Dethroning the King Read online

  “Austin, why don’t we go sit down over here?” David says, taking my hand.

  “I don’t want to talk anymore,” I say, pulling my hand back from him.

  “So, what do you want to do?” Dace asks, walking up behind me.

  Turning to look into his hardened eyes, I hiss, “I want to live.” I place my drink down and walk out of the bar, needing a few moments to myself. My feet hit the broken asphalt, the footsteps a tangible reminder that I walk the streets alone. It’s not long, however, before I can feel someone following me, someone closing in on me. I start to feel good again. This may be the perfect opportunity to talk to him alone. Hell, it may be my only opportunity. When I turn around, ready to hash things out, it’s not Dace I see. It’s David. “Why are you following me, David?”

  “To make sure you don’t get into trouble. You are obviously upset and not thinking clearly, and this is not a town that a woman can walk around in drunk, by herself.”

  “I can take care of myself, and I don’t drink enough to get drunk.”

  “Okay. Well, then, take care of me because I plan on getting drunk, and the streets aren’t safe for a good looking, innocent guy like myself,” he says, forcing me to laugh. David takes my hand and leads me to another place where we have a drink, dance, laugh, and forget for a while that we aren’t on some permanent vacation. We forget that our daily goal is just to survive. Most importantly, David makes me feel like I matter, something Dace hasn’t bothered to do in a while. I have only had a couple of drinks prior to this place, but for some reason, this third drink is hitting me hard, and I have to hang onto David who, despite what he said, has managed to stay sober. I lay my head on his shoulder and look up at him with a smile. He smiles back, gently caressing my back.

  “You sure are beautiful, and so sexy. You know that?” In that single moment, I realize my mistake. I let him get my drink. He leans in and tries to kiss me while I fall away from him.

  “No, don’t do that,” I say, trying to push him away.

  “Why? You need attention, right? You’re beautiful, Austin. You shouldn’t be ignored and pushed aside until someone is ready to need you. Dace is an ass, always has been apparently. He did the same thing to Leandra from what I hear. He gets excited by someone and then gets bored and moves on,” David insists, seeming to have more hands than most people.

  “That’s not what’s happening. You don’t understand what we have been through. He’s trying to protect me, and …”

  “You’re making excuses for him, and he isn’t even here. He didn’t even care enough to come after you.” Taking my hand, David smiles. “Let me give you what you need right now.” David knows he’s a good looking guy, accenting his muscles in his tight-fitting T. Cocking his head with a wink, he flexes his lips to let me know he knows what he’s doing. He leans in close, pushing my hair off my ear to whisper, “I can make you feel so good. Give you a nice massage, kiss your body all over, lick your pussy to allow my cock to slide right in and fuck you into one orgasm after another.” I flinch away from him but slam my back into a corner with my head spinning. “There’s a hotel across the street. We could enjoy each other for a while and go back. No one would ever know. You get what you need, and I get what I want.” Sliding his hand down my back, he squeezes my ass. “If you want, I could stick it in back here and …”

  David is suddenly ripped off of me and thrown against the wall. “And I’m going to fucking kill you,” Dace seethes into his face with a punch to David’s jaw and another that flies so fast I get dizzy and fall into a nearby chair. “You said you would help her back to me, not chase after her and try to get her into your bed. Everything you said was a lie, wasn’t it?”

  David laughs, “Hey man, if you had a good relationship, then maybe you would have talked to her rather than taking my word that she was stepping out on you while you were gone. You are never going to keep her. You don’t trust anyone enough.” David pushes Dace away. “And I’ll be damn if I wasn’t going to take advantage and fuck her as many times as I could.” I hear some more blows and some agonizing moans.

  “Dace, that’s enough. I think he’s got the point.” I look up and see Peter pulling back Dace. “David, get back and pack your things.”

  “You have got to be kidding me. Over this?” David argues.

  “Yeah over this. We don’t tolerate lying. We depend on each other too much to have tension between us. I warned you. We don’t give second chances.”

  “Fuck this! I don’t need you people. I can do this on my own.” David swears some more as he passes by me, but I don’t bother to look his way.

