Angel in the Shadows (20 page)

“Stop!” she yelled, her free hand trying to claw at Vance’s face.

Laughing lightly, Vance swatted her hand away. “Oh no you don’t, my dear,” he said, his voice deadly. Then, lightning-quick, he struck her face, hard.

Madison’s eyes rolled but she didn’t fall. With his hand wound in her hair, he jerked her face closer and crushed her broken lips with his, the kiss brutal and vicious. Whimpering, she tried to pull away but his hand on the back of her head kept her firmly in place.

Seth stood unmoving as the fury ripped through him like a tidal wave. He allowed no expression on his face as Vance continued to rape Madison’s mouth with his tongue but his hands were clenched into tight fists behind his back, the nails digging into his palms. He wanted to kill him, right where he stood. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Finally pulling away, Vance licked his lips slowly. “Very, very nice. You are going to be more fun than I thought, Ms. Sinclair,” he murmured quietly. Still holding her tightly, Vance turned toward Seth, a wicked smile on his face. “She was definitely worth the wait. You don’t know what you’re missing out on Seth.” A slight pause. “Or do you?” Vance stared at him intently, trying to read his impassive face.

For a second, Seth was sure that it was all over. That he would have to finish things now and to hell with the plans. He tensed, ready to strike, knowing he would have to take out both Vance and Jason as quickly as possible.

Vance chuckled, breaking the building tension. “As if you’d be interested in something like this,” he said, shaking Madison roughly. “Well,” he said conversationally, “it seems as though Ms. Sinclair and I have a lot to catch up on so, if you will excuse us.” Vance crossed the room, dragging Madison with him. But not before Madison looked back as Seth, her eyes filled with terror and hate. He stared back at her blandly, uncaring, as Vance forced her up the stairs.

“You bastard!” she screamed at him, trying to jerk away from Vance’s iron grip. “You cowardly son of a bitch!”

Pausing on the stairs, Vance spoke to Madison but his eyes were firmly resting on Seth. “Why, Ms. Sinclair,” Vance said with a chuckle, “you didn’t really think that my assistant would help you did you? He works for me. And there are consequences for anyone that goes against me, aren’t there, Seth?”

“Of course, Mr. Goldston,” Seth answered automatically, his tone subdued with respect. Unclenching his fist, he pushed his wire-rimmed glasses higher on his nose.
He knows. The son of a bitch knows. He was in deep shit. They all were.

Vance balled a fist. It bothered him of course to see that Jason had delivered Madison in a less-than-perfect condition but he could deal with that. She would be in a lot worse condition when he was finished with her. But he intended to go slowly, take his time. After all, he had almost two weeks here and he didn’t want to become bored with his new toy just yet.

And to think that Seth, the sneaky bastard, had almost ruined all of his fun. Had his assistant
really
thought he would be able to keep Madison away from him? He always got what he wanted no matter who tried to stop him. Vance was somewhat disappointed however, that Seth had shown no reaction when he hit the little blond bitch. He never moved an inch, not even when Vance shoved his tongue into Madison’s unwilling mouth. His features were set in stone, unchanging, and Vance began to wonder if there really was no emotional connection between the girl and his assistant. But then, he noticed the way Seth’s fists were clenched tightly behind his back, as if to retrain himself from attacking.

Wonderful!
Seth
did
feel something for her. That was going to make his time with Madison that much sweeter. He would beat her twice as much, rape her twice as long, make her scream twice as loud. After all, he wasn’t the only one that needed to hear the show. He grinned suddenly as an even more ingenious thought occurred to him.

He would force Seth to watch. Make him watch as she screamed and cried and begged. Vance could think of no better punishment for his dishonest ways. To watch the woman he cared about being beaten and raped before his very eyes knowing there was nothing he could do about it. But that would come later. Right now, she was all
his.

Locking the bedroom door behind him, Vance flung Madison onto the bed that was pushed against the far wall. He grinned as she scrambled into the corner of the mattress, knowing there was nowhere to go. She stood up, ready to jump around him if given the chance. There would be no chance. He loved the way the fear widened her brown eyes. But more surprising, more exciting, was the anger burning in her face. She wasn’t going to go down easy.
Good.
He loved it when they fought back. Like gasoline thrown on a wildfire, rebellious spirits were an accelerant to his raging lust. His groin tightened painfully as he imagined the cries, the screams, and the pain that he could pull from those lovely lips. Well, maybe he wouldn’t be able to wait as long as he’d intended to in order to bring Seth in to watch.
At least the first time.

