Bending to Break (A Before I Break Novel Book 1) Page 2

  It was supposed to be me who had gone to that apartment, me who would have coaxed my target to come willingly, but that had been snatched from me due to incompetence beyond my control.

  “Sir, they’re on the runway now.”

  A shot of adrenalin punched my heart as I looked out of the window to see a black Mercedes making its way towards us. In the back of that car was eight million dollars’ worth of what I wanted.

  What I needed.

  I smoothed down my trousers and stood up to meet Chen at the door. The plane doors were now open, allowing the ice-cold weather of New York to seep into my body. It couldn’t deter me from catching this moment as the back door of the car opened and one of Chen’s men slipped out.

  A quick nod up to us, he leaned back into the car, his legs tensing as he picked up my precious gift and pulled her out.

  My knees locked into place as I finally saw her sleeping peacefully in his arms. Peering down the darkened steps, I saw the soft glint of her skin from the runway lights, her long flowing hair as it poured over his arm, she was beautiful and safe.

  Mine.

  As they ascended the stairs, I felt a rush like no other. My body zinged with purpose and excitement, while I stared down at the face that had haunted me for eight years. All the agony and frustration had disappeared so suddenly that I was almost breathless.

  Olivia Heart was everything I remembered. The closer she got, the stronger my pull to her was. I couldn’t control myself as I stepped forward to get a better look at her. Even in sleep, she was a picture of perfection with her face pressed to a man she didn’t know.

  I glared.

  “Give her to me!” I demanded, with cold authority. “Presto!”

  Olivia’s weight was distributed into my waiting arms and I wasted no time in pulling us both back into my world. As I moved down the plane, I looked down at her, my eyes not quite believing that she was here.

  In the short walk to my chair, I studied her face. The thick dark lashes were the same; her plump lips, a delicious pink that contrasted against her pale skin. The only thing different about her was the perfume, gone was the soft vanilla, replaced with sensual woody tones of a woman that had blossomed in eight years.

  Softly placing her down on the chair across from me, I efficiently strapped her in and gently leaned her head to rest against the window. It was only when she was bathed in the plane's warm light, did I really see her, truly see her.

  “Why the fuck are her lips blue!?” I hissed, turning around in my seat to glare at Chen.

  Chen’s face remained frozen as he regarded me cautiously. “Nothing more than the cold air, sir.” He nodded to end the conversation. I snapped my fingers for the air hostess who was making her way towards us and demanded a blanket.

  As I waited, I let myself look at her once again, to drink her in before both our lives changed. Olivia’s small frame was hidden mostly by her mahogany hair that cascaded down her chest, she was thinner than I expected, but it suited her frame. Allowing my eyes to travel, I admired that she was all legs in a skirt that highlighted her tiny waist.

  All business. Olivia’s attire told me everything I needed to know; she had only been home minutes before she was snatched away. A hard worker with a need to complete her tasks before she permitted rest. Was she as controlling as I was?

  A few of the recent reports had suggested she was not into socializing with people from work, or those that had tried to befriend her in her apartment complex; an outsider whose drive outweighed her needs for relationships.

  My eyes continued to scan her and rested on the black heels that had miraculously stayed on her small feet.

  Fuck.

  “Sir,” the blonde air hostess whose name I had already forgotten, interrupted my thoughts as she placed a blanket on my sleeping guest, as if this was an everyday occurrence.

  I watched cautiously while the blanket was pressed into the crooks of her elbows to ensure it stayed on during our trip.

  I wanted to touch her again, but denied myself the pleasure until she was awake, until she was aware of who I was and my role in her new future.

  Leaning back in my chair, I turned away to meet the eyes of Chen who was buckling up in the seat behind my new guest. Only Chen and I had travelled together, but we were leaving with a team of men who took their seats around me. These men had lived in the shadows of Olivia’s life for the past four years to serve me, to protect her.

  Now, they were returning with me to carry on their one task.

