Page 60 of Cassie
I’m not waiting
Faith
Straining against the bonds holding her to the chair, Faith tipped her head down and watched as droplets of sweat fell on her skirt, staining the fabric in growing circles. Pain ripped up her arms, but she didn’t stop, praying it wasn’t her imagination that things had begun to loosen. Twisting her wrists back and forth, she contorted her thumbs and fingers, trying to slip free. Something in her thumb joint popped loud and echoed in the room as agony shot through her nerves, her chin lifting as her neck arched up and back. Eyes squeezed tightly shut against the swelling wave of pain, Faith bit down on the scream that tried to erupt from her chest.
How could I be so stupid?
Everything had gone as planned, all the talk she and Drago pitched back and forth boiling down to the core of everything Faith felt was wrong in her life. Stifled and stymied by her father and his friends, by her brother, by Jonny…she just wanted a day to herself, a single day where she could do what she wanted. Be who she wanted.
Her shoulder cramped and she rolled the muscles as far as she dared, trying to drive the spasm away. Another pinch along her wrist and the bindings slipped an inch farther down her contorted hand.Yes.
It jerked and stopped, stuck in place, and felt tighter than ever where it was situated just above her knuckles.Dammit.
As the sun broke the horizon that morning, her mother’s old car, not used but kept in running condition and registration up to date by her father’s obsessive attention to detail, had started on the first turn of the key. Faith had driven a lot over the past couple of years to feel confident, time spent jolting in a jeep across acreage Gunny owned in Ohio, driving Sammy home from games via backroads, or after she’d gotten her permit, chauffeuring her father around town. Once out of the garage without an alarm being raised, she’d aimed the car towards Ohio, placing her phone on the passenger seat to call out directions.
Driving through the growing light, Faith gritted her teeth and held tightly to her decision. She and Drago were meeting, and then going to a mall in Columbus to see a movie and have lunch. That was all. He’d offered to come to Fort Wayne, but the chances of someone she knew seeing them was too great. If word got back to her dad that she’d been out with a college-aged man, he would go ballistic. Columbus was safer, and after the party yesterday, she knew everyone would be sleeping in anyway.I’ll probably be home before they miss me. She shook her head.
Nothing had gone right yesterday. Well, sure, the party had gone off without a hitch, and she knew her father appreciated all her hard work on that, because it supported his close relationships with the men in the club. But between Sammy and Jonny, her nerves had been frazzled even before the sun went down.Thank God for Garrett. He’d seemed to know something was wrong, but instead of trying to force her to talk about it like Sammy would have, he’d just sat beside her on the couch, letting her use his shoulder for a pillow.
A sign ahead announced Welcome to Ohio, and she sighed as she drove underneath the arching metal. Another mile closer to a day that promised to be the most fun she’d ever had, and she couldn’t wait to finally meet Drago.
Lips pulled back from her teeth, Faith strained again, doing her best to ignore the warm liquid dripping from her fingertips.That excitement didn’t last long. Anger swept through her again at the memory of what happened when she pulled up to the ill-kempt house isolated by acres of farmland.
Faith stared at the house standing in the midst of tall weeds, a half-collapsed barn visible around the corner of the building. Decorative shutters alongside attic windows had fallen askew, giving the structure a cockeyed look. The phone chimed again, announcing she’d arrived at her destination.This can’t be right. She unlocked the car and stepped out, soles of her sneakers gritting against the loose gravel of the driveway. Faith took two steps to the side and peered around the home, hoping to see someone, anyone, so she didn’t have to go up those stairs to the rickety porch and knock on some stranger’s door. She blinked, surprised, because instead of a parked soccer mom van or maybe a swing for kids, she saw a staggered row of bikes.
“You actually fuckin’ came. Holy shit.” The voice came from behind her and she turned just as a man shut her car door. He took a step towards her as she stared at him. Tall, broad in the shoulders, his long hair was drawn back in a loose ponytail at the back of his head. A ragged beard and mustache surrounded full lips that were curved at the corners into a small smile. His eyes were dark blue, and brooding, overshadowed by heavy brows that lent his entire aspect a dangerous cast. That smile on his mouth didn’t reach his eyes, and Faith shivered. “Faith Inez Rogers, as I live and fuckin’ breathe.”
What?She tipped her head to the side, because the cadence of his words was familiar, sounding out of place in the deep voice. “Drago?”
The smile on his face broadened, slashing across his features like a bloody rip. “In the fuckin’ flesh.” Head angled up to keep his gaze on her, he offered her a half bow, arms out to the side. “You’re a lot stupider than I expected.”
