"What do we know so far?"
Ben didn't turn away from staring straight ahead and making a karate chop motion with his hand downward repeatedly as he added, "We have to review what we know so that we can go off of that." He turned his head to the men in the car with him.
Rory started frowning, shrugging, while Adam looked upward with a pensive expression and bit his bottom lip. Hallden, on the other hand, was looking at them all with wide eyes. It was odd for Ben, to see the great Tycoon Hallden so defeated, and he automatically thought of Mara. He grinned sadly of how much she looked like him.
Ben glanced at Nathan in the driver's seat with his hands tightening on the steering wheel and glaring out the window ahead of him.
Despite the circumstances, the older man would have smiled brightly knowing what a reaction one girl could bring out in a man who had sworn romantic love was not an option for him.
But then again, this wasn't just any girl. This was Mara. The girl, who from the very beginning, resisted the charm and handsome looks of Nathan Henry.
She made said man's life a living hell having to keep an eye on her, fighting with her, yelling at her, and then making him fall in love with her. Before Nathan himself knew it, he was attracted to the girl. The way he'd stare at her, the way he'd become frustrated and overwhelmed with jealousy when she'd pay no attention to him, and then there was how Mara would stare up at him that made Nathan fall for her more.
The young man didn't have to say it for Ben to know that Nathan was, indeed, in love.
Now they were going after Mara, and Nathan's green eyes were filled with rage. The grip on the steering wheel he had was making his knuckles white, and he hadn't spoken a word since they all got into the bronco.
Ben glanced at him again and cleared his throat, "Nate."
Nathan turned his head, glancing at Ben, before looking back at the road.
"What." He grumbled, rolling his right shoulder, slightly easing the tension he was feeling before it returned again.
Ben frowned, squinting, "Are you listening to what I'm saying?"
Shrugging, Nathan scoffed, "Honestly Ben, I'm just a little pissed to be actually paying attention I'm afraid."
"Yes... I can see that."
Ben shifted in the passenger seat to face Nathan.
"Look, I get that you are upset about Mara. But don't think that you are the only one. We too want to get her back and we will! But first we really need to figure out where the hell we are going without driving around aimlessly." He gestured to the road that they'd been on for an hour and a half. So Nathan knew he had a point. And that irritated him, but still, he knew Ben was right.
"Fine!" he relented, gripping tighter to the wheel.
Ben sighed, turning to the others in the back. "What do we know?" he repeated.
Adam sat forward, resting his forearms on the seats between Nathan and Ben, answering with his brows furrowed, "We know that this Travosky bloke has been after Mara this whole time, right? Since we first met her, the guy has planned on kidnapping her."
"Right. And that's where all those men come in from the times they had chased us, and then later on Nathan when she was with him." Ben added.
From beside Adam, Rory lifted a brow and leaned forward.
He turned his head and lowered his brows at Nathan, "Didn't you say once that there was a woman that had chased after you?"
Nathan scowled, tilting his head away with his chin towards his chest. Just the mention of Anna made his blood boil more. Her words were stuck in his head from their last encounter.
"No matter what, I will get her. So, you might as well do what you have to do now before you miss your chance again."
He was grinding his teeth having a for sure feeling that it would be Anna responsible for having taken Mara. She was more cunning, and more of a challenge to fight. He had his chance to get rid of her, but because of his stupid moralities of not harming a woman... Mara was in danger.
Ben sighed heavily, looking at Nathan. "Nate...? What do you think...?"
Nathan frowned at the road and nodded, "Yeah." He sighed through his nose, narrowing his eyes, "Yeah, and I bet my bottom dollar that was Anna." Glancing in the rear view mirror at Mara's father, Nathan questioned, "Do you know where we can find Travosky?"
Mr. Hallden took a moment to think.
He frowned in concentration and scratched his brow with his thumb. After a few minutes, his head snapped up, exclaiming, "I know where he is!" Ben turned around and ordered Adam to write down everything Hallden knew about Travosky. Then he returned to look at Nathan, placing a hand on the younger's forearm.