  “The doctor will meet us once we land, sir,” Chen interrupted, as he eyed me over Olivia’s sleeping head.

  I nodded stiffly before I let my eyes wander back to Olivia. Under that curtain of luscious hair would be a small needle prick where the necessary had to be done. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but it was the safest extraction plan that Chen and his team had.

  In the next few hours, there would be another dose to keep her sedated while we travelled home, to my home in Sicily. It wasn’t wise to allow her to meet me for the second time in a space that I couldn’t control if she lashed out, so Chen would be the one to administer the prepared dose that sat on the table in between us.

  Letting my eyes slide back to her, I tried to swallow the raging emotions coursing through my body as she sat perfectly still, like a royal statue ready to wake and wreak havoc on my life.

  “We’re good to go,” Dante, my cousin said, whilst he took the seat to my left, his shirt crumpled, and tie shoved in his pocket. Dante had weaponized his good looks on some poor air hostess who would have to spend the next seven hours attending to him.

  “She good?” he asked me, his eyes trying to get a good look at her.

  Shifting in my chair, I thought about the weighted question as I let my eyes rest on her peaceful face.

  “She’s fine now.”

  Now that she was sedated, stolen, and placed in my hold, she would be fine. Safe.

  Protected.

  “Is she everything you remembered?” Dante asked cautiously, knowing that my temper tends to strike hot around the subject of her.

  Was she everything I remembered? No, she wasn’t.

  Olivia was more.

  It had always been easier to forget that, in our time apart, we were both changing. My eyes were greedy as they continued to search for the small changes I had missed through my weekly reports.

  “I’m sure I’ll find out when she’s awake. Did Mr. Bells send the signed paperwork?”

  Dante smirked at me, letting me know that he had done what I had asked. “Yes, it’s in your email. Do you want me to start closing the banks and leases?”

  My cousin had the knack of ensuring that whatever strange business I dragged us both in, he would act as though it was the most normal thing in the world. Nothing fazed Dante, he was not locked in with control like me, but he also provided me with intermittent reprieves when I needed to let go. Simply an ear to borrow, to listen, or to do as I ask.

  “Yes, close them down. We need to clear this up as quickly as possible.”

  Just as I finished, I felt the familiar whir of the plane’s engines kick into life, and I felt my chest expel a small fraction of air that I had been holding.

  We had been on this runway far too long and I was grateful to get moving. In seven hours, I would be back where I belong with the woman that belonged to me.

  Chapter Four

  Olivia Heart

  I felt hungover. My stomach was tense, my head throbbed, and my mouth, God my mouth felt thick with fluff. If I opened my eyes too quickly, I was certain that I would throw up, so I stayed on my back, taking in small bits of air while I tried to ignore the throbbing in my skull.

  Testing my body, I stretched out, my eyes still firmly closed, and let my bare legs glide over the silk sheets.

  Silk sheets? I didn’t have silk sheets.

  Snapping my eyes open, I was hit with a severe wave of nausea that forced me to close them again with a groan. How much had I d
runk last night? I don’t even remember having plans.

  The pain in my skull snapped its fingers at me for attention.

  Slowly retesting the waters, I lifted my body up by using my elbows and took in a steady breath. Cracking one eye open, I let my fuzzy gaze blur out before my eye refocused, alerting me to the sudden change in environment.

  In seconds, my hangover worsened with added panic as I stared around a bedroom that wasn’t mine.

  The bed that held my body was not mine.

  My bed was soft and cream, this bed was a large ornate four-poster bed with soft white drapes and white silk sheets. I whipped my head and groaned as my stomach rolled from the swift action. The whole room was the same size as my apartment with so many stark differences.

  Had I gone out last night?

  Was I in some one-night stand’s house?

  Was I in Simon’s house?

  I can’t be. That wasn’t me.

  My eyes were sluggish to respond as they tried to focus on the room, importing every new detail into my brain. The floor was tiled with a beautiful white and grey slate that looked expensive. The furnishings were soft and feminine, but with all modern clean lines. To the right of the bed, there was an open door to what looked to be a walk-in wardrobe. In front of me, across the vast room, there was a large door that held an open plan bathroom.

