Page 89 of Twisted Bonds
"Why didn't you get Ryan out of there before then?" Beau asks angrily.
Xavier sighs heavily. "Because…there was no way of doing so without blowing my cover. Not only did I need Dante and Luca to believe I was their brother, but I needed Ryan to believe it, too. It took some time to try changing my attitude toward her for it to look authentic." He grins as he thinks back on something. "Besides, I wanted to see how her plan worked out. She thought I didn't know what she was doing when she was keeping track of all the people being brought in. I was so fucking proud of her. She was risking her life to try and help complete strangers…"
"Castor should have told me," I grunt.
Anger suddenly takes hold of Xavier's features. "That piece of shit shouldn't be in the line of work he's in because he's no better. That is the other thing I need to talk to you about. Before you go inside, you should know that I have him restrained in a back room. I'll leave him for the two of you to take care of. He touched what is yours, and you should be the ones to handle it. Although, I did have to sedate him…in my own way."
The moment the man steps to the side, both Beau and I rush to the door, only to be stopped again before we can enter. I glare at Xavier and then at his hand on the door handle. "Let us in."
"One more thing. Ryan drowned."
"What?!" my son and I say frantically, but then Xavier raises his hand to stop us from freaking out.
"I resuscitated her, but she needs rest. Just don't bombard her and be extremely careful; I may have cracked a rib or two while doing CPR—she's in pain."
He waits until we nod our understanding. The moment his hand leaves the handle, I burst through the door, only to come to another stop. Ryan lays on the couch, asleep while snuggled under a giant comforter. My heart stops beating briefly, but when it starts up again, I look over at my son, and he returns the look. Grabbing the back of his neck, I pull him to me as we finally take our first real breath since Ryan disappeared.
Forty-Nine
Beau
Gazing down at Ryan sleeping on the couch, my chest constricts; she's so fucking beautiful. My dad stands beside me with his hand on my shoulder as he peers down at her. You would think it'd be weird knowing that your father is feeling pretty much the same thing you are as he's looking at your girl, but oddly enough, I'm okay with it.
When he squeezes my shoulder and steps away, I kneel beside the couch and brush some of Ryan's hair away from her face. My eyes wander, then fall on her arm holding the blanket to her chin. I narrow my eyes and examine what looks like a white bandage on her tiny wrist. I push some of the blanket aside and see that it is, indeed, a bandage wrapped around it.
I turn to look at the Sergio look-alike, but he's in the middle of a conversation with my father. Placing a gentle kiss on Ryan's forehead, I get up and go across the room to where they stand, talking. I hear something about Brant hurting her, and I automatically see red.
"What the fuck do you mean he hurt her?" I look back at Ryan to make sure my little outburst didn't wake her before turning back and grinding out in a lower tone, "Did that son of a bitch rape her?"
Xavier stands there, his arms crossed, legs shoulder-width apart. His gaze bounces back and forth between my father and I before settling on Ryan. His tone is hard when he answers, "I'm not exactly sure about what he did, but she did say that he touched her."
"Where is he now?" I ask, trying to act calm and collected.
Xavier nods toward the hallway leading to the back of the cabin, and says, "In the back room, tied to the chair, and then to the bed."
I don't waste any time. Turning, I rush to the back of the cabin as my father tries to call me back in a whispered voice, but I don't give two shits. Opening the first door I come to—it's the bathroom, so I go to the next. There sits Brant in a chair; his ankles are secured to the legs, and his arms are tied to the chair's arms. A rope is wrapped around his chest, restraining him to the tall bedpost. There's a belt wrapped around his head and when he lifts it, I notice a cloth shoved inside his mouth, being held by the belt.
Xavier wasn't lying when he said that he subdued him. His face is already a mess, but it's about to be even more fucked up. I don't stop as I hurry over to him and punch him in the jaw just as he looks up at me.
"You dared to touch my fucking wife!?" I grab his head, and my fist comes down again and again.
He tries talking, so I remove the belt and gag to hear what he has to say for himself. Not that anything he says will stop me from giving him a beatdown, but I want to know why he did it. I will get it out of him one way or another.
"She's not your wife…"
I cut Brant off with another punch, but then I'm grabbed and pulled back. "Beau, calm the fuck down." My dad's voice comes through my rage, and my chest heaves up and down.
"You don't own her…" Brant spits as blood runs from his nose and split lip.
"Shut the fuck up or I will shut you up!" My father threatens the agent.
"I think we should bury his fucking ass—at the bottom of the ocean!" I glare at the fucker.
"We are not going to kill him, Son. He's still an agent. His ass will get turned in. Besides, I think Ryan has the right to get her own revenge. Don't you think?"
"Ryan deserves better than the two of you," Agent Castor says as he looks at us with only one eye because his other one is already swelling shut.
"Brant, just shut up," Xavier growls.