"Keep calm, son."
Nathan's jaw set tight again and Ben repeated his phrase again in order for the driver to focus on the job, and not his overwhelming feelings.
"Keep calm, Nate. We are going to get her back."
#
Mara's arms were shaking as she was struggling to pick herself up from the floor. Her body was in pain and she was sure that she was black and blue all over. It hurt to lift herself, and she gasped a sob at the searing pain running down her sides.
She lifted her head, too weak to give the dark haired woman a dirty look that she deserved. And instead was trying to keep a straight face that was intended to prove that she may be hurt, but she wouldn't give Anna the satisfaction she wanted to showing just how much.
If Nathan taught Mara anything, it was to not show weakness. Thinking about him all of a sudden, made Mara's body collapse back to the floor and she curled her fists, resting her forehead on one of them. She bit her lip hard, shocked that she hadn't passed out from this pain.
"Poor Heiress..."
Mara closed her eyes tightly, hearing Anna's silky voice echo towards her ears.
Anna raised a perfect brow and leaned her head forward, "Let this be a warning to you. Your boyfriend isn't here to protect you anymore. And when your daddy finally gets the picture of how serious we are about our money, and dislike of being screwed over... he's is going to find his little princess in a ditch somewhere."
Hearing this only flustered Mara more. She shook her head and lifted it to look up at Anna. The gray eyed woman tilted her head and the corner of her mouth curled into a sly grin. The woman on the floor whimpered, shutting her eyes to gather her strength before she narrowed her eyes up at Anna to hoarsely sneer, "Fuck you!"
Anna raised her brows in surprise, straightening again.
She chuckled a laugh, throwing her head back and resting her hand on her large bosom. She leaned forward, smiling widely, "Oo. We certainly learned a few things from being around a few men, haven't we?"
She cackled, turning her head to the side and grinned in a teasing manner. "What else did you learn, Heiress? Did that fine piece of man show you a good time in bed, too? I bet he did. Hell, I would love to have him for a night. I could show him a real good time."
Mara's blue eyes flashed a glare, giving her enough strength to reach for some dirt underneath her and unsuccessfully throw it at Anna. It barely travelled a few feet in front of the woman standing.
Anna threw her head back laughing again, amused at Mara's antics.
"Oooooh, yes... I can see that you certainly had a strong attachment towards him. But what happened, Heiress, hm? Did the handsome soldier turn the other cheek after he was done with you?"
Anna pouted, seeing the hurt in Mara's face at the mention of Nathan's rejection towards her. "Aw... he did... Oh... tsk. Poor baby."
She pushed herself off from where she sat on a wooden desk and circled Mara, looking down at her like she was worthless. Then Anna kicked the brunette down again in her right side hard enough for Mara to cry out, flipping onto her back with her head leaned upward.
Anna could see the work she left on Mara's pretty little face.
The woman's lip was bleeding, her left cheekbone swollen, her eyebrow was cut along with her cheek, neck, and forehead. Her arms were starting to bruise nicely, as was the girl's left eye.
Mara swallowed, grimacing at the pain her throat throbbed with before opening her eyes to see Anna reeling back her arm to punch her again. But the woman turned her head over her shoulder when her wrist was caught by a another hand.
Anna stepped back, frowning; she knew her fun was over.
"Calm yourself, Anna."
The man's voice was deep, and raspy, but so unwelcoming.
Mara was breathing hard, unable to move from where she was and looked up at this blonde haired man in complete utter fear. She was trembling; watching as the man addressed Anna, calmly, ordering her to take a walk.
Anna frowned, pulling her arm from his grasp and spat in Mara's direction, "Why? So you can be alone... with her!?"
The man smiled and simply nodded, "Yes."
Anna blinked, not expecting that answer. She then closed her mouth, glancing at the girl whimpering on the floor.
