The Scarred One Read online

  “So we’re stuck here. Is Caleb even coming to get us?”

  “Caleb and Elijah are coming. I wouldn’t put you in danger.” She made to flush the toilet, but he stopped her.

  “I don’t know you, and you don’t know me.”

  “I know you enough, and what better time to distract you.”

  “Why did you call me a whore?”

  “If you don’t mean anything to me then they can’t use you against me. A whore’s a whore. There’s nothing special about you other than the fact I like to fuck you.”

  “We’ve never—”

  He pressed a finger against her lips. “They don’t need to know that. I’m doing this to save you.”

  Nodding, she stared at her hands. She rubbed her palms together wishing for her nice warm bed, hot chocolate, and book. There was nothing more comforting than a good book to settle down to.

  “Hey, I’m going to get us out of this.”

  “Everything hurts, Henry.”

  “Do you believe me?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know what I believe anymore.” The only hope she had of getting out of this alive was to trust him.

  Henry cupped her cheek, gently. The bruise must look awful. She didn’t know how bad she looked as there were no mirrors in the room.

  “I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you, I promise.” His fingers stroked a length down to her neck.

  Her pulse raced at the smallest contact of his fingers. She licked her lips and stared into his eyes. There was no fear or panic in his depths, only lust shining back at her. Was it lust, or was she hoping to see something that wasn’t actually there?

  “I’m afraid.”

  “Good, being afraid is good.” His gaze dropped to her lips.

  She held her breath waiting for him to do something, anything.

  A bang on the door interrupted their moment. “Hurry up in there.”

  Lydia withdrew from his touch, looking at Henry.

  “You’re going to have to get on your knees.”

  Chapter Three

  The last thing Henry wanted to say to her in that moment was for her to get to her knees. Fuck, the next time he said shit like that to her, he wanted her to get to her knees because she wanted to. He was fucked in the head; there was no doubt about it. Opening the door, he glared at Bill but waited for Lydia to crawl out of the bathroom.

  “You’ve got this whore trained well.”

  Throughout the whole of his life, Henry had never cared about women. They were useful for getting a rock off but nothing else. Lydia didn’t deserve this, nor did she deserve any of the bruises on her body. She’d removed the stockings to show off her gorgeous pale legs. Every time she’d been in a skirt he’d wanted to run his hands up and down those pale thighs.

  This kidnapping was driving him crazy. Lydia could do much better than him or Darren. Her last boyfriend had almost killed her, and now if Henry wasn’t careful, he’d be the one to get her killed.

  Caleb had known he’d been taken. In the background Henry had heard Donna’s frantic voice. When Caleb had asked if Lydia was there, he’d confirmed with a hum.

  His friend would come and bring Elijah with them.

  “We can’t take them out now, Henry. You’re going to have to wait to kill them.”

  “Fine, but make sure it’s quick.” He hated not being able to talk openly. If it had just been him they’d taken, he’d have forced their hand. Lydia made him keep his tongue in check.

  Standing out of the bathroom with Lydia in front of him, he felt exposed. “I think it’s time she went downstairs.”

  “No, she’s a whore, and I want some entertainment,” Leon said, sitting down. “I don’t know how long Caleb’s going to take. How much does your bitch cost?”

  She sat by his legs, but he felt her body shake.

  “Sorry, boys, I don’t share.”

  Bill and Leon shared a look. The men around them all looked to one another, smirking. They held guns. They were the ones in control.

  “Seriously, she’s used to having dick,” Bill said.

  “Not just any dick. Only mine.” The lies were mounting up. He stared at all of them, remembering their faces for when he was going to tear them apart.

  This was getting out of hand. He knew they were going to ask for a show, but he wasn’t interested in giving one.

  “I don’t care what dick she picks. I want some action, or I’m going to start hurting her,” Bill said.

  “You hurt her and the deal is off with Caleb.”

  “I didn’t realize this whore was so valuable.” Leon spoke this time, tilting his head to the side.

  “She’s not valuable. I like to fuck her. She’s not going to put on a show. I like them chunky. Not only that, hurt her, and you’ll be the ones that will have to deal with Caleb and Elijah. She works for them. They’ll have to replace her.” He folded his arms, waiting for them to speak. Henry was trying to use any excuse to stop them from looking at her. Both men had mentioned her weight. Henry didn’t mind her fuller, rounder figure, but they did.

  “You’re right. She’s too fucking fat to watch her. Fuck this,” Leon said, standing up.

  Time passed, he didn’t know how much, until Bill got to his feet, being the one to make the final decision. From the look in Bill’s eye, Henry sensed he wanted her but wasn’t going to let the others know he wanted her. “Time for you both to be put back in the basement.”

  Before Henry could move, Bill grabbed Lydia’s hair and dragged her to her feet. She screamed, crying out.

  Henry went to stop Bill, but two men held him back. He was angry they’d gotten around him, pissed off that they were hurting her. Each man was going to die slowly, painfully, and all of the deaths were going to be at his hands.

  Bill grabbed her face, applying pressure to her jaw. The pain showed on her face. Henry fought the men that held him.

