Twisted Desire (10 page)

She looked uncertain but didn’t argue. “He was going to rape me,”
she said instead, piercing my soul with her tortured words.

I pulled her face back to my chest, setting my chin on top of her head. “I know.”

“I fought him, but then my whole body went numb,”
she started, and I knew she didn’t expect me to reply; she just needed to get it out. “I felt like I had floated to the ceiling and was watching it from above. It was like my mind took me away from reality.”

I just nodded and waited for her to continue.

“He was saying all these weird things, like telling me he knew I wanted it and why was I being a bitch resisting. I asked him to stop, but he wouldn’t. He was just about to do it when you came in.”
Her sobs started again, and I swear if she wasn’t in my arms, I’d be storming out to find that son of a bitch again and kill him.
 

“You’re safe now. You’re with me,”
I told her, holding her close to me as she continued to cry. “He won’t ever touch you again. I promise.”

“I’m so stupid,”
she suddenly cried out. “You always told me not to leave the cabin without you, that I was safe with you, but I didn’t listen. I left the cabin, and that happened. I’m so stupid!”

Hearing her words made me even more enraged. Part of me wanted to go finish Rico off, and the other to hold her and never let go. Instead, I put my finger under her chin and lifted so she’d look at me. “I told you I never wanted to hear you blame yourself for what happened, and I meant it. What happened is not your fault, Penny. I’m not going to say any more on this. You’re safe with me, okay?”

Her beautiful eyes looked at me as she nodded, and I felt myself exhale. I would never tell her now that she never should have left the cabin without me; she already knew. I also understood why she left, even though it had pissed me off. Once I’d gotten back and saw she wasn’t there, I knew she was in trouble. Rico had become obsessed with her, and while he swore up and down he wouldn’t touch her, I knew better. Having no idea how much time had elapsed since she’d left and I’d come back, I hurried and called Roman on my cell to alert him she was missing and my suspicions that if Rico had come across her, they were in his cabin. Roman had instructed me to head there right away, that he and his main bodyguard, Theo, were right behind me.

Swearing when I remembered Rico’s room was on the other side of the yacht, I ran faster than I ever had in my life. When I rounded the corner of his hallway and heard her cries, I started pounding the hell out of his door. I broke through easily, and when I saw him on top of her and Penny crying, I lost it on him. For all I knew, I’d killed him. For his sake, he better hope I did.

“Will you please take me back to the cabin?”
she asked, wiping her nose on her sleeve. I reached over and got her a tissue, then nodded.

“Yes.”

I slid off the table and held out my hand for her. She took it and got down, tightening her robe. Her face was covered in bruises, once again making me seethe with pure hatred.
 

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, opening the door of the examination room. The doctor was standing at the main desk and looked up when he heard us walking out. His eyes warmed when he saw Penny, which made me feel slightly better toward him.

“Ms. Santoro,”
he began as he approached us. Penny stepped closer to me, making me hold her even tighter to my side.
 

“Please don’t hesitate to come to me if you have any questions or if you need more medical attention,”
the doctor continued.

Penny just nodded.
 

“I’ll make sure she contacts you if something comes up,”
I told him. He just nodded and stepped aside, allowing us to walk out.

I led Penny down the hall to the elevator. She was shaking, and nothing I did eased her trembling body. I clenched my jaw as we waited for the elevator to arrive, with me looking around making sure no one was near her.
 

We finally made it back to her cabin, and I opened the door to let us in. She broke away from my hold and headed straight to her bed, flopping herself down and turning away from me. I stood against the closed door, wondering what I should do.
 

“Please don’t leave me,”
she said softly from her pillow. Hearing the catch in her voice, and the fear, almost broke me. This girl had been kidnapped and now almost raped. An innocent thrown into a dirty game. Taking a few breaths to keep calm, I nodded. Breaking away from the door, I walked toward her and sat on that stupid chair. The sea was calm and a striking blue, completely opposite of how it was on the yacht. I wondered what Roman and Theo did with Rico, and I was going to find out. But for now, this girl didn’t want me to leave her, so I wouldn’t. I was going to do everything within my power to help her recover from this.

“I’m right here,”
I told her. “I think it would be good if you took one of the sleeping pills the doc gave you.”

She rolled over slowly and looked at me. Again, my heart slammed in my chest at the look on her face. She was so vulnerable, so scared. “Yes,”
she agreed. “I’d like to just sleep.”

I grabbed a pill and a glass of water and gave them to her. She sat up and gulped it down, then set the glass on the table by her bed. Lying back down on the bed, she looked out the window and sighed.
 

“Where do you think he is?”
she asked me in a shaky voice.

I knew who she was referring to.
 

Him.

Rico.

Just hearing the fear in her voice had me clenching my fists. He damaged her more than physically. The scars from his attack would remain with her for a long time, and that had me mad as hell.
 

“I don’t know, Penny, but you can bet I’m going to find out.”

“Do you think Roman will still keep him around?”

I wish I could tell her no, but I honestly didn’t know. I massaged the back of my neck as I contemplated what to say. “If he knows what’s best for him, he won’t.”

