Sins of a Bad Boy (The Original Bad Boys Book 1) (19 page)

CHAPTER 21

Someone grunted. 

William realized the noise was coming from him. He fought for consciousness, and finally, it worked. His eyelids flew open, and he was lying on his side on a concrete floor.

The toe of a boot hit his stomach, making him grunt again.

He was in some kind of storage house with containers all over.

“Stop it!” Ivy’s distressed tone awoke him fully.

Immediately, he attempted to sit up, pushing himself up with his palm.

Faint light lit them from above, and he zeroed in on Ivy, tied to a chair three feet in front of him, her wrists secured behind her back and her ankles tied separately to its legs.

He scanned her for injuries, seeing none, and relief flitted through him.

“Mr. Kade, how wonderful of you to finally join us.” A guy sitting next to Ivy tipped his chair back on its legs. 

Another man flanked her other side, standing with a pistol dangling from his hand.

Sitting up, William identified the two men in wrinkled brown suits. The guys that were also at the roulette table, ogling Ivy. The men appeared similar – same height, medium built, and bald; they were twins. But if these were Alfred’s men, they wouldn’t have tied up Ivy. Would they? Or is she in on the conspiracy? He found it suspicious that she didn’t have any injuries.

Or perhaps these weren’t Alfred’s men at all. Either way, how could he have been so careless? He’d been obsessed with fucking Ivy, while his gut had clearly alerted him regarding the two men in the gambling hall. The way that they were gawking at her had been worrisome. Yet, the second he’d fingered her, he’d forgotten about the men he needed to handle.

William grimaced when he touched the bump on the back of his head. 

“Mr. Kade,” the guy that was standing stooped close to Ivy’s ear. “I believe you didn’t like it when she was flirting with us.” He stroked the tip of his pistol down her throat, and Ivy jerked in her restraints.

William was certain she hadn’t flirted with them, so he paid the taunt no heed.

Ivy and William stared at one another.

He schooled his features into an expressionless mask. William was at war with himself over whether or not he could trust her. He didn’t know what these men wanted or why they were trying to bait him.

The man’s aim redirected back to William when William stood up, steadying himself with one hand on the cold metal container to his left.

Now the other guy touched Ivy’s cheek. “You’re sexy. Do you know how fucking hot it was to see you getting fucked by him? I’m gonna ride you too.”

There was something in the true alarm behind her eyes that convinced William they were both in trouble. She wasn’t part of this plan; these weren’t her father’s men. And if these men weren’t Alfred’s guards, then who were they and what did they want from William?

“What the hell do you want?” William snarled and took one step forward.

But the pistol was shoved in his face, and he held up his hands.

“Move back.”

William obeyed.

“We’re just waiting for another guest,” the one touching Ivy answered and cupped her chin roughly. Then he pressed his mouth to hers.

Ivy bit his lip, mumbling, “Fuck off!” 

“Fucking bitch!” He slapped her across the face.

Disgust and fury simmered inside. On instinct, William stepped forward but halted when the gun was cocked and pushed into his temple. 

“Easy, Kade!”

Ivy scowled at everyone, including William.

And he hated it.

The light was very dim, and she squinted her eyes, as if she had trouble seeing the shadows of figures around her.

Footsteps came closer and closer – the air thickened with a coiled, savage tension that boded ill – until Markson stepped from the darkness into their circle of light. The reality of the situation was growing more horrific with every moment.

Ivy gasped and looked at William.

“You okay?” he mouthed, but she didn’t acknowledge his words. She just peeked up at Markson, who stood beside her.

“Well, well, well. William the Unconquerable has been conquered,” Markson sneered with a hiss since he was missing his front teeth. 

Teeth William had extracted from him.

“It took me quite a while to finally find an opportunity to capture you.”

“What the fuck do you want?” William roared as one man seized his arm while the other still had the gun pressed against his temple.

“Isn’t that obvious? I want payback for what you did to me!” Markson said sharply and signaled to his man, prompting the butt of the pistol to be jammed against William’s nose, pain crushing his face as crimson liquid dripped from his nostrils.

“Oh my god!” Ivy screamed. “Stop!”

But they continued, striking the next blows to William’s ribs. 

William didn’t make a sound, and he managed not to double over. Physical pain William could deal with. After all, he was a fighter. And the second he saw an opportunity, he hurled forward to head-butt his assailant, but the guy holding his arms foresaw it and blocked his attempt by tightening his hold on William’s upper arms, bringing them back to their previous position: pistol pointed at William’s head.

Markson tapped his chin, evaluating Ivy, then William. He obviously realized that beating William wasn’t getting him the satisfaction of payback. “You think you’re untouchable and play god with Charles. But everyone has a weakness. And my two men tell me that
she
might be
yours
.” Markson grabbed Ivy’s hair and pulled her head back, bringing a howl of distress from her.

A howl that pierced William. He summoned his composure, not revealing how this affected him. She was in pain with her throat stretched, her breathing harsh.

Markson inspected William’s reaction as he backhanded Ivy. “This is because she made me lose my teeth, stupid whore.”

Muscles began to bulge in William’s arms, his fury that was yet to be unleashed building. It gutted him to see her hurt.

Markson hunched down, straightening Ivy’s neck. “Look at William. You two look at each other while I beat you. Your William was so tough when torturing me. The pain that William inflicted on me because of you will be nothing compared what I’ll do to you and him now.” And he strangled Ivy with his other hand.

William’s emotions exploded as Ivy’s eyes were moist with tears while she struggled for breath, twitching in the restraints from the agony she felt.

