Page 62 of Reaper & the Lioness
The man who pulled me out looked familiar. He’d sat at the table closest to the door when we walked into the bakery, hiding behind a newspaper. He’d smiled at me then. My skin crawled at the memory of the innocent gesture.
“Rise and shine, bitch,” he sneered. He yanked me from the trunk, and I cried out as he gripped my arms too tight.
My legs wobbled from the drugs and confinement, but I forced myself to stand tall. He dragged me into what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. My heart pounded, but I kept my face blank, refusing to show fear. I strained to remember every piece of self-defense advice my dad had drilled into me.Fight to survive. Don’t make it easy. Make them regret touching you.
I bucked my entire body against the man, attempting to knock the back of my head into his chin. The man picked me up, my legs dangling before he threw me hard against the floor and kicked my side for good measure. I curled in pain before glancing up.
In the center of the room stood two figures I recognized all too well—Hale and Benjamin Abell. The devil himself and his evil spawn. My stomach churned at the sight of them, rage coursing through me.
The man kicked me again before picking me up and shoving me into a chair, securing my already bound hands to the back and tying my ankles to the legs. I struggled against the restraints cutting into my wrists, but they held firm. The cold metal of the chair seeped through my clothes, sending a shiver down my spine.
Hale approached first, his face twisted in a mask of red-hot anger. Without warning, his fist connected with my cheek, the force of it snapping my head to the side. Pain radiated through my jaw. Copper exploded in my mouth, and my vision swam.
“You stupid bitch,” he snarled. “Did you really think you could dig up dirt on me and get away with it?”
I spat blood onto the floor and glared up at him. “Fuck you.”
Hale’s face contorted with rage as he punched me again in the stomach. The air rushed out of my lungs, and I gasped for breath. I clenched my teeth and refused to cry. This man got off on the pain of women, and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
He shook his hand. The Kevlar vest had taken some of the blow, and I hoped his knuckles had broken on impact.
Benjamin stepped forward. His calm demeanor contrasted with Hale’s fury. He brushed his hands over his jacket as if hewere about to negotiate an acquisition, not torture a victim of kidnapping.
“Ms. Harland. I’m afraid your investigation will never see the light of day. You should have taken the settlement. Why couldn’t you just let it go?”
I laughed, my tone bitter despite the pain spreading through my body. “Let it go? Do you think I could just forget about all the women you’ve hurt? All the careers you’ve tried to destroy?”
Hale grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back. His fist connected with my face again. My lip split, and blood trickled down my chin as I met his gaze with unwavering defiance.
“That all you got?” I taunted through gritted teeth, my voice raspy. “No wonder you have to force yourself on women. You hit like a girl.”
Hale roared and raised his fist again, but Benjamin stepped forward and grabbed his arm.
“Enough,” Benjamin snapped. “We need her coherent for now. She can’t talk if you knock her out. Please use your head for once.”
“If you’d let me handle her my way, we’d have answers by now,” Hale muttered.
Benjamin narrowed his eyes. “Your way got us here. My way keeps you out of prison and our companies out of the headlines.”
I sagged in the chair as Hale reluctantly stepped back and began pacing like a caged animal. My body ached from the assault and my vision blurred as my left eye began to swell shut.
“She needs to pay,” Hale snarled.
Benjamin’s tone chilled the room. “Son, if you’d learn to control your temper and keep your dick in your pants, we wouldn’t be here. Again.”
Hale clenched his jaw. “If you’d offered her a bigger payout, it wouldn’t have gotten this far.”
Benjamin shook his head and tossed me a bored glance. “He doesn’t get it. No, you’re the kind of woman who only cares about your version of justice. I bet I could’ve offered you double, and we’d still be here.”
“You’re right,” I said. “It’s not about the payoff. It’s about stopping your piece-of-shit son from hurting more women.”
“Think you’re some kind of heroine?” Benjamin crouched in front of me, his expression almost pitying as he spoke in a smooth, controlled voice. “You’re going to tell us everything we need to know—who else you’ve talked to, what they’ve said, and what information has been shared about these sources with any media outlets.”
I straightened as much as I could in the chair despite the pain radiating through me. “I’m not telling you shit.”
Benjamin sighed as if disappointed by my response. “Matt says you had more women you’ve been coordinating with on this little story. But you refused to give him their names.” He tilted his head, examining my response.
I froze at his words. Matt? He was behind this? For a moment, the world seemed to tilt. My mouth went dry and I tried to swallow, but it was like choking on sand.
