Prologue
Brian Pierce
"Please, Brian. It feels like my insides are on fire. Just enough for one more. Please.”
Sandra Brown stands in front of me begging for more money. Same story, different day. My once best friend, the mother of my offspring, is nothing more than a drug whore. Not that she was ever much of anything to begin with.
Pathetic woman.
“You keep expecting me to pay for your habit when I get nothing in return. Tell me, Sandra, what will you give me if I help you out?”
“What do you want?” she asks with a shaky voice.
I laugh as I walk toward her. “You know what I want. What I truly want. Give it to me and I will give you all the cash in my wallet.”
Sandra stands motionless for a few moments before her eyes go wide.
“Can’t I do anything else? Give you anything else apart from that?” she begs.
Shaking my head, I answer, “I have no other wish of you.”
A moment's hesitation before a whispered, “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll sign the papers.”
Celebrating the victory internally, I walk to my office and grab the papers waiting on my desk. I walk back out to where Sandra is standing near the front door, hand her the papers and a pen, then show her where to sign.
A small hesitation, two, three, then she signs her name. Grabbing the papers, I turn to put them safely in my office. My assistant can have all the legal work started first thing in the morning.
Once I’m standing in front of Sandra again, I reach into my back pocket and grab my wallet. I take out every bill, around a grand or two, and shove it into her hands.
“I don’t want to see you again, Sandra. Signing over all your parental rights of our child was the right choice, but you are no longer part of her life. Have I made myself clear?”
She nods.
“Good. Goodbye.”
I open the door and usher her out. The moment both of her feet pass the threshold, I slam the door and walk over to the child.
“We have plans, you and me. You will make your father a very rich and powerful man one day. But first, we need to get you prepared. What do you say, child? You ready to make a deal with the devil?”
“Gah gub ba”
“Oh, I'm not the devil, girl. He's but five years old. One day, you will look him in the eyes and take him as your husband.”
My plans have finally begun. In twenty-five years’, time, I will be in such a place of power that nothing and no one can stop me.
Chapter One
(Twenty-Five Years later)
I hear him running behind me. The stomping of his boots getting louder by the second. I don't know how much longer I can keep going. I'm so tired. I just want to lay down, close my eyes and let fate take over. But I worked so hard to get this far. I'm not giving up now. Ignoring the pain in my body and the tightness in my chest, I continue running.
There are no lights on in the surrounding buildings and I have yet to see a single car drive by. This was a poor time to attempt my escape.
“Oh girl, I'm getting tired of this game of yours.”
Hearing his voice, I almost pass out with fear. I can't let him catch me. If he does, then the last twenty-five years will be child's play compared to what he will do. Digging deep down I find a small boost of energy. I speed up and run down the street with everything that I have. The sky is moonless tonight. The sun set hours ago, and the darkness is so deep that if it wasn't for the streetlights, I wouldn't be able to see my own hands. So, the decision to run down the even darker ally I see up ahead seems like a stupid choice, but maybe I can find a place to hide and catch my breath.
Coming to the head of the ally, I turn hoping he didn't see which way I went. My heart is instantly filled with dread when I notice the ally I stupidly decided to run down was a dead end. Seeing a dumpster at the end of the ally, I fling myself between the dumpster and the back wall. Pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around my legs, I try to catch my breath as quietly as I can.
I don't know what to do. If I try to run from this ally, he will see me, and there is simply no way to escape him from back here. If I just sit here, he will eventually find me. My tears silently fall when I realize that no matter what choice I make I will be going back to my prison. Laying my forehead on my knees, I cry for my lost childhood. I cry for my hopeless future.
That's when I hear it. The low rumble of deep voices. I look up and notice, for the first time, a door directly across from where I sat. My hope flickers back to life as I jump up and dash across the ally. I grab the handle and push my way inside as fast as I can. Once inside I instantly turn to shut the door quietly.
The first thing that registers is how warm it is. I have on no shoes and just a small, thin nightgown. It's October in Ohio, and the nights tend to get very cold. My whole body is shivering and each goosebump I have feels like the prick of a needle. So, the warmth of the building was a wonderful gift. The second thing I notice was that the voices I heard from outside have stopped.
With my eyes to the floor, I slowly turn around. I can feel there are several people in the same room that I'm standing it without looking up. Taking a deep breath, I raise my eyes and freeze.
“Oh...my,” I whisper under my breath.
Standing around a large table staring right at me are about six very large, very scary-looking men. Each man has a look of absolute anger on his face. I'm frozen in place, too afraid to move or say anything, and too afraid to turn back. Some chairs are pushed back, and some are sideways on the floor like the men stood up too fast and knocked them over. The man standing at the head of the table has the most terrifying yet beautiful face I have ever seen. Not that I've seen many faces in my life but even those I have seen in person or on television don't compare to the man staring holes into my soul.
“No place to go now, girl,” I hear his muffled voice say from right outside the door.
At the sound of his angry voice, all the men turn their eyes from me to the door.
Decision made, I run to the handsome, scary faced man at the head of the table and hide behind him. The fear I felt toward him moments ago has lessened, and my only thought is, ‘please don't let him find me’. I push my shivering body flat against the man’s back and tightly grip the black leather vest he's wearing.
He's so tall that the top of my five-foot-one body stops well below his shoulders. The man doesn't react to me invading his space. None of the men I walked in on say a single word as I cower behind this person hoping he will be my barrier against the evil about to walk through the door.
Hearing a loud bang, I can only assume that the door has been forcibly pushed open and slammed against the wall. I feel the man I'm hiding behind stiffen and that frightens me. I press my head against his back and try to slow my heartbeat for fear he will hear it. Please, God, I can't go back.
I have no reason to believe this group of men will protect me, but this is my only choice. I just hope and pray I haven't made a mistake.
“Where is she?”
I can feel my panic rising at the sound of his voice being so close. I tremble and this time it isn't from the cold. I can hear my breathing getting louder, and I know any second he will find me. Suddenly a strange warmth runs up my side and I instantly relax. Looking down, I see the man has reached back and wrapped his large hand around my left hip. What a strangely gentle gesture for such a large scary man.