“Let her go!” William thundered and twisted against his captor.

When he was in this sort of cold rage that his set, hardened features currently proclaimed, no one person could restrain him. The other twin stashed his pistol in the back waistband of his pants so that he could also hold William, and an arm locked around William’s throat as he fought against them.

A victorious smile lifted Markson’s lips, and he freed Ivy.

She flopped forward, gulping back sobs.

“Ivy! Ivy, look at me. You’re okay.” William’s tone was unlike it had ever been before: unsteady, unsure.

“
You
can handle pain, but can she, William? Care to find out?” Markson clenched his fist and hit her cheek so hard that her head flew to the side.

“No! Not…my head,” she wept.

And he punched her again.

“You motherfucker! She’s an innocent woman!” William fumed, his mood savage.

“Innocent? She sat there while you ripped my teeth from my mouth!” And another smack to her temple.

Ivy’s right eye had already swelled up, but Markson wasn’t done yet. He grabbed her by her hair again, dug out a switchblade from his trousers, and flicked it open right in front of her bruised face, yanking her curls.

A thin layer of perspiration shone on her forehead.

“Maybe I should cut out your teeth. That’s reasonable retaliation, isn’t it?” Markson said to Ivy while he assessed William. “No, that’s unfair. I should cut out
your
teeth, William.”

“I swear I’ll torture you to death when I get out of here. You’ll never be safe from my wrath.” William was unable to breathe, damning Markson to hell while he kept struggling against the men.

“Hmmm… I think my men are right; she
is
your weakness. Has this curly head captured your attention beyond a fuck? So there
are
human emotions in your body. But now I wonder who the hell she is. She must have a magic pussy to have William the Unconquerable actually give a damn what happens to her.” Markson spoke to Ivy. “Who are you?”

Silence stretched on.

“I’m only asking this one more time. If you don’t answer, I’ll cut William.” Markson tossed the knife to his accomplice, who detained William.

“Who. Are. You?” Markson repeated.

William would bet all his money that obstinate Ivy wouldn’t respond, and he assumed correctly.

“Cut him,” Markson ordered, pointing at William’s midsection.

In a flash, William was sliced right beneath his ribs, his white dress shirt torn, blood drenching the fabric.

“Stop! I’m Ivy, I’m Ivy.” One of her eyes was swollen shut.

Markson had smashed her that hard, and it gripped at William’s heart – the organ
was
still there, beating tirelessly with sorrow.

Markson retorted blandly, “I know that. Your last name, girl?!”

Ivy hesitated, glancing at all the men.

William shook his head once, warning her not to reveal her identity, with no luck.

“Ravensdale. Ivy Ravensdale.” 

“Ravensdale.... That sounds familiar—wait, are you Alfred’s family? The House of Ravensdale, the British earl?” 

“Yes,” she replied, disheartened.

“And why were you with William in Sins? Don’t say that you’re his girlfriend, because I know that’s not true. I already know there’s some peculiar connection between you two.”

“Don’t answer him, Ivy,” William tried to shush her, which resulted in another punch to the stomach that caused him to groan in agony.

“I’d answer if I were you, or I’ll cut William’s pretty face up,” Markson advised viciously.

William and Ivy studied one another, her manner teeming with distress and hurt, the suffering she was experiencing evident from the purple marks on her skin. His filled with incessant warning for her not to speak. William could handle the torture, but he didn’t know what Markson would do once he learned why Ivy was with William. Revealing her name had already put Ivy in more danger. And William realized deep down that it was all his fault this woman was now being beaten in this obscure warehouse. A feeling similar to regret traveled through him. She’d gotten to him in a way he never could’ve predicted.

The quietness infuriated an impatient Markson, who beckoned to his accomplice again.

The guy sliced the blade along William’s jaw, and he grumbled from the trail of fire it left on his skin.

“Noo!” Ivy cried, paling as she witnessed the blood dripping from his chin. “He took me.”

“What do you mean by that? Specify,” Markson commanded and snapped his fingers to stop the guy from mutilating William.

William began to shake on his knees. The blows and the cuts were draining his body.

“He kidnapped me,” Ivy whispered through a blinding haze of tears.

William closed his eyes for a second in defeat.

“Well, this is interesting.” Markson’s expression took on the glow of a predator. “Lady Ivy, what shall I do with you? Wait, I don’t understand why the hell William would kidnap you?”

“Money,” she replied, miserably scrutinizing William.

“Money… But William has enough money. You aren’t being completely truthful. However, it doesn’t matter. I’ll use this to my advantage anyway, and you may even thank me in the end. Did you know that the William who tries to protect you now instructed me to play with you in Sins?”

Ivy’s shock was written all over her face. “William?” she murmured, disbelieving Markson’s statement.

“He’s lying, Ivy.” But the one being dishonest was William.

“Was it not strange to you how, although you’d been kidnapped, he left you alone in Sins? How Silk didn’t look after you? How he and Silk prevented me from speaking every time I tried to say anything before they removed my teeth? Every time, my mouth was smothered – do you remember? That was because William didn’t want me to reveal what truly happened. He orchestrated the entire scene, Ivy. He let it play out so that it seemed as if he was your knight in shining armor.”

Ivy’s mouth dropped open and a tear leaked from her left eye, and William watched as the realization of the truth reached her.

“Why?” she asked William.

“Don’t believe anything he says!” William ground out.

“But it’s true, isn’t it?” she uttered, her voice crumbling.

William refused to argue about it with Markson present, so he kept silent and bristled, incensed at the turn of events.