All the goodness Tess instilled inside me slowly trickled out, leaving my conscience like a dry river bed with nothing but daggers for thoughts.
Ending the handshake, I turned and climbed into the back of the vehicle. I kept my temper hissing in the background of my mind. I would be prepared to strike—but not yet.
A gun pressed against my side as a man settled in the seat beside me. His tanned Spaniard skin melted into the darkness of the evening.
“Lynx will be honoured by your presence, Mercer. I believe he has a night full of festivities.”
My gut churned, but that was the extent of my fear. I refused to let the useless emotion dictate me. Fear wouldn’t stop the future. Fear would only ruin my chance at saving my future.
I embraced livid anger, nursing it, flaming it.
The cars pulled away from the curb; I didn’t look back. I didn’t glance up to our room or try to glimpse a tearful Tess. I didn’t focus on what I was leaving behind. I focused on what I would become in order to survive.
No one said a word as we navigated the streets of Rome, heading toward the private terminal at the airport.
The journey didn’t last long. Too fast.
We pulled up outside a private hangar and a gun prodded my side. I climbed out of the car.
A captor demanded, “Hold out your hands.”
I expected restraints, so I didn’t resist as a cable-tie wrapped around my wrists. Once disabled, they marched me toward a small jet. I glimpsed my plane a few metres away. The white fuselage rested under a cloak of stars and clouds. The gold Q and sparrows on the wingtips looked as if it waved goodbye—sending me off to a battle I probably wouldn’t win.
The air crackled with testosterone. Guns pressed my lower back, shoving me up the plane’s steps. I entered the dark brown interior of the aircraft.
Lowering my head, I narrowed my eyes at the two men standing in the aisle. More men crowded behind me, blocking any escape.
Shit, I was in for more than champagne and soft blankets.
Calm. I felt calm.
Furious. I felt furious.
“Take my warning seriously, you cunts. Every hit you deliver, I’ll repay you a hundred times worse.” Growling low and deep, I added, “Kill me, and I’ll f**king haunt you for eternity.”
Tess.
The love for her no longer had space anymore—it was swamped with lust for murder.
“Lynx told us to bring you in one piece. But he didn’t say you couldn’t have bruises.” The two men in front cracked their knuckles, inching closer. The cramped space of the cabin was a treasonous whore, giving them the upper hand.
There wasn’t much I could do. Hands bound. Honour bound. I would bide my time for vengeance.
The first punch came from behind, knocking me like a ping pong into the awaiting fists in front.
Cheekbone.
Spleen.
Ribcage.
Kneecap.
Fists kept swinging and I had no way to hide or reciprocate.
Grunts filled the cabin as they turned me from human to a piece of exercise equipment—pummelling from all angles.
Blackness stole my vision as a well-aimed fist struck my temple. I collapsed into a chair, breathing hard, tasting blood, hearing the yips and snarls of my inner demons.
Seven men to beat up one who was tied and defenceless.
Seven men who would have no intestines by the time dawn crested.
This was a playground scuffle.
The instant I touched down in Spain the real fun would begin.
*Two hours after capture*
“We’re here.”
The car swung into a private estate hidden down a driveway. The high hedges circling the perimeter acted as a natural fence. The property was nowhere near as big as the Mercer chateau, but it nevertheless housed fifteen rooms, numerous lounges, and at least three dungeons to rent. I’d been offered the use of one with any girl I wanted more than once.
From here it looked quaint and picturesque, with lights glowing warmly from rounded sash windows, and trees swaying in the night-time breeze.
The vehicle came to a stop outside the entrance. Someone wrenched open my car door; leaning in, he cuffed me around the back of the head. Fuck me, I ached. My entire body was bruised, hurting even worse than the gunshot in my thigh.
“Get out, Mercer.”
I hadn’t been cuffed since I was a f**king six years old. I wasn’t about to take it when I was almost thirty.
I couldn’t stop the cold smile stretching my lips.
Grave mistake. Huge mistake.
We were in a completely different country to Tess. My honour didn’t cross borders—I’d kept my vow to go to Spain willingly. But we’d arrived and all promises were over.
Elegantly—or as much as I could with a beat up body—I stepped from the car. The guard moved away, grinning at my obedience. I grinned back. Another man grinned. Fuck, we all grinned at each other.
Fucking pricks.
I struck.
With my bound wrists, it didn’t give me the leverage I wanted, but I managed to splay my hands on either side of his skull and tear. I jerked fast and hard as if I uprooted a tree from dirt. And in a way—that was precisely what I did.
The snap of his neck echoed in the night sky before his body fell like a useless piece of timber.
“What!” The man who was in charge stomped forward, hands raised. “You f**king—”
I propelled both arms forward, forming one giant fist. The strike caught his chin perfectly, propelling him upright, sending him slamming onto his back.
I stood over him, ignoring my bruises, cut lip, and swollen eye, and invoked more anger to flow. It was the best painkiller—it would keep me free from agony until I had the luxury of relaxing.
“Don’t ever think you can touch me without paying. It comes with a price and you can’t afford it, you f**king scum.” I spat on him, kicking dirt over his groaning body. And I want everyone to know.
I knew I’d been stalked. I’d taken precautions but not enough. Deliberately. “Touch me again and I’ll send you straight to hell.”
A strike landed on the base of my skull. I stumbled forward, cursing the rush of sickness and pounding headache. At least I didn’t have a migraine. A migraine only came when I tried to rein in the evilness inside.
Tonight I was free. I’d let my humanity go the moment I said goodbye to Tess.
My muscles seized as a gun bruised my spine. “Move, cocksucker.” Someone shoved me forward, giving me no choice but to limp ahead with my vision sputtering in and out from the blow to my skull.
The house loomed. I knew without a doubt if I went in there I wouldn’t be coming out. But there was no other option.