Chapter 209 Breaking Free... Almost
Chris Jensen sat bound to a wooden chair in the middle of Liana's bedroom, his wrists raw from the coarse rope that bit into his flesh. Blood had dried in rivulets down his forearms, staining the torn remnants of the expensive dress shirt.
The bathroom door opened with a creak, releasing a cloud of fragrant steam that momentarily obscured his vision. Liana emerged, casually toweling her long brown hair, dressed in nothing but a silk nightgown.
She didn't even glance at him as she moved around the room, her bare feet silent on the wooden floor. After meticulously drying her hair, she simply turned off the light and slipped under the covers of her bed, the silk sheets rustling softly.
Within minutes her breathing became deep and rhythmic. Chris watched her sleeping form, calculating his chances. The guards were just outside, but if he could move quietly enough...
He began working on his restraints. He ignored the pain as the rope bit deeper into his already wounded skin, feeling warm blood trickle down his palms as he twisted and pulled. After what felt like an eternity, the fibers began to give way. He managed to free one hand, then the other, biting his lip to keep from making any sound as circulation painfully returned to his fingers.
He rose from the chair, his muscles screaming in protest after being bound for so long. Moving silently across the room, he found a small knife on the dresser. In the moonlight filtering through the curtains, he approached the bed. In one swift motion, he pressed the blade against Liana's slender throat, his other hand covering her mouth.
"Make a sound," he whispered harshly into her ear, "and I'll slice your throat open and feed your body to the snakes piece by piece."
Liana's eyes flew open, anger flashing in them rather than fear. She remained perfectly still, but there was something unsettling about her calmness.
"You won't get far," she said, her voice steady despite the knife at her throat. "Kane has men all over this region looking for you."
Chris leaned closer, his breath warm against her face. "I only need to get far enough. One hostage is all I need to clear a path."
Liana's eyes suddenly welled with tears, her lower lip trembling. "Please," she whispered, "Don't kill me."
Seeing her apparent fear, Chris hesitated. Still, he couldn't afford compassion—not now. He decided not to waste any more time with conversation. He reached to pull her from the bed, intending to use her as a shield to escape.
But as his hand touched her arm, Liana's demeanor changed completely. With surprising strength, she grabbed his wrist and twisted, using his momentum against him. Pain shot through Chris's injured body as she flipped him onto the bed, straddling his back and pinning his arms with practiced efficiency.
"Did you really think I'd be that easy to overpower?" she hissed triumphantly, her knee digging into his spine.
The door burst open, and guards rushed in with weapons drawn. The room suddenly flooded with light as someone hit the switch. They hauled Chris off the bed and bound him again, this time with metal handcuffs that bit into his flesh. One guard punched him hard in the stomach, doubling him over.
"That's enough," Liana commanded, walking to a cabinet and pulling out a leather whip. "He's mine to punish." She ran the leather through her fingers lovingly. "You're smart, but I prefer you helpless."
With a practiced flick of her wrist, she brought the whip down across his chest, opening a fresh wound that immediately began to bleed. Chris bit his tongue, refusing to cry out even as fire spread across his skin.
Liana frowned at his stoicism. Looking at his composed face, she suddenly smiled. "Let's see how well you maintain that control when we try something different."
She turned to one of her men. "Bring some girls from the nightclub down the street. Let's give our distinguished lawyer some special entertainment."
Twenty minutes later, four heavily made-up women in revealing outfits entered the room, looking uncertain. Liana pressed some cash into their hands. "Make him happy," she instructed with a malicious gleam in her eye. "Be creative."
The women surrounded Chris, who sat rigid in the chair. One began unbuttoning his shirt while another ran her fingers through his hair, whispering suggestive phrases in his ear. The third traced the outline of his jaw, while the fourth positioned herself behind him, massaging his shoulders.
"Please," Chris said quietly, his dignified facade finally cracking. "I'm asking you to let them leave."
"Begging won't help you," Liana replied, leaning against the wall to watch. "Consider it entertainment for us both."
The women, noticing Chris's disgusted expression, became more aggressive in their advances. They touched him everywhere, whispering obscenities in his ear. When one began unfastening his pants, Chris finally lost his composure.
"Get off me!" he snarled, his face dark with fury and humiliation, body radiating cold anger.
Liana burst into laughter and waved her hand dismissively. "All of you, get out!" The women looked confused but quickly filed out of the room, pocketing their money as they left.
Chris sat there, shirt open and pants partially undone, his dignity in tatters. "Could someone at least pull my pants up?" he asked stiffly.
"Say another word and I'll cut it off," Liana threatened, twirling a small knife between her fingers. Chris fell silent, jaw clenched tightly.
Over the next several days, Chris endured a cycle of torture and medical treatment. Daytime brought new pain as Liana experimented with different methods of torture. Nighttime brought doctors who ensured he wouldn't die from his wounds.
They constantly changed locations, staying one step ahead of Kane's men who were hunting them across the countryside.
Finally, they were found in an abandoned warehouse with peeling paint and rusted metal beams. Kane and his armed men surrounded the building, guns drawn and faces grim with determination.
"Hand him over," Kane demanded, pointing at Chris who stood on wobbly legs, barely able to remain upright. "Do that, and I'll forget what's happened these past days."
"My father wants him alive," Liana replied, her whip ready in her hand.
Kane's face contorted with rage. "Even if your father were standing here himself, I'd still kill this man to avenge my son!"
Liana cracked her whip, knocking Kane's gun from his hand with surprising accuracy, then dragged Chris toward the back exit. Gunfire erupted instantly.
Liana pulled Chris behind a concrete wall, firing back at Kane's men with a small pistol she produced from her boot. Suddenly, a gunman appeared from behind, aiming at Chris's head. Liana yanked him aside and shot the attacker between the eyes without hesitation.
Backed against the end of the street with nowhere to go, another volley of bullets rained down, chipping away at their concrete shelter. Chris, seeing a gunman taking aim at Liana, shoved her out of the way, both of them tumbling to the ground as bullets whizzed overhead.
As a gunman took aim again, a black SUV screeched between them and the shooters, bullets pinging off its armored exterior like metallic rain. Eleanor Astor was behind the wheel, and Jade leaned out the window, tossing a grenade with practiced precision. The explosion rocked the street, sending Kane's men diving for cover as smoke billowed upward.
Jade flung open the door and pulled both Chris and Liana inside with surprising strength. When Liana tried to resist, Jade subdued her with a single precise strike to the neck that left her gasping for air.
"Drive!" Jade commanded, and Eleanor hit the gas. The SUV roared away, engine growling as it accelerated through the chaos. Through the rear window, Chris could see Kane emerging from the smoke, his face twisted with fury as he watched his prey escape.