If Anna knew Travosky, and she did, he would most likely have his way with the Heiress once he consoled her about Anna beating her. The female assassin felt the anger in her and turned away, stomping over to the large iron doorway and slammed the door behind her.
Travosky waited until the door was shut to look down at Mara.
She felt her bottom lip quivering. She was hurting everywhere, and knew that she'd be unable to get away from this man if she tried to lift herself again to run. At this precise moment, Mara was more helpless than ever before.
The large man lowered and lifted Mara up into his arms. He carried her over to the small cot provided by the wall of the large, gloomy iron room.
"Don't be afraid my dear." Travosky whispered in her ear. His breath brushed against the shell of her ear and Mara swallowed, holding her own breath to keep from smelling his putrid one. "You shall not be harmed any further as long as I say so."
That brought little comfort to Mara's nerves. She was already gritting her teeth hard with one of his hands holding her backside inappropriately, but her body was in so much pain, Mara couldn't voice to the large man to leave her alone once he'd laid her down.
Travosky leaned closer, near Mara's head, and stroked her hair away from her face. She wrinkled her nose, turning her face away from his touch. The blonde man narrowed his eyes, taking in the plain, but pretty features of the whimpering brunette, and took a sudden liking to the girl. She was too broken at the moment to take any pleasure of having her, plus, Travosky wouldn't find it so enjoyable if she'd be unable to put up a fight. And that would be no fun for him.
"This isn't your fault, Ms. Hallden." He coaxed, running a thick finger along her jaw. His blue eyes flicked up to hers, sneering, "It's your father I'm after... not you. And yet... until your father gets word of just how serious I am, you will have to take refuge here with me."
Travosky let his eyes gaze over her again, and Mara closed her eyes, to shut him out. She felt dirty and more so with how hungry he looked; his thoughts were probably no better.
With a gentle caress of his fingers along the side of her face, Travosky fought his desire for Hallden's daughter. Even though he wouldn't be able to have her now... he wanted just a taste of her.
His rough and cracked lips devoured her injured ones without warning. Mara cried out, and ignored the pain in her arms as she tried to push him away from her. She whimpered, attempting to turn her head only for it to be the wrong thing to do because now Travosky took notice of how Mara was willing to fight back, and it only filled him with more heat.
Mara shoved her fists against his wide chest, and managed to turn her head away, shouting for him to leave her alone. Her cries echoed the iron room, sending riveting chills down Travosky's spine.
In the back of the man's mind, he reasoned that Hallden screwed with the wrong man. And now, Travosky would screw his only precious child. His mouth found hers again after squeezing her jaw and turning her back to him; with Mara crying and desperately trying to turn away from him.
"No... no, no... please!" she screamed, and then shouted out for someone to help her.
Mara shed tears down her cheeks, and her body was too weak to respond with her pleas. The man's mouth was making his way down her neck and chest as his hands roamed parts of her body. Mara screamed for someone to help her, hitting the man with no luck. Travosky held her wrists down by her head and continued his assault to her body. Her piercing scream echoed the chamber room she was being held in, bouncing off the walls.
Holding her down firmly with one hand, his other started unbuckling his belt. Mara screamed and begged him to leave her alone, but her words were falling on deaf ears. The hungry man was too enthralled in wanting Hallden's daughter, but as fate would have it, Travosky became frustrated when he was unable to release himself from his clothing.
He lowered to her kissing her once more even though Mara continued to turn her head away from his. Travosky restrained her wrists once more with his hands above her head, bending to bite at the skin on her neck. Mara whimpered, trying to kick the man away, but her lower half had been pinned under his heavy weight.
Nothing seemed to work. He was hurting her intentionally, and Mara knew that the more she struggled against this man, the more hurtful he'd be to her. She was stuck here, she knew. Her father knew nothing of her whereabouts and probably never would. Even if he did, her father would most likely not be able to do anything. She was alone... and now belonged to this revolting man.
So Mara did the only thing she could do to survive, and that was to treat the man with kindness. She knew it wouldn't stop him from taking her to bed, but she knew that being kind would keep her on his good side.
