skull whirls on his heel, freezing when he sees the beautiful, semi-naked woman.

“Come here,” he orders, his gruff, lusty tone making me uncomfortable.

Laura pushes off the door and saunters toward us, her wide hips swaying gently as she sweeps me with her curious gaze. “Who’s this?”

“This is the girl I was telling you about earlier.” Skull glides his hands against her hips, shifting her robe and exposing her bare thigh. “Cute, isn’t she?”

Laura smiles as she wraps her arms around his neck. “Very.”

Chuckling, Skull kisses her neck, and she closes her eyes, moaning softly.
Oh, God.
I grimace as he moves his lips along her jaw and claims her mouth. They grab at each other. They push and pull, squeeze and pinch, all of it intruding on my personal space. Clearing my throat, I shuffle away, pressing my bare back against the door, and Laura laughs, tilting her head back. “Is Emily going to join us?”

Join?
I frown as Skull glances over his shoulder and pins me with a heavy-lidded stare. “Not this time.”
Not any time.
He slings an arm around the woman’s slim waist and tugs her up, wrapping her legs around his hips. Glancing at me, he grins. “You stay put.”

“I’m just supposed to stand here and watch?”

“You’re more than welcome to join in.”

Gross.
“Pass.”

They mesh together, eventually, their moans and grunts lost in my drug-filled haze that seems to have come back in a loop. Bursts of color consume me as they make a racket, fucking each other as if it were the last time. I shake my head and gain a split second of clarity. In the split second, liquid drips from my nose and lands on my toe. I glance down at its bright red hue and black dots cloud my vision. I stumble backwards into the door as more blood falls. I groan, unable to speak coherently, and my legs collapse, dropping me to the floor as I crash into unconsciousness.

Three

Jai

Rubble

“Shit!” Joel jabs me in the thigh, and I jolt out of my dreamless state.

I don’t know if I was asleep. Maybe I was. Maybe I wasn’t. I’m so tired, so stressed, that I keep drifting in and out of some kind of depressing stupor. I rub my face as I push myself into a seated position. “What? Are we here?”

I drop my hands. Billowing smoke is all that fills my view of the lake house. The gentle wind pushes the smoke around, allowing me to see the bright licks of the flames as they burn through the first floor of the house, growing bigger and bigger.

“Is that…?” Monique pushes her stringy, blonde hair out of her face as Joel squeezes the steering wheel in his hand.

“Yeah.”

I slide along the backseat and over to the window closest to the fire. Sweat bubbles along my forehead and across my top lip as the heat from the blaze warms the car.

I can’t believe it.

“Skull?” Monique whispers, and the side wall of the house, the one that lines the kitchen, crumbles, sending a burst of embers shooting into the night sky. I look at the side of Monique’s face. Her cheekbones are prominent; her lips are parted in fear. I can’t ask these two for help. They just got away.

Joel looks at her, his brow furrowed. “I’d say so. Could also be—”

Exhaling, I grab the door handle and tug it before kicking it open with my boot. Smoke swoops in, burning my eyes and singeing the hairs in my lungs. Joel calls out at me, but I shut the door and turn away from the car. Stuffing my hands into the pockets of my pants, I stroll down the drive.

“Jai!” I can barely hear Joel over the roar of the flames and the crackle of burning wood. He slams a door. “Where are you going?”

I keep my head down and keep walking, getting further and further away from the smoke. Joel clamps his large hand on my shoulder and pulls me back.

“Hey. I’m talking to you.”

I whirl on my heel. “What? What do you want?”

He frowns. “Where the fuck are you going?”

“To see Joker. To get Emily back.”

“That’s where we’re going. Get back in the car, and I’ll drive you there.”

Laughing under my breath, I peer over his shoulder and stare at the lake house. For a short while, this house was our sanctuary. No one knew where we were. We were out of harm’s way. Now look at it. Somehow they found it—whoever it was—and they’ve destroyed it…just like they’re going to destroy us. I glance at Joel. Look at him. He’s covered in cuts and bruises. His eyes are heavy, and he looks like he’s seventy years old. I don’t know how much more he can go through. If Skull gets him back, if he gets Monique back, this would have all been for nothing. I don’t think I can handle doing all of this for nothing.

“You’re free,” I tell him, and his brow twitches. “Take Monique and go meet Jessica in Italy.”

He flinches. “Italy? Jai, I’m not going anywhere without you. You’ve risked everything for me.”

“I—”

“You didn’t have to, but you did…and I wanna do the same for you.”

I exhale.

“Look, you can keep walking all the way to The Twisted Sons’ bar, but I’ll be waiting for you when you get there.” He smirks. “Besides, I can’t go to Italy. They’re not going to let me on a plane with this head injury.” He points to a spot above his ear and touches it with the tip of his finger, darkening it in blood. “Anyway, we gotta go. Fire and rescue will be here any second, and they’ll bring cops with them. Are you walking? Or will you get in the car?”

I peer over his shoulder, and the roof of the lake house caves in with a loud crash, once again shooting embers into the air. Tension leaves my shoulders and strangely, I feel…relief. Now I don’t have to set foot inside a tomb full of memories.

I step around him. “You’re insane, you know that?”

Joel laughs and spins on his heel as I stroll past him. “I know it.”

He follows me back to the car and, inside, Monique flashes me a tight smile. Whether it’s sympathy or frustration, I don’t know.

I slip into the seat and drop my head against the headrest as Joel gets comfortable behind the wheel. He and Monique exchange whispers, ones I can’t decipher, until she says, “But what if they’re the ones who burned down your lake house?”

Joel shrugs. “I guess we’ll find out.”

I lift my stare to the roof as Joel swiftly backs out of the driveway.

Yeah, I guess we'll find out…