Whipping Girl Page 23

  “Better?” She asks softly in my ear. I sigh, nodding my head once in confirmation. She turns her head to continue her conversation but everyone's eyes are stuck to us now. This would make a normal person uncomfortable but my girl just laughs and makes a joke about being newly engaged causing everyone to gasp and shout their congratulations at the two of us. I squeeze her hip to show my appreciation over her public acceptance of our engagement, I want everyone to know and I really thought I was going to have to piss her off again by announcing it myself.

  “We need to talk about this morning, Alexander.” I sigh as I shut the hotel room behind us… I knew this would be coming.

  “Talk away, baby.” I say as I walk into the bathroom to avoid the conversation but Ally follows hot on my heals. The rest of the lunch with her friends went fine, Ally remained in my lap until we all said our goodbyes then headed in our different directions, which was my favorite part. I could tell something was on her mind on the ride back to our hotel, she seemed fidgety and nervous so I had assumed she would want to talk about the birth control issue. As far as I am concerned it’s a non-issue, I just need to convince her of that.

  “We can’t do that again until I see Doctor Stevens.” She fidgets when I turn my gaze on her, but keeps going. “It was careless, the chances of me getting pregnant are pretty much zilch this close to my period, hence the reason that I am not freaking out, but I don’t want us taking any chances.” I walk up to her slowly, a half smile coming to my face when I’m standing over her, looking down at her.

  “You don’t want my baby inside of you?” My finger slowly circles her belly button and her breath hitches as she looks down toward the movement. My touch is soft but the implication is anything but. She takes a step back and her eyes widen as they swing back up to meet mine.

  “Alexander, we need more time.”

  “How much time do you think we need?” My forearms go above her head once she reaches the wall, imprisoning her with my much larger body.

  “I- uh. You’re putting me on the spot!”

  “You said you didn’t want me to hold back anything from you, Allyanna. This is me not holding back, I asked you a question and I want an answer. How much time?” I bend my face to hers, kissing the tip of her freckled nose, her light eyebrows, then her flushed cheeks. “Answer me.”

  “Maybe a few years?” She breathes, her body warming with my closeness, she closes her eyes as I seduce her with the light touch of my lips.

  “Two, three, four? How many is a few to you?” I continue, bringing one large hand down to palm her breast through the light cotton of her pink shirt.

  “Two, maybe three.” She arches her back into my hand, trying to get the friction that she wants. I pinch her hard nipple causing her to gasp in pleasure and her eyes to open and lock on mine, her pupils dilating with the arousal that I’ve created.

  “I don’t want to wait.”

  “Alexander…” she warns weakly.

  “I don’t want to wait for anything with you anymore.” She releases a breath of frustration at my announcement.

  “I have school, we’ll have a lot going on after next week when we close on the house, we have to furnish it and paint it. There is a lot that goes on when you buy a house.” she’s ticking off her excuses as if she’s trying to convince herself just as much as she is me. “and we’re not even married yet! No. No baby.” she quickly ducks under my arm when I bend my face to kiss her. I slap the empty drywall then turn toward her, eyes narrowed in annoyance at her blatant rejection.

  “I’m not letting you seduce me into this, Alexander, that’s not fair!” I huff out a laugh but grab her upper arm as she tries to walk past me, her pissy attitude clear on her face.

  “I want this.” I tell her seriously, pulling her closer.

  “Well, I don’t. Not yet anyway.” She looks down at my t-shirt covered chest then wraps her arms around my middle, squeezing out any distance between us then looking up into my face. “I get it, you know... you’re trying to tie me to you in every conceivable way so that you don’t ever lose me and I understand it –I understand you- but forcing our relationship to move at an unnatural pace is only going to cause us problems. Please, Alexander… I’m begging you to understand that I want your children but we need to wait to let the dust settle around us a little first.” I search her face as I contemplate pushing this, I know I would win this argument if I really tried, I can tell she isn’t as abhorrent to the idea as she would like me to believe... but forcing the issue right now will only cause her to resent me and that’s definitely not something that I want. She’ll see it my way soon enough, so I’ll let her believe that she’s gotten her way. For now.

  “Two years. Tops.” I give in. She smiles as she releases the breath she was holding.

  “I can work with that.” She stands on her tiptoes as I bring my face down to hers, kissing her soft, pink lips.

  “You better make that appointment, I’m not wearing fucking condoms for two years.”

  “Yes, Alexander.” She says mockingly, laughing when I slap her on the ass for her battiness.

  Chapter 25 – Ally

  “You think he’ll ever talk to me again, Whipping Girl?” I take my eyes off of my laptop and look over to Ivan as he lounges on the couch in our room. He says it casually, like he doesn’t care about my answer but I know that the growing distance between he an Alexander has been bothering him, his son barely acknowledges his existence and only speaks to him when it’s in regard to me. The only reason he’s even been allowed to be here is because I’m not leaving the room, a man named Greg is outside on lookout and Alexander had to take the rest of the guys with him to follow up on a tip they got about Peter’s whereabouts.

