Chapter Six

 

“A couple of days in bed and she’ll be right as rain. Just a bruised bone,” Dr. Kelly said.

Matthias had panicked when Lara blacked out in his arms, so he called the only person he trusted. It turned out Ryker was on a date with his wife. Sky would keep this matter quiet, so he wasn’t worried.

The doc was someone the Familia used often, someone Ryker trusted. Ryker assured him that Dr. Kelly would keep his mouth shut about this incident, even from Marco. That was all Matthias needed to know.

Matthias ignored the pointed look Ryker flashed his direction. He wasn’t ready to give Ryker an answer. As soon as Ryker escorted the doctor out, he reached for Lara’s hand, curling his fingers around it. So soft and warm, clean of scars and any other imperfections. When she’d told him about Skip’s abuse, he kept envisioning a pattern of ugly bruises on that creamy skin. The thought drove him up the wall.

The moment Matthias heard Lara’s confession, Skip just made himself a walking dead man. He’d take extra care, keeping the poor fucker alive, just to wring extra screams from his body. Matthias wouldn’t forget the fear that consumed his entire body when Lara fell. If he hadn’t been there, Lara wouldn’t be lying on his bed; he’d just have a corpse to bury.

Matthias knew she’d bolt after he unchained her, had expected it. Let her. If he really wanted to keep her, she wouldn’t even reach the stairs, but hearing the reason why she cut her hair and her relationship with Skip, he didn’t want to add another scar on her already broken heart.

This woman was dangerous in so many ways. Weak didn’t exist in his dictionary. Until her. Matthias never felt a shred of guilt or remorse, didn’t ask questions each time the Familia needed someone to talk. Minutes was all he needed to make them sing.

Lara hadn’t lied to him once. Matthias had been doing this long enough to develop certain instincts to pick out the liars. She volunteered to tell him all she knew about Skip, and she knew absolutely nothing.

Matthias let her go, only to realize there would be no escape for her. She’d already seen him. The Familia would never let her walk out of this. Matthias had a solution for that. He studied Lara’s sleeping figure. After she fell, he’d stripped her out of her clothes, save her underwear. He liked seeing his shirt on her and would probably not wash it afterwards for a few days so her scent lingered.

A knock on the door made him snarl, but it was only Sky, with a tray of food and water. He relaxed, letting go of Lara’s hand to take the tray from her. She batted his hand away and set the tray on the table next to his bed.

“I’m pregnant, not lame,” she complained. That got a smile out of him.

“How is she?” Sky asked.

“Bruised bone, nothing serious.”

“We have different definitions of nothing serious. Matthias, what the fuck?” Ryker demanded by the door.

Before he could say something he probably would regret, Sky interrupted them. “Out, have this conversation in the living room. This poor girl needs rest.”

At that tone, they headed outside. It would be good, he realized, if Lara woke up to Sky’s friendly face, not his fucked-up one. They headed to the dining room.

“Matthias,” Ryker said, sounding impatient. “Marco needs answers soon. He’s had our men scour the entire city for Skip.”

Matthias pulled out Lara’s phone from his pocket and slid it across the dining table. “She’s a dead lead. Knows nothing, had no clue Skip worked as a bookie for us.”

Ryker frowned. “I didn’t see any of your handiwork on her.”

“There wasn't a need to.”

Tension mounted in the room.

“Matthias, it's not like you to be sloppy just because she’s a woman.”

He growled, clenched his fists, and slowly counted to ten in his head. It didn’t help. Matthias still wanted to punch the living daylights out of Ryker. Ryker wouldn’t be an easy opponent either.

“You’re lucky your wife came with you. Otherwise you wouldn’t be walking out of here with that pretty face,” Matthias finally said with a sneer.

Ryker glowered at him. The old Ryker he knew would resort to violence first and ask questions later. It looked like being married to Sky had done something remarkable, because Ryker blew out a breath and only loosened his tie.

“Explain this situation to me then.”

Matthias didn’t like to drag out Ryker’s past in the spotlight, knowing Ryker was touchy about it, but he had to make his point. “Years ago, you killed River, your own brother, as vengeance for what he and his friends did to Sky. Sky was only a stranger to you then. This situation is no different. The moment I took Lara, I knew.”

Ryker flared his nostrils then let out a breath. “You’re fucking serious about her? You’ve only had her for a day.”

“It’s enough.”

Ryker considered him for a long moment. Seeing as Ryker looked more relaxed now, Matthias grabbed two beers from the fridge and handed Ryker one.

“What if she runs again?” Ryker finally asked.

“She won’t.”

“You’re so sure of that?”

“She’s moved away from terror, to having doubts. Leave her to me.”

