A Loaded Gun

Chapter 36

Brooke POV

TW: mention of rape

I groaned, my arms tingling from the uncomfortable position I was in. I felt blood dripping from the back of my head, and my foot was throbbing painfully.

I tried to move my arm, but something clinked and I felt cool metal around my wrist.

Where was I? Keeping my head down, I heard unfamiliar voices and gagged at the rotten smell in the air.

Definitely not in a hospital, and if my brothers had gotten to me that's where I would be. So someone else has me, but who?

I kept my eyes closed, but my thoughts were racing with the possibilities. An enemy of the mafia? Someone from my past? My history teacher?

That one sounded weird, but I did correct her in class and she really didn't like it.

Benny was in a torture room, courtesy of my brothers, so who else would take–no. Not him. Please, dear Lord, not him.

I'm probably psyching myself out. There's no way he knew where I was. I was protected. I had the entire f*cking mafia surrounding me.

It was probably just some random dude out for revenge against my brothers. That was definitely it.

"Ahh, my teardrop." Karma hates me. Seriously. There's no other explanation for why my life was...my life.

I took a deep breath, resolving to be as confident as I could, and opened my eyes. "Ahh, my rapist," I said, mimicking him.

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU INSANE? a tiny voice screamed inside of me. I blame whatever came out of my mouth next on my head injury.

"Couldn't find someone to have sex with you willingly, so you came after me?" I took my first look at the man who made my life hell, right after Benny.

His face was stormy, and he wasted no time punching me in the gut.

Damn that hurt. No reaction, no reaction. You're strong. "Damn, you've really gotten soft," I mocked him. STOP IT! the voice screamed.

I couldn't stop. If I stopped pretending to be strong, I would give into the panic attack, the memories. So my only option to avoid spiraling at the moment is to insult him.

"So, Dick, what now? You gonna rape me again?" I sneered at him, hiding the terror I felt at the thought of him touching me again.

"No, darling, I'm saving that for a...special time. And you know my name is Richard." his eyes were narrowed and his hand drifted toward a bulge on his hip. I knew that gun well.

"But I must say, I find it refreshing that you're fighting back again. I've always loved a struggle," he leered and I fought the urge to cringe.

"Now, my teardrop, I would suggest you stay quiet, because I would hate to have to hurt you too much before the main event."

I was puzzled but didn't let it show. "Can't wait," I said in a casual voice, breathing deeply to avoid a panic attack.

"But if you cause too much trouble, I'm sure the guards will be happy to...subdue you. As long as they don't touch that precious face."

I swear I almost threw up. He laughed, and I knew he saw the terror in my eyes, despite my best efforts to hide it.

I watched him walk away, but my relief was short-lived when his presence was replaced by two armed guards standing outside my...cell.

I could now observe my surroundings, and noticed that my arms were chained to the ground, with about 6 inches of chain between my wrists and the dirt floor.

My foot looked like it was facing a different direction from my leg and I sighed. That would be a b!tch to heal.

I knew the back of my head was bleeding, I just didn't know how bad it was. I think I was still in shock, because I couldn't really feel anything.

I knew it would wear off eventually, and this time I didn't even have some damn ibuprofen to stop it.

So I was chained to a wall, my foot was most likely broken, and I may have a concussion or brain injury. I needed to save my energy for the right time and pray that my brothers could find me.

Marcus POV

After Daniel was loaded on a stretcher and taken to the hospital, I rounded on my absolutely f*cking useless men.

"How in the hell did this happen?" my voice was deceptively calm, and my hand twitched near my gun.

I looked at my top 10 men in front of me, all wearing terrified expressions. One in particular looked like he was about to piss himself. As he should.

"Capo, please–" a man at the end of the line began to plead, presumably for his life. Without blinking, I drew my gun and shot him in the kneecap.

He collapsed but didn't make a sound, which was surprisingly smart of him.

"My F*CKING SISTER is missing, AGAIN, and you f*cking useless bastards did NOTHING to stop it," I said, my voice low and dangerous.

"If any of you speak to me except to give me good news about Brooke, I'm putting a bullet in your f*cking brain. Go f*cking find her."

They nodded and dispersed, yelling into walkie-talkies and gesturing wildly to each other.

F*cking useless. I was going to fire these useless, slimy worms as soon as I could find people trustworthy to replace them.

I told my men to regroup at the base, pushing all my emotions in a box to be unpacked never.

I was in the coldest mood known to man, knowing panic wouldn't help Brooke. I called Michael, ordering him to put Lucas on the phone.

"That's a little difficult..." Michael trailed off. I could hear screaming and crashes, like someone repeatedly hitting a wall.

"Put me on speaker," I snapped. "LUCAS!" The crashing stopped. "This isn't helping anything. Get to the base, now. We've got to make a plan. Michael, get to the hospital and stay with Daniel. We need to start damage control so he won't blame himself for this."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?" screamed my chillest brother. "BROOKE IS F*CKING GONE AGAIN AND WE HAVE NO F*CKING CLUE WHERE SHE F*CKING IS!"

"Lucas, you need to get your act together," I snapped, clutching the steering wheel so tight that it creaked. "Being angry and destroying sh!t isn't going to help you feel better, and it certainly won't help us find Brooke.

"I am too pissed off to deal with your tantrum right now, and putting my emotions away is the only way I can cope. So lock your f*cking emotions in a f*cking box and get the f*ck over to the base."

The line was silent. They were shocked, and I wasn't surprised. That was the most "feeling-sharing" I had ever done in my entire life.

"Do you hear me?" my voice was low as I attempted not to snap.

"Coming right now, Capo," Lucas said, recognizing my voice and trying to appease my anger.

"Going to the hospital now, Marcus," Michael added.

I hung up, breathed deeply, and slammed on the accelerator, not caring how many stupid laws I broke on the way to base. Where are you, Brooke?