Page 54 of The Devil's Heir

Liliana

My head pounds and my mouth is dryer than the Sahara Desert. I'm feeling disoriented, and when I try opening my eyes, they don't seem to want to cooperate with me.

"Hurry up, she's waking up," a low, raspy voice states.

It sounds a little familiar, but the pressure on my neck has me pushing those thoughts away. I try to move, but I can't pull my hands apart. When I try tugging at them, there's a clinking sound.

Am I handcuffed?

There's cursing and more pressure, but when I move my head, someone holds it in place.

"Don't fucking move, Lily."

No! I do know that voice—it's Heath!

I try screaming, and that's when I realize my mouth is taped shut. Even with my head throbbing, I start to struggle, but then I feel the weight of a body as it straddles my waist. My first thought is the baby, and I still, not wanting anything to happen to him.

"Will you hurry the fuck up already?" Heath barks at whoever he's with.

I hear a loud snap, and then my neck feels bare. They took my collar off. Why was it so important that they needed to remove it? But I don't need to wait long for that answer when an unfamiliar voice speaks.

"Damn, she must be extra special to him if he was tracking her." The male voice chuckles.

"She used to be special to me until she let him take what was owed to me," Heath spews.

Is he talking about Jarek? What did Jarek take from him—what is owed to him?

"You're just sour because you're still paying back all that money you were given in advance for this bitch," the other male states. "I have to give it to her; she does have nice tits."

"Yeah, she gives a mean blowjob, too. I taught her well. I hope Falcon appreciates the work I put into her."

My eyes are finally able to flutter open as I breathe heavily. I glare at my former foster brother.

"Well, hello, beautiful. Long time no see…" Heath gives me a maniacal grin. "You have no idea the trouble you caused when you took off the way you did. It surprised the fuck out of me when you got in the car that first day I drove for Falcon."

Oh, my God! He's been working for Jarek? Does he know who Heath is to me? Was this his plan all along? Wait, no. Heath just said that it surprised him to see me, so he didn't know I was with Jarek. God, to think that I was played for a fool a second time would have been the last straw.

Jarek is not the same person he used to be. I'm going to trust that he will find me—if anything—because I am his, and nobody touches what is his. I think this may be the first time that I'm thankful Jarek is the ruthless killer he is.

I shouldn't want harm to come to my former foster brother and friend, but the boy I knew years ago is gone. Heath doesn't care about me; he only cares about what I can do for him—make him money. I don't know what he will do with me, but I'm willing to bet that there is money involved for him.

"Come on," the other guy says to Heath, adding, "We got the other location. Now that the tracker is off the bitch, we can move her."

"You're pretty important to that asshole, aren't you?

Anyone who puts a tracker on their woman is a possessive motherfucker," Heath states, but then looks at my midsection.

"I guess when you're carrying the heir to one of the biggest crime families, you need to be guarded. Too bad Falcon let his guard down."

Jarek's been tracking me?

They said this a few minutes ago, but it didn't sink in until now.

I should probably be pissed about the fact that I've had a tracker on me the whole time I've been with Jarek, but how can I when I'm in the position I'm in?

He will follow me here, but then what? Where is Heath taking me, and who is this other person involved?

"Sorry to do this again, but it's time for you to go night-night," Heath says, pulling me from my thoughts and back to him.

My eyes widen when I see him saturating a cloth with chloroform. I shake my head vigorously and try to bury my face into the dingy pillow on the bed, but it's two against one. His friend holds my head while Heath presses the cloth to my face. Darkness shrouds me, and then nothing.

I wake up in a dark, cool place. It smells musty like I'm in a basement. I'm lying on a cold cement floor, and all I can do is pray that no bugs are crawling around here.

My wrists are still secured, and I can't move my legs, which means they're secured as well. My head still throbs; I'm sure it's the after-effects of the chloroform. I worry for the baby I'm carrying. Will it harm him at all?

I'm not sure how long I lie here for, but after what seems like hours, a door opens at the top of a set of stairs, and light filters down on me. I blink as my eyes try to adjust to the light. Once they do, I see Heath carrying a tray down to me.

I slink back against the wall as I glare at him, but he only grins. He's amused. Heath squats, placing the tray on the floor beside me, and then reaches up and rips the tape off my mouth. I bite back the curse I want to cry out when it feels as though he's torn the skin off my face.

"Welcome home, Lily. Well, for now, anyway. I don't know what their plans are for you, but I'm sure it won't be pretty." Heath chuckles.

"Fuck you," I growl in a croaky voice.

He's fast, gripping my jaw and squeezing it hard. My teeth bite into the soft flesh inside my mouth, but I don't give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

"You shouldn't have run, Lily. We could have made so much money together," Heath states .

"I wasn't going to be some whore for you to rent out," I murmur through his grip.

An amused grin appears on his lips. "Yeah, I figured you found out about that. Don't take it the wrong way, Lily. I cared about you but also saw a way to make money. You would have gotten used to it…"

I try to wrench my face free, but Heath holds firm.

"I've missed you, Lily." His mouth crashes against mine, and I struggle to break free, but it's no use.

His other hand comes up, groping my breast, squeezing it in his hand roughly. I'm going to have bruises from him, marks reminding me of his violation.

I do the only thing I can do and bite down hard.

" Agh! You fucking bitch!" Heath lifts his arm and backhands me across the face.

I can taste copper instantly from the cut on my lip, but it's not as much as the blood that's running down Heath's chin. He may need stitches for that. I smile smugly and dart my tongue out to lick the blood from my own cut.

Heath grabs my hair and yanks it back. "You're fucking lucky that they're paying me a shit ton of money, or else I'd fuck you right here and now. I'd love for Falcon's brat to feel another man's cock battering it and get a taste of my cum." Spittle flies at my face as he snarls at me.

"I'd rather die than let you inside of me," I sneer, screwing up my face. "Jarek Falcon is ten times the man you will ever be, Heath. No amount of money will ever raise your status above his."

Heath's hand comes at my face again and again. "I may not be able to fuck you, but I will beat you into submission if I have to," he states through clenched teeth before he backhands me one last time.

My head is swimming at this point, but I won't let him see my weakness. I see double when I look at him. My lips tilt up, and I smile.

In a low, unnaturally flat voice, I state, "I can't wait for Jarek to come. I'm going to enjoy watching him kill you very slowly."

"He's not going to find you here. He has no idea who is involved, and by the time he does find you, I'll be long gone." Heath stands, kicks my thigh hard, then turns and walks back upstairs .

I'm left in the dark once again. I have no appetite for the food Heath has left me, not that I trust him enough to eat it, anyway. However, I groan in pain for the first time. I can feel my left eye swelling up already.

Please, Jarek. You need to find me…