I’m not above begging. I’m also not above tying up this old man and doing whatever the fuck I want. At the end of the day, I’ll do whatever I can to save my friend.
“Go on, in and out. If he ain’t there, get gone. Use the path to the left of the house, it’ll take you out there, you reached the pond, you’ve gone too far.”
“Thank you, sir,” I say, taking a step back.
“Only lettin’ you because you’re Harlan Johnson’s boy,” he calls out.
I lift my hand in a wave, not giving a fuck why he’s letting me. I was going to go anyway. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I call Beaumont and tell him what’s happened. Pulling to the side of the house, I wait for the caravan of cars to come.
We roll down the dirt road, not going too fast, knowing if we do, we’ll attract too much attention. I stop before we go down the slight hill, noticing a couple of cars parked near a small rounded building and door.
This is it. This is where my friend is. I don’t know who is down there, what we’re going to find or what kind of shape we’ll find him in, but I don’t care, not as long as he’s safe with me, with us.
Climbing out of my truck, I walk back to Kirill and my friends. It doesn’t take me long to brief them on what I know, which honestly, isn’t much.
Beaumont dips his chin, then I watch as he walks over to the back of my truck. He tugs the door open, taking out several guns. He divvies them out to us.
“Where’d you get these?” I ask.
He shrugs, his gaze flicking back to “Grabbed them from my house and raided Louis’ safe before we left. Figured we’d need some firepower, just in case.”
“Thank, fuck,” I grunt, racking the shotgun.
“Let’s get on the same plan, then we’ll go in,” Kirill suggests, with a grin.
“Fuck, yeah,” Beaumont grunts.
FORD
The four men return. I watch them, unable to move, as two of them bring in a twin-sized bed, then a mattress. I growl when I see my saddle and stand being brought in next. It’s mine, and thoughts of Starlight fill my mind.
I hope she’s okay. I haven’t heard any thunder or lightning, but that doesn’t mean shit down here.
“The actor is ready. I’ll bring him in, get the cowboy up to performance level,” one of the strangers says, grinning as he looks over at me.
It doesn’t surprise me that this man doesn’t give a fuck that this is obviously not consensual. I don’t want to be in his movie, not with a man or a woman. Not at fucking all, but nobody here gives a fuck about that and Sebastian is happy because he’s making money off of me, off of this whole thing.
Sebastian appears in front of me, he sinks down to his haunches with a grin on his lips. He tugs on my arm and I try to pull away from him, but I can’t. I’m helpless, still. He ties a piece of rubber around my arm and I know what’s going on, he’s going to inject me with some shit.
“No,” I moan.
Sebastian laughs in my face. “Yes, Ford. I need money. You’ll make me money and it’s only fitting. You made her think that she didn’t need to help me. That it wasn’t her obligation. You fucked me over, man. So, I’m fucking you over and pretty soon, every single one of these guys coming in here is going to actually fuck you.”
The needle goes into my arm and I try to fight, but it’s fruitless. The drugs fill my veins, flowing through my body, and I let out a sigh as my eyes close. Something is shoved into my mouth, but before I’m forced to swallow it, I hear shouting.
Forcing my eyes to open, I look up and there is Beaumont, the Russian, and Wyatt in my view. There is a lot of chaos, men running around, shouts, and insults being hurled, but all I can do is watch. There is absolutely nothing else that I can do.
“This is not what I had in mind,” Kirill shouts.
He picks Sebastian up by the back of his shirt and nonchalantly throws him across the room. I watch as his body bounces off of the wall before Kirill picks him up and does it a second time.
“Stephanie was off limits and that includes all of her friends. That does not mean kidnap and drug her man. It seems that I’m just going to have to write off what you’ve stolen from me as a loss, because you do not understand my terms,” he growls.
“Kirill,” Wyatt warns.
He lifts his hand. “Nothing about this man will come to fruition this moment. Gather him and his little friends,” he shouts.
I watch as all of the men in suits do Kirill’s bidding, silently, and leave. One of his men takes Sebastian as well, leaving only me, Beaumont, Louis, Wyatt, and him in the room together.
Kirill appears in my view, crouching down in front of me. “He’s been drugged, not sure with what, but he probably needs medical attention, his stomach being pumped should fix the problem.”
There is a pause before Kirill speaks again. “Ford Matthews, you will never have to worry about this man again. I should have taken care of him when Stephanie told me what his plans were, to sell that video of them, of you, to the paparazzi.”
I try to nod, but I can’t move and my voice, it somehow isn’t working in the moment. Kirill nods, smiling for a moment, then stands and walks away.
My vision then is suddenly filled with my friends, no, my brothers. I feel my body being lifted off the floor, then everything goes black. Peace. I’m finally safe, no longer as helpless as I was, no longer weak.
“Stephanie,” I cry out.
“She’s just fine. She’ll meet us at the hospital,” Beaumont promises.
The cab of the truck is quiet, I’m aware of what’s happening, but not able to move any part of me. I moan, suddenly feeling sensitive everywhere, and euphoria. Sweat pours down my body, but I can’t do anything to wipe it away.
“We got you, brother. You’re gonna be just fine,” Louis calls out.
“Starlight,” I whimper.
“Don’t worry about anything. Everything will look better tomorrow,” Wyatt shouts from the front seat of the truck.
My eyes roll in the back of my head, I close them and let the sensations caused by those drugs they gave me roll through my entire body. I can’t help but feel at peace and calm. It’s amazing, it’s not anything I’ve ever experienced before. I hate it and like it all at the same time.
The truck stops and I see the bright lights of the hospital in my view. I grunt as my body is moved to a gurney. The gurney is shifted around and then everything goes black all over again.
STEPHANIE
I let out a scream at the sight of Ford being wheeled through the emergency room. Rylan wraps an arm around my chest and another around my waist, pulling me back and holding me against his chest.
My entire body trembles as my eyes take in the scene before me. Ford looks pale, lifeless, helpless. I hate it. I hate every fucking second of it. Sebastian did this to him. That fucking bastard. If he isn’t dead yet, I think I want a shot at him.
“He’s going to be just fine, Stevie,” Rylan rasps against my ear. “You gotta let those doctors work on him though. You gotta be strong for him. You cannot get hysterical on me, babe.”
“Okay,” I whimper. “Okay.”