Embracing Fate: A Captive Hearts Novel Read online

“And what do you want me to do about it?”

  “I want you to buy her,” Kate said.

  Mitzy choked on a sob. “You need to save her.”

  Why? Why did Mitzy care?

  Pete rested his hand on his belt, hooking a finger around a belt loop. “You’re the only one who can do this.”

  “I do that and my ass is in prison within the hour.”

  The door opened behind me and the tiny bell jingled. “Is he on board?”

  A broad man walked in. From his build and the scowl on his face, I pegged him as ex-military. He shoved a hand out at me. “Ben Chambers, FBI. I’m your case officer.”

  “What the ever-loving fuck?” I ran a hand through my hair and took a step back. “The FBI? I don’t have a case officer with the FBI.” I had a parole officer, somewhere nearby who was expecting a phone call before the end of the day.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Chambers said to the others. “You ready?” He glanced at me.

  “Ready for what?” I wasn’t ready for shit.

  He turned to Kate, a look of confusion on his face. “I thought you said he would do it. Our insertion window is closing fast, and we need to get moving.”

  Kate gestured at me. “He’s refusing.”

  Chambers turned his dark eyes on me. “Jake told me we could count on you. There’s a lot riding on this.”

  Where was my brother? I doubted he had any faith left in me. “There’s no way I’m jeopardizing parole.”

  “You’re not in jeopardy. Your parole officer has been notified of your status.”

  “My status?”

  “Yes, as a special operative for the FBI. I’m your handler, and as long as you’re working our case, your parole officer will receive satisfactory status updates.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  Chambers gave a shrug. “That’s up to you.” His message was not lost on me.

  I wanted to talk to Jake and find out what the hell was going on, but his absence spoke volumes. If he wasn’t here, there was a good reason for it. I had a feeling that had to do with Kate. Not that I blamed him. The last time I’d seen Jake, I held Kate’s life literally in my hands.

  “Maybe they didn’t explain things to you?” Chambers arched a brow and cocked his head.

  “I told him what we needed,” Kate said.

  Mitzy held up the photograph and wiggled it under my nose. “Clara is going to be auctioned to the highest bidder.” The pitch of her voice changed, becoming even higher, as if that were possible. “These girls don’t last long in that world. Not from what we’ve been able to figure out. You’re her only chance.”

  “Who is this girl to you?” I yanked the picture out of her hands and stared at the beautiful girl. My guts twisted thinking about the depravities she would soon endure.

  Mitzy bit at her lower lip. “She’s just a friend.”

  “You want me to buy her? Fine. I buy her. I let her go. And I go on my merry way. Problem solved.” Was I really considering such a reckless act?

  Kate’s lips pursed, and she put a hand on Mitzy’s shoulder. Mitzy blew out a deep breath and curled in on herself. With a tremor in her voice, she looked at me with misty eyes. “If you do that, then more will die.”

  “Do you have any idea what you’re asking?” Were they all insane? They wanted me to buy this girl and rape her? Do horrible things to her? That would be expected. Entering that world meant embracing the monster within. All to save others? It twisted my guts even thinking about it. “I’m sorry, but the good of many does not justify harming one. You can’t ask me to do that.”

  “You’re perfectly capable of doing this.” Kate’s cutting words sliced open old wounds. “You’ve done far worse.”

  I curled my fingers into fists and levied the full brunt of my hatred on her. “Not by my choice.” The words ground out. One by one they dripped with the agony of my sins.

  Her eyes widened and she stepped back.

  Chambers gave a low whistle. “The sins of the father…”

  “Became mine.” My focus shifted from Kate and landed on Chambers. “You don’t know me, and if you think you know the kind of man I am, think again.” I pushed past Chambers and shoved the doors open. That damn tinkling bell mocked my dramatic exit.

  I made it two blocks before the rumble of a bike sounded behind me. The blood in my veins grew cold because I knew that sound. Spinning around, I faced down the one man my betrayal had hurt the most.