  “I’m not sure, Ivan.” I answer honestly. I tried to talk to Alexander about his anger toward his father but he shut that conversation down pretty quickly.

  “I never wanted kids.” He says suddenly, sitting forward so his elbows rest on his knees as he runs his hands through his hair in frustration, reminding me of Alexander as he does. “I knew Amelia was pregnant, I knew it was most likely mine, Link was too meticulous to let an unplanned pregnancy happen, but I never wanted to be part of its- his life... but then I saw him, this tiny little baby with dark hair and I knew Link would come looking for revenge after Amelia died. I did what I had to do, you know? I picked him up and I took him somewhere that I thought he would be safe, far from Link and from this life.”

  “Amelia? That was Alexander’s Mother’s name?” He looks up at me and gives a small nod, his eyes pained before he puts his head back in his hands. “Why did Link want revenge? Did the two of you have an affair?” I ask softly, not wanting him to think I’m judging him, just wanting more information.

  “Not exactly.” He scoffs.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “If Alexander hasn’t told you then I don’t think he wants you to know.” He says. “I can’t say that I blame him either, I’ve done some fucked up things in my line of work but what they made me do to her…” He trails off but it’s enough to make me put two and two together and I gasp at the realization. He looks toward me again, seemingly shocked at what he just revealed. No. Oh My God.

  “You- what they made you do to her? What did they make you do, Ivan?” He doesn’t say anything else, just shakes his head quickly, looking ashamed with himself. “Are you telling me that they made you rape Amelia?” I’m appalled and I don’t care if he knows it. “Is that something that they had all of you do often? Oh, God... has Alexander done anything-”

  “No! No! That was the only good thing that Link ever did, he put a stop to forcing us to use that method of… torture. I swear to Christ, Alex has never done anything of the sort.” I feel relieved and immediately ashamed for thinking Alexander would do something like that. Ivan has his hands up like I might be a wild animal that he needs to fend off, completely uncomfortable with the conversation that he started.

  “But you have? You rape
d Alexander’s Mom?”

  “Jesus Christ, he might actually kill me after this. I didn’t have a choice!”

  “You always have a choice!” I scream at him. “You raped a woman and created a child! A child that now hates you and then you have the balls to complain because he won’t speak to you? This is what you deserve, Ivan!” I shake my head, looking away from him in complete disgust.

  “I know!” His voice cracks but I can’t look at him to see if he’s crying, I feel sick that I’m even in the same room with him.

  “You made your bed, Ivan.” I tell him, my voice wobbling with emotion. I can’t believe this, no wonder Alexander has been so close mouthed about finding out Ivan was his Father.

  “There is no excuse for what I did but we were brought up to take orders, Allyanna. You may have been there when you were young but you were just a pawn to them, Alex was the only one who even cared if you were dead or alive. You may think that you understand but there is no way that you could ever know the torment that we went through as children! We were forced to shut down when our conscious told us that what we were doing was wrong! You don’t know what that’s like, you can’t understand it unless you go through it. Alexander had you to bring him back but I had nothing and no one until I had Alexander! Fuck!” He screams out so loud that I finally look over with wide eyes, witnessing him in full breakdown mode. He upends the coffee table then doubles over and starts crying like a baby. I’m not sure what I should do in my shock, I’m still completely sickened but he’s absolutely right. I don’t understand what they’ve been through, I’ve seen the scars and the emotional consequences of Alexander’s training but I could never fully understand everything that happened to them, my upbringing was cushy when compared to theirs and my judgement must feel like a slap to the face to men like them.

  I walk toward him slowly, unable stand here and watch while such a strong man breaks down this way. I touch his shoulder when I reach him and he looks up at me as if looking for absolution for his sins, his face showing his lifelong pain and sorrow as he pleads with me through his eyes. “I can’t even say that I’m sorry for it.” He sobs. “If I do then that means that I regret Alexander and I can never be sorry that he exists.” I don’t want to pity him, he did a terrible thing and I don’t want him to feel better for it, he deserves this suffering but he’s also right… without that terrible thing then Alexander wouldn’t have been born. Ivan continues to cry while I lead him back to the couch then sit on the edge beside him, patting his back as he opens his mouth and tells me everything. He gives me information that I’ve been dying for for years but now that I know, I realize that I really HAD NO CLUE. Things that they had went through while training, how he had known Alexander was his and tried to make life just a little easier on him by making him stronger even when that meant that he had to hurt him more. He tells me how Alexander changed the entire organization even though it put a big target on his back and how he was so proud of the man that his son has become. “I tried to make it right for her, I protected the boy that she had wanted to save then I tried to be the best father that I didn’t know how to be, Allyanna.” He finishes.

  I’m not sure what to say to him after all of that, he’s given me more information in the past hour than I think Alexander ever has and I’m a little shocked and horrified. I feel sick when I think about the little boy that I first met going through all of that, he was just a little boy! How can they do that? What gives them the right?

