“YOU THINK YOU’RE GONNA be any different than I was? Marek will use you and then you will be like me.” Harper waves a hand over her engorged stomach and laughs, as she places the knife she was using to skin her apple on the nightstand.

  I will never be like her.

  I will be the one doing the using not him.

  Not any man.

  I won’t be like my grandmother.

  I won’t be a chess piece.

  I will be the damn game player.

  “You are so cute. Think you have it all figured out, don’t you?”

  “No!” I fold my arms over my chest, thankful to be out of that stupid dress. I’m back in my jeans and my t-shirt.

  “Don’t worry yourself too much. If we are both lucky my bastard husband will go and get himself killed by Tiny. Now he’s a man you don’t mess with. I’ve been whispering in his ear about Marek for the past month. While my husband was off toying with my brother and collecting you, I was here with his associate, securing my protection. All men are the same, Sara. They are ruled by their dicks. Remember that and maybe you will survive this.” I fight back a smile remembering what I read in the diary along the very same line.

  “Why are you telling me any of this?”

  “Because, I could see the way my brother was looking at you. Despite what people think and say about me, I do love my little brother and well, being pregnant has reminded me of what it means to care about someone other than myself. I have done a lot of bad things, Sara, and there is your brother to consider. I loved him. Did you know that we had a relationship?”

  I shake my head. Cole never spoke of her to my knowledge. He has only ever mentioned his wife, Morgan.

  I don’t know if what she says is true but maybe I can use her feelings for my brother to help me.

  “You could do us both a favor then and call Cole. Imagine how grateful he’d feel if you told him where we are. I know my brother, if you two dated then he must have cared a lot about you,” I lie. If I know my brother, I know that he probably fucked her, but he never loved her.

  “It’s too dangerous right now. Not with Tiny and all his men here. I wouldn’t put Cole in that much danger. We just need to sit tight. Play along with Marek for now, Sara. I can’t help you, yet.”

  “But you will help me?” I press, hoping and praying she isn’t fucking with me.

  “I’ll think about it.” She lays back on the bed. “I’m tired. You can have the guard take you back to your room now.”

  “Okay, but please, Harper. I will do anything for you if you help me get home.”

  She waves her arm and says, “Go. You’re boring me with all this talk of feelings and shit. You won’t like me when I’m bored,” she warns.

  “Understood.” Pregnant women are so moody but something about the crazy look in her eyes tells me it goes much further for her. She is probably as crazy as her husband.

  I hesitate to leave and when she closes her eyes, I reach for the knife.

  “Don’t be stupid, Sara. You’d never leave here alive. Go to your room. I will send word for you through Danny when I can. Tell Romando to send Sayika, my back is killing me.”

  “Sure thing.” I tap on the door and the armed man enters the room. “I am ready to return to my room and Harper said to send Sayika up.”

  He doesn’t say anything, only grabs my arm and leads me down the hall to my quarters.

  He unlocks the door and shoves me inside before locking it back behind him.

  Jerk. He didn’t have to be so rough. I would have come in the room easily enough on my own. I’m not stupid enough to attempt anything without a weapon.

  With nothing to do, I might as well lay down too. You’d think they would at least allow me a TV, so I wouldn’t be so damn bored.

  After a while I must doze off because the next thing I know Danny is in the room and looking down at me.

  “Are you okay? Harper told me what you saw. She shouldn't have done that. You have to understand that my sister isn't mentally stable, Sara. Don’t let her fool you though. She is as twisted as Marek and loves to play games and toy with people as much as he does.”

  “If she is as horrible as you say then why would you trade me for her? I’m not like them, Danny. I can’t bear any more of this. Please make it all go away. If only for a little while. I can’t get the image of Marek...of him fucking then killing her out of my head.”

  “What are you asking me, Sara?”

  “I don’t know, Danny. Will you...will you hold me?”

  He scratches at the back of his neck with his good hand. “It isn’t a good idea.” He cocks his head at the camera.

