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CHAPTER 5

JOAQUIN

M y heart dropped the moment Lake and I locked gazes.

This guy–fuck–I already forgot his name. What was it? I'd need it for when we got out of here so I could destroy every part of his life for putting us through this again.

Lucas. That was right, Lucas.

He rocked back on his feet before standing. Rubbing his jaw, he walked toward Lake.

If murder was a color, it was Lake's eyes. There was a rage simmering so deep, I was confident all it would take would be one free arm and Lake would annihilate this man.

"You're not my type though, why would I start with you first?" Lucas mused.

My fingers bit down into Kim's skin and he twitched. I needed to watch myself, if not for me, then for Kim.

But hell, Lucas was broadcasting that Kim was why he took us. None of us were like Kim. He had an ethereal look that was so rare on a man. The next closest would be me, at least in body type. I was thinner than Atlas and definitely Lake.

But I would not roll over for this asshole.

"Why did you take us in the first place?" I asked, sending an apologetic look to Kim. The apology was pointless, Kim still had his gaze trained on the ground.

As much as I didn't want Lucas to fuck with Kim, I didn't want him to fuck with Lake either. Lake liked to pretend he enjoyed the dark side of himself, but I knew different. All it would take was one wrong move and he'd be shattered.

From the back, Lucas had a balding spot. One too big for even root coverup to work magic on. Slowly, Lucas glanced over his shoulder at me. "You're trying to stall me?"

Hell yes. If I could keep him walking in circles until Gio or Parker found us, I would. I'd toss a thousand questions at him as soon as he got too close to one of us and hoped the others caught on.

I shrugged. "Curiosity is a natural emotion in this situation. Don't you think? If you're going to torture the shit out of us and use us for your pleasure, I think we're at least entitled to some answers.”

Lucas laughed, shaking his head. Pivoting, he lost the amusement completely as his nose scrunched up and the lines bracketing his mouth deepened. "You're entitled to nothing. You four have caused more trouble in your life than you should ever have had the opportunity to. Rob made a mistake taking you. It was ultimately his downfall. I'm correcting it."

"What the fuck?" Atlas spewed from the corner.

He received a brief glare, but I redirected Lucas' attention back to me.

"You a copycat ?" I raised my brows in disbelief. I'd heard of people taking over other criminals’ MO, but damn. Of all the threats I could predict might pop up in our future, a fucking copycat wasn't one of them.

"Close," Lucas said wryly. "You can say I was something of an apprentice to Rob."

That was fucking chilling.

When we heard Gates had most likely been killed, why did we not focus on tracking down anyone in his organization? I glanced at Lake again.

He dipped his chin as if saying, we fucked up.

Our entire focus had only been on the big players in front of us, not the ghosts of kidnappers’ past. Fuck!

"You're not old enough to have been his apprentice," Lake added lightly. I knew damned well he didn't feel that breezy about this fuckwad idolizing Gates.

Dropping his head to the side, Lucas spun around to take in Lake. Maybe keeping him suspended like this would be easier than I thought.

"Flattering, but I'm a good ten to fifteen years older than you. Unlike you four who were captured, I was saved and given a job."

As interesting as that was, I didn't care. Until he headed toward Atlas.

"You know what? Ask all the questions you want. I'll answer each of them as I slice into Atlas' face. You four made your fortune off the very reason Rob took you in the first place? I'll make sure it's no longer an asset, and every time you look at each other, you'll think of me."

Atlas tucked his chin tight to his chest and glared.

Lucas pulled a knife off of his belt that I hadn't noticed before. What the hell! He'd almost been within touching distance. If I hadn't been so focused on taking Kim's mind off of what was happening, I could have grabbed it.

Damn it!

I flinched at the snick of the blade opening.

Atlas didn't make a move. There was too much coldness inside him. That was good. When Atlas was like this, it made it harder for things to penetrate. His cold fury was better than his hot rage.

Lucas stopped short and eyed Atlas. "Hmm. If I bend down, your hands are free and I believe you look like you want to hurt me. Is that true?" Lucas asked in a sardonic tone.