And to live, she needed to be on his good side.
Mara gulped, shaking her head, "Wait!"
The man looked up at her; his blue eyes narrowing impatiently, and Mara sighed, pulling a wrist out of his grasp and touched his cheek. "Don't--- don't be so rough with me. Please." The gentle words were going to make her vomit, but they were charming the large man nonetheless.
Travosky grinned, whispering to her, "I knew you were a good girl."
She nodded slowly, not saying anything and laid there as he stood up to remove his clothing. Once his pants were kicked off, Mara took a deep breath, reminding herself of what she had to do to survive.
This was would be nothing like when she was with Edward, who she at least knew was a kind hearted man and took his time to make sure he was gentle. Nor what was to come would be anything as those times with Nathan. Because no one was Nathan.
Pushing her green eyed love from her mind, Mara tilted her head a little up at Travosky. Travosky liked that look. It was the epitome of innocence and perfect vengeance against the girl's father. He touched a thumb to her lips, grazing it slowly.
"Smile for me, darling."
Mara swallowed, parting her lips into a small smile. He groaned when he kissed her again and lowered his head next to her ear, whispering, "I shall be gentle with you, darling... but in return... you will do as I say."
Mara closed her eyes, swallowing with a nod.
Thus sealed the deal they had, and Travosky began kissing her shoulder and moved down along her neck. He smiled while trailing kisses down her stomach before his menacing eyes looked up at her hungrily. Clasping tightly to the cot, Mara took a deep breath, preparing for the worst part of being with this man.
As he hovered over her, Travosky's lips curled into a sneer and kissed her cheek whispering into her ear that sent a cold chill down her spine. "Such a good girl you are..."
Mara opened her eyes when she heard the loud piercing scream echo off the walls.
It took her moments to realize it was her own scream and that she was now sitting up; panting, sweating and shaky. Mara looked around her. It was the same small iron room in her nightmare. She was still sitting on the cot that horrible man was trying to take advantage of her on. But that's all that it was. A nightmare. It wasn't real.
Looking down at herself, Mara clamped her hands to her body to realize she was still fully clothed. She wasn't naked nor was there any indication she had been. Her body was screaming from the bruises and cuts it was covered in. She felt along her face, wincing at the sensitive touch. Her blue eyes widened as they stared straight ahead. They blinked repeatedly, trying to ease her heaving chest while thinking back a few hours before when she had met Charles Travoksy.
It was recalled that the grotesque man did carry her to the dirty cot she now sat in, but when he had whispered to Mara that she was a good girl it had set her off completely. Mara had gathered enough strength in her bruised and aching arm to swing it around, blindsiding the man, with a hard punch to his eye. She'd fallen onto the cot while Travosky held a hand to his face, his pained outcry bouncing off the walls.
After he'd recovered from his pain, the blonde man huffed through a sneer, glaring at the heiress backing away though shooting back her own narrowed gaze. The last thing Mara could remember, before he left her to wallow in the excruciating pain, was Travosky whirling this beefy fist around and returned a hard punch to her face.
Mara turned her body, grimacing through whimpers as she slowly moved herself back against the stone wall. She pulled her knees to her chest, biting her bottom lip as her arms hugged around them. She turned her head to rest it on her knees. Her eyes stared at the iron door that was her only escape from this horrible place. Sobbing, she realized she was never going to go home, she was never going to see her father, or Edward ever again.
Mara sniffled, hugging her knees more, and whimpered, "Henry... Henry, I need you."
She knew he wouldn't come. Nathan didn't love her like she loved him, so there was no reason for him to come looking for her. Her mind reeled back to the nightmare that had seemed so real, so horrid. It was a cruel joke bestowed on Mara for being locked up in such a frightening place.
And the longer she sat there, trying to keep Nathan's face visualized for a peace of mind; Mara's hope was starting to shatter with the likelihood of her nightmare coming true.