Tate never took his eyes off Nat. It had been that way for almost fifteen minutes. He’d stared at her like she was a work of art he was trying to figure out.
“The brothers?” Tate asked.
“Only one.” Gretchen crossed the small space between them and attempted to tangle her fingers with his, obviously seeking comfort.
Tate finally turned to her. “I did not give you leave to touch me, slave. Move back. To the corner. Don’t you speak to me again unless I give permission.”
Gretchen moved immediately to the corner, turning and facing away from them, her body shrinking into itself, becoming less.
Poor Gretchen.
“That’s pathetic,” Georgia said, wincing a little.
“You shut up, bitch. You’re not my problem. You’ll have a new Master in a few weeks. If you wish to survive to meet him, I would be very quiet so I forget you’re even here.” Tate held a nasty-looking gun in his hand. It was black with a long circular head. A silencer. Though he wouldn’t need it in here. He studied Natalie for a moment. “I’m sorry about the accommodations, love. You should know that I didn’t intend for our reunion to go this way.”
If he was talking, he wasn’t shooting, and one of her men was out there. She could buy a little time. She kept her eyes down. “Why did you wait so long? You’ve been at the resort for months.”
He chuckled a little and his fingertips touched her chin, pulling her up to look at him. “I wanted to keep an eye on you, love. I needed to make sure you weren’t whoring yourself out to other men. You were quite good until the last few days. You’ll be punished for that. As for the rest of the time, I lost a lot when you killed Hawk. I’d given him everything I had for you and I found myself in dire financial straits. I had to lay low. I couldn’t let anyone suspect that I was in on his little games.”
She nodded. “I can imagine the feds investigated you.”
“Quite thoroughly, but all they found was a business partner who was utterly horrified at what his acquaintance had done. I said all the right things. ‘Oh, but he seemed like such a nice man. Who would have guessed?’ And I left Texas to spend time with my brother. I disappeared and no one thought about me. But I never stopped thinking about you, Natalie.”
She forced herself not to shudder. He was so close. “Why the drugs?”
He backed off. “The better to take care of you, my dear. Drugs are an easy way to make money and you, little pet, require money. I’ve had to buy a new place and completely renovate it to meet our happy little family’s needs. That doesn’t come cheap. Do you know how hard it’s been to watch you and not take you? But I did it because I’m not going to let it go to hell again. This time it’s going to be right. And it’s going to start tonight.”
Maybe he was planning to move her while he thought he knew where everyone was.
Adrenaline began to course through her system. It was a risky play on Tate’s part. How high up were they? If she got away, could she jump? There had to be people around. Georgia said they had been taken up a flight of stairs to the roof and then down to this room. Anything could happen. She might not get a better shot, but she had to think of Georgia.
“We’re going to move while your boyfriends are occupied. Cooder can handle the sheriff. While the sheriff and the others are searching the club, we’ll take you out the back. Slave, is the car ready?” Tate tossed the question Gretchen’s way.
“Yes, Master,” Gretchen replied. “I got rid of the van. I brought another vehicle and the drugs you requested. We just have to get them to the car and then I can put the bitches out for hours. We can easily move them to the house in Houston.”
“If you call Natalie a bitch again, I’ll slice your throat, slave.” Tate turned back to her. “My apologies, love. I don’t intend to allow that one to harm you. That’s my job. You’ll be the queen of my slaves. I always intended that for you. You’re special, Natalie. Though I won’t call you Natalie after today. I’ll select a name for you as is my right as your Master. You’ll be reborn to my collar.”
“Nat, he’s insane.” Georgia was good at pointing out the obvious.
“Hush, Georgia. He’s the Master. We have to follow his rules.” He was completely insane. He was in his own world, and maybe that meant she could fool him. After all, she knew what he expected. She let her eyes drift down. She wasn’t supposed to look him in the eyes unless he requested it. “What would you have me do, Master? My friend will obey as well. You know I always enjoyed having a sister slave.”
