Beneath the Burn (65 page)

“I didn’t take any fucking drugs!” Jay’s pulse thundered in his ears. He swung his head, meeting the glares of his so-called friends, as he marched through the suite, trying his damnedest not to hurl nearby lamps and vases. “Tell me! Where the fuck is she?”

Tony stood by the window, holding onto her stubborn reticence.

He whirled on her, finger trembling as he aimed it at her face. “You know where she is. Tell me, goddammit!”

“I promised Nathan. I will
not
betray him.”

Betray
. There it was. The accusation by the one person who witnessed his blackout from beginning to end. Even then, she didn’t believe him. How could he defend himself when he didn’t remember a damned thing since the end of the show?

He woke thirty minutes ago with Laz slapping his face and screaming at him about how Charlee caught Ella sucking his dick. What the fucking hell? His anger leaked from his muscles, and he collapsed on the couch, face in his hands and stomach rolling.

He deserved this. His past mistakes clung to his back, as eternal as his tattoo. “I was drugged.” What did he drink at the arena? Bottled water. Nothing else. Was the cap sealed? “Who delivered our water? Where did it come from?”

“The production company provides it.” Faye sat beside him and straightened nonexistent wrinkles in her skirt. “Ella passed out the bottles last night.”

His hammering pulse returned with vengeance and his fingers curled into fists. “Call her. Get her in here right now.”

Faye nodded and scurried from room.

He jumped up and stepped into Tony’s unwavering posture. “If you’re not going to tell me where she is, at least send the protective team to her.”

“We’re supposed to be on the road, Mr. Mayard. The buses are waiting.”

“She’s all alone out there.” His voice was harsh even to his own ears. “Goddammit, Tony.” He spun away, hands curled in a helpless clench.

“The next two shows are smaller venues.” Wil rested his hands on Jay’s shoulders, his touch hesitant, his eyes less so. “We’ll cancel them. Refund the money. This is important, Jay. We’re all in agreement. Make sure your girl is safe.”

Desperate for the support Wil was offering, Jay dragged him into an embrace, one he’d never shared with the man. His pounding heart pulverized his chest, threatened to bring him to his knees. “Thanks.” His voice broke, and he stepped back. “I didn’t do it. I was set up. I was—” Drugged. Poisoned. He jerked his head around the room, met the stark faces of Rio, Laz, Tony, and six or so bodyguards. “Did any one eat the egg salad yesterday?”

“No one touched that nasty shit.” Rio rubbed his bald head. “We would’ve had to pry it from Charlee’s hands anyway.”

A chill sped down Jay’s spine. “She got sick at the show last night. The egg salad…” Oh God. Oh fucking no. “This goddamned nightmare has Roy written all over it. Poisoning Charlee forces her to leave my side. Drugging my water gives Ella the opportunity to drag me to her room.” His blood boiled, exploded. His fist flew and crashed into the sheetrock, spraying dust into the air.

“Calm down, man.” Laz sidled between him and the crumbling wall. “We’ll figure this out.”

The door opened, and Faye hauled in a blank-faced Ella by the arm.

Ella wrestled away. “I get it, okay? I’m fired. I was just leaving.”

Jay’s muscles contracted with revulsion. “What the fuck happened to your southern accent?”

She shrugged, her gaze trained somewhere over his shoulder.

“Sit down.” He thrust a finger at the couch.

Her sashay carried her across the room, but there was a wobble in her step as she neared. When she sat, he leaned over her and let her feel the rage pouring off him. “What did you put in Charlee’s lunch?”

Her entire body flinched, and her wide eyes landed on his for the first time. “I don’t know anything about that.”

He glanced at Tony, knew if she could be convinced of his innocence, she’d take him to Charlee. Her taut jaw gave nothing away.

“What did you put in my water?” His tone was powered with lethal anger. “Speak carefully. Administering narcotics to another is Assault in the Second Degree. I can make this go very, very bad for you.”

She pinned her lips.

Rio’s knee appeared beside her hip, and he lowered his bald head inches from her face, his big body vibrating with unleashed fury.

Perfect. Jay could use Rio’s intimidation to his advantage. He leaned in. “Listen up, little girl. Rio doesn’t give a fuck about assault in any degree.” He grabbed her hand and pulled it toward Rio. “He’ll start with your fingers and move up your arms, breaking every weak, pathetic bone until you tell us what you know.”

Rio uncurled her index finger and slowly bent it backward.

She gasped and covered her mouth with her free hand, fingers shaking. “No. You can’t do that.”

Rio bent it further, and the intent look in his eye made Jay wonder if he’d really do it.

A wail tore for her throat, and she jerked her arm uselessly in Jay’s clutch. “I…I don’t know. I was given a vial. He told me to dilute it in your water. He…he…”

They released her, and she crumpled into her shoulders, hands pressed to her tear-drenched lips.

Rising to his full height, he closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and pierced her with unleashed hatred. “Roy Oxford.”

Her quivering chin jerked up and down. “He approached me at the restaurant where I waited tables, offered me a lot of money.” She whispered, “He’s scary.”

“Did the scary man tell you to rape me?”
Rape
sat like acid on his tongue. It had damaged so many years. His. Charlee’s. He would
not
allow it to take anymore.

Her wailing escalated into howling sobs. “I…I di…didn’t know.” More yowling. “He said…said you’d fuck me…and….and he’d handle any repercussion.”

Tony’s hushed voice murmured over the wailing. On the phone, head down, she relayed the information. After a second of silence, she glanced up and met his eyes. The surprise widening hers knocked his knees. Then her face smoothed. “Thanks, Nathan. We’re on our way.”