Atlas smirked and I was fucked in the head for getting aroused. That expression always turned me on, and he knew it. It was the same smirk he wore whenever he was fucking with me.

"I would do more than hurt you. I want to hear your blood-curdling screams as I crack open your chest cavity and hold your still-beating heart in my hand. I can already envision your hot blood running down my arm and dripping from my fingers."

Holy shit.

That was violent. My dick twitched harder.

Lucas seemed flabbergasted as he stood there, not moving. Then he cleared his throat. "That's very imaginative."

"When you spend years under that psycho's care, and then the rest of your life thinking about what you'd do if you ever saw him again, you have time to get creative."

A sudden, high-pitched laugh popped out of Lucas as he backed up. "Actually, I'd like to start with Lake. He said he likes the pain."

"You're afraid?" Atlas taunted.

"No!" Lucas snapped. His shoulders tensed as cords in his neck popped out.

He was struggling with the insult. Lucas would either have to admit that he was terrified of what Atlas could do, and cut on Lake, the only one of us who was completely tied up, or take a chance to prove that he was more powerful than us.

We all knew Atlas would hurt him. Maybe even enough for us to take him down.

It wouldn't matter how much he stabbed Atlas, Atlas had so much anger inside him, the adrenaline alone would keep him going until there was nothing left of this guy.

My mouth dried up while I ran through the possibilities. I didn't want Atlas to get hurt, but if we didn't take this guy out, he was going to return to Beasty. What if we could save her at the cost of one of us?

I squeezed my eyes shut.

At the cost of Atlas.

My lover.

Shivers racked my body and an audible noise came with it. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I wanted us all to walk the fuck out of here fully intact.

There had to be a way. I just couldn’t see it yet. So we'd play the game for now and hope like hell none of us were damaged beyond repair.

If Beasty couldn’t come back from this, we were all toast anyway. I remembered how we fell apart after she’d left the first time. If anything happened to her…

Lucas lost the fight with himself and continued his path to Lake.

The shivers wracked me harder. Lake was going to get sliced up and there wasn't a goddamned thing we could do about it. Nor was there an opportunity to take this fucker out.

Lake glared, but it had nothing on Atlas' palpable fury.

Lucas must have thought the same because he relaxed as he got close to him. It could also be the raw welts and red drops of blood on Lake’s arms from his failed efforts to free himself.

Which to Lucas probably signaled safety.

As he crouched down, he hummed. The asshole was inspecting Lake.

"Why didn't you tie all of us up like you did Lake?" As soon as the question popped out, I regretted it.

Lucas dug the tip of the blade into Lake's side, then slowly dragged it along his rib. Bright red blood bloomed in its place.

Cold sweat broke out over my forehead.

"That's a question and I got my pound of flesh. To answer, taking you was a very spur-of-the-moment idea. I saw an opportunity and I took it."

This wasn't even fucking planned? How the hell had he gotten to our driver? And where did our security detail go? Guy was on standby with a couple of our men.

They wouldn’t have been in the line with us, but had they not seen the driver speed away with us? Fucking hell, my head throbbed.

I forced a breath out only to suck air right back in. Lucas was going to hurt Lake no matter what. I had to keep telling myself that.

"Where's Beasty?" I shouted, losing it as heat flooded through my limbs and built inside my head.

I just needed to know she was okay. This fucker wasn’t going to stop. I could tell by the way he smiled while cutting into Lake. So I wanted answers.

Otherwise, Lake's pain would be for nothing.

Lucas made the same type of cut along a rib above the other one. Lake grunted but it was erotic, not a sound of pain.

The bright sound of Lucas' laugh was both shocked and delighted. "You weren't lying. You do enjoy the pain." Reaching down, it looked like he could be palming Lake's dick.

We all started shouting. Even Kim.

"Leave him alone!"

"You fucking bastard! You're sick and twisted!"

"I will eat your heart if you keep touching him!"

The only one who wasn't shouting was Lake. He tried to glare at Lucas, but his eyes were glazed over. It was the effect of the pain. Endorphins were swimming through his system.

