Page 4 of Love is Blind

After sucking in a full deep lungful of air, trying to calm my erratic heart, I remember I’m on a time crunch and rush to the dress. Removing my robe, I keep my back to the large mirror in the corner, not wanting to see the proof of all my previous “lessons” with Adrian. I slip the dress on over my head and slide it down my body. I have to tug a bit to get it over my chest and hips, but once I get it on, I know it’s not going anywhere. It’s a snug fit, just the way he likes it. I make my way to the closet and grab the red heels he mentioned earlier, and make my way downstairs. Once I hit the bottom step, I quickly place the shoes on, before steeling my spine and praying this is one of his good nights.

Adrian is standing by the door when I approach, thumbs gliding across his phone screen. For half a second, the glow from his phone reminds me of the first time I went out with Adrian. He was a gentleman then, sweet and charming. Nothing like the monster he is now. Knowing not to interrupt him, I step up next to him and keep my head down, but from the corner of my eye I see a part of his text conversation. GET IT DONE, OR I’LL FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL. My mind races with what that could all mean, but before I can get lost in my thoughts, Adrian is tucking his phone away and glancing in my direction. He gives my body a once over before giving me a nod. I beam at his approval, but whether it’s for the fact he approves of my look or that I know I won’t get punished over my appearance, I will never know.

“You look sexy, baby. Now let’s get going. I have a few… friends to meet up with at the club.” He says friend in an odd tone, like he doesn’t actually think they are friends, but I keep my mouth shut and simply smile. Grin and bear it right.

The car ride over to the club his family owns is quiet as I watch the city fly by. My mind drifts a bit to what life would have been like for me if I hadn’t met Adrian West. Would I have met some other asshole and ended up in the same situation?

I want to imagine I would have finished school and opened a bookshop with Amber by now. We would be roommates, eating ramen noodles and binge-watching old TV schools together. We would have each met a nice guy, gone out on double dates and one day get married and have kids together. But that’s all-wishful hoping and dreaming.

Once we get to the club, Adrian leads us straight to his VIP booth further back in the club. The moment we sit, two half - naked servers step up, both eye fucking Adrian and asking if they can get him anything. Neither one even acknowledges me, and all Adrian says is, “I’ll take my usual and a vodka soda for her.” Then the asshole winks at them, like his so-called girlfriend isn’t standing right next to him. Not that I care anymore what he does, but it’s just another invisible slap to the face and my dignity.

Trying to make the most of my night, I decide to stand at the edge of the booth and peer over the railing. The club is actually super nice, with two enormous bars along either side of the large room. There is a DJ booth on the second floor, but the public doesn’t have access to that area. There is a row of five VIP booths against the far back wall of the room where we are. Each one is a round booth with sheer fabric that circles around each to give them a sense of privacy. Adrian always sits in the one in the center, as if he is the king and needs to be the center of attention. The entire place is decorated in silver and deep navy-blue colors, with flashing neon blue and white lights overhead.

The servers return with our drinks, and before they leave, one bends down in front of my boyfriend. Her fake breast practically shoved in his face, whispers something in his ear. He gives her a smirk before smacking her ass and sending her away. Then he turns in my direction, smirk still in place, and cock a brow in question. Challenging me to say something, but he knows I won’t. I’ve learned over the last year, the more I keep my mouth shut, the better. When he says I’m going to keep my mouth shut, he crooks a finger, calling me over. I obey, taking a seat next to him and holding back the flinch when his hand grips my bare thigh.

He leans in and speaks into my ear. “Here, drink this.” Handing me the drink he ordered, I take a small sip. I wouldn’t put it past Adrian to drug me into compliance again. “We have a few minutes before the men I’m supposed to meet get here. When they do, I need you to be a good girl and continue to keep your mouth shut. Got it.” Once he finishes threatening me, he leans back and gets comfortable, pulling out his phone and reading through whatever he does.

I continue to sip away at my vodka and soda, watching as the horde of people dance their night away. How incredible would it be to experience that sensation again, to lose yourself in the pulsating rhythm of the music in the middle of the dance floor? To not be anything more than someone’s arm candy.

I’m lost in my daydream when a sudden pinch of pain causes me to yelp. Attempting to spin out of Adrian’s hold, my efforts only intensify the pain as he tightens his grip on my hair. “I said, are you fucking listening, bitch?” He sneers at me, and I give him a small nod, letting him know I’m paying attention now. I didn’t even know he was talking to me before because it’s so loud in here. “Good. My new friends are here, so it’s time to be a good girl, or we will need to have a lesson in behavior around my friends. Understand?”

“Y-yes Adrian.” He grins at me before giving me another rough yank, then releasing his grip.

“Go get yourself cleaned up.” He nods to the bathroom, and I waste no time stumbling up and rushing away. Tears burn the edges of my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. He will know he got to me, then make me pay somehow for ruining my makeup and embarrassing him. Lucky for me, the bathroom is empty, and I take a moment to lock myself in a stall.

“You’re a survivor, Wren. Grin and bear it, bind your time.” I tell myself, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself. “He can’t control you forever.” Once I’m calm enough, I straighten my dress and pull my shoulders back. I just need to sit there and look pretty. Play the perfect little doll and get through this night.

Stepping up to the mirror, I fix a small smudge of liner, wash my hands quickly and do one more check in the mirror before pulling up my metaphorical big girl panties and heading back to the booth. I keep my head up the entire walk back, but before I get to the booth, I see Adrian and another man heading towards the back alley. Deciding he usually always wants his eyes on me, I turn and head in that direction. As I hit the back hall, the emergency exit door is closing, so I head that way, searching for Adrian. Pushing open the door, I pause, listening in case I followed the wrong direction. When I hear nothing. I step out and look in both directions, first to the right, nothing but the next street over and a couple of trash cans. Turning to my left, I freeze. I’m so shocked by what I’m seeing. The door I was holding open slips from my hand and slams shut. Adrian and another man snap their heads in my direction. Adrian has a gun to the second man’s head, who is kneeling on the ground, looking beyond pissed.

