Estelle In Denver (In Denver Series Book 2) (4 page)

Rhydian's POV

My mind is racing, my princess isn't answering her phone. I’m about to storm Mayò’s house, but realize I can’t do it alone so I call for back up. Within twenty minutes, everyone is at my house, and we are trying to figure out the next step, when in comes princess with a giant behind her. I don't think I've ever seen someone this tall in real life. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a little terrified that my doorway is blocked. The standard doorway is almost seven feet, and this man had to duck down to enter, so I'm guessing he is seven feet tall or taller. I can see he is also as wide as a truck; he’s maybe three hundred pounds of solid muscle. He looks like he could bench press all of us in one shot.

Looking at Estelle next to the giant, whose name is Antonio De Luca, there is no doubt he is her father. They look almost identical, except her features are soft and feminine. Seeing her next to Antonio, I wonder how I ever thought she could be related to Edwin Mayò, when she is almost six feet and Edwin Mayò is almost dainty—behind his back they call him the Napoleon of Denver. Once everyone is seated, Estelle agrees to tell her story. Once she starts, the entire room is entranced, sucked into the horror that is unfolding with every detail. Even though my knee is bouncing and I feel my mother reach over and pat it, she know I only bounce my knee under stressful situations or when I’m extremely angry. I’m enraged and disgusted and I also feel so proud that my girl survived everything she did.

I’m grateful because I know in my heart she is my soul mate and we belong together. When she stands up and puts the flash drive in my TV, I'm not sure what to expect. I see it says one out of six hundred and twenty six; she clicks the first and walks into the kitchen. The screen comes to life and Edwin and an unknown man are talking. Estelle is obviously drugged, and as she is led to the bed, the man shows Edwin his phone with a transfer confirmation on it for one million dollars. Edwin sits in a chair and from the angle of the camera you can see the whole room. I suddenly feel my pulse racing, and I hear my mom ask us to turn it off. We know what will happen, but we can't look away. I think we need to confirm the hell Estelle crawled out of.

When it starts you can see the glee on Edwin's face. Estelle is screaming and begging for help. I hear her calling for him to protect her, but he unzips his pants and watches. The unknown man is telling Estelle to call him daddy, and the more Estelle fights the rougher he gets. Oh god, I can't take anymore. I want to burn everything to the ground.

I grab the aluminum baseball bat I keep by the door and beat the shit out of the TV, but the sound is still going. Finally, I pull it off the wall and the cords snap. No one says a word, no one wants to say what we are thinking. We knew Estelle had been abused, but we weren’t expecting anything like what we saw on the video. Seeing how emotionally depleted Estelle is everyone says goodbye before leaving.  There is silence until we hear a voice come from the TV stand.

“Kill him.” We all turn towards the iPad with Dr. Franklin’s face on it. He has said what everyone is thinking, but no one was brave enough to say.

“It will come down to you or him. Figure out your plan, when you have it in order and everything is taken care of on your end, call me. I will take it from there, Estelle. I look forward to seeing you soon.” Then the doctor was gone.

It was Antonio who spoke first “I need to call one of my men. I trust this man with my life.” I nod my head and within fifteen minutes there was a call from downstairs.

“This is Salvatore Ricci, he is my second-in-command and has been my best friend for the last twenty years."  Antonio introduces the man to us.

“Hello Mr. Ricci. I’m Rhydian Kerrigan and this is Estelle Roux” I say. He looks from Estelle to Antonio and back to me.

“You have a daughter, Antonio? How could Celine not tell you?” Mr. Ricci looks at Estelle then his friend.

“Yes, I found her today." He looks at me and I see pride in his face when he says the next thing. "She was my five o’clock pro bono case Gavin called me about. She knocked Tank unconscious in about four minutes.  But then his face turns cold and unreadable “She was raped, tortured, and sold, then beaten and left for dead by Edwin Mayò. She was his victim and prisoner for twenty three years until she escaped last year. He videoed over six hundred of her attacks. She has it on a flash drive, and he is trying to kill her to access the trust Celine left for her,” Antonio said.

“We should have killed that motherfucker years ago. I know you let him live because of how you felt about Celine, but his death is twenty five years overdue.” Salvatore said with a serious face.

“I have a plan” I say. “My family owns the building where Edwin’s apartment is located I will hack the security system and put the camera feed on a loop so Estelle can get into the building undetected. Once she gets in she will make her way up to the apartment, the security system is set up so that as soon as the door is open the owner gets a text message letting them know their unit has been entered.”

