Chapter 30 Chapter Twenty-nine
ARA
My eyes burned when I opened them, and my head ached with an intensity that threatened to split my whole body apart.
Where was I? Where the heck was this place? Where was Munroe?
Maggie's cunning smile flashed in my memory and everything that happened before and after clicked in place.
Was I in the holding room Darius' men had spoken of?
I tried to move, but my arms and legs were firmly secured by ropes.
What happened in that hospital with Madison and Thayne's father was happening all over again.
I forced my eyes to open fully, and I froze, terror curdling my blood when I saw Darius and one other man I didn't recognize standing in the middle of the room.
By the corner of the room stood a camera hoisted on a tall tripod.
“Ah, she finally wakes. She has been heavily sedated. She won't be able to move or talk.” Darius said proudly, as if I was a product he was convincing a customer to buy.
“Exactly how I like it." The man's voice echoed in the room.
"One hour. Any minute more than that and you'll write me another cheque.” Darius warned over his shoulder as he began approaching me where I lay on the bed.
Panic climbed up to my throat, strangling me until my breaths came in gasps.
He'd kidnapped me to use me as a fucktoy for clients?
“I'm going to send the video after to Thayne. Maybe he can jerk off to it. I see why he's so obsessed with you now. You're a pretty little thing with so much fight in you." He leaned over me and ran one crooked finger over my face.
I flinched.
There would be no recovery for me once the man finished with me. I would never remain the same again.
I wanted to ask Darius to go fuck himself, and at the same time I wanted to beg him to stop.
Neil had known what Darius wanted me for and still he'd gone ahead to skip his name in the list Thayne asked him to write.
“Enjoy yourself, Ara. Just one hour, and that'll be it. You might even like it." His hand lowered to my neck, then descended to my breast.
I stiffened at his touch. He withdrew his hand and started to leave.
Once the door slammed shut, the man pounced on me.
He reeked of Arabian perfume and there was not an ounce of muscle on him, just fat.
My legs were already spread wide due to the way I'd been tied and restrained by the ropes, but he still went ahead to widen my legs further.
I shut my eyes, to force back the tears and also to block out the face of this monster who was about to ravage my body.
I heard the ruffle of clothes and the sound of a belt buckle landing on the floor with a clink.
The man hovered above me, then positioned himself between my thighs.
“I'm going to -"
A loud crash echoed in the room, startling the both of us. It sounded like an earthquake had happened right in the room.
The crash was followed by an even louder one. I opened my eyes in time to see the ceiling falling, and Thayne jumped right out of it.
Thayne?!
“What in the world -" A bullet buried itself in the back of his head, and he fell over me.
Thayne stood at the center of the room, his eyes blazing with a fire that would give hell a run for its money.
Even dusted with paint and powdered flecks from the ceiling, he was still the hottest man alive.
He tossed the pistol in his hand away and in seconds, he was on the bed. He lifted the dead man off me and equally tossed him off the bed as though he weighed no more than a polythene bag.
Chaos erupted outside the door, but Thayne didn't act like he cared. Despite the gunshots and voices and screams, Thayne bent over me and claimed my lips in a slow kiss.
He kissed me slowly first, then fervently, as if trying to memorize the taste of my lips.
I missed this, I missed this emotional connection with him.
Reluctantly, he broke the kiss and pushed tendrils of my hair away from my face.
He looked both torn and murderous, and he snapped the ropes binding my hands and legs with a pen-knife he dug out from his pocket.
“I'm so sorry, baby. I swear that the moment I discovered it was a diversion, I immediately rerouted back to the villa. He'll fucking pay, I promise you.” I'd never heard Thayne speak this way before.
I wanted to move, to reach out and touch his face, to tell him I knew he'd come.
His eyes narrowed on the bruises along my body and the scratches.
“They did this?" He thundered. But I couldn't speak. The sedatives in my system had strangled my voice box.
“They drugged you?" Thayne looked ready to trigger Armageddon with just a snap of his finger.
When I still didn't give him a reply, he gave a loud roar that rattled my whole being.
He turned, then noticed the camera. He walked over to it, ripped the camera off the tripod and smashed it. He grabbed the tripod, snapped it in two and continued on to the door.
Darius stepped in that moment, his eyes bulging to find Thayne in the room.
“Well, well, well. The master comes to retrieve his property." He drawled, recovering quickly, shutting the door behind him.
His eyes flitted up to the ceiling and they widened. They grew even wider when his eyes lowered and spotted the dead man on the floor.
"You…. You came through the ceiling. You killed him…” He couldn't even string his sentence together.
"You kidnapped the two people I cherish the most, Darius Reedson. You drugged her, then proceeded to whore her out? My own woman!” Thayne growled, moving closer to Darius, towering over him.
“She's my property, bastard." Darius bit out.
Thayne's fist collided with his nose. There was a loud crunch.
“You put your hands all over my woman, Darius. A woman who did nothing to you.” Thayne said at the same time as he punched Darius's face, his fists landing punch after punch.
All I could do was watch Thayne rain punches on Darius in my name.
"What do you care? She's your fucktoy. You're just being too stingy with what doesn't even belong to you.” Darius's words were barely audible, more of a whistle.
There was silence for a moment, then Thayne grabbed him by the neck and squeezed.
“Ara doesn't belong to me. She is not a property in my possession. She is my woman, and no one dare messes with the woman I love.”
There was a loud snap after, and I realized with horror that Thayne had just snapped Darius’ neck.
In my name.
And he'd just said he loved me.