  “Alexander hasn’t told me about most of that, I had assumed from his scars that he was tortured but to actually know… I think I’m going to be sick.” I place my hand over my mouth and try to breathe through it, focusing all of my attention on the still broken bathroom door for distraction.

  “I didn’t imagine that he would have, he knew that it would be hard on you and he’s always wanted to keep things as easy and normal for you as possible.” He says softly.

  “I know and that’s why I try not to push-”

  “We’ve gotta move!” Greg bursts through the door in a rush.

  “What?” Ivan stands, discreetly wiping his face. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “Alexander just called, they were set up and he wants us to move out.” Greg moves swiftly across the room, grabbing my purse even as Ivan and I just stand there in shock.

  “He didn’t call me.” Ivan says, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, causing my hackles to rise as well.

  “I don’t know what to tell you, he just called and told me to get the girl the fuck out of here. His words.” Ivan grabs his phone from his pocket, scrolling his thump down the screen but I stop him with a hand on his arm.

  “It’s fine. I just need to put my hair up and we can get going.” I look toward Greg to see his reaction and when I see nothing I look back at Ivan. “He’s with them.”

  Ivan moves in front of me as he reaches behind his back to grab his gun but Greg is faster, two quiet gun shots later and Ivan drops to the floor in front of me. Screaming, I drop to my haunches, trying to roll him on to his back so I can see where he’s been hit but I can’t move him by myself! Greg chuckles as he walks toward me, pulling out a much different kind of gun from the inside pocket of his jacket pocket.

  “We can do it this way too, I was just trying to avoid the mess.” I feel a sharp pinch in my neck as he shoots me with something. I try to stand but my legs give out and I fall to the floor, I try to lift my arms so I can crawl away but they’re completely useless as a heavy fog falls over me. Ivan groans quietly and when I look to him I can see his eyes on me, his face pale.

  “He’ll find you.” He rasps quietly.

  My eyes close and the world fades away.

  “Mmm, girl, you have grown up!” The semi-familiar voice has me blinking my eyes open, but I can see nothing but black as I try to sift through the fog in my head. I’m blindfolded. Why? I try to pull my hand down to remove the obstruction but I quickly realize that my hand- both of my hands are tied above me. Terror takes over when the owner of the voice finally registers. Peter. I lay still as I try to catch my bearings, breathing deeply to fight the nausea that the drugs had created. How long has he had me and where the hell am I? The hotel. Ivan… Oh, God. He’s dead.

  Loud footsteps bring me back to the present, the sound echoing loudly throughout the room we’re in. A hand touches the skin of my cheek and I jerk my face away but it’s only my blindfold that he was after, he pulls it away and I have to close my eyes tightly when the bright lighting of the room nearly has my skull splitting in half. Everything feels so weird, dizzying and murky. When I’m finally able to open my eyes the lights move slowly across my vision, like ribbons of white in the gray room.

  “Do you remember me?” A face enters my field of vision and I cringe away from him but the unforgiving surface below me doesn’t allow me any leeway to escape. He’s not a bad looking guy, he’s old enough to be my father but if I didn’t know he was a vile pedophile, I would even consider him reasonably good looking. All I see when I look into his hardened hazel eyes is the worst kind of monster, a monster who preys on vulnerable little girls. “I thought you might.” He cackles sickly. “Sorry if you’re feeling a little out of it, Darling. Those drugs will do that to you.” His voice seems to swirl around me, the nasally words echoing in my mind and causing the liquid in my stomach to rise into my throat, I swallow over and over until the nausea passes, a warm tear trailing down the side of my face distracts me as I track it’s movements to the inside of my ear. Yeah, I’m definitely drugged up.

  “My- uh, wha…” My jaw feels heavy and I can’t get my words out right, I try again but I stop when Peter shakes his head at me.

  “Shhh...” his finger goes to my lips, pressing hard enough that I can taste blood on my tongue but I barely feel any pain. “We’re going to get well acquainted with each other soon enough, I just want you to relax and get comfortable, hopefully the show will start soon.” He waggles his eyebrows, his excitement fuming off of h
im. He takes his disgusting finger away at the sound of more footsteps and I turn my head to watch as four men rush toward us, Greg amongst them.

  “We've got a problem.” One of the new guys says. “We couldn't get him, the rest of our men are dead.”

  “Fuck!” Peter roars, looking up at the ceiling for answers.

  “I think he knew it was a set-up, Peter, it looked like he just walked in there with his gun blazing. It was a fucking massacre.” New man says. They’re talking about Alexander, he killed the rest of their men. Good.

  I can’t help the relieved laugh that leaves my mouth, I’m beyond scared and drugged out of my mind but if he’s alive then he’s already looking for me and these bitches don’t stand a chance.

  My head whips to the side, it’s only the burning tingle on my face that lets me know that I was just slapped, my laughter dies but my smile does not as I look up to a very angry and red faced Peter.