Chapter 24

Pressing herself against the wall, Madison watched Vance approach her slowly. Not because he was scared of her. Hardly. He wanted to drag this moment out as long as he could. He was getting off on it. Well, she was going to be damned if he thought that she was just going to give in and let him have his way with her. She would fight him tooth and nail until the very end. But maybe that’s what he wanted her to do, the sick fucker. She could see the glaze of madness in his eyes now. If only she had seen it before but that was something he obviously kept hidden from most people. People he couldn’t control. That was why she only saw it now. He never intended for her to leave. If she couldn’t get away, he was going to hurt her. Badly. Seth had not been lying.

Seth. His name tore at her heart. She thought that he could no longer hurt her. But she had been wrong. How could he just stand there and do nothing? He may not care about her but for him to stand there and do absolutely nothing? Inconceivable. And yet, he’d watched Vance dragged her up the stairs, not moving. She saw the disregard, the indifference, shining in the dull, brown eyes that she knew were actually blue.

At that moment, any false hopes she might have had about him were destroyed, turned to dust, blown away. It didn’t make any sense for him to save her so many times only to let Vance have his way with her now. But apparently, Seth had his own reasons for treating her the way that he had. For
using
her. And none of them involved anything close to human emotions. He was just as sick as Vance. And now, here she was, on her own, in Satan’s bedroom. This was where she was going to be tortured and raped. This was where she would die.

Well, fuck Vance. Fuck Seth and whatever mission he was on. Fuck everything.

With a guttural scream, she launched herself at Vance, catching him by surprise. She collided into him, knocking him off balance. He was thrown backward by her momentum and fell to the floor with her on top of him. Doubling up her fist, she struck out at him, connecting solidly with his nose. Her reward was a dark flow of blood streaming from one aristocratic nostril. She aimed again, this time for his eye.

He caught both of her wrists in his big palms and quicker than she could imagine, he reversed their positions so that now she lay pinned below him.

“Awww, a fighter . . .” he murmured softly. “Excellent.” A brief, feral smile flashed over his face. The blood from his ruptured nose dripped onto her lips. She spat, trying to remove the horrid taste of it. His smile grew wider at her discomfort. She bucked wildly, trying to throw him off but he was too heavy. “Come on, fight me, you little bitch. I’ve been waiting for you a long time.”

“Let me go you bastard!” she screamed up at him, twisting her body, trying to work herself free. Then suddenly, horribly, she became aware of his physical excitement. The feel of him pressing against her pelvis made her stop struggling. She lay panting underneath him, terrified.

“That’s right, Ms. Sinclair,” he whispered, “I want you. And I
will
have you but all in good time. First things first. Why don’t you tell me everything you know about Mr. Reynolds?”

It would serve Seth right if she ratted him out but she was not going to cooperate with this asshole on top of her. “Fuck you,” she spat, baring her teeth.

Vance laughed, a deep, troubled sound. “That you will do, my dear. But first, I want information.”

“It must be nice to want.” She was facing this man’s wrath but she was tired of being scared.

Still smiling, he pulled himself from the floor, dragging her with him. Holding both of her wrists tightly in one of his hands, he led her to a sturdy wooden chair against the wall. Forcing her to sit, he pulled a thick piece of rope from one of his pants pockets. He jerked her arms behind her hard and she couldn’t help the sharp cry of pain that escaped her.

“You do sound so lovely when you’re in pain,” Vance breathed in her ear. He nipped at her neck as he tied her wrists behind her, the rough rope biting into her skin.

She tossed her head back, trying desperately to hit him. She missed.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Vance sighed. “But you are such a naughty girl, Madison, and you will have to be punished.” The force of his palm against her face was unexpected and her head whipped violently to the right. “Now, if you do as you’re told, I won’t hurt you. Too much,” he said with a tight smile. “But if you don’t cooperate with me, after I’m through with you, you’ll wish you were dead.”

“Forget it, I’m not helping you with anything.” she spat. Her face throbbed where his hand had connected.