  I sit up in the bed and pat the spot next to me. He takes a seat reluctantly.

  “Danny, please, do this for me.” I squeeze his good hand. “You know he’s a monster. Don’t make my first time be with that man. Don’t make me give this piece of myself to him. I want my first time to be on my terms. Not his. He doesn’t get to own all of me. I’ve accepted my fate. But I can’t give him this. I want to give it to you.”

  “Sara.” He strokes my cheek with his prosthetic fingers. “You don’t know what you are offering me. I don’t deserve that part of you anymore than Marek does. I wish things were different. If I could go back, I never would have done this to you, but I can’t change things.”

  “I will forgive you, Danny, if you do this one thing for me in return.” I bite my bottom lip, dragging my teeth back and forth hoping he gives in. Hoping he will give me this one thing. Danny isn’t a monster, at least not like Marek is.

  “If he finds out...it won’t end well for either of us,” he warns.

  “I would rather die having gave myself to you than to die in his bed, because I have seen what he can do. I have seen what that man likes.” I shiver at the thought. “You know I am never getting out of here, not alive anyway. He will probably kill us all before this is over. Besides, you owe me, Danny.” I brush my lips over his. “Please. Show me that not all men are brutal savages.”

  “Sara, you are so sweet....so beautiful, and you’re right. You deserve to be shown how good it can be when you share your body with another. I can’t be that man though. It wouldn't be right.”

  “Who in this God forsaken hell hole cares about right or wrong, Danny. I want this. I need it.”

  Before he can answer me, the door bursts open.

  “Don’t you look cozy.”

  Danny pops up as though I have a terribly contagious disease.

  “I have to take your sister to the hospital. I’d ask you to do it, but I don’t trust the two of you not to disappear, so keep an eye on Sara. Just not too close. I’ll be in touch.”

  Danny follows Marek out of the room without looking back.

  I flop back on the bed and hold a pillow over my face and scream.

  I just want out of here.

  I want to go home.

  I want to see my family.

  Why did I ever get into that stupid truck with Danny?

  Chapter 25

  Danny

  I HOPE HARPER AND THE baby are alright.

  She did look to be in a lot of pain before Romando carried her down the stairs. I wanted to accompany her, but Marek insisted that I stay here. Bastard doesn’t trust me with good reason.

  If I could find a way to get her and Sara away from here undetected, I would but for now I will have to sit tight.

  Sara doesn't know just how tempted I was to give in. If Marek hadn’t interrupted, I don’t know that I could have stopped had she tried to kiss me again. Her lips were so sweet and soft like velvet. Not only that, they were innocent, pure, and trusting. How can she still see any good in me while knowing my role in bringing her to hell?

  Tiny insisted he and his best men accompany my sister and Marek to the hospital. There are only a few who remain, but most of them are occupied with the new shipment of women who came in not too long after we arrived.

  I’m in the security room watching Sara as she paces the room, probably feeling trapped.

  Maybe some fresh air would do her good. I know it sure as hell would do me a world of it.

  I go up to her room and unlock the door.

  “Hey.” Her face instantly brightens when she sees that it’s me.

  “Hey, you want to get out of this room and out of this house for a bit?”

  “Seriously!” She squeals.

  “Shh.” I hold a finger to my lips. “Come on.” I give her a chin lift and she practically skips out the door.

  “Is your sister okay?” She questions as we walk down the corridor that leads to the back patio.

  “I don’t know.” I shrug. “Let’s not talk about my sister,” I suggest bumping my arm into hers.

  She smiles. “Okay. What should we talk about?”

  “Whatever you want.”

  “Danny, can I ask you something?” I nod. “Am I the only girl you have kidnapped?”

  I sigh. “Sara, I wish I could tell you that I haven’t done terrible things for the Devils Rejects but I can’t. Although I haven’t done nearly as much shit as your brother did.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Harper told me a lot about your brother because she was hung up on him and well he used to lure girls to parties, parties they’d never leave from.”

