Page 4 of Beautiful Chances
“Idon’tseeany reason we should dress up.” Mia’s monotone and emotionless voice is like a red-hot poker to my gut.
Ever since she called me from Serendipity, she’s been the embodiment of nothing. When she’s with us, she’s indifference incarnate—but we hear her plagued screams of anguish coming from the basement. She’s spending almost every waking moment in the basement—scratch that—every moment. She’s even taken to sleeping down there. That is if she does, in fact, sleep at all.
“I know it’s New Year’s Eve, but I have nothing to celebrate, Kas. I need to keep an eye on him.” Her eyes are trained on the basement door, and she doesn’t even spare my blond brother a glance.
Mia’s new pastime is watching Mr. Riley, or Neil, as I’ve now learned that his name is. For the past six days, he’s been the new inhabitant in our basement. I know it’s Mia’s wish to keep him close, but it makes me fucking uneasy to have that scumbag so close to her. Especially when they’re alone.
But she doesn’t want us down there with her, and we’ve all agreed to give her the space she needs. Just because we understand it doesn’t make it easy, though. Each of us wants to be at her side and not have to sneak down to cover her with a blanket when we think she’s asleep. However, without knowing the full extent of the events from the night Mark was killed, it’s hard to know what she needs. I keep telling myself and my brothers that we need to be patient, and we do. But again, that doesn’t mean it’s easy when she still hasn’t told us exactly what happened.
And then there’s Lila. She has to know most of what went down, but she’s as tightlipped as Mia is. When I, in a moment of desperation, went to visit her in the hospital, all she said was, “Baby will tell you once she’s ready. Coen, I know I have given none of you a reason to trust me, so I will not ask you to do that. But she has. Give her the time she needs.” Then, with a wry smile, she added, “Time heals all wounds, doesn’t it?”
Yeah, no fucking shit, Sherlock! But time is a luxury we don’t have.
Breaking the silence, Alec says, “Come on, it’s just one evening. You know Mark would have wanted you to celebrate.” I hold my breath as I wait for her reaction to Alec’s attempt at getting her to spend some time with us.
Mia huffs and rolls her shoulders as though she’s getting ready to fight Alec and Kas. We already knew it wouldn’t be easy to get her to spend the night with us, but I relented and let them try their way first—which isn’t getting us anywhere. If her heavy breathing is anything to go by, we only have seconds left before she snaps like an angry bull.
“Mia, look at me,” I say, and she immediately responds to my authoritative tone, turning around and looking me square in the eye. “Tonight isn’t about Mr. Riley. He has taken enough from all of us. I want you to go upstairs, take a shower and wear whatever the hell you want. Then once you’re ready, come join us. Is that understood?”
Squaring her shoulders, she looks at me through slitted eyes like she’s about to fight me on this. I’m mentally going through ways to convince her when she deflates and, in a small voice, agrees. “Okay,” she says, exhaling as though all the fight is leaving her body, along with the air that is expelled from her lungs.
Surprising me further, Mia gives me a curt nod before walking toward the stairs. “If you guys are getting changed as well, can you please not do it all at once? Someone needs to keep an eye on the door.” As an afterthought, she adds, “Please.”Her words are barely a croak, evidence of the rivers of tears she’s shed and the screams of despair she’s cried repeatedly. This makes my heart plummet to my stomach, and I have to fight myself to not reach for her.
Get yourself together, for fuck’s sake,I mentally scold myself. Mia doesn’t need someone to be sweet to her right now. If she did, Alec and Kas would have been successful in getting her to leave the basement sooner. No, what she needs is someone to take her choice away. Someone she can blame. I guess I placed myself in that role when I ordered her upstairs, just as she accepted my bid for the job when she followed my order.
I don’t think any of us blame her for being cautious and scared that Mr. Riley might escape. While she’s confirmed nothing, there are certain things I’m pretty sure she’s endured at his hands, and as I watch her disappear up the stairs, the words she spoke last when we were in Business Class come to the forefront of my mind.