He chuckled a little, the sound sinister to Nat’s ears. “Yes, I remember you and that one and the little Kitten. You know I would watch you in your cage. Hawk’s house was full of little hidey holes and spy holes. I would sit for hours and watch you and Kitten cuddle together. It was actually rather sweet. Would you like me to get Kitten back for you? It might take me a while, but I can try. Perhaps that can be your reward for serving me well.”
God, the last thing she would do was bring Kitten back into this world. “I prefer Georgia now. She will require some training, but I like her.”
Tate’s feet moved on the concrete floor. “She’s a bit fat for my tastes. You know I prefer a more elegant figure. She’s a bit overblown. I don’t know if starving her would even get rid of those breasts. I find them unattractive. She looks like a whore. You I can work with. Your hair will be dyed a more natural color and you will be taught to artfully apply makeup so you look like a lady. This one will always look like a whore.”
Georgia said nothing, merely held her arm stiffly at her side and sniffled a little. At least she was taking Nat’s cue.
“I rather think she might not be worth the money I could get for her.”
Nat had to stop that line of thought. “Many foreign men will find her exotic. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Many of those men like a full figure. Please. Just while I’m adjusting.”
He sighed. “Gretchen, it’s time. Go up. Keep your gun trained on the blonde. I’ll handle Natalie.”
Gretchen immediately began moving, scrambling up the ladder that led to the rooftop. She popped out, but turned and crouched, her gun trained on anyone coming up the ladder.
“If your friend can get herself up the ladder, she can come with us. But, Natalie, I swear if you make a sound, Gretchen will kill her. I’ll put a bullet in you, but I won’t kill you. You’re valuable property to me. I’ll have what I want. Do you understand?”
He would kill Georgia, but her torment wouldn’t end. Yes. She understood that.
But Chase was here. Or Ben. One of them.
Only one of them?
Why would one stay behind? Unless they weren’t sure where she was and they had split up.
“I require an answer, Natalie.”
“Yes. I understand.”
His hand went to the door, using the key to unhook the lock and swinging it open.
She could run at him, try to knock him off-balance, try to get the gun. But Gretchen was in her perch, just waiting for a reason to fire. And Tate outweighed her by seventy pounds. She had to wait until they got to the roof and hope for a better chance there.
“Blonde cow, you go first. If you can’t make it up the ladder, I’ll leave your corpse here.” Tate motioned to the ladder.
Georgia walked out, her body stiff with pride, but Nat could see the words had cut deep. Georgia held her bad arm at her side and started to force her way up the ladder. She hung there for a moment when she realized she needed the other arm for balance. Biting back a cry, she used it. Nat could see the blood start to flow again, but Georgia moved on, her will and pride greater than Nat had thought.
But she should have known. Georgia was a Dawson. She would survive.
Nat sighed as Gretchen moved back to let Georgia out. One hurdle over.
A loud smack reverberated through the small room, and Nat’s cheek exploded with pain. Tate had slapped her with the full force of his fury. Nat was knocked to her knees, the hard floor jarring through her.
> “Master, Natalie. You called me Tate a few minutes ago and I won’t have it. You will call me Master.” He pulled her to her feet by her hair, pain flaring as she tried to gain her balance. “Is that understood, slave?”
“Yes, Master.” God, she wanted to kick him in the balls, but she had to live. She had to give Ben and Chase time to find her. Chase was smart enough to track her. Ben would never stop. Her men would come for her. She would be wrapped in their arms again and that was worth the pain.
Tate’s mouth was close to her ear, hot breath on her skin. “Don’t think because I want you that I won’t hurt you, Natalie. You’re mine now. You’re mine to beat and screw and kill when I want. You are my property. It’s my way and only my way. Hawk was too easy on you. I am a true Dom.”
True Dom her ass. He was a sick fuck. A Dom gave and gave. A Dom cared and loved. A Dom set a sub free. A Dom, her Doms, had unleashed her. They had given her a reason to live, to fight.