  Jake pulled to a stop and tugged at the strap of his helmet. The last time I’d seen that bike, I’d been on it, impersonating him. I enticed Kate into riding behind me and took her to a warehouse where my father orchestrated her attempted rape and near murder.

  Neither had happened.

  In an odd act of character, I couldn’t bring myself to defile the woman Jake loved. Then when the near fatal blow had been dealt by our father, I had been the one who held the sharp edges of the wound across Kate’s throat closed while she bled and my brother cried.

  My twin reached behind him and grabbed at a second helmet. “Put this on.”

  Not that I expected a warm reunion, but damn, could he be any colder?

  I grunted as he slammed the helmet into my gut. Yeah, there was his anger. Curious as to how this was going to play out, I put on the helmet, then slung my leg over the back of his bike. Jake revved the throttle, and I nearly fell off the back as he launched forward.

  Bastard did that on purpose.

  At first, I didn’t pay any mind to where we were going. I expected he might take me to Stripes. The chances of running into Kevin there would be high, as well as seeing Lily again.

  My heart squeezed with memories of Lily’s screams rattling around in my head. The things that had been done to her had filled my nightmares for years. I may not have been the architect of her destruction, but I had been there. I could have stopped the things my father did, but with the anger fueled by my father’s lies, I had been a righteous force enacting vengeance on those I believed had abandoned me.

  Buildings drew together, growing tighter and higher as we entered town, and then the spaces between them widened. High-rises gave way to multistoried buildings, until strip malls overtook those. Jake angled us out of town, and it took a minute before my mind caught up to the queasiness in my gut.

  I’d traveled these roads before; me at the helm with Kate sitting behind me. Jake kept on the gas, blowing through two red lights. Perhaps he knew what thoughts spilled through my mind. Given a chance, I was ready to vault off this bike.

  Jake kept us going, heading beyond the outskirts of town to an abandoned warehouse I knew entirely too well. He barreled through open doors leading inside the darkened space. The bike tires spit out gravel and dirt blew in a plume behind us as he finally came to a stop before a set of iron beams.

  “Get off.” His curt command had me climbing off the bike.

  The helmet came off with a tug, and as I ran my fingers through my hair, Jake pulled off his helmet. For the first time in five years, four months, and three days, I faced the grim visage of my identical twin.

  I said nothing, but then neither did he. Without a word, he unzipped his leather jacket, reached in, and pulled out a length of rope. He tossed it at me, hitting me square in the chest. Out of reflex, I caught the rope and stared at it.

  “What the fuck is this for?” These were the first words I said to Jake. Not, I’m sorry. Not, forgive me. No, the words that fell from my mouth were filled with indignation.

  Still nothing from my twin. He glanced at the beam over my head and then stared at the rope, like I was supposed to know what he meant. But that’s the thing. His intent couldn’t be more clear. Did he expect me to hang myself? Maybe that would be the easiest way to end our joint suffering.

  On closer examination of the rope, two loops at either end made it perfectly clear what he intended.

  “No fucking way.” I tossed the rope to the ground.

  Still not speaking, he made a show of bendi
ng down. His hard gaze locked on mine as he picked up the rope, coiled it loosely, and flung it at my face. The ends slapped my cheek, but this time, I didn’t catch them. They tumbled back to the ground.

  We were playing a stupid kid’s game.

  “We can do this all fucking day.” I bit out my words, angered by his silence. “There’s no way I’m doing that.”

  He walked up to me, getting in my space, standing nose to nose, trying to intimidate me. Didn’t he know I had years of practice at this with men much larger and fiercer than him?

  The Davenport men were a tall breed, standing over six feet, but I’d been incarcerated with men much taller and more ferocious than my brother. I stared into the mirror of the man I could have been if life had dealt me a different hand.

  My gaze met and held his. We battled it out in the space between us. Years of egregious sins, both real and perceived, passed between us in that moment.

