My stomach sank.
Oh God.
The implications of what this all meant hit me right in the solar plexus. My legs gave out from under me. The murder took place on the night of the average Joe fights, the night Bella came to be with Mac instead of crying her eyes out over her husband’s remains. Had she known he was dead at the time? Did she give a shit? I slid to the floor on my ass in a lump of overwhelming sadness coupled with a helping dash of pissed the fuck off.
That bitch!
I could hear her now.
“Oh, Darragh, hold me. I’m so distraught. Stick your dick in my stank pussy and make all the pain go away. You’re my only hope, Obi-Wan.”
Dirty twat wagon!
I wanted to scream, to rage against this thing called love and its propensity to fuck me up every time I turned around. Bella had the green light to go after the one person she couldn’t keep her filthy paws off, and that was Darragh MacCabe. She certainly didn’t have me to worry about anymore. I’d practically handed him over on a silver fucking platter. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he wasn’t still in love with her and decided not to rekindle their old relationship. I didn’t know what to believe anymore, my gut or my lying eyes.
I wished I had stayed.
I wished…
The sound of the doorbell broke through my haze of self-loathing. Whoever was out there was impatient as hell, leaning on the buzzer like a damn lunatic. I didn’t want company, damnit. I wanted to wallow in suspicions until I could get to the store and buy more ice cream. Another fervid ring, and I dragged my pathetic ass off the floor and made my way over, checking the peephole.
“Who is it?” I yelled.
“The police, ma’am.”
Holy shit.
What the hell did the police want with me?
I cracked the door but left the chain engaged to check his identification before opening it up fully. Outside stood a large man wearing a seersucker suit straight off the discount rack of JC Penny. His back was turned to me as he surveyed the street and surrounding area. Before I could say a word, his hand shot out and gripped the frame. One mighty heave with his shoulder, and he was inside. I screamed and tried to get away, but he was on me before I could take a step. Surely, the guy in the car heard the shouts and reported them, or better yet, was on his way with the cavalry.
My assailant’s meaty hand covered my mouth as he pinned me to the floor. I flailed and kicked, bit down and scratched. He was just too big and strong. I pleaded with my eyes for him to let me go. Tears blurred my vision, yet despite the haze, I saw his fist as he raised it up and struck me across the face. It was the last thing I remembered before the blackness.
_______________
“Keep the hood over her head. I don’t want her seeing your face until she’s before the council begging for her life.”
“Shame. I could really have some fun with that one. She’s a real wildcat.”
“Don’t even think about it. Keep your dick in your pants. I won’t have you destroying all my plans because you have an itch that needs to be scratched. Remember what we talked about. You need to present her to the council with confidence. They have to believe the story once you tell it, or they’ll start asking questions. Make them believe it, darling. It’s all up to you now.”
Silence.
“Two hours. I’ll be ready.”
“That’s my big man and his massive cock I love so much. Remember the plan and stay focused. We’re almost at the finish line.”
I heard voices, one familiar, the other not so much. My senses started to return slowly, starting with smell. Perfume, the expensive kind that’s kept behind the counter at Nordstrom’s under lock and key. Pain. A throbbing in my temple that felt like someone had taken a sledge hammer to my head and left it there. Disorientation from the hood over my head, the gag in my mouth, and my limbs tied securely behind my back and ankles. I was strapped to a chair, I surmised, and not a very comfortable one. Heavy footsteps pounded the floor as someone moved away from me, but I could tell I wasn’t alone.
She was still here…somewhere.
“Maybe I should’ve let him have a little taste,” she mocked, close enough I could feel her body heat next to my bare shoulders. “It might’ve made for an interesting show.”
Bella fucking O’Brien.
I lifted my head to try and track her movements even though I couldn’t see anything. No use in pretending I was still knocked out. Bitch was too smart for that.
“I wonder what Darragh ever saw in someone like you? His taste in women must’ve plummeted after we broke up, then again, I’m not exactly an easy woman to replace.”
I’d give her an earful if it weren’t for this stupid gag.
I felt a light touch below my breast and flinched. I tried in vain to lean away, but the binds holding me to the chair refused to give way. My breath stole in my chest as the hood was yanked viciously from my head, revealing a smiling albeit crazed-looking Bella O’Brien. I took in as much detail as I could before she decided to re-apply the hood. I was sitting inside of a conference room and not a scary ass dungeon. The furniture was typical of a meeting place—matching chairs, long rectangle table, and a square black box used for zoom calls. A television was mounted on the wall next to a dry-erase board. What held my attention the longest was the bright sunlight as it streamed through the many windows of a high-rise office building. I didn’t recognize the city below, but it certainly wasn’t Remington. The tallest building in town was less than ten stories, and that was where the governor worked. Strange.
My pulse kicked up a notch at the bizarre discovery.
“Now, isn’t that better?” she taunted. “Ow, that’s one hell of a shiner you got there, Odie. Hogan doesn’t know his own strength sometimes, in or out of the bedroom.”
I growled around the gag.
If I had my hands free, I’d choke this bitch.
“I’m sure you have a thousand questions running around in that little pea brain of yours.” She propped her round ass on the edge of the mahogany desk.
On the outside she looked so well put together—traditional, expectant. She wore a black silk knee-length dress with a veiled pillbox hat to complete the look of macabre widow in mourning. Who did she think she was fooling?
“What am I doing here?” she prattled on. “What’s going to happen to me? Where will they hide the body? So many questions, so little time.”
She had a bored expression on her face, but I knew she was just getting started. Something in my eyes must’ve rattled her. Before I could say, or think, the words fuck you, she hauled off and slapped me across the face. Three times in quick successions, hard. The gag was ripped from my mouth on the last pass as her nails scratched along my cheek. I felt the blood trickle out of my nostrils but couldn’t do shit but allow it to drip into my mouth.
Bella grabbed both her breast and made a show of squeezing them together. “You have no idea how good that felt. I’ve been wanting to do that since the night you came to my husband’s fights, God rest his soul.”
“Untie me, bitch, and we’ll go for round two,” I challenged through a sneer.
“As tempting as that sounds, I’m a lover, not a fighter.” She squatted down to eye level. “Now that I have your attention, I want you to know there are no hard feelings. I’ll forgive you for stepping on my toes, and I know you’ll forgive me for what’s about to happen. I’m not a bad person, Odie. My needs and wants aren’t that different from yours if you consider the context. Darragh and I will be married, and through our combined assets, we’ll rule the syndicate with an iron hand. Doesn’t that sound incredible?” She clapped her hands with a chirpy little giggle.