Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 – Shay

Step six: I am ready to have God remove all defects of character.

When I awakened, my hands were tied behind my back and there was a blindfold over my eyes. The strange thing was that I was laying on a soft surface, possibly a bed. Living in jail for all of those months I know all about bad mattresses. The one I was currently on was high end. There was no saggy middle. I tried to bounce myself a little and felt the plush softness envelop me.

I expected to be waking on a cold floor or basement. It was little more than I deserved for how I spent the years leading up to my arrest and prison sentence. But I wasn’t cold, and I certainly wasn't in a basement. Hell, there was even a soft blanket covering my body. What kind of kidnapper made sure you were covered with a blanket?

Kidnapper.

Fuck! How had I managed to get into trouble this time? I hadn't been in contact with anyone from that previous life. I was just getting my shit together. And now what? Was I about to die here?

I felt panic rising in my throat and realized that my mouth wasn’t covered. A scream wrenched from the very heart of me, the terror apparent in the high-pitched wail.

There was a mad rush of footsteps; it sounded like someone was running up some stairs. I heard the sound of a door crashing against the wall.

“What the fuck, bitch?” A voice snarled right before he grabbed my hair and yanked it back painfully.

I whimpered and tried to curl into a ball.

The man wasn’t impressed and pulled even harder. I felt tears dampening my blindfold.

“Stop, please stop,” I begged.

Something nasty smelling and even worse tasting was shoved into my mouth. My cries were now silenced, and the tears were ignored.

“You are more trouble than you are worth,” he growled, and then he struck me across the cheek. The pain was excruciating. I huddled, trying to make my body as small as possible. I don’t know what he would have done if the other man hadn’t come up.

“Jamie! Fuck, you weren’t to hurt her!”

The man named Jamie sneered at the newcomer, “Who the fuck cares, Marco?”

“The boss cares, dick for brains! There is a fucking bruise forming on her face. Are you trying to get us killed?” Marco demanded

“What is so special about her anyway?” Jamie scoffed.

“I don’t know, but I do know that your ass is grass if the boss sees this. Get the fuck out of here!”

Jamie stormed off just as I felt the bed compress where Marco must have sat.

“I’m sorry, Hermosa.” He removed the gag and tenderly touched my cheek.

I shied away from his touch and whimpered. My cheek hurt, and my mouth tasted like dirty socks. Marco got up and for a second; I thought he too was leaving. But then his body was back, and he was helping me to sit.

“What, what are you doing?” My voice didn’t even sound like my own.

“A drink, Hermosa, it will help you feel better.” His accent was soothing, and I gulped down the fresh drink of water that he had given me.

“Careful, Novia, you don’t want to choke.”

I pulled back and whispered, “Why are you doing this to me? Who are you?”

I didn’t know anyone named Marco. I was appreciative of his kindness but that didn’t negate the fact that I was being held prisoner.

He sighed, “I cannot tell you that. The boss has his own agenda and he did not share it with me.”

“Who is the boss?” My voice broke on a sob. “Please just let me go, there has to be some kind of mistake. I don’t have any money.”

The mattress shifted as Marco stood. Instead of answering me I heard that familiar voice from before. This was the man who had taken me off the street.

“You!” My accusation hung in the air.

“It’s lovely to see you again as well, Shay.”

I knew that voice. Suddenly my mind flashed to another time. It was before I ever moved to the city, before the drugs and the partying. The man who belonged to that voice had been little more than a boy.

“Will?”

His low chuckle had the hair on my arms standing up.

“I don’t understand; why you are doing this?” I tried to face where his voice was coming from.

For a moment he was quiet and then he barked out, “Leave us.”

I had forgotten about Marco and Jamie.

The bed sank down again but this time I felt the heat radiating from the body next to me. I felt my nipples tighten as his hands loosened the blindfolds and pushed my reddish-brown hair back from my face.

I blinked a few times trying to adjust to the bright light.

William Ethan Jennings’ face came into view. He was broader than I remembered. His muscular form was new to me. I remembered him being the lanky boy that had followed me around and asked me out a million times.

I could hardly recognize the boy I knew from the man sitting in front of me. His inky black curls were shorter, and I wondered what they felt like. His icy blue eyes were locked on my face.

“Who struck you?”

It was only three words, but I’m not sure I have ever heard anything more menacing.

“Shay, who struck you?” he demanded, eyes flaring.

I blinked and noticed that he winced at my glazed expression.

“The-the man, Jamie.” I stumbled over my words, noticing the way that his fists clenched. “Please, Will, why am I here?”

His eyes darkened. “I don’t go by Will anymore. And they weren’t supposed to hurt you. I will deal with Jamie.”

His face was expressionless, and I felt the power radiating from his muscular form. I was intimidated and turned on at the same time.

“Will,” I prompted.

He stood and straightened his immaculate black suit. I knew nice clothes, and this had to be six grand if it was a dollar. The Will Jennings that I had known lived in a trailer park with his mom.

“I will send Marco in to tend to you. I’m sure you will feel better after a bath and something to eat.”

“Will,” it came out sharper than I intended, “Why am I here? What are you involved in?”

He turned to leave, and I worried that I was going to be left without any answers. But at the last moment, he turned and spoke. “I’m saving you, Shay.”

“Saving me?” I screeched. “From what? I wasn’t hurt until you took me off the street. Will, what in the fuck is going on? You can’t just leave me tied up here!”

But he was no longer listening. The man I knew as Will was gone and my captor had nothing more to say.

Moments later Marco came back in the room and went to the en-suite bathroom to start the water. I could smell something feminine that he must have squirted into the water.

“Why am I here?” I begged Marco as he came back in the room and cut the ties on my wrists.

“I cannot tell you, Hermosa.” He was a little taller than I was, of Hispanic descent and rather good looking.

“Marco, please, I don’t know what has happened to Will but there must be some mistake.”

Marco shrugged. “The boss doesn’t make mistakes. You had better go get your bath. I cannot leave you here alone, but you can shut the door partially for your privacy.”

“Can you tell me why?” I begged him, rubbing my sore wrists.

Marco shook his head. “No, Hermosa, I do not know.”