Page 22 of Bastard

Everything goes black but not before my thoughts narrow and, like a whisper, settle on his name.

Hayden.

6

Thwap. Thwap. Thwap.

I wake to the echo of a helicopter’s blades slapping through the air. It’s a reoccurring nightmare, a twisted memory burned into my subconscious that often resurfaces in the early morning hours. This morning, the pain seems more intense ...

I’m suddenly wide awake. Rolling up to sit, I try to process what’s happening; the unfamiliar bed, the unexpected ship cabin, the oh-so familiar sound of a helicopter.

Itisa helicopter that’s awakened me.

Where am I?

My head pounds as I scramble to my feet. Thethwap,thwap,thwapsound fades off into the distance, and my thoughts settle on how I arrived onboard. Six men pursuing me. Tight-Lipped’s warning. A hit to my head. Darkness setting in.

I touch the ugly bump on the back of my head that confirms everything.I need to get away from here.

They placed me inside an exquisitely decorated stateroom, on a comfortable king-sized bed with a pillow-soft mattress and smooth silk sheets. A sofa sits before a large, picture-frame window overlooking what I believe to be the Indian Ocean. A white, Scandinavian-style dresser rests against another wall. There are two doors, one open and likely leading into a bathroom and the other, to freedom.

If I test the handle, it’ll undoubtably be locked.

I inhale a breath, then pull a face.Santo cielo. I smell like I’ve run a marathon. With a sigh, I decide to clean up, tend to my injuries, and make a plan.

I shower in a bathroom fully stocked with women’s necessities. Shampoo. Conditioner. The mango body wash I like. Hairbrush. Toothbrush. Slightly perfumed lotions. How many women have been inside this cabin? I dry off with a fluffy pink towel and think of all the ways I’d like to take a pair of scissors to it. Cut out a frowny face. Better yet, the shape of a middle finger. The next woman using these toiletries is in for a surprise.

I pull fresh underwear, shorts, a T-shirt, and sandals from my daypack. Someone retrieved it from the taxi. Tight-Lipped? What is his role in the deception? Or did he truly believe he was escorting me to my brother?

There’s a knock on the door, then someone jiggles the lock.

I’ve dreamed of this moment, of how I’d confront the Bastard. Everything he’s done. All the hurt he’s responsible for. Using Madelyn to send a warning to Kylie. Ignoring what his men did to me. Deceiving me, time and time again. I’m no longer a seventeen-year-old girl with her head in the clouds and eyes only for him. I no longer love him so much the very thought of him makes my heart race. I was rash. I was bold.

I should have run instead of fallen.

The door swings open and a tall thin man enters with a tray. I eye the open door as he walks across the room to set it down.

“It’ll do you no good. Armed men are stationed all over the yacht.”

“I’m on a yacht?”

The man looks at me quizzically, probably because of my misguided surprise. What he doesn’t know is that the last time I was on a yacht, I was in the company of rival cartel members, armed and waiting for the slightest provocation to kill each other.Hedidn’t kill anyone that day. But he did do something even more shocking—he protected me. He claimed me.

Mine. She’s mine.

I swallow hard, fighting off the memory.

He gestures to the tray. “Dinner.”

My stomach growls, but I ignore it. “Whose yacht?”

The man shakes his head. “Can I get you a drink? We keep a fully stocked bar onboard.”

“The service is exceptional for a prison.” I cock my head. “So, who is we?”

His head turns from side to side once more as he makes for the door.

“Wait.”