  All I want now is to lie down. When I feel a warm hand on my cheek, I open my eyes and see Dace looking me over. “Hey, you’re an asshole,” I laugh.

  He tries to hold back his laugh with a shake of his head. “Come on, Trouble. Let’s get you home.”

  “I don’t have a home, not anymore,” I whisper against his shoulder as he picks me up in his arms. “I’m not even alive.”

  “I know, Sweetheart, and I’m sorry. I thought we could make this work and forget our past, but I was wrong, and I promise I am fixing everything.” He walks out of the bar, still carrying me in his arms. It feels good to lean against his chest, letting his masculine scent surround me and make me feel safe. I almost hate it when he has to put me down and get into the jeep he used to come and get me in. “Okay, you are all strapped in and won’t fall out. Good to go, right?” I reach out to touch him and kiss him and anything else I can do to him. But he stops me and kisses my cheek, laughing for some reason. I must look a mess. I know my world is still spinning. Dace lets go of me and walks around to the other side of the car. I force myself to turn towards him when I see a shadow lurking nearby.

  “Hey Dace?” David jumps out of the dark corner he was hiding in.

  “David, I think we’ve said all we need to say to each other.”

  “No, I think we still have some unfinished business.” David smiles as he pulls a gun on Dace. “Think you’re all that? That you can get me fired from the only job that pays for what I do best?”

  “David, what the fuck are you doing? Calm down. You’re taking this too far.”

  “Fuck you, asshole. I’ll kill you, take your girl, fuck her, and then leave you both dead in the street. You should always watch your back, Dace. Isn’t that what you said? You didn’t take your own advice, so why should I ever listen to you? You get everything you want. Leandra is still pining over you, Austin is in love with you. Hell, even Peter thinks you are God’s gift to the world. The entire crew acts as if nothing can be done without consulting you first. It’s ridiculous.”

  “David, if you want to sit down and talk, we can. You want your job back? Then let’s talk it out.” I try to reach out for Dace, but he distances himself from me. “Come on, David. Let’s go sit down somewhere and talk. This is between you and me. Austin has nothing to do with this.”

  “No, no she has everything to do with this. I am going to have her tonight, and I want you to know that before I kill you. I want you to know, before you die, that you were too weak to protect her when she was vulnerable. Don’t even try to come near me, Dace. I see you plotting your next move. Like you can outrun a gun. You’re something else. Goodbye, Dace. The world is going to have one less asshole in it tonight.”

  I watch the shadowy figure move forward, and I am aware just enough to make out a gun. “Dace!” I scream. I fall back into my seat exhausted and my head spinning in every direction. Someone jumps into the car and takes off. I am too scared to look up, but when I feel his hand take hold of mine, I begin to cry.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay,” he says. I force myself to look up at him, and he looks as in shock as I am.

  The rest of the night is a blur until I am naked and warm. His hand runs down my back and pulls me in close to his chest.

  “Dace, what happened?”

  He shakes his head and tries to get me to lie back and go to sleep. “I love yo
u, and I’m sorry for not being here for you. I was being stupid, trying to keep you in the dark because I didn’t trust you enough to tell you my plans. I got good news though, and I promise you will be going home soon. We all will be.” Sighing, I simply let go of my frustration and anger and allow him to love me again with all the welcoming comfort I can give. Maybe my head was playing tricks on me, and nothing I thought was happening really happened. The world around me is odd right now.

  I wake up to a pounding headache and a friendly smile with a cup in his hand. “Drink this. It should help that horrible feeling you have from the drug David gave you.”

  “How do you know … oh shit.” I sway back into bed as I try to sit up.

  “How do I know you feel like shit? You mean other than I had to practically carry you home last night, bathe you, put you to bed, and then still listen to you harass me about having sex all night?” His exasperated huff says a lot. “You couldn’t walk on your own, but you thought sex was a perfect idea! I thought sleep was a much better idea for you.”

  “So … you should have given me what I wanted,” I demand, and he rolls his eyes at my weak attempt.

  “What you wanted and what you needed didn’t match, and since I love you, I only give you what you need,” he says, shaking his head.