“Is she okay?” He chased her swift pace to the door.

“Yes. Only a few blocks down the road.”

Relief cascaded over his tense muscles, and his shoulders rolled back. “Faye, will you deal with that?” He thrust his chin at the weeping bitch on the couch.

“I just reported it. Police are on their way.”

He nodded and sprinted out the door to find Charlee.

86

The idleness during the five-minute drive allowed Jay’s hangover to surface in a pulsating headache. At least he’d had the presence of mind to shower and brush his teeth before he’d walked into the nightmare waiting for him outside his room, the suite that had been vacant of Charlee. His heart ached.

The Suburbans rolled to a stop in front of a multi-level condominium in downtown Little Rock. He angled his neck, strained to see out the windows. Residential buildings fringed both sides of the road. His head swam. “What is this? She’s not in a hotel?”

Bodyguards filed out of the three SUVs, spreading over the sidewalk and around the building.

Tony opened the door. “I advise we discuss it inside, Mr. Mayard.” She stepped out, alert and irritating in her formality.

In other words, she expected him to make a scene, one she wanted to manage. Dread mounted on his already tight shoulders.

Inside, Nathan answered a door on the ground floor. Jay pushed past him, sweeping through a living room decorated with modern furnishings. By whatever stroke of luck, Roy hadn’t snatched Charlee the previous night. Perhaps he was waiting until she left town. Maybe he was still playing games. If the fuckwad had a pulse on this apartment, he wouldn’t be able to access it now. Not with the twenty bodyguards posted at every exit, entrance, and hidey hole.

“Where’s Charlee?” He ferreted around a corner and into an empty kitchen. “Where is she?”

“She’s here.” Nathan tailed him, curling a fold of papers in his hands. “She’s…” He held out the unraveling documents. “Here. This is her copy of the contract. I don’t know what she’s told you, but this will explain her…therapy. This is why she’s here.”

Accepting the pages with numb fingers, Jay didn’t need to read them. He knew her what her
therapy
entailed. Intimately. Every muscle in his body readied in preparation to kill a motherfucking Dom. “Which room?” He twisted around Nathan.

His back hit the wall, pinned beneath Nathan’s weight.

“She thinks you betrayed her.” Nathan shoved his forearm against Jay’s jugular, applying enough pressure to prick a burn behind his eyes. “I’ve watched her endure an ungodly amount of suffering over the years. She’s hurting. This is the only way she knows how to deal with it. Look…” Nathan released him and yanked the contract from his hand, opening it to the second page. “See? She excluded all sexual activity from the scene. She’s here for the pain.”

Jay read the paragraph twice. Flipping to the beginning, he read the entire contract, each section shedding more light on her therapy.

Stepping back, Nathan rubbed his eyes. “I know why she does this, but I hate it. Makes me sick. She needs treatment, Jay. Conventional treatment. She’s broken inside.”

The hairs on Jay’s nape bristled, and a fevered vehemence swelled through him. “
Nothing
about her is broken. She’s the strongest fucking person you will ever have the privilege of knowing. Say that shit again and you’ll be eating through a straw for the rest of your miserable life. Got me?”

Nathan’s brows shot up his forehead, and his mouth hung open. Then his cheeks twitched, and his gaping mouth spread into a toothy grin. “Last door at the end of the hall.”

Purpose surged through Jay’s blood as he weaved through the crowd of bodyguards, past the living room and down the hall. He could break down the door, raise ten kinds of fist-swinging hell, and distress her more than he already had. Or he could knock, ask to observe, and maybe gain more insight into how he could give her what she needed.

He raised his fist and tapped on the door. After a painfully long moment and one…two…three lock clicks, the door cracked to the length of a short chain.

Two narrowed eyes peered out, widened. “Well, I’ll be damned. Jay Mayard from
The Burn
is standing in my hallway.”

“Fucking hell.” Charlee’s adorable mutter floated through the crack and nuzzled his heart.

The eyes behind the door vanished as the man turned his back. “Is
he
the emotional barrier?”

“The worst kind.” Venom tightened her voice.

Jay choked. Worse than Roy? He couldn’t condemn her anger, but fuck, that didn’t make it any easier to swallow. “I’m the boyfriend. I get that she hates me. I just need one minute to change her mind about that.”

“Go away, Jay.” A muffled stomp accompanied her shout.

One kick. One fucking kick would snap the chain on the door, and he’d be in the path of her gorgeous—albeit furious—glare. Big breath. “Charlee, please don’t make me do this from the hallway. I’m only asking for one minute.”

The silence was so stifling he thought he might pass out from the anxiety of it.

“Sixty seconds,” she said. “Then Master Conrad has permission to toss your deceitful, cheating ass to the curb.”

Ouch. That was vicious, but if she’d been indifferent and numb he would’ve been more worried. He could deal with her ire.

The door snapped shut and reopened all the way. Only one end of the room was visible. She was hidden around the corner.
Master
Conrad stepped aside and locked them in.

As Jay sized him up, he knew the other man was doing the same. Alpha male? Yep. Wielding weapons? Nope, unless Jay counted the guy’s fifty extra pounds of muscle. That settled, he moved around the bend and froze.

Sweet Mother of God. Bent at the waist with legs spread, Charlee’s ass arched up and out in a trussed offering. Her wrists and elbows were bound together behind her back. A long rope connected her wrists to a point on the ceiling, raising them at a horizontal position in relation to her torso, forcing her to double over. His mouth went dry.

Her hair hung in sheets from her inverted head, reaching for the floor. A metal rod connected one ankle to the other, forcing her feet to stand wider than her shoulders.