  “If I didn’t want this deal so bad you’d be bent over taking my cock in that pussy of yours. Once I was done, I’d give you to my men to play with, if they could get past their revulsion of your fat ass.” Bill grabbed her ass, pulling her in close. Henry had underestimated Bill.

  “You leave her the fuck alone.” Henry snarled the words, wanting them to leave Lydia alone. Nothing could happen to her; he wouldn’t let it.

  “Until I get what I want, you’re safe.” Bill threw her off him, and she landed against the pool table, crying out as she collapsed to the floor.

  Fighting with all of his might, Henry was led back downstairs as Lydia, in pain, was forced to crawl. He didn’t like this one bit, and when he finally got the chance all of the men were going to die.

  They chained him to the bed and Lydia as well, leaving one of their hands free. He didn’t know why they did that, but he wasn’t interested. They were a shit operation that had caught him unawares. He was angry at himself for putting them both in this situation. If he’d not chased her down the fucking street, he might not be considering mass murder.

  “Are you all right?” he asked once they were alone again.

  His heart was hammering against his chest. He was so angry and helpless at the same time. Any other time he’d have killed them with ease and not cared about the damage done to him, but he had Lydia to consider.

  “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re holding your side where you hit the pool table. You’re clearly not all right.”

  She blew out a breath, and he looked toward her.

  “I’ll be fine. There’s nothing you can do. It just really hurts.”

  “I’m so sorry about this.”

  “It’s okay. Thank you for not, erm, you know, making me do anything out there.”

  “I won’t let them touch you, Lydia.” He shuffled on the bed to get closer to her. Pressing his body against her side, he did everything he could to help her feel warm.

  “I’m really sorry about this,” she said.

  “No, you don’t get to
apologize.” He wanted to hold her in his arms, to do anything that would help her. Instead, he tried to give her warmth and doing a shit job at it.

  “Talk to me about something else.” She rested her head against his shoulder.

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know, tell me something that no one knows about you.” She let out a sigh.

  “You tell me first. I’ve never done this before.”

  “What? Had a conversation with a woman?”

  Henry rested his head against hers. “No, I’ve not had a conversation with a woman before. I usually ask her how much she’ll cost and then pay her. We fuck or she sucks me off. I pay her, and then I leave.” Thinking back over the last few years he couldn’t recall a single conversation with a woman other than Lydia.

  “What about Donna? You must have spoken to her.”

  “There’s nothing I can say that will make her feel comfortable. I’d more than likely scare her.” Caleb had asked for him to be nice to Donna. If he couldn’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all. For the most part, he kept his mouth shut around his friend’s woman.

  “Wow, okay then. Erm, I don’t like boiled eggs. I find them disgusting.”

  “Boiled eggs?”

  “Yeah, I know. I think they’re supposed to be healthy for you, but I can’t stand to have my eggs boiled. It’s gross, and then when people split them down and add more crap to them? Yuck, no thanks.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t really care for food so long as I’m not starving.”

  “I love food. I love cooking and eating, but I try not to do too much.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ve got no one to share it with. Nothing sucks more than making food only to realize you’ve got to throw it in the trash.”

  “I’m sorry to hear about that.”

  “Me, too. I hate being alone.” She sounded so lost. He didn’t want her to feel lost.

  “I hate paying whores for favors,” he said, blurting out the truth.

  She pulled away, looking at him. “What?”

  “In the beginning I thought it was fun. I didn’t have to worry about finding women to fuck, but over the years, it’s gotten a little old.” He didn’t know why he was telling her the truth.

  “Why don’t you stop? Find a real woman?” She tilted her head back to look at him.

  He smiled, not feeling any real need to smile. “This is a lot easier than trying to get a woman to see past the scars and the job.”

  “Your scars are not that bad.”

  “They are. You’d be surprised how many women can’t stand to have a man who’s less than perfect.”

  “Be careful, Henry, you’re going to show your feminine side.”

  He chuckled. “Is that a bad thing with you?”

  “Not with me. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

  Closing his eyes, he inhaled her lavender scent and wished there was something he could do to take the pain away from her.

  “I never loved Darren,” she said, seconds later.

  “You didn’t?”

  “No. I was pissed when he held me as a shield. The prick, I hated him.”

  He didn’t say anything else. Darren was an asshole who couldn’t keep shit to himself.

  “I never thanked you for saving me.”

  Henry stared down into her brown gaze. “You don’t need to thank me.”

  “If you hadn’t been there or done what you did, I’d be dead.”

  “You’re thanking me for making your apartment a mess?”

  She shook her head. “I’m thanking you for not walking away.”

  “I won’t walk away, and I won’t leave you here either, Lydia.”

  ****

  Resting her head against Henry’s shoulder, she closed her eyes finally relaxing. She believed everything he said. Henry didn’t strike her as the kind of man to go back on his word. So far he’d been with her the whole time.

  “We’ll be gone soon.”

  “Good. I smell, and I’m desperate need of a shower.” She was in a lot of pain. Hitting the pool table hadn’t been a lot of fun. “Why would you make a deal with these bastards?”