Ryker gave him a skeptical look, then shook his head. “I’ll get one of our tech guys to look at the messages she exchanged with Skip, see if there’s any valuable information we can use.”

“If you find him, bring him here.”

Ryker narrowed his brows. “That sounds fucking personal.”

“He hurt her. Made the Familia family look bad. Is there anything left to say?”

Ryker nodded. “Marco would probably put him in your care anyway.”

“We’ll spend lots of quality time together,” he said, rubbing his hands at the prospect of Skip all hooked to his ceiling, begging for mercy that would never come. Matthias would make sure Skip would pay for all the hurt and distress he caused his woman.

****

Sunlight hit Lara’s face. She groaned, wondering if everything had been a terrible nightmare. That horrible basement with that silver hook and Matthias—Lara conjured all of that up. She dared to open her eyes, only to wake up in an unfamiliar bed. Someone else’s room.

She wasn’t in her clothes either, but someone’s big and comfortable shirt. A man’s shirt, she realized. Her aching ankle made her suck in a breath.

Lara remembered falling, the fear that rippled across her entire body because she wasn’t ready to die. She recalled Matthias’s strong arms catching her, pulling her into a fierce embrace. His warm breath against her. Relief filing her entire body before she shut down. I got you.

She shivered, lifting the sheet over her body to see her right ankle, all bandaged up neatly.

“It’s not broken, just bruised according to the doctor. He recommended bed rest for a few days,” said a woman’s voice.

Lara put the sheet down and found the source of the voice. A pretty pregnant blonde sat on the armchair between the bed and window. She set down the book she was reading to smile at Lara. That smile seemed genuine, sympathetic.

Her tongue worked. “Who are you?”

“I’m Sky. I’m sort of Matthias’s adoptive sister.”

She sucked in a breath and slowly sat up. “You’re also part of the Severin Family?”

“I don’t mean you any harm,” Sky said quickly.

“Don’t ever want to go back there,” she whispered, clutching the sheets. “Down there.”

Sky must’ve understood Lara meant the basement. Sky rose from her chair, walked to the bed, and patted her arm.

“You don’t need to. Ever again.” The steel and vehemence in Sky’s voice took her by surprise.

Lara looked at the arm that touched her and blinked, seeing the white, uninterrupted lines stark against Sky’s smooth skin. She couldn’t contain her shock. Lara widened her eyes.

Scars.

She hadn’t realized she said the words out loud, until Sky said, “We do have that in common. Maybe that’s why Matthias can’t say no to me.”

“Did—” Lara began, then hesitated, unsure if she wanted to ask that dreadful question. Did someone in the Severin Family inflict on those on her?

“Squirt, go away. I need to talk to Lara alone,” said a new voice by the door. Matthias.

Sky scrunched up her face at him. “Don’t call me that. I’m not a kid anymore, Matthias.”

Somehow, seeing Sky interact with Matthias felt a little surreal, peeling away her initial impression of Matthias as some kind of loner. Lara spotted another man by Matthias’s shoulder, also massive, inked, and he didn’t look all too happy with her.

“Wife,” the other man called. “We’re leaving.”

“Wait a moment. Matthias,” Sky said, rising to her feet.

Watching the tiny pregnant woman waddle up to such a big man like Matthias and poking a threatening finger into his chest, Lara had to admit, was a little amusing.

Matthias blinked down at her. “What?”

“Don’t bring her back downstairs. She didn’t like it,” Sky stated. “Hell, no woman would.”

Matthias huffed. Their gazes met. Lara didn’t know what she felt about him. His actions confused the hell out of her. Why would he unlock her ankle cuff? He could have let her fall, but he caught her. Sky also mentioned a doctor. The bandage on her ankle looked professionally tended to.

And that kiss they shared. She didn’t know why she couldn’t erase that image from her head, or how easily he made her forget where she was. If he went any further, she wouldn’t stop him, might encourage him even. Dangerous man.

Nothing made sense. Wouldn’t a hobbled captive be easier to manage? Why would Matthias bring her out of the basement and to this bedroom?

Lara remembered seeing the hurt in Matthias’s black eyes as she clambered up those stairs. That glimpse of weakness, of vulnerability caused her to fall.

“That won’t be necessary,” Matthias finally said.

His answer seemed to satisfy Sky.

“Don’t leave,” Lara blurted without thinking.

Sky paused. “Lara, you might not see it now, but he’s a good man. Do you understand why Matthias can’t let you go yet?”

“I think so. You want to find Skip,” she said. Lara had been down there, knew their faces. It was childish to think they’d ever let her go.

“I’ll come visit again. Treat her right,” Sky told Matthias. Her footsteps, along with her husband’s, faded away, leaving her alone with her captor.