QB's POV
Natalie handed a whip to me after a quick square off once Ryman arrived, then she she dispassionately spoke, "Cube is here again because you've still not earned my favour, Nelson. Something tells me you will try harder this time." Her voice was heavy with suggestion, as she coiled around the room like an agitated snake. "Cube. I cannot bear to look at him, right now. Discipline him. Make him sorry for whatever he has done." She grinned at me from behind his head before walking away and laying herself onto a recliner.
I'd make him feel sorry alright. I had a wire running down the curve of my left breast and another fixed into the elegant hairdo Louisa had done herself. It all lead back to Louisa in a room, not two houses away, where she recorded everything, just in case.
I didn't let myself feel fear at the sight of him. He was just a man. A man kneeling before the woman who I had like putty in my hands just over an hour ago. I swung the whip at my side and brought it down with a crack. Ryman didn't even flinch. He stayed on his knees, fully clothed and eyes straight ahead, awaiting an order. I walked up to him and trailed my finger nail on his back in slow jagged lines, cracking the whip closer to him. This time, he jerked involuntarily and I clawed his back savagely.
"To fear me is to fear the mistress. Don't you want to make her happy?" Ryman nodded slowly, eyes straight ahead as if this were painful for him. "You do?" He nodded again. I snapped the whip on his left thigh and grated out, "Say it."
"Yes," Even his voice was tight with some kind of emotion. His body was not pliant, he was stiff. Tensed. Something was wrong.
The scene had to go on for me to get a confession. "Yes?" I clawed him again and he arched. "Yes who?"
"Yes. Just yes Ms. Bollins." Dread filled me when he said that name. He knew my real name. The implications were flooding into me when Ryman spoke again, this time into a device, "Secure the door. No one leaves without my say so."
Stupidly I react with the whip, bringing it up between us and snapping it down to his back. His arm shot out first, wrapping into the black leather and pushing me away. I fetched up against a table and glared at Natalie, who looked bored on the couch from where she had engaged herself with a magazine.
"You probably can imagine my surprise, that anyone... and I mean anyone would have even tried to play the game you and your little friend tried to play." He walked towards me, whip in hand now. I braced myself for what was about to come. The obvious thing... what would I have done if I were him?
It was about power ultimately. I would use my power on the person closest to here that did me wrong. Then I would get to the source. It was only logical then when the whip snapped on my leg leaving a sharp, stinging sensation along the entire right side. I pulled back, ready to knee him when one of his hands started choking at my neck. I aimed high, and my knee missed, but put him off just a little.
"Hmmm, feisty. I can work with it." The whip collided again, this time with the side of my face and my ears rang. My vision blurred from the pain. His hands searched through my hair, yanking out the wire and spilling my hair down to stream around my shoulders. He knew exactly where the wires were too.
Natalie. If I ever got out of this the bitch would pay. I would tie her up for days as I cut off all her hair as I whipped the skin off her flesh.
It revolted me when the man's hands cupped my breast, squeezing slightly. I heard him chuckle when I punched towards his groin and missed again. He snapped out the wire and backed away from me. "Tsk-tsk. How does this work? I guess Andy will be coming to your rescue now." He held up my cell from the table. "Hmm, although, you can never be too careful. Time to phone the master to come get his bitch."
Andy. Fuck, he was going to kill Andy. Natalie would make sure I made this out alive if for no other reason but that she was a bitch who would hold it over me. But Andy... I repressed the shudder that threatened to wrack my body.
I next became aware of Ryman speaking on my phone. I imagined Andy's voice, anxious for a status report. "Do you think I'm stupid Mr. Burrie?" Don't move, Ryman mouthed at me and I flip him off. He doesn't react, but I swear I could hear Andy responding at the other end. Jesus. I closed my eyes.
"Now you're going to lie to me, Andy?" He nudged me with his foot. "I have her right in front of me and I don't like when people try to make a fool out of me, it just gets me... crazy." The whip stung on my shoulder and I bit down the reflex that told me to cry out, then it came again on my torso, knocking the outburst right out from my lungs. It was hard to concentrate after that. "You have fifteen minutes to get here, I guess Bree has already told you how to find this place....." He paused as he listened. "No promises."
When he got off my phone he threw it behind him where it crashed to the floor. HE was on his own cell next. "The boy had no idea. Someone else is in on this. Find him, and get him to me."
Andy's POV
I was guilty of several infractions as I sped towards Natalie's rooms not far away from The Couch Cooch in Plumspring. Fifteen minutes was unrealistic, but I made it in twenty, with dread fueling me all the way.
Ryman's guys were dressed casually, but they were unmistakably with him since one opened the car door the minute I parked and yanked at me to get out. I unbuckled hastily and tried to keep a clear head. One pushed me forward with a gruff, "Move."