“Please, Coen, I need you to rub it until my skin absorbs it. I need you to wash away—”
I’m ashamed I started touching her that day in class. Not because I didn’t want her, because fuck, I always want her. Obviously, something was going on, and I’m at least ninety percent sure the slimeball in our basement did something sexual to her—I just don’t know what. Every time I think about it, my mind rebels, not wanting to know precisely what she’s suffered through at Mr. Riley’s hands—but there’s also a part of me that yearns for the knowledge. That’s the part that thirsts for vengeance and retribution—the darkest part of my being wants to ensure that he suffers tenfold for everything he’s done.Not only the actions, no, that won’t be enough. If I have my way, he’ll suffer for every sordid thought he’s ever had about Mia.
“What the fuck, man? You’re like a Mia whisperer.” With an upward twist of his lip, Kas looks smug. Neither Alec nor I react to his attempt at humor. “I’ll go shower and get dressed as well. You two make sure someone is monitoring our new pet.”
While I watch Kas disappear the same way Mia did, I consider all the opportunities if Mr. Riley is here to stay for some time. So far, Mia hasn’t been explicit in what she wants to happen, and I haven’t dared hope that I get to break in a new pet.
The night she called me from Serendipity, I already knew things had gone horribly wrong. Kas called Alec and me as soon as he lost her on the phone, and we met up at Mark’s place. Watching the carnage was fucking hard. Despite Mark’s lifeless body, there was no way of knowing if all the blood was his—especially not when both Mia and Lila were missing.
Receiving her call was a blessing. Seeing her almost naked and bleeding at Serendipity was a curse. Time was of the essence, so we couldn’t cover all that had happened, and all I could do was everything she asked.
“Coen, you have to take him with you. He can’t be allowed to walk free, and I don’t trust the justice system. He—”her voice cracked, but her eyes still burned with malice. “He needs to pay. I need your help, please.” I still don’t know whether I did the right thing, but there was no way I could refuse her plea.
What’s done is done, and even though Mia is the one who gets to call the shots on this one, I know there’s a reason she called me. She could have reached out to either of my brothers, and they would have leaped at the chance to help her. But she chose me.
“You might as well get ready, too. I got this.” Twisting the doorknob, I make my way down to the basement without looking to see if Alec went upstairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, I switch on the light and take in the man who’s responsible for Mia’s loss. It’s only been six days, and I haven’t done any of my usual work. He’s still dressed, and he’s even been given a blanket. To make up for that undeserved kindness, Mr. Riley hasn’t been allowed to shower or even use the bathroom. Nope, he’s using Woofer’s old bucket, and he gets to clean it himself after I’ve emptied it.With the toothbrush, he’s wisely opted not to use it for anything else but cleaning. The thought makes my lips want to curl up in a half-smile, but I tamper down the urge.
“Are you finally coming to your senses, boy? You know, we could come to an agreement.” It’s laughable the way he tries to sound superior, like he genuinely believes he’ll ever be allowed to walk away. Or crawl. He won’t ever be granted the chance to even slither like the fucking snake he is. “I could give your friend his money back, and of course, I promise to leave Baby alone. She was a lousy fuck, anyway.” Letting out a boisterous laugh, he licks his dry lips.
I know he’s trying to rattle me, but I’ll be damned if I let him see the effect his words have. Not wanting to give anything away or even entertain him, I remain silent. Every time I’ve been down here, I keep quiet. The less I say, the more he does, which is all kinds of entertaining. He hasn’t quite lost his attitude or threats yet, but it’s only a matter of time—and seeing him panic at my silence is enough for now.
Letting my eyes trace over his body, I see the many cuts on his arms and even a few slashes on his chest. Each one is courtesy of the strongest woman I’ve ever met.
“Come now, you must want something since you keep coming down here. What’s it going to take? Is it because of the video I have of you? I’ll, of course, delete that, and I don’t have any copies. I haven’t even shown it to my associate.” Pulling at his chains, he tries to free his shackled hands, and the defeated yell he lets out is music to my ears.
Still, I say nothing.
“When I get free of here, I’m going to fuck you up in front of her. I’ll cut off every part of you that has touched her. Pass that on to the other two. You’re nothing but disgusting boys playing with what you don’t understand. Do you think I’m the only one that’s after her? Is her cunt really worth all this trouble? Because that’s all you have ever had. I’m the one she loves!”