He was nothing but a prick she had to survive to get back to her life.
“I understand, Master.” The word brought bile to her throat, but she said it. Words were meaningless in this place. Words were a way to get through the day. She knew who her Masters were. The men who loved her.
“Up you go and don’t forget, I’ll kill the other one if you call out. The music from the club should be loud enough to ensure no one will hear you. It’s almost dark. The club should be filling up soon. If I get trapped up here, I might have to start taking out anyone in my way.”
He would kill a bunch of innocent people if she didn’t stay quiet. Although innocent might not be the right term. They were strip club patrons. Still.
She climbed the ladder, her every muscle shaking with fear and adrenaline. If she was forced into that car, it could take a long time for her men to find her. But if she could find a way for Georgia to get away, they might have a better chance.
The roof of the club was still hot from the sun, though it was going down now. The neon lights were bright in the twilight. The huge sign formed a barrier to anyone from the parking lot. No one would see her from that angle and only employees were allowed to park in the rear. Most of them would be in on it.
God, she felt so fucking alone without Ben and Chase.
She got to her feet. Georgia’s arm was bleeding freely, her skin a pale white in the glow of the lights. She stood with Gretchen’s gun to her head, but her knees were shaking.
“Stay back.” Gretchen ground the gun against Georgia’s head.
A firm hand started pulling her along. “I think I’ll send those fuckers a little note when we’re gone. I would love for them to know that I managed to get you out of town right under their noses. I am smarter than all of them combined.”
He pushed her forward. Nat could see the stairs he would use. They glinted slightly in the dim light and then she heard a shout.
“The cops. The fucking cops. Get out of here.”
Something was happening in the parking lot.
“Keep moving, slave.” He shoved her forward, a little panic on his face.
Georgia was almost to the stairs when she heard it. A little whine from her left and then a hard thud.
Natalie turned and Tate stood there, a neat hole in his head. Nat fell to the ground just as another volley hit Tate, this time in his chest. Two bright blooms of color blossomed just before Tate fell back, his big body hitting the ground.
Nat scrambled for the gun, praying someone would take out Gretchen.
“Master?” Gretchen’s voice was shaky. She’d let go of Georgia and turned back, her eyes on Tate’s form.
“Georgia!” Logan clambered onto the roof. Georgia was on the edge, and he had her in his arms and out of the line of fire in an instant.
Chase stood behind Gretchen, a gun in his hand. “Drop the gun and I might allow you to go to a nice insane asylum.”
“Please don’t kill her, Chase,” Nat asked.
The gun was at Gretchen’s side, not pointed at Natalie. She seemed to completely ignore Natalie, all of her attention focused on the dead psychopath.
“My Master.” Tears coursed down Gretchen’s face, the first real emotion Nat had seen from her. “Why do you kill our Masters, Natalie? Why do you take everything away from me?”
“Please, Gretchen. You need help.” She knew Chase wouldn’t understand. Chase didn’t know what they had gone through, and Gretchen had gone through it the longest. Gretchen had been the most abused, her heart and soul decimated as much as her body had been. She was sick. So sick and Nat hadn’t seen it. No one had.
Gretchen fell to her knees beside Tate’s body.
Chase moved in, scooping Nat up and pulling her to his side, his body protecting hers. “You can’t save her, sweetness. She’s gone.”
“I love you, Master.” Gretchen leaned over, kissing his dead lips, and then the gun went up, but to her own temple. “I will join you as a good slave should.”
“Don’t.” Nat cried out because for everything Gretchen had done, she had to believe there was still a way out. There had been one for Kitten. There had been one for her.
Her time in the cage played out in that single moment when Gretchen held the gun to her own head. She could still see Gretchen crying, the bruises on her skin, the hollow look in her eyes. Yet when she’d had food, she’d shared it with Nat and Kitten. She hadn’t been all bad.
But she was past help. Gretchen was broken, and no one could put her together again.