“Okay, have it your way. Don’t saw I didn’t try to warn you,” he said, false regret in his voice. Reaching around behind her, he grasped the pinkie finger on her left hand. With just the smallest amount of pressure, he bent it, snapping the bone instantly.

She screamed as the pain shot from her broken finger ran all the way up her arm. The tears hadn’t even begun to fall before Vance slapped her again, ending her scream abruptly. This time, it was
her
nose that was bloody.

“Now, I’m going to ask you one more time. What do you know about Seth Reynolds?” Vance asked patiently.

“Nothing, I don’t know anything,” she sobbed thickly, tears mixing with the blood.

Uttering a deep sigh, he grabbed her injured hand once more. Two more fingers broke with a sick snap.

Her scream was deafening. In some dim, remote part of her brain, she wondered if Seth was hearing her down below. And if he was enjoying this.

“Still nothing, huh?” Vance whispered, yanking her head back and studying her face.

Madison whimpered against the pain radiating through her scalp.

“Well, let’s try a different tactic then, shall we?” he suggested, a wide, lascivious grin on his face.

Grabbing her pajama shirt, he ripped it open, exposing her naked skin as buttons scattered across the hardwood floor.

Her gasp was almost as loud as her scream. This was it. He was going to rape her. Her mind tried to repel the thought but there was no fighting the truth. Even if she told him what she knew, and it wasn’t much, he would never let her go. He would beat her, rape her, and then kill her. It seemed that it was up to her how painful it would be.

“How about now?”

“Go to hell,” she whispered, putting as much venom in her voice as she could.

Tipping his head to the side, he frowned in disappointment. “That’s the wrong answer.” He grabbed the band on her pajama pants and tore them off, the material ripping away in seconds, leaving her only in her panties. His eyes crawled over her slowly. “Beautiful,” he whispered, making the word sound vile and disgusting.

Kneeling in front of her, Vance grabbed her breasts between his fingers and pinched them until she cried out. Smiling at her pain, he kept one hand on her breast and ran the other up her neck, into her hair, and yanked her head back. With one last harsh twist, he released her breast only to replace his fingers with his mouth. At first, he was gentle, swirling his tongue over her aching nipple. She tried to wrench away from him but as always, he had her firmly in his grip. Without warning, he clamped his teeth down on her, biting through her flesh fiercely, drawing blood. She shrieked, begging him to stop.

Vance withdrew his mouth from her and leaned over her, still holding her head back. “Are you ready to answer my questions?”

There was no use. She couldn’t take it. If she had to endure this, wouldn’t it be better if there was less pain? “Yes, yes, anything. Just please stop,” Madison pleaded brokenly.

“Tell me who Seth Reynolds really is. And don’t lie to me,” Vance ordered, his free hand absently stroking himself through his slacks.

“I don’t know who he really is,” she started.

Vance yanked her hair.

“He didn’t tell me much about him. I just know that he works for some type of top secret company.”

“What does he want?”

Tears spilled down her cheeks, stinging her busted lips. “I don’t know. He never told me.” She screamed again as he nearly ripped the hair out of her scalp.

“Please, it’s the truth, I swear. I don’t know anything else,” she cried.

“Did he fuck you?” Vance asked, flinging spit onto her face.

Madison stared back at him, horrified, trying to follow his new train of thought. When she didn’t answer right away, he punched her, connecting with her left eye. She saw stars as the pain exploded through her face.

“
Did he fuck you
?” he roared.

She could feel her eye begin to swell immediately. Bordering on consciousness, she answered, her voice cracked with sobs, “Yes.”

“I knew it. That bastard,” Vance replied. Normally, I don’t like sloppy seconds but in your case, I’m willing to make an exception,” Vance growled as he lowered the zipper on his pants.

Horrified, Madison stared. “But . . . but I told you the truth. I told you what you wanted to know . . .”

“Yes, you did. I appreciate that.” Reaching behind him, he pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants and jammed it roughly against her temple. But this,” he said, his mouth turned up in a wicked grin, “this is just for me. And just a word of advice, I better not feel teeth.”

