Redemption (The Bet) (35 page)

"Who I am doesn't really matter. What I want…well, it isn't a matter of what rather than who I want and if I know the arrogant bastard, he'll be smart enough to find us soon." He didn't appear to be worried, in fact, looking at his grinning mug, Sophie feared that he was almost anticipating it. A criminal looking forward to being found was never a good thing. "That's enough chit chat. You shouldn't even be out of bed, come on, let's get you in bed," he approached Sophie, but those spitting dark pools put a halt to his strides.

"Stay the hell away from me."

The venom in that voice took Tony aback as did the unexpected flash of Ellie's face contemptuously glaring back of him. Blinking twice in the attempt to gather his bearings, Tony opened his eyes and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the girl and not Ellie's face.

"Can't do that, kid." He reached out his hands and made to grab her, but his hands were smacked away. On instinct, Tony would've lashed out and smashed his fist against that face, but with patience he'd also learnt restraint and so he balled his fist and bared his teeth. "Get in the
 fucking bed."

"Screw you."

Pressing his face close enough that he saw the dilated pupils of Sophie's eyes, Tony wrapped his fingers around his daughter's neck and tilted her head back until it touched the bed. "Don't fuck with me kid," he gritted through clenched teeth, "otherwise your little half siblings won't live to see tomorrow." He added just the slightest bit of pressure. "Hear me?"

Sophie glowered, se
emingly fearless. "Perfectly…dad."

Tony smirked and released his hold. "You aren't as dumb as you look," He stepped away but not before gently slapping Sophie's cheek. "Good girl."

"Can't say the same for you."

Tony's laughter was unexpected, taking Sophie off guard. "You've got guts kid, Ellie would be so proud."

"She'll find us and when she does you…"

"When
 she does, I'm going to get what I want," straightening his clothes, Tony turned and headed to the door. "Good luck getting in the bed, you'll need it." He left and slammed the door shut, taking Sophie's bravado with him.

Telling
herself that now was not the time to cry didn't really help when Sophie decided to get back on the mattress. She struggled, panted and grunted until she finally ended on her side. Her shoulders shook as she tried to hold in her sobs. The pain paled in comparison to the discovery she'd just made. Instead of a father like Nicholas, instead of someone who she admired and loved, instead of someone she could look up too and be proud of, she'd ended up with the worse sort of man as her father.

Sophie had never really put much thought to her own biological father.
 He hadn't really mattered so long as she held close the memories of Nicholas. To Sophie, her father had been a sperm donor and nothing more. A faceless nobody her mother didn't speak about and Sophie had been fine with it. However, on some very rare occasions, when she was just a little envious of her brother and sister and the relationship they had with their father, Sophie would wonder who her other parent was. What sort of man was he? What did he do? Was it from him, she'd inherited her dark, dark, eyes?

Well, she'd gotten her answer today. She now understood why her mother never spoke about him. Why Gabe hated him more than he did
Nicholas. Sophie understood now why it was better never having known the truth. The truth hurt too damn much.

Burying her face in the rumpled sheets, her body aching, her heartbroken, Sophie curled within herself and sobbed. She wanted her Mom.

Billy Sorrento, 'Easy Billy' as he was known in the pen, didn't do children. Ask him to drop to his knees and give you the best blow job
this side of the city and he'd drain you clean in seconds flat. Ask him to bend over and give over his ass for a dime bag and he'd fling his pants across the room and beg you to hit it harder.

Petite, blond and gorgeous enough to pass as both a girl and a boy he began prostituti
ng around fourteen. He was slut. He was good at being a slut. He did time for being a slut and got passed around like a blunt. That was how he'd come to know Tony, not like all the other meatheads in the jailhouse, Tony's quiet reservation had attracted Billy to him.

The other man hadn't spoken much to him when Billy always came around, but that
hadn’t curbed Billy’s interest. A few weeks ago, he'd posted bail and was released on probation. Cashing a few favors in, he'd found out where Tony was living and had taken a few busses to finally find him in this shabby rundown apartment. The raven-haired man had let him in and by ways of repaying his hospitality Billy fucked Tony and even helped him kidnap some random brats. Now those random fucking brats where pissing the hell out of him.

"I'm thirsty."
Cornflower blue eyes glowered at the curly haired Satan child seated a few feet away from where he stood.

"Did you hear me? I said I was thirsty." Narrowed
honey brown eyes stared at Billy.

"I just gave you some apple juice."

"I'm allergic."

"Would you rather I pissed in a cup and gave it to you? Would her
 majesty drink that?"

"Only if you drank it first."

"Or maybe I'll just pour it down your throat and make you choke on it." Billy cheerfully responded.

"If you touch me, my Mommy will kick your butt."

"Yo Mommy ain't here. In fact, I don't think you'll be seeing your Mommy for a very, very long time." Mocking a child wasn't something someone would take pride in, but seeing as Billy had about the same intellect as the nine year old girl he spoke to, he relished his momentary defeat over the smart mouthed brat.

Bella's lip curled. "My Mommy will find us."

"Keep telling yourself that."

Tony emerged from the bathroom, pupils constricted, laid back, high off the heroin Billy had scored on his way here. He wrapped his arm around Billy's slim waist and pulled him close. "Let's fuck." He nuzzled his neck and bit down on the pulsing vein there.

Billy grinned as he turned his eyes to the bounded children seated back-to-back on the carpeted floor. "Let's fuck in front of them," his grinned widened, "Wanna see how you're parents made you?"

Tony forcefully grabbed Billy's face and turned it to face him. "Stop fucking with them."

"But it's so fun." Billy pouted only to squeal when Tony lifted him up then and wrapped his slim legs around his waist.