The man snaps out of it first and throws a punch up and into Adrian’s stomach. Adrian’s gun goes off, the sound echoing off the brick walls. I’m still frozen as I watch in horror as the man grunts in pain, hands flying to his stomach. He stumbles back before tripping over his feet and falling against the wall. “T-they are going to k-kill you when they f-find o-out what you d-did.” He rasps out before slumping back, eyes rolling. Adrian lets out a slew of curses, looking like a raging bull.

My mind is telling me to run, run fast and run far, but my feet won’t move. Then, faster than I could have imagined, Adrian is flying towards me. His fist lands across my cheek, and my head snaps to the side, pain instantly radiating through my face. “You stupid fucking bitch. Do you have any idea what you just fucking ruined?” This time, he slaps the other side of my face. The force causes me to stumble back and fall on my ass as tears race down my cheeks.

“I-I-I…” I don’t even know what to say. I just witnessed a murder. Adrian just killed a man in front of me. Oh god, he is going to kill me next. As the harsh reality dawns on me, I scramble backwards, only to have my movements halted when Adrian notices me. A second later, he delivers a forceful kick to my stomach. I curl in on myself. How did my life come to this? I knew he was abusive and honestly a piece of shit asshole but murder.

Through my tear-streaked face, I see Adrian pull out his phone and make a call. “Bring the car around to the back alley. We have a problem.” Leaning down, he grips my hair and I wrap my hands around his wrist to stop him from ripping anything out as he stands and starts to drag me towards the alley entrance. “Dolly, you really fucked shit up tonight. It took me forever to set up this meeting, and you had to go and get nosey. All you fucking had to do was sit pretty and keep your mouth fucking shut. You couldn’t even do that, you stupid fucking bitch.” He yanks harder, making me cry out louder. I hear a car pull up in front of us and panic threaten to suffocate me. Fight, I need to fight. I kick, hit, and scream now, but I’m no match. “Shut up, you fucking bitch.”

The sound of a truck door popping opening has Adrian pulling to a stop. He pulls me up by my hair until I’m kneeling on my knees, like the man was moments ago. He grins down at me. But it’s not a pretty one, no. This one is full of feral rage, and it’s all aimed at me. “You’re going to pay for what you did tonight. Honestly, you had this a long time coming. I’m going to break you tonight, just like the dolly you are.” Then he slams the butt of his gun to the top of my head and I black out.

Chapter four

JAXON

IwatchasWrenfalls apart, telling us what Adrian West did to her. Knowing there’s more for her to tell, all I can do is hold her to me and reassure her she is strong. I eye Xander and Mav across the room. Mav was sitting next to her at first, but his anger was getting the best of him and needed another drink. Xander, though, I can see the rage pouring off him in waves. Everyone always assumes I’m the evil bastard of us, but Xander is usually the mastermind behind it all. I just enjoy the dirty work.

Right after Wren mentioned Adrian killing a man in an alleyway, Xander was typing away on his phone. He had a cousin who went missing a couple of years back. Oliver was a good kid and told us he was going out to a party with a few friends. We thought nothing of it since we tried to keep him out of our more unsavory business, but when we hadn’t heard from him after a day or two, we sent men looking. They could never find information on what could have happened. It was like he just upped and disappeared.

“Take your time, Wren.” I tell her, rubbing my hand up and down her back. It infuriates me to see her in this state, so sad and broken looking. I’m sure the guys are thinking the same thing, but when I get my hands on Adrian, I plan to show him what actual pain is. I’ll prolong his survival for weeks, carefully nursing him back to health, solely to inflict further pain upon him.

“No, it’s fine. I just want to get this all out. It's time for me to move on.I‌ don’t want to be afraid anymore.” She lifts her head and takes a deep breath. God, she is so strong and doesn’t even know it. I reach forward and swipe a bit of hair behind her ear.

“You never have to be afraid again, baby.” Leaning forward, I kiss her forward and watch as her lips tilt up in a barely there smile.

“Thank you, Jaxon.” Taking one last deep breath, she continues. “When I came to, we were somewhere new. I wasn’t in the trunk, but in a basement, I think. It was cold and dirt was everywhere. There were small windows on a far wall and a set of stairs. I was alone, lying on the floor with my hands tied behind my back. After a few minutes, Adrian and one of his men came down. He was furious, going on and on about how the guy he killed was going to be his ticket into the big leagues. Kept going on and on about how his dad was playing it safe by not taking what someone named X had.” Mine and Mav’s eyes snap to Xander. Xander stands frozen, eyes wide in shock, before they blaze with fire. I can hear him grind his jaw from here.

Adrian must have been playing a long game now because, from what we gathered, this all happened two years ago. Adrian’s father only passed a year ago. We had a mutual agreement and clear boundary lines. We did business in the north while he took the south.

“Anyway, he just kept beating me, hitting, kicking. He was so mad. Then he made his man drag me over to a chair and hold me down. I knew I was going to die. I figured he was going to shoot me or something, but he had something worse in mind. He brought over a cup with two syringes filled with some liquid. He told me if I complied with his punishment, he would spare Amber. She was the only friend he would still occasionally let me talk to when I was behaving. She knew he was abusive but didn’t know to what extent, but I couldn’t let him hurt her.” A sob escapes her throat, and I waste no time pulling Wren into my lap and wrapping my arms around her. She’s so tiny, I try not to swallow her up with my size. Mav is gripping the back of a chair so tight his fists are turning white.

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