“We will have less than sixty seconds to get out of the view of the cameras at the entryway so the only one seen in the apartment is Estelle. When Edwin arrives Estelle will tell him she wants to come back. She can make up her disobedience, he will send his guards away so they can be alone.”

“Once his guards are gone, Estelle will have him isolated and at her mercy, if anything should go wrong the three of us will already be inside the apartment. Whatever happens, that motherfucker doesn't make it out of there alive.”

Chapter 4

Rhydian's plan went off with no problems. I’m now sitting on Edwin’s sofa in his penthouse. I'm in nothing but a demi cup bra, a thong, stockings, and garters under my trench coat. When Edwin walks in he has a smirk on his face.

“You have been a very bad girl, Stella.” Edwin said with a sneer on his face.

“I know papa, but I hope I can fix things between us.” I cooed.
While trying not cringe at the sound of my voice and the words coming out of my mouth.

His smiles, he thinks he has won; that he has finally beaten me. He tells me to remove my coat, and I let it drop at my feet his smile grows wider. He dismissed his guards for the evening.

“You know, Stella, I was wrong to keep you so skinny all those years. I much prefer all these curves you have developed.” He appraised my body and licked his lips.

“Thank you papa, I’m glad I still please you.” I replied looking down at the bulge in his pants.

“Have you missed me, Stella?” He asked sweetly, and I have to swallow my vomit.

“Yes, papa I have missed you very much. Do you forgive me?” I smile sweetly.

I keep telling myself not to throw up; I have to get within striking range.

“Good girl. I want you to crawl, Stella. Come show me how sorry you are.”

So I drop to my hand and knees.

“You know what I want, Stella” he rubbed his fingers across my lips smearing my lipstick.

“Yes papa, I know exactly what you want.” I reply softly.

I get up on my knees and unbuckle his pants I take them off and lay them on the coffee table. His boxers are next, I pull them down when they are around his knees I ball my first up and punch him in the spot right under his balls. He drops instantly and I deliver three more hard punches to his face. He loses consciousness, and I run to my duffle bag and throw on a shirt and running shorts. Antonio and Rhydian come into the living room.

“Nobody touches him, this is all me.” I yell at Rhydian and Antonio as they step into the room.

I put on and tie my steel toe timberlands, then lay out the blue tarp on his living room floor and roll him in it. I stand over him waiting for him to regain consciousness.

He comes to and tries to sit up, but I deliver a kick to his ribs, which causes him to lay on his side, reeling in pain.

“Oh, I'm sorry daddy. Seems like you have had an unfortunate accident.”

I delivered five more kicks to his body. “I know you're not my father, I met my real father last week; his name is Antonio De Luca.”

“I’m your father!” he says sputtering blood out his mouth.

“No, you aren't. Just because you're saying it doesn't make it true, if it was that easy, you would already be dead because I wished you dead a million times. My father is Antonio De Luca and he and my mother were in love until you destroyed it."

“I want to know about my mother, where her body is?” I ask clenching my fist.

He laughs, and I kick him in the face.

“Where is her body, I’m only going to ask nicely one more time.”

“I'm not telling you shit, you fucking cunt” he sputters.

“I was hoping you would say that, motherfucker.” I let the smile spread across my face.

I walk to my bag and grab out a straight razor, he tries to scoot back, but I sit on his chest. I cut lines into his face, while he is screaming. I see Rhydian getting a concerned look on his face.

“Don’t worry, no one will hear him. He soundproofed the whole apartment. Isn't that right, daddy dearest? You wanted to make sure no one could hear me scream.”

I grab the salt off the table and rub into the cuts. He’s trying to hit me, but every time he shifts his arm, I punch him in the face.

“Now daddy, I didn't scream that much when you did this to me so stop with all your fuss, I will ask you again, where is my mother's body.”

He still doesn't talk, and I take the blowtorch out of my bag.

“This is going to be so much fun," I see his eyes widen,

“She is buried under that giant patio I had built at the house," he finally says.

“You know Edwin, I thought about raping you, but I realized if I did that I would be just as fucking sick as you are. I want you to know that after I leave this place I will never give you another thought.”
I say with a steady calm.

“That's where you're wrong, my lovely daughter. Every time you look at your body, you will think of me. It’s my masterpiece—every cut and burn will remind you of the delicious things we did together.”