“What?” She verbalized this question and took a step to the side, wanting to put distance, or perhaps the car, between them.
“You know who your daddy is, right, little girl?” Faith blinked, because that question didn’t make any sense. “He’s one of the most powerful men in the region, and after what happened to his boy years ago, that man protects what’s his with a singular focus. But you—” He chuckled, sounding like Sammy did when he was most pleased with himself, arrogant and sure of his own competence. “—gave yourself up like a prize on a platter. This—” He took a step towards her and she glanced at the house, freezing in place when she saw more than a dozen men of varying ethnicities had come out on the porch to watch the encounter. “—is going to be fun.” No longer feet away, Drago’s voice came from beside her and she yelled out in surprise when his hands gripped her arm and shoulder, turning her to face the house head-on. He shouted, his words echoing off the building to bounce back against her skin. “See what I got us, boys? This here’s our bargaining chip to earn a place at that goddamned table we’ve been denied far too long.”
Fingers tight on her skin and bones, he drove her before him towards the silent house, giving her no option but to go with him. Terrified, she panted in short bursts of air as he ignored her fists and nails. Faith’s head rang when he casually drew his arm across his body to backhand her brutally when she threatened him with her teeth. Bleeding from her nose and mouth, she fell on the stairs, turning onto her back to look up at the circle of men hovering over her.Oh, please no. Hardened eyes, scars drawing story lines across their skin, they stared at her. One man’s eyes held sympathy, and she reached towards him. “Please.” He quickly shuffled out of sight, his place in the circle taken by a man with dark skin, dark eyes, and a mouth so cruel she cringed away.
Drago shoved aside two men and thrust his hand towards her. “Fuck you.” She slapped his hand away and he grunted and aimed for her hair instead, the ripping pain making her cry out again. He lifted Faith to her feet by his grip, tears leaking from her eyes as he pushed her hard, not letting her get her feet under herself. Faith’s stomach flew to her throat as she flailed and tripped on the lip of the porch, falling to her knees, palms landing on the unvarnished wood with a meaty slap. Everything had gone so fast, she hadn’t had a chance to really react and wavered there a moment until a splatter of blood from her nose colored the planks between her hands.
A fist in her blouse lifted her, the collar chokingly tight against her throat, cutting off her air. “Oh, yeah.” Drago’s voice sounded from behind her as a hand groped her breast, another thrusting up under her skirt to graze the curve of her ass. Revolted, she screamed and tried to whirl out of reach, coming up hard against the Mexican man. “This is gonna be fun.”
“Bedlam.” The Mexican’s voice lashed like a whip, cowing the men, his arm trapping her against his chest. She kicked out hard, catching Drago’s leg just above the knee and he screamed, going down in a pile.
“Bitch, I’m going to kill you for that.” He stared up at her, then shifted his focus over her shoulder. “She ain’t yours, motherfucker.”
“She is not yours, Bedlam. Damaging her will not encourage the Rebel cooperation you so desire.” Faith dug her nails into his wrists, drawing blood as she tried to dislodge his hold. “Stop, girl.” Faith let her legs go limp, dragging against his strength and he hoisted her like a sack of potatoes. “I am your defender, girl. Be still.”
Faith swiped her dry tongue across her lips, wincing as she probed the tear at the corner with the tip.At least they didn’t rape me. Her brain supplied another word at the end, but she ignored it.Yet. At the man’s words, she’d stopped. Not because of what he’d said, but the way Drago’s face looked as he stared at her. Hungry, angry, and mad.
She’d been passed off to another man and, accompanied by half of the crowd from the porch, they’d moved her through the house and into the basement, a laboratory maze of halls and rooms that felt far too large for the footprint the house had boasted. He’d shoved her into a room at the end of a hall, slamming the door behind her. It had only been moments before the door opened again, the Mexican man had sauntered in as if this were the country club and he a preferred member.
“Hello, Faith.” He smiled and a scar she hadn’t noticed before pulled his lips to one side, thinning and distorting the expression. “I’m pleased to meet you.”
“Not likewise. Let me go.” Faith lifted her chin and stared him in the eyes as she clenched her fists, daring him to come closer. Drago had surprised her, but these assholes didn’t know she’d grown up fighting with a much older brother and his friends, in addition to the tribe of Rebels kids who earned their place in their own hidden hierarchy by fists and blood as much as by who their fathers were. Faith was always a leader in their group, and it had made her stronger than these men knew.
“I cannot.” He shook his head. “Not until I have the answer I need from an old friend.”
She shook her head. “You know who my dad is?” He nodded, that painful-looking smile drawing tighter, lips pressed bloodless across his teeth. “Then you know the hell he can rain down on you.”