  “Dace, I need to know how you knew David drugged me.”

  “Because I took Nate’s jeep to follow you both and watched from afar until I knew for sure he was the piece of shit that he was.”

  “That he was?” I look up at him, and he looks away. “What happened last night? I thought it was all a dream, but was it real. Was someone going to shoot you?!”

  “It wasn’t a dream, unfortunately, and I wish I could tell you what happened, but I don’t know for sure. All I know is that David was ready to shoot me, but before he could, someone shot him in the head. I thought it was Peter at first, but whoever it was disappeared, and I thought it best not to stick around. It was an insane shot too, expert shot I would say. He didn’t stand a chance. I checked the paper this morning, but there is no mention of finding a dead man anywhere in the city. I told Peter what happened, and he is out trying to locate David. Last I checked, he has found no evidence of him anywhere. The man died right in front of me and has now disappeared.” Dace crawls into bed next to me. “I don’t know what happened last night, Austin. I really don’t. But I promise you I am working on getting us the hell out of here and back to life again.”

  “You’re okay though, right?” Despite my head pounding, I sit up and feel over his body to see if he is hurt in any way.

  “Yeah, Trouble. I’m fine. Now lie down and stop worrying about me. Let me take care of you.”

  “Why? I’m fine.”

  “Because I love you, you stubborn ass. And no you’re not, fine.” I don’t know why, but every time he says he loves me, I get giddy. I still can’t believe he loves me. “Why do you hide your smile from me when I say that?” He pushes the pillow away and forces me to look at him. He looks at me as if he sees something in me I have never seen in myself. I love that look, the one that makes me feel special. “I love you,” he whispers over and over as he takes in my lips between his. I grab the back of his head, wanting all of him, but then my pounding head forces me to fall back again. Dace laughs. “Alright, I guess that means we will need to wait a little while longer, Trouble,” he says, kissing my forehead and crawling back into bed with me. I move to him, placing my head on his chest and purring as he plays with my hair.

  “So… about those plans to go home?”

  “I’m working on it, I promise. Once I finish this next job, everything should be ready for us to return.” I sit up to verify his expression. “I want you to be happy, and I know you can’t be happy living in the darkness, pretending you don’t exist. Besides, I want everyone to know you’re mine, that I get to love you forever.” Those crazy butterflies swarm inside me, and I wish I didn’t feel so awful. “Ah, my poor girl, you really feel terrible, don’t you?” I nod, curling back into his chest. “Don’t worry. I’m going to get you home, safely. And soon. And then, I’m going to marry you, if you say yes that is.” I hide my ridiculously large smile into his chest.

  Chapter 6

  Dace

  Leaving Austin is never easy, but for some reason, it’s much harder this time. She seems to feel the same way. I can see the fear in her eyes, something I haven’t seen since we were both Michael’s prisoners. The unknown shooter is not helping; the unknown is never easy to live with though. We are both anxious to get back and build a life together. We are so close, so close, and we don’t want to mess that up. We’ve come too far to lose it all now. If not for it being this particular family that we are helping, I would skip it, but this job has bothered me since we failed the first time. To have a chance to fix this and move on with my own life feels right. This time, we are taking most of the crew with us. We will not lose. We are leaving a few people behind to stay with Austin and Antony, who are quick to remind me they can take care of themselves. After all our gear is packed and we are ready to go, I turn towards the two people I love the most, and they both have their arms crossed, frustrated anger written all over their faces. A quick sigh and I hug my brother and do my best to soften up the woman who sends my heart racing every time I’m near her. “Come on. Kiss me before I go, please.” I nudge and tease her, trying to loosen her stiff body. “You’re going to regret it the moment I leave if you don’t kiss me,” I tell her, slowly moving her to a dark corner away from everyone.

  “No I won’t, not until you promise to give me an even better return kiss.” With a smile, I nod and wait for her to lick her lips before making the most of my opportunity. The kiss is soft, intimate and encouraging, a little too much so. I have to adjust myself back down. “What’s wrong soldier? Not quite able to get your mind focused back on the assignment?” she says with a wink.

  “You did that on purpose.”