“We didn't do shit together, you sick fuck, you raped and tortured me, you let your friends rape and torture me. I tried to survive.”

I deliver a kick to his ribs that made him stop breathing, maybe I’ve punctured a lung. Who knows, I don’t give a shit. I’m about to throw his ass off this building; he only has to suffer a few more minutes. I’ve suffered for twenty-three years, he is getting off easy.

“I didn't have to do too much, she needed a little push for the doubt to set in. She knew Antonio came from money and a great family; she was the daughter of a whore and a drunk. She thought she didn't measure up to him. So at first I made her feel like I understood how she felt, since we both were from broken families—outsiders. I told her that once Antonio found out about the baby, he would take you to his rich family in America and leave her in Paris. She believed me so she agreed to marry me, instead of being an unwed mother with a bastard daughter.”

Edwin tries to sit up, but the pain makes him lay back down.

“She realized it was all a lie. Things were going great until a year and half later, when Antonio tracked us down in Denver. He wanted answers and after talking to him, she wanted to leave me and go back to him, tell him about you and beg for him to forgive her. I told her I had no problem killing you while she watched, and then killing her and Antonio. She didn't fight me anymore and things were perfect until the night she tried to leave. I loved Celine, she shouldn't have tried to leave me.”

“You didn’t love my mother; you were obsessed with her,". I kick him again,

“You killed her," I kicked him again. I won't let him see me cry, but it’s getting harder to not let my tears fall.

“You ruined my life” I kicked him again.

“You kept me from my real father! A family that would have loved me!”

I kicked him again. He is trying to draw a breath, so I grabbed the tarp and dragged it to the balcony.

“What are you doing?” He is trying to talk, but he is spitting up blood.

“I’m going to do to you exactly what you did to my mother. I’m throwing your ass off this balcony.” I stated joyfully.

“You will get caught; you won't get away with this.” He rasps.

“Now, see that's where you’re wrong, I already have gotten away with it. Right now I am in an inpatient mental hospital in New York, I checked in yesterday. As far as being caught on video, there is no video. The security team downstairs has been watching the same hour on a loop, and your guards that saw me here are already dead. They were dead the second they stepped out of the building.”

“Ah, Stella, see this is one more thing you learned from me.”

“I’ve learned nothing from you! You’re a monster and I hope you burn in hell.”  I say with a smile on my face.

I deliver another kick, and with "My name is Estelle Roux!" I deliver one final kick to the face.

I turned to see Antonio and Rhydian on the balcony, standing at the ready for my instructions, but I have to do this.

"Ah, Kerrigan and De Luca” he says, coughing up blood and spit. “Are you going to let my daughter throw me over the balcony? You are good men, you're not killers and neither is she."

Antonio stepped forward and squatted down.

"No, I'm not going to let her throw you over the balcony" he declared with a sinister grin. "You're right about Estelle, she isn’t a killer, but you forget killing people used to be my job, and I liked my job, Edwin. This is for Celine and my daughter.”

Antonio lifted him and threw him over the side. We could hear him scream the whole way down and then we heard the impact.

Rhydian was back in the apartment cleaning up so we took a quick look around and exited the apartment, going down the stairwell, out the side entrance, and into a waiting SUV driven by Salvatore. We rode in silence to the private airport and Rhydian grabbed my bags and loaded them on the plane, giving me a few minutes with my father.

“When I get back I want to meet my brother. I will make dinner for you guys. Thank you for what you did.” I say getting choked up. I take a few deep breaths before I smile.

“I’ve killed several men,” Antonio said. “It never leaves you, I didn’t want that for you. Now, you have a clear conscience. When you get back, I want to build our relationship. I’ve lost twenty-four years, I don’t want to lose anymore” he says sadly.

“I will see you in a month, dad.” I hug my father for the first time and walk to the plane door. Rhydian stands in front of the steps.

“Princess, when you get back we will talk about us,” I walk up to him and kiss him. It's the first time I have ever kissed someone without being forced.

“Thank you for being my first kiss, Rhydian. Will you wait for me
?
” I hope he will say yes.

“Princess, I've been waiting for you for almost two years. I’ll wait for you until the end of time. I'm in love with you, Estelle. That isn't going to change.”

I walk up to the stairs of the plane.

“Hey, Estelle” I hear Rhydian say,” I will be your last kiss too. I love you, princess,”

I turn around and the flight attendant closes the door.