The ceiling shook with a loud thud and Seth glanced up, clenching his fists even tighter behind him. He’d overcome most of the shock that Madison was here.
But damn it! This was not supposed to be happening.
After everything he’d done to save her, in the end he’d failed. She was upstairs, alone with Vance, and this time, there was nothing he could do to help her. Absolutely nothing. If he charged up there like some knight-in-shining-armor, Vance might escape and everything he and the others had worked for would be blown to smithereens. The mission would be over and thousands would die. That was not an option. Besides, he was no fucking hero. He was a man with a job to finish. Madison was not his problem anymore. She got herself into this mess, she could get herself out. Except he knew that she couldn’t. And his hands were tied.

Muffled voices drifted down the stairs followed with a short yelp. His gut took a nosedive and his heart seized painfully.
Oh God, it’s started.
He couldn’t do anything to help her now but he was going to be damned if he had to sit around here listening to her pain. Not bothering with a coat, he opened the front door and stepped outside, inhaling the freezing air into his lungs. The sky was clear and the moonlight shone down, turning the freshly fallen snow into a blanket of diamonds.

He barely made a sound as he crossed the wide yard toward a dense row of pine trees. In the silence, he heard the cabin door open and he knew without turning around that he would have company. And it wasn’t for a friendly stroll in the woods. No doubt Jason had orders to kill him. There was no way he was going to let that happen. Kill Jason, save Madison, take out Vance. Those were his new objectives. To hell with the original plans.

A scream came from the cabin, swiftly piercing his heart. There was no mistaking the absolute pain in that scream. Vance was hurting Madison, and this was just the beginning. Seth pounded a fist against his thigh. Everything in him wanted to turn around right now and save her but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t. It might be the death of all of them if he did. He kept walking, eyes straight ahead, ignoring the anger that tried to overcome his better senses. He couldn’t, however, ignore the man rapidly closing the distance behind him.

“Stop right there, Seth,” Jason said quietly, his voice echoing across the empty darkness.

Seth stopped just under the canopy of the trees, his back still turned. There was no surprise when the muzzle of a gun was pressed firmly between his shoulder blades.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Just taking a walk. Do you have a problem with that?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. I have my orders to keep you close. Looks like you get to watch as he fucks that little bitch upstairs. Lucky bastard . . .” Jason said, his voice filled with jealousy.

So, Jason wasn’t sent to kill him after all. He was here to make sure that he stayed close. Vance obviously had his suspicions about his involvement with Madison and those doubts only spurred this nasty change of events. That sick bastard could have just killed him but instead, he wanted to make him watch Madison’s torture. Probably her death too. Any pain that Vance had in mind before would now be doubled, tripled, in an effort to punish him. And it would. It would destroy him. Faced with that alternative, he’d rather be dead.

“That was a pretty stupid mistake, man, helping that little bitch escape. Lot of good it did you though, huh?”

Although he couldn’t see his face, Seth heard the self-confident sneer in Jason’s voice and he shrugged, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” He stood still, considering the best way to end this. The quicker, the better. He didn’t have time for this shit.

“Just who in the hell are you anyway?”

“Let’s just say I’m someone you
really
don’t want to fuck with,” Seth replied, his voice cold as ice.

“Yeah, well neither am I in case you hadn’t noticed,” Jason said, shoving the gun harder into Seth’s back.

“If you were that tough, you wouldn’t need that gun.”

Another scream ripped through the air, this one more painful than the last. Seth struggled not to pay much attention to it. He had enough to worry about right now. Like trying to get rid of the man with a gun to his back.

“Sounds like the boss is having himself a good time with your little
whore
.” Jason laughed. “You fucked her, didn’t you? There’s no reason to deny it. I saw the way she was looking at you at the airport. Can’t say I blame you. But I sure hope she was worth dying for.” Jason raised the gun and pressed into the back of Seth’s skull.

“It is,” Seth said and dropped to the ground, turning as he went and kicking Jason’s legs out from underneath him.

As Jason went down, the gun discharged, sending a bullet careening wildly into the trees.

Seth lunged for the gun in his hand but Jason recovered quicker than he’d expected and rolled to the side out of the way. Standing, he kicked out, connecting solidly with Seth’s nose. The spray of blood was instantaneous.

“How’d you like that, asshole? I learned that from your little bitch.” Jason laughed wildly, aiming the gun at Seth’s head.

Shit, shit, shit. This was not going his way at all.