I was an Idiot. I had come with nothing. No one as back up, not even Louisa. Shit. She had probably gotten out when things took a turn down south. And now I was here. With no plan but to save my friend pain. I guess it was too late for anything else, anyway.
They pushed me into the room, staying inside the doors. I stumbled to the ground, where I imagined Ryman wanted me. God, this obviously didn't work last time we spoke, but I believe in second chances. According to my mom so do you.
Bree drew my gaze from where she had been tied up sitting on the floor against a table. Her eyes held a fire in them that made me even more sorry. She wasn't mad at me, the fight she had in her eyes was for Ryman. But I'd gotten her into this. I tried to communicate any calm from deep, deep inside me. We had to get out of this
Ryman was drinking something brown at the bottom of a fancy glass and hadn't bothered to deal with me yet. While Natalie sat opposite him with her legs crossed, head tossed back in riotous laughter. So that's how this played out. I could've seen that one coming if I'd paid attention.
"There he is! Come on over here, standing so far off," Ryman's voice had courtesy like a cocaine addict had shivers. He looked back at Natalie, "He's got spunk. This one's gay not an animal. He likes to drink with the big boys." He fixed his eyes back on me, washed out mockery of Dylan's deep blue. "Play... with the big boys. Pick your poison."
It was a trick. But it worked. I started thinking about all the different ways he might killed me right then. Poison was a possibility. Anyone could die from drinking the wrong shit, it could definitely come off as an accident. But something told me that this man would want to kill me himself. I accommodated with a quick guess. "Bourbon."
Natalie smiled a smile full of surprise. "He does drink with the big boys, yes."
It was a longshot. But I'd be damned if I didn't try. I moved easily across to a chair beside them while Ryman poured me a shot of Bourbon. It matched his own glass perfectly. I spoke first, because he'd never have expected me to. With a maddening laugh I shook my head. "I should have figured that you would catch onto this little game."
Ryman narrowed his eyes at me, calculating before he drank his Bourbon. "Yes. Yes you should have."
And yet it was a traitor that made you know. But I couldn't say that. "Had to try, anyway. I like to know who I'm working for. Turns out I found out a few things about you after all." Easy. Easy. You can't know too much, either. Too innocent and he'll kill Bree. Too cocky and he'll kill you both.
I saw the punch coming and took it right in the nose, letting my head snap to the side. Fuck this guy could dim my lights! I'd learned to take a hit from my football team in high school, but this was different. This guy could teaching boxing lessons, never mind attending them. "And my son?"
I knew what he meant. Didn't Natalie tell him about her own part in this? What she told us? I didn't dare to look up and see. I played stupid instead, "Dylan's back at my place. Doesn't know shit."
"Hmmm. That so?" Was it me imagining things, or did the man just breathe easier. God, let it be. He was nodding, toying with the inner lining of his teeth in a sign of being skeptical. He appraised me with a grudging sort of respect, like he enjoyed it when someone stood up for themself. Obviously though, that line didn't work too long for Dylan. "And as for your employer... do you know enough now?"
I looked away, before turning back full of sarcasm, "Like I know about ghosts and fucking spirits!" I hoped that would be enough. "The goons that got to me from the car are packing though. I know when my game's up."
"At least you're not entirely stupid," Ryman spat. "It's a game you never owned. Know when to return it... How's the car running for you?"
I was in the clear now, but I still needed to bail Bree. I didn't let myself seemed relieved. That sort of thing got you killed. "Pretty slick. It's a fucking beast on the streets."
Ever-so-cultured Mr. Ryman smiled. "I thought you might like it. It used to belong to another son of mine, the dead one." He had avoided saying Liam's name. The kind of guilt a murderer should feel. "Welcome to the family, Andy." The threat was still in his voice, though it was barely evident. I knew how he treated his family. He'd killed Liam and was controlling Dylan.
I didn't have to pretend to be confused. "You gave me your son's car? I wrote a cheque to that dealership earlier."
"So it is the money that bothers you then..." Ryman smiled, shaking his head. "Man like you has potential on the streets. Don't let it get to your head, remember what I said about being cocky. Now get a move on."
I finished my Bourbon in one go before standing. I glanced at Natalie, forcing a smile for the snake. Then headed towards Bree, fussing at her ropes. Her cheeks had red lines.
"What are you doing?" Ryman's voice had the effect of cold water on a cock. "She stays here. She's part of the family too."
Natalie practically purred from her chair, "I needed a new toy. I was glad to see Bree stumble back in to fill the vacancy."
Fuck. That'll teach me to pray for anything. Bree gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head for me to leave. She knew what this was. If I stayed, we'd both die. I rose to my feet to give Natalie one last look. "Not a scratch on her."
"She'll take very good care of your friend," Ryman's words were full of promise.
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A/N: Thank Wattpad user linawook ;)
Till next time,
-Ender Xen