Chase hugged her to his chest and covered her, muffling the sound of the gun.
Nat wrapped her arms around him, clinging as tightly as she could. She was lifted into his arms, and she cried while he carried her down the stairs. In the distance there was the sound of sirens.
“Baby!” Ben was with them, his lips finding hers as Chase set her on her feet. He held a rifle with a scope in his hand.
“Sniper?” Nat asked.
A ghost of a smile lit Chase’s lips. “I told you they’re everywhere.”
“Georgia?” Nat asked.
“Is already on her way to the hospital. Logan carried her to the car and was out of here before I even made it to the stairs,” Ben explained. “God, I was scared, Nat. Please say you’re all right. Anything he did to you, we’ll get through it, baby. I promise. We’ll be so gentle.”
“We’ll make things right again,” Chase vowed. “We’ll give you all the time you need.”
She hugged Chase and put an arm out to bring Ben in. “I don’t need time. I just need my sweet Masters.”
“Oh, sweetness, let’s take you home,” Chase said.
They tightened their arms around her.
She didn’t need to go home. She was already there.
Chapter Twenty-One
Two weeks later
Dallas, TX
Nat stared down at her hands and hoped no one noticed the paint stains. This little reception for the newest Lodge-Taylor was a rather elegant party to welcome a baby into the world, but the baby happened to be Julian Lodge’s, so it was an elegant world.
All around the beautifully decorated penthouse, her new family mixed and mingled. There was a lovely cake done in pink and lavender with the words “Welcome Chloe” written on it.
Danielle was beaming. She waved to Nat as she walked in. Finn was at her side, holding her hand as they talked to a pregnant Lexi O’Malley and her men, Aidan and Lucas. Lucas had a toddler on his hip. Little Jack was their son and another baby was on the way.
She could be pregnant. Two weeks and they hadn’t been using anything because Ben and Chase had explained they weren’t getting any younger. She put a hand on her stomach. She kind of hoped she was.
“That is a very nice ring, Nat.” Logan Green gave her a smile, but it didn’t seem to touch his eyes. There had been a grim set to the young man’s face for the last few weeks as though he’d done his duty, but he hadn’t liked it.
“It is lovely.” Kitten looked down at the two-carat diamond Ben and
Chase had given her the night she’d moved into The Club. Nat was getting married. She hoped she could find a gown that went with her pink hair.
Kitten looked pretty in a black and white polka-dotted dress that made her look very elegant. She twirled a little. “Do you like the dress? My new Master seems to prefer retro styles. I didn’t like it at first, but I believe it suits me.”
Logan snorted. “She sent back the first two. I’m surprised the man is still trying.”
Kitten grinned a little. “It’s best to let him know I’m different now. Could you please give me a moment with Nat, Sir?”
Wow. She’d stopped calling Logan Master already? Kitten might not have liked the first two packages Cole Roberts had sent her, but she was obviously taking to the man himself.
Logan nodded and walked off to talk to Leo Meyer.
“Are you all right, Nat?” Kitten held out a hand.
Nat took it, Kitten’s easy affection a blessing to her these days. God, she was going to miss her friend when she went off to the wilds of Colorado, but Kitten had told her that Roberts was going to begin their contract with a few months in Dallas, so she could adjust. “I’m fine.”
“Good, because I don’t want you worrying that you could have helped her. You tried, Nat. We all tried. She was broken before either of us met her. She didn’t want to be put back together. For some people, that type of slavery is a crutch.”
When had Kitten gotten so smart? “But not for us.”
“No, and that’s something Master Cole has to understand. I want him to help me. I love to serve a Master, but I want to be me, too. If Master Cole is simply looking for a doormat, he should look elsewhere.” Kitten took a long breath. “I’m ready, Nat. I’m ready to move on. I can’t be the girl I was before, but I also can’t be the one Hawk created. I have to find a new me.”
Nat hugged her. “I’ll help you, sweetie. I’ll always be here.”