  I’d never forgiven him for abandoning me in that Thai jail, although at the time, that had been far from the truth. My father spewed the lies needed to get me to take his side, and I believed each and every one of them. I knew better now and had come to terms with the decisions I made in an anger induced rage.

  I supposed Jake needed a moment to show me how badass he could be. I had kidnapped his girl, strung her to the very beam over my head, and tortured her, all while knowing what our father planned. I would hate myself too. I did…for a time. So, I gave him this opportunity to let his hatred lose.

  The moment passed with his hostility a seething force between us. My apathy stared back at him. I’d had five years to deal with my sins. I forgave myself, determined to lead a better life from here on out. Looking into his eyes, his anger had only festered in the years since he’d seen me last. Not surprising it came to a boiling point.

  But really, a rope?

  Chapter 5

  “Pick it up,” Jake growled the words. His fists tightened. His shoulders bunched. His stare could cut steel.

  Guess he found his voice.

  “And do what?”

  He glanced at the beam over my head. “You’re smarter than this.”

  I was, but what was the point? Whatever my brother had planned escaped me. There was no way he intended to kill me, not with Kate needing me for an insane job.

  Wait?

  Maybe he didn’t know? How could that be? My lips curved into a smirk. Maybe things weren’t all hot and wonderful in the land of Master and slave?

  “Wipe that smirk off your face. It isn’t what you think.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I know every thought in your head, dumbass.”

  I didn’t believe him. There had been a time, in the innocence of our youth, when our twin connection seemed almost unreal. We finished each other’s sentences and had a language all our own.

  Time, distance, a couple murders, and an incarceration stretched whatever mystical force we shared past the snapping point. Other than our looks, there was no otherworldly bridge connecting our souls.

  I severed that tie.

  He was as much a stranger to me as I was to him.

  “I’m not interested in this game. Tell me what you want and get on with it. You want to kick my ass, then do it. Get it over with. I’ll even make it easy on you and not fight back.” An ass whooping by Jake would be child’s play compared to what I’d endured in prison.

  “As much as I would love to kick your ass, that’s not what this is about.”

  “Then what the fuck?”

  “It’s about penance.”

  “And you don’t think I’ve thought about what I did? To you? To Kate? You don’t think I’ve suffered for my sins?”

  “You don’t get to decide what’s enough, and this isn’t about me or Kate. Now toss that rope over the beam and tie the ends around your wrists.”

  What he said made no sense. If not him or Kate, then who? Then it hit me.

  “Kevin?”

  Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Kevin would never allow this.”

  My mouth dropped as it finally sank in. “Lily…”

  Her name spilled from my lips and a mountain of pain followed. I had a fair idea what Jake planned. Maybe some small piece of our twin connection survived.

  For Lily, and what had been done to her, I deserved to suffer. I bent down, gathered the rope, and tossed it over the beam.

  “Does Kate know what you’re doing?”

  “Kate is not involved in this.”

  I wrapped one end of the rope around my wrist. The other end dangled over my head. I would have to stretch to reach it.

  Jake watched me and shook his head. Then he tied the free end. Hands now lifted above my head, I was effectively bound. A quick test of the knots revealed they would hold. Not that I should be surprised. Jake’s rope work far exceeded my skills.

  “Did you know Kate picked me up?” I needed to test how much of Kate’s plans were known to Jake.

  “Of course.”

  “And you know what she asked me to do?”

  He swept my feet out from underneath me. I dropped with a grunt as my weight pulled at my shoulder joints.

  “Fucking bastard.” I struggled to stand, wincing at the sharp pain.

  “Just testing the knots, tightening them up. You know…”

  I hissed as he sucker punched me in the gut. With a wheeze, all the air left my lungs. I coughed and gagged against the unexpected pain. Wise to my brother’s intent, I squared off my feet and tensed my muscles.

  “Don’t think for a second I don’t have full control over Kate.”

  “Is that what I said?” My gut spasmed as the pain from that punch rippled through me.