The terrifying sound of Lucas’ zipper ripped through the air. He let out a soft noise as he fumbled with his pants.

God, he was pulling his dick out.

"This is–" I started.

A shout came from upstairs. Was that Beasty? It took a few seconds to process the sound as masculine.

It wasn't Beasty, and any hope I had died in my chest.

Lucas popped up away from Lake with a speed that surprised me. He didn't seem alarmed, but he was definitely alert. Without a backward glance at any of us, he jogged up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He hit the light switch and we were swathed in darkness right before the door at the top of the stairs slammed shut.

The buzzing of electricity stopped and the room felt even emptier than before. With the darkness, thoughts I tried like hell to keep out of my head started to fight for space.

Pictures of Beasty upstairs in torn clothes and bruised eyes filled with terror as Lucas approached her with his fucking nasty erection. Beasty with her throat slit. Beasty with blood between her legs because rape was rape, and it hurt like hell.

"Fuck!" I bellowed, slapping the side of my head as if that would knock the images out of it. It didn't work.

"Joaquin!" Lake grunted as the chains groaned. He was trying to free himself again.

"Stop that, you fucking idiot! You're going to cut your wrists to hell and then die from loss of blood or infection!" I snapped back.

"Are you with us?" Atlas asked softly.

I focused on his voice and kept my eyes wide fucking opened. My heart slowed from the constant buzz thrumming in my neck. The light from the window was brighter and I could make out a little bit more than just their silhouettes.

This was real. This was happening right now.

Those images in my head were fabrications of my worst nightmares. They weren't real.

She could be exactly as Kim said and be back at her apartment.

I was suspending my fucking belief because that was a saner thought than believing she was upstairs without us to protect her.

We couldn't even protect ourselves.

"As much as I can be," I croaked, dropping my hold on Kim and slumping back against the wall.

"Where do you think Beasty is?" Atlas asked, his voice devoid of any emotion. He was shutting down.

"Not fucking here," Lake said so quickly, Atlas hadn't even finished his question.

Kim whimpered next to me as he scooted to a better sitting position, bringing his knees to his chest once again, and rolling himself into the tightest ball he could manage. "Beasty loves being the big spoon."

I snorted out a laugh. It was a ridiculous thing to focus on, but it helped. "Only with you."

I'd never been in a position to be any kind of spoon with her. When we got out of here, that would change. I didn't give a fuck if I was the big spoon, little spoon, or the fork in the middle. Whatever she needed. Because when we got out of here, if her experience was anything like ours, she'd need us.

A wash of guilt slid over me.

Why would she need us? We didn't keep her safe, in fact, our shit was the reason she was taken in the first place.

"Maybe we were wrong for taking her," I whispered. It wasn't to the guys, just a thought out loud.

"Maybe you're right," Lake sighed as he stopped trying to free his hands. "Maybe Beasty is better off without us."

"Fuck that!" Atlas spewed as he crawled out as far as his chain would allow. He was still under the stairs, but he could probably see Lake in the new light. "Beasty is ours. I'm not giving her up no matter what you assholes want."

I closed my eyes. There was a real chance none of us were going to get out of here.

But I wasn't going to voice it. If I said it out loud, it could come true. Instead, I was going to focus on the only positive I could.

"Kim..." I rested my head against the wall. "Tell us what Beasty's doing again? I need to hear it one more time."

There was a pause, then Kim nodded.

"She's going for a job interview as an office manager. Something classy and meaningful, but low-key and light on stress. In her spare time, she’s going to run a hedgehog rescue, saving all the abandoned hedgehogs in the world.” He licked his lips as he worked out what he wanted for Beasty’s future. “For a hobby, she's going to take up ballet because she realized how much fun she had while dancing during amateur night. Beasty never got to do anything like that. Not in foster care, and she's finally taking time to figure out what she likes and who she is..."

I closed my eyes, and for the first time since I woke up in this hellhole, I didn't see pain and death of those I loved. I saw Beasty, with a lot of promise, a fierce look of determination, and leg warmers as she tried to mimic girls dancing on the barre.

That was a hell of a lot better than the alternative.