  “Are you telling me that my brother set up girls so that Marek could do those terrible things like I have witnessed...to unsuspecting girls who liked him?”

  “That’s exactly what I am saying. I’m sorry. I know you probably look up to him, but he’s no angel.”

  “I guess not.”

  I should feel bad for telling her, but she should know the truth.

  Her tongue darts out, wetting her lips and suddenly I don’t want to talk.

  I decide to hell with it. I am going to hell anyway with all the shit I have done. I don’t deserve Sara, but I want her anyway.

  Maybe this is my big fuck you to Marek or maybe I really do like her. It’s time I stop thinking so much and give in to temptation and my desire.

  Pulling her behind a tree, away from the cameras, I claim her sweet mouth. Sara gasps in surprise but her lips part, inviting me in.

  Her tongue brushes against mine as I fist her shirt with one hand and wrap her braided hair around my other.

  “Wow,” she breathes out before coming back for another, longer, more heated kiss.

  Her hands slide underneath my shirt rubbing along my back and across my stomach.

  My dick hardens at the sensation.

  “We should slow down,” I tell her.

  “Don’t you remember what you asked me when we first met, Danny. You asked if I wanted to get wild and crazy with you.” She lifts up on her t-shirt and pulls it over her head.

  Fuck me, she isn’t wearing a bra. Her nipples are hard and pointed right at me as I plunge my tongue back into her mouth.

  Her fingers dust across the waistband of my pants as rain starts to pour down on us.

  I should probably stop this right now, but I don’t want to.

  Instead, I run my fingers up and down her left side, getting closer to her breast with every stroke.

  Rain drops pelt against my back as Sara pulls my shirt up over my shoulders.

  “It’s only fair,” she says with a smirk.

  I peel the soaked cotton tee over my head and it lands on the ground in an angry thud.

  I look around us, for something better than the ground. There’s a cabana set up by the swimming pool. “Over here,” I yell over the rain, pulling her with me as we run for the shelter from the storm. She collapses next to me on the cushioned daybed that is covered in fabric meant to withstand getting wet.

  We are a tangle of legs, fingers, and tongues, as we wrestle with stripping off our wet jeans.

  I kick my pants off my ankles as I stare down at Sara who is looking at me with those dangerous eyes.

  “Well, you gonna make me do this by myself, Danny, are you going to stand there and watch, or join me,” she teases, running her hand over the curve of her breast.

  I’d be a liar if I said knowing what I’m about to do doesn’t make me feel like a worthless bastard, but I’m too far gone to fight my pull to her.

  Marek would have to kill me to tear me away in this moment.

  Joining Sara on the cushions, I blanket her nude body with mine, taking a nipple in my mouth. She urges my good hand between her thighs. “Touch me, Danny.”

  Sliding a finger inside, my dick gets even harder as it presses into her thigh in response to her slick heat.

  “More,” she whispers. “Give me more.”

  Adding a second finger, I thrust both digits faster as she rides my hand.

  Goddamn her pussy is squeezing my fingers so damn tight.

  Unable to resist any longer, I have to taste her. I slide down her body and replace my fingers with my tongue. She wiggles beneath me and pulls on my hair, wanting me closer. Loving the way I am making her feel.

  Licking and sucking at her heated skin isn’t enough to satisfy me, I need inside her.

  “Do you want me to stop, Sara? Please, don’t tell me to stop.” I nearly beg, kissing her neck, as I position myself between her legs, ready to claim what she is offering to me.

  Her nails dig into my ass.

  “Don’t you dare stop, Danny.”

  Her body accepts my cock with little resistance, but I know it will be better if I drive deeper in and get it over with, so I do. Fuck me, I wasn’t prepared to feel this way. Her eyes shine bright like fiery beacons as I thrust. “You’re mine,” I growl. Marek can’t have her. There is no way in hell I can give her up. My body, mind and, now my heart knows, Sara belongs to me, and I belong to her.