  “It’s what you were thinking. Kate and I are of the same mind in all things. Even in this…”

  “And what is this?” Hadn’t he said Kate wasn’t involved?

  “Retribution.”

  Jake dug back inside his leather jacket and this time he removed a black hood.

  I could have fought him, but what was the point. Whatever he had planned, it was going to happen whether I wanted it or not. And Kate still needed me. With death off the table, I didn’t care what came next.

  One thing I’d learned over the years was the body could endure almost anything. It was the mind which caved. Mine had been honed to razor sharpness, hardened in the pits of the worst humanity had to offer.

  Bring it on, brother. There was nothing I couldn’t survive.

  Silence descended for a time. The crunching of gravel beneath Jake’s boots disappeared in the distance. I waited for his return, ears sharp for another surprise. Seconds turned to minutes until those stretched to an hour and then two. What the hell was he up to?

  My arms ached from being suspended overhead, and I shifted from foot to foot. With my sight removed, there was no way to tell how much time passed, except I felt it in the slow knotting of my muscles as I stood beneath that beam.

  My mind drifted as I sifted through memories I’d rather forget. Wouldn’t that be nice, to toss away unwanted memories? If I could pick and choose the ones to hold on to, then I wouldn’t have to endure the pain, the shame, and the self-loathing that were my constant companions.

  Soft footfalls jarred me from my thoughts. I cocked my head, listening for anything which would tell me who approached. But I knew. I was to meet my accuser, and I would be utterly defenseless.

  It was about time.

  “Lily?”

  I tracked her movements as she paced in a wide circle around me. Her tight breaths radiated uncertainty and revealed her fear. I may be the one tied to a beam, but I terrified her. Maybe she understood I wasn’t entirely helpless. If she got too close, I could take her out.

  Something dragged across the ground, a hissing sound. Then a loud crack filled the air and lightning exploded across my back.

  A whip? When did Lily learn to use a whip?

  It had been five years.

  A grunt escaped me as fire licked a
long my skin, but I absorbed the pain. A long pause followed as Lily paced a wide circle around me. My only warning came when her footfalls stopped and that hiss sounded again.

  My entire body stiffened with the popping of the whip. A line of fire burned from my shoulder to my waist. I growled with the sensation and bit my lip to keep from yelling. Blow after blow rained down on me, one vicious strike after the next as I danced beneath Lily’s fury.

  My entire back pulsed with the agony she dealt, and I endured it in stoic silence. Panting against the pain, I missed it when she moved to my front. Sweat plastered my shirt to my back, the salty sting sank into cuts she left behind. Not a Master like Jake and Kate, Lily’s whip cut into my flesh.

  The first strike across my chest had me rocking back on my heels. Her fury rained down on me, and I kept my chin lifted, not trusting her aim. I could lose an eye.

  Although, did it matter?

  If she cut my face, as I’m certain she ripped through my back and chest, didn’t I deserve every bit of it?

  The whip rained down strike after strike, and my lungs opened up with deep-seated howls. There wasn’t an inch of my skin she spared.

  The cadence of her ragged pants slowly changed, until the first soul-splitting sob ripped loose. The whip flew wildly, but no longer connected to any real force or intent. She lashed at me, taking out her anger until she spent it in my blood, my sweat, and my deafening screams.

  I’d given up on silence some time ago and soaked in the pain she delivered. Every lash was one I had earned. Each split of my skin would be a scar proclaiming my sins. I suffered as she had been made to suffer all those years ago, and yet it still wouldn’t be enough.

  My heart shattered beneath her fury, punished but not broken as I deserved. The pain spilling with each of her sobs was something I took within me where I could feel her anguish as my own.

  I hadn’t been the one who hurt Lily. My father had while I focused on Kate, but the things done to this poor girl…I deserved to die for what she endured.

  My chest heaved as her whip laid a line of fire across my hips, the tip wrapping around my ass, I let loose a primal roar full of rage and pain, misery and anguish, heartache and heartbreak.