  “Caleb deals with the business.” He leaned in close so his lips were by her ear. “I’ll kill every last one of these bastards in time, Lydia. You’ve just got to trust me.”

  “I will.” She didn’t mind him killing these men. They were horrid and had caused her a lot of pain.

  Time passed, and every now and again Henry would try to talk to her. She listened to him, finding him interesting, which surprised her. When he’d admitted the truth about the whores, she’d seen a part of him she doubted he let anyone see.

  The scars on his face didn’t bother her. Sure, when she first met him she’d been scared, but she also had the information Darren told her. Henry hadn’t done anything to hurt her, apart from his awful words earlier in the night.

  God, she was starting to like him, and it was impossible for her to like him.

  She tensed as she heard the door being unlocked and Bill appeared. Behind him stood Caleb and a man she didn’t recognize.

  “It’s your lucky day. We’ve made a deal, and now you can both leave,” Bill said.

  “I see you weren’t particularly good at taking my man?” Caleb asked. He wore a suit and looked entirely collected.

  Henry was released, but he didn’t move away from her. She lifted her head from his shoulder.

  “Release her,” Henry said.

  “The deal was for you, not her.”

  “Bill, I didn’t make a deal to cause problems. Release Henry and his woman, or I swear to you, you won’t make it out of this room alive,” Caleb said.

  Whoever these men were they didn’t know when to shut up. She didn’t want to be left alone.

  “Fine.” Bill tugged at her hand making her gasp at the sudden pain.

  “Hey, fucking watch it,” Henry said.

  She was thrust against Henry.

  “Get out. We’ll talk more,” Bill said, following behind them as they were taken upstairs. She buried her face against Henry’s chest liking his arms wrapped around her.

  The warm air hit her face, and she was led toward a large car. Climbing in the back, Henry climbed in beside her. Caleb and the other man joined them. The man she didn’t know hit the window to the front. “Start driving.”

  “What the fuck happened?” Caleb asked.

  Henry didn’t release her. “We started arguing, and I was an asshole. We were on the street, and I didn’t think about where we were. They drove up and took us. I’m sorry, Caleb. I fucked up.”

  “Lydia, are you all right?” Caleb asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “Should we be talking with this whore in the car?” the mystery man asked.

  “She’s not a fucking whore,” Henry said, yelling.

  “Elijah, this is Lydia. She’s Donna’s friend.”

  The man looked at her and nodded. “I apologize. I wasn’t given all the information. I wouldn’t have called you a whore if I knew.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “She needs to see a doctor. They were not gentle with her.” Henry told them about her hitting the brick wall then the pool table. “She might have broken a rib or something.”

  “We’re going back to my house,” Caleb said. “Donna’s worried about you, Lydia. She wants to make sure you’re okay. You’re also not staying alone for the time being. I didn’t like the way Bill was looking at you.”

  “I want to go home,” she said. All she wanted was to curl up in her bed and cry. She didn’t want these men to witness her breaking down.

  “No, you’re not going home. I saw the way Bill was looking at you,” Henry said. “I’m going to stay at Caleb’s tonight. You’re not leaving.”

  “Okay, I won’t leave.” She wasn’t in the mood to start arguing with him.

  “Who are they?” Henry asked.

  Their voices drowned out as she star
ed out of the window. She didn’t want to hear anything about who the men were. In fact, all she wanted to do was forget they’d been in her life.

  The three continued to talk, and she watched the sun coming up. Had they really been gone all night?

  “What day is it?” she asked, glancing back at the three men.

  “It’s Sunday morning, Lydia.” Caleb answered her.

  “Has it really been that long?” She didn’t realize the time was passing so much. They hadn’t fed them or given them water. No wonder she was tired. She’d been too scared to simply fall asleep.

  “Yeah, it’s how Donna found out you were gone. I’m really sorry this happened to you.”

  “Yeah, me, too.” She went back to looking out of the window.

  She recognized Caleb’s country home with the security fence. The car came to a stop, and Caleb pulled out his cell phone. “Hey, baby, we’re here. Would you open the gate?”

  The metal gates started to open.

  “Why didn’t you use the code?” Henry asked.

  “I didn’t want Donna worrying in case someone got in. I told her I’d call when we had you to take care of opening the gate. She didn’t want to fall asleep.”

  “You’ve found yourself a keeper,” Elijah said.

  Donna was one of those women that men adored. Her full figure didn’t detract from her beauty. They saw the true beauty in her eyes.

  “I know. Keep your hands and eyes off my woman. Donna’s mine. Find your own woman.” Caleb sent out a warning.

  Lydia smiled.

  Glancing behind her, she saw the gates slide closed. Seeing the rest of the world closed out, she finally felt safe.

  Donna stood at the door waiting for them. Luke was on her hip as she looked out toward them.

  Caleb climbed out of the car first. “Get back inside the house.” He didn’t stay with them.

  “What? I want to see Lydia.”

  “He’s very protective of her,” Henry said.

  “I can see that.”

  Lydia stood between Elijah and Henry as they made their way into Caleb’s house.

  “I had to feed him, and there’s no point me being alone. I was only waiting by the door.”