  Her legs hook around my hips, urging me deeper and harder as her body rocks with mine. Her warmth coats my dick and my body trembles as I reach my own release.

  Rolling off her, to catch my breath, I look over at Sara, and she is struggling just as hard to breathe.

  “Wow, I can’t wait to do that again,” she tells me as I let out laugh and kiss her knuckles.

  “I think I love you.” The words rip from my throat before I can stop them

  “What?” she says, breathily.

  “I...I don’t know why I said that, Sara. It’s just when I was inside you and you were staring up at me, there were so many emotions I had never felt with anyone before.”

  She licks her lips. “Danny?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I think I could love you too.”

  Chapter 26

  Harper

  IT IS SO HARD TO KEEP my poker face. Danny doesn’t know it yet, but I don’t need him to save me. I appreciate that he tried and as a reward I intend to make sure he can have the girl. I can see it in his eyes even though he is trying to hard to deny it. He loves her. It’s sweet really. Sara reminds me of who I was before Marek corrupted me.

  That was another life though. I am so far from innocent. None of that matters though.

  The moment I have dreamed of for years is upon me.

  Tiny helps me into the back of the car because Marek sure as hell isn’t going to. No, the prick got in before I did with one of his men sitting next to him. Sorry bastard. He is one piss poor excuse of a man. However, somewhere inside him he wants a son. It is his one and only weakness.

  It wasn’t hard to fake the pains that gave Marek concern for the baby I carry.

  I wish I could say that it isn’t his, but I didn’t lie, this is Marek’s child growing inside me.

  Too bad he will never live to meet him or her.

  I have finally seen to that.

  Tiny has been sick of his shit for a while. Sick of burying bodies and cleaning up after him. When I told him of Marek’s plan to kidnap a teenager that was the breaking point for him. I couldn’t tell Danny what was happening, in case Marek found out I was working against him. I wanted my brother to be able to deny all involvement with a pure honesty.

  I slide across the seat as Tiny and his righthand man gets in next to me in the back of his car.

  His driver starts up the engine and we ride in silence for a few miles with me oohing and grimacing in mock pain.

  When the car rolls to a stop, Tiny’s driver rolls down the glass partition that separates the front from the back.

  “Think I have a flat, boss.”

  “Hurry up. We need to get Harper to a doctor,” Tiny barks.

  “Help him,” Marek instructs his man.

  “You got it.” He gets out of the car and thankfully, shuts the door. I don’t want Marek to grow suspicious.

  Tiny’s bottom lip twitches as the trunk opens and a thud hits the ground.

  My husband leans his head back and groans. “What’s taking so long?”

  “This,” Tiny tells him with a snarl and pulls the trigger.

  Blood matter splatters on the window and sprays across my face and hands.

  I wish I could say that seeing my husband dead brings me some sort of sadness, but it doesn’t—his death grants me my freedom. I can’t help but laugh.

  A huge smile stretches across my face as I stare at the hole in his head. “Rot in hell, Marek.”

  The other man gets out and helps the driver stuff my husband in the trunk of the car.

  “Told you to be patient, love.” Tiny kisses the corner of my mouth then wipes at my face with a handkerchief.

  “God that was brilliant. Did you see his face? He had no idea!”

  “Told you he’d never see it coming. The man was a savage and doesn’t know how to treat a woman.”

  “But you do, Tiny.” I bring his hand to my lips and kiss his ring. “No one can ever say you don’t know how to show a girl a good time.”

  “After you have this baby, there is so much more I want to show you.”

  “You promise?”

  “I’m going to give you the world, Harper. You’ll see.”

  Chapter 27

  Sara

  LAST NIGHT DANNY DIDN’T want to lock me back in my room, but he wasn’t sure when Marek would return. If he found us together, he would undoubtedly kill us both.

  Being with Danny was more amazing than I could have imagined, and I am so glad I never slept with that jerk, Warren. Danny is pure man and Warren is simply a stupid boy.