She whipped her head to me, her eyes open wide. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything,”
I assured her. “I just meant that he hopefully realizes what a fool Rico is and gets rid of him—fires him, so to speak.”

Her eyes relaxed, and she turned to the window again. “I hope so.”

We stayed there quietly, and soon enough her eyes were fluttering, indicating the pill was taking effect. I reached over and moved some of her hair off her forehead, looking into her eyes. “Sleep, querida. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She gave a feeble nod, then snuggled down further into her bed and was fast asleep.

When her breathing turned deep and I knew she was completely out, I stood and stepped out into the hallway, my phone to my ear.
 

“We’re back in her cabin,”
I said to the other end of the phone. “Where is he?”

Chapter 10

“I know you came to find me so I could touch you like this. You’ve been starved for my cock ever since you saw me in the hallway.”

I woke up screaming, convinced I was still with Rico and he was on top of me. I clawed at the covers, twisting and turning, trying to get him off me. “NOOOOOOOO!”

Instantly I was pushed into a hard chest, and a voice was in my ear.
 

“Penny, it’s okay, you’re okay, it was a bad dream.”

I knew right away it was Tag, and opening my eyes, I saw I was in my room, and he was the one holding me. I relaxed into his hold right away and gulped down my tears. My heart was racing so fast, I was convinced it would explode, unable to keep up.
 

Tag’s hand was rubbing up and down my back, and it was succeeding in helping me to calm down. I took some deep breaths and stayed still, pushing the memory of Rico away the best I could. Just the thought of him sent chills down my spine, making me want to throw up.

“Tag?”
I croaked.

His chin was resting on the top of my head. “Yeah?”

“How long was I asleep?”

He didn’t say anything for a minute. I felt him move his arm to look at his watch. “Fifteen hours.”

It didn’t seem like nearly enough. My head was groggy, and my face was hurting so bad, it felt like it was on fire. “I need some pain killers,”
was all I told him.

He moved away and came back with the glass of water, the pills, and a few crackers.
 

“You need to have something on your stomach,”
he said.

I ate two crackers, then took the pills. Moving my fingertips to my cheek, I winced when I touched my face. “How bad do I look?”
I asked him.
 

He winced at my question, and that was all I needed to know.
 

“That bad, huh?”

He sat back down next to me on my bed. “You could never look bad, Penny, but you definitely have some wounds that need to heal. The bastard really did a number on you.”

His eyes were blazing with anger. I wondered right then if he had found out where Rico was, but I wasn’t sure I was up to asking. The fact that he just told me he’d done a number on me was more than I could take, even thought it was true in more ways than one.

“I can’t stop replaying it all in my mind,”
I started. “From when I left the cabin to when you showed up at his. I’m screaming at myself to go back inside when I remember leaving here, to not disobey you, but nothing stops me. I still go exploring, and I still run into Rico. Why didn’t I listen to you, Tag?”
I asked as I punched my pillow over and over with my balled up fist.

His hand shot out and held onto my wrist, stopping me from punching. He didn’t let go as he waited for me to look at him. His touch was strong, but gentle. I knew now more than ever that I was safe with him.
 

“You listen to me,”
he said, his tone constricted. “We can’t change yesterday, querida. We can only change tomorrow. What happened is something we won’t forget, but we can become stronger from it. But you need to remember one thing over everything else—it is not your fault.”

A nerve in his jaw ticked as he spoke, showing me just how angry he really was. My heart jumped a beat, realizing he was doing his best to stay calm, for me. He was putting my needs over his.

“Did you find out where he is?”

I couldn’t resist asking. I had to know where he was for my sanity. If he was still on the yacht, it was too close.
 

He turned away, not looking at me. His hand ran over his head—and he emitted a sigh. He knew.

“Tell me,”
I whispered.

He put his elbows on his knees, his forehead resting in his hands. “He’s in the infirmary.”

The what? “What’s that?”

He stayed still. “It’s the medical quarters of the yacht. He’s in a coma… I put him in a coma.”

Shock ran through me. Little bits of memory came back of Tag beating him up, but a coma? Holy shit.

“Is he going to live?”

He lifted his chin and looked over at me. “They don’t know yet. I hope not. I wish I would’ve killed him then and there.”

Hearing him say those words sent chills down my body. I wasn’t used to hearing things like that, to living things like this. But I understood why he said it, and a part of me found I agreed.
 

“Is it horrible of me to say a part of me agrees?”

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. He started to reach a hand toward me, then pulled it back to his side. “No, querida, it’s not.”

“He’s a monster. Anyone like him is a monster,”
I whispered. “I am such a fool.”

I put my hand up when Tag started to speak, silencing him.

“I know what you’ve told me, but you can’t change how I feel. Logically I know what he did wasn’t my fault, but the fact is, if I’d just stayed here, it wouldn’t have happened.”

He let out a huge sigh and shifted on the bed. “Maybe, maybe not, Penny. It may not have happened yesterday, but who’s to say he wouldn’t have found another way to find you?”