  “Maybe, or maybe you can just sense that I am not wearing any underwear,” she says, walking away, knowing I am watching.

  “I bet that really hurts, doesn’t it?” Antony says, smiling a little too wide.

  “Yeah it does,” I admit, out loud even.

  “Good. Have a safe trip,” he says, jogging to catch up to Austin.

  Great. They are both out to make me pay for this. My return home is not going to be fun. Hopefully I can have good news ready to give them by the time I get back.

  We arrive right on time and have two days to set up and make sure we have everything in order. A small portion of our crew is staking out Guzman’s compound one more time beforehand, and I go along in hopes of easing my fears or finding some reason to abort the whole mission. I don’t manage to do either, but I do manage to spot Nidia for the first time since I sent her off with her sister. “Get out of here, Nidia! Take the car and go! Go straight to the airport. Do not go home!” I remember screaming at her while still fighting and trying to save myself. I was captured along with the rest of my crew, but luckily, I was able to find a way out of trouble. Nidia, however, didn’t follow my warning. She went home first. To this day, I am not sure why. Her decision got her sister killed, her father captured, and her taken in as what seems to be a Guzman sex slave. She, still as beautiful as I remember, follows him around like a lost puppy. He seems to take care of her, but what she has to do to get that care, I don’t even want to think about. Her smile is phony and forced by the gun carrying goons following her around. Guzman makes a motion towards her, and she comes to him instantly, getting down on her knees and begging him to forgive her for something. He doesn’t listen and smacks her around some before ripping her dress from her body and forcing her into a room with him. My blood boils, and I can’t wait to destroy the motherfucker. Now, we just have to verify her father’s location and timing of his escorts. That responsibility goes to Leandra who is very good at not looking suspicious and blending in with the rest of the workers. Leave it to her to not look nearly as a dang
erous as she is, something she is the most proud of.

  It’s our last meeting together. Everyone is anxious and probably a little nervous too. We hear from our final group and get confirmation that Guzman and his crew have moved out for a trip, just like we were told they would. It was almost to the minute.

  “I have a bad feeling about this, Ghost,” Peter says to me.

  “Yeah me too, but I don’t know why. We have taken into consideration everything necessary. Even if they come back early, we have enough guns to counter them until we can get away. We’ve prepared for every possible scenario. We should have no worries, but if you think we should pull out of this, then I will follow you,” I say, waiting for him to pull back the reins, but instead …

  “No, we move forward. We can do this.” Peter nods, and I follow as I promised I would, ignoring my gut and everything else telling me to run away and never look back.

  My sole mission is to lead a team inside the home and rescue Nidia. I will be in constant communication with our entire crew, so I will be able to instantly alert her to her father’s safety. It is nothing to take out the front guards before they even know what happened. Our next step is taking out the security cameras and alarms. I already know where the main security room is and, not surprisingly, they didn’t bother moving it since I was here last. Why would they? I barely made it out alive last time. The chances of me coming back were slim and even less likely that I would care enough to bother. I guess that makes me an unusual being because here I am, caring enough to bother for people I have no relation or allegiance to. The only reason I am here is out of respect and duty for a job never completed. My crew make it easy for me to enter the security building, disarm the alarms, and redirect the cameras to a time earlier in the day. If anyone thinks to check on things remotely, they will never see us coming or, hopefully, going. Once electronic security is taken care of, the only thing left is the human security. I gather my crew together and remind them of our goal and the path to which we will take to get her and get out of here. Before we move, I take the time to check in and confirm the other crew’s progress, which is going well. “Let’s move,” I say, directing everyone forward and into the house where we meet few guards and are able to get through with minimal damage. Progressing further into the home, I begin to get a sick feeling but still proceed, knowing I will get a signal to abort if anything goes wrong on the outside. Peter is manning everything from a post outside the compound, watching all of our backs, and he would never let us down. Room by room, we check and clear before moving onto the next. We reach the last door, and I twist the latch and carefully move in, finding a chained Nidia in what seems to be her prison—a room made for a sex slave and nothing but. A bed, tools for keeping someone in line, and chains attached to the locks around her legs and wrists. She has no chance of being anything but his slave.