"There are other ways to have fun." With that in mind, Tony carried Billy to the bathroom and locked the door behind them.

Soon the small apartment resonated with Billy's vociferous cries. He moaned, groaned, championing Tony to fuck him harder.

Bella closed her eyes tightly, tears leaked out, "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine," she began to sing, her throat clogged with tears she opened her mouth and raised her vo
ice, "this little light of mine…sing with me, Dylan." she implored.

"This is stupid Belle…
"

"Just do it!"

"Oh yes, Tony! Please! Oh, yes! Faster…!"

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!"

Bella smiled through her tears and leaned against her brother. "This little light of mine...." They sang in unison, not only to stifle the disgusting noises emitting from the bathroom, but also to reach out to their sister, who they had yet to see.

~*~*~*~

Sophie heard their voices through the walls. She unfurled from her fetal position and strained to hear. It really was B
ella and Dylan! Sophie smiled softly, they were singing, a song their Mom would sometimes sing to them when they'd been younger. She wanted so much to call out to them and let them know she was close, but she couldn't. Her tongue felt like she had an overgrown python sitting on it, her ears felt clogged and her body seemed incapable of doing anything else but pulse in agony. The little hairs on her skin rose and bubbled, she curled back into her fetal position, suddenly cold. Her teeth clicked as her lips trembled. Although sweat formed against her forehead and beneath her armpits, she still felt so cold.

She tried to keep Dylan and Bella's voice from drowning out and opened her mouth to sing with them, refusing to succumb to the call of the fever. Sadly, it was a battle she wasn't mean to win, for soon after she opened her mouth to sing the first line, Sophie drifted and fell unconscious.

~*~*~*~

"Money isn't an issue, I want it done! And I want it done fast!" Nicholas flipped the phone shut and leaned back against the leather seat. Meeting cut abruptly short, he'd called for his jet and left the European continent without so much as a by-your-leave. The Parisian CEO of Pren Industries hadn't been the least pleased, but did Nicholas care? Not in the slightest. There were issues far more pressing than a failed merger with an uppity decrepit codger who was better off sitting at home than helming a Multi-Million dollar conglomerate.

These issues had
to be taken cared of right away. They were now at the forefront of his mind, his attention undividedly focused on it. Someone was seriously screwing with him and given his foul mood, heads were inevitably going to roll. Of that Nicholas would make sure.

"Sir, we're here." Nicholas pocketed his phone and exited the interior of the black limo. Impervious to its manicured lawns and picturesque exterior, he stuffed his hands in his black slacks and ambled up the three steps that led to the seemingly perfect Victorian mansion.

"I'm sorry, sir, but visiting hours are over." Turning to the dark haired attendant, Nicholas blankly stared at her.

"I'
m sure you'll make an exception." He walked away from her and headed to his destination.

"But Sir…
"

"Madam.
" Broderick, ever the trusted bodyguard, gently apprehended the attendant's arm and turned her towards him. "Mr. Grayson has some business to discuss with one of your patient. It'll only be a few minutes."

Nicholas walked through the endless halls, the soles of his black shoes pounded on the polished cherry-wood floors. The crystalline chandelier gleamed and reflected the yellow glow from the bulbs. On either side of his body, hanging high along the walls like disapproving spectators,
were the photos of St Anna’s benefactors. But there was only one person he’d come to see in this godforsaken hell. How long had it been since he'd seen his dearest school chum, four---five or was it six years? Time flew by so fast.

Coming to the intricately carved oaken doors he'd been looking for, Nicholas palmed the brass handle and pushed open the door. He entered and closed it behind him. The somber ambiance from the halls carried into the room, it seemed to seep into the stones walls and permeate every crevice.

Taking a moment to appraise his surroundings, Nicholas saw that the room hadn't changed from the last time he'd bothered to visit. The king sized mattress, raised on the four-poster dais, was still too immense. The floor to ceiling windows that were at the moment covered by the opaque mahogany drapery, were far too ostentatious. The ceiling was high and splattered against it were the images of cherubs and angels lazing about on dusky clouds. Lined with literature and the written philosophy of the greatest minds of humankind's time, the wall to the far right of where Nicholas stood represented a library and there, standing before its looming stature was none other than Matthew Bates.

"I've already or
dered you to go to bed, Marcy…" Nicholas took great pleasure in seeing fear descend to settle over Matt's face. The man he'd once considered the very best of friends stood across from him. He still looked the same, but the long exposure to treatments turned his once vibrant physique to that of a man twice his age and some part Nicholas should've felt some sort of remorse for it, but nothing came.

"Hello,
Matthew." Nicholas took his hands out of his pockets and stepped further into the room. He leaned down, scooped up the small book sitting on the ottoman, read the cover, and derisively grinned. "Keats. polishing up on our sonnets, Bates?"

"What the hell do you want?"

"No need to be so snappish, simply here to ask you a few questions." Nicholas tossed the book back on the ottoman and placed his hands back in his pockets. Despite his exterior appearance, Nicholas was far from calm.

"Fuck off, Grayson."

"Let's not make this visit difficult. We both know how difficult I can make it for you, Matt." now there was steel in his voice, his eyes focused, glacier cold, they focused on Matt.

Matt had good reason to fear his ex-best friend. Nicholas was the reason why he was here, locked away against his will, in this godd
amned asylum. Nicholas, who’d had far more influence than Matt initially realized, had carefully utilized Charles's resources, calling in favors owed to his father by executives who had less than sterling reputations. Executives who had owned stocks in the Bates company. Blackballing Matt's father had been so incredibly easy after that for the Grayson heir.