  I didn’t understand.

  Scrambling up the bed only made me focus on my body. I wasn’t wearing my clothes. I was wearing someone else’s. Gone was my white blouse and black skirt, replacing them was a blush baby doll dress.

  The sickness rolled around in my stomach as I peered down at my body. This was an item of clothing that I would never wear, ever. Grabbing the hem of the dress, I peeked to check that I was wearing my own underwear. A small sigh of relief fell past my lips when I saw that I was.

  A second wave of panic hit me when I noticed that my bag and shoes were not by the side of the bed. Swinging my legs over the edge of the mattress, I fought back another urge to wretch and rubbed my neck that had decided to join the party of confusing pain.

  Where’s my phone?

  I felt my spine tense when my fingers touched a tiny scab on the side of my neck.

  Then I remembered.

  I could feel it happening once again as I fell into the dark memory of my blind panic as I fought off an attacker in my kitchen. I remember the hard body of a chest against my back as I was pinned into submission. It must have happened in seconds.

  I remembered the pain in my neck.

  My hands scratching up to remove the needle.

  I propelled myself away from the bed and towards the bathroom as I felt my stomach betray me. Retching over the toilet, I felt my stomach roll and my chest burn as I began to purge the drugs that had kept me from fighting.

  Hot tears stung my eyes when I pulled away, my body already struggling to contain itself. My heart was seized with fright, but my brain refused to give in. As I struggled to catch my breath, I recounted all the moments leading up to this. I had left the safety of an Uber, only to have walked into the danger of my own home. The power had been out, and I was so worried about having to wait around for the maintenance man that I hadn’t realized there was someone lurking in the darkness.

  My body began to shake as I pushed away from the toilet. I needed to get out of here before it was too late. The average time to escape a kidnapping had shortened dramatically now that I had been moved to a secondary place. Even if I could push myself up, I was certain I wouldn’t remain upright for long – but I would try.

  What the hell had they given me?

  Get up Olivia. Now!

  My lungs burned wickedly and painfully in panic. My chest heaved with terror, but my brain was sluggishly still trying to catch up, to clear the grey fog. Just as I was about to wretch again, I felt cool fingers hook on my shoulders and pull me back from the toilet.

  “Pick her up, Red,” I heard a deep voice hiss from behind me.

  I froze.

  My ears were now ringing with the sounds of shoes squeaking on the perfectly polished floor. Lashing away from the intruders, I began to scramble my useless limbs to the corner of the room.

  A cold hand returned to my body, gripping my ankle and yanking me back. I turned quickly, my head searing with pressure as I looked up to find four men dressed in black suits staring down at me.

  “Don’t fucking touch me,” I hissed, before kicking my attacker with my left foot, only for it to bounce pathetically off his ankle. “Get away!”

  I tried desperately to see his face, to memorize something about him so I could squirrel it away in my brain for when I would escape. Instead, all I saw was a darker grey silhouette that gripped tighter and slid me across the floor.

  “Don’t fight it, Miss Heart,” I heard from the corner of the room, as my attacker yanked me up into his hard chest, pinning both my hands in one of his.

  I could smell him, he smelled of fresh soap and cigarettes, but it was not enough to identify him. As I squinted up, I was thrust forward before my eyes could reach his.

  The pressure in my skull was unbearable while I was dragged helplessly from the bathroom, into the bedroom, and then what I believed to be a hallway. I felt curses fall away from my mouth and my legs desperately fighting to keep me upright.

  “The harder you fight, the worse it will get,” I heard in front of me. It wasn’t a voice I recognized. There wasn’t a hint of emotion in the gruff voice which made my fear peak to disastrous levels.

  My head fell forward as the sickness rolled once again.

  “Where are you taking me?” I cried when I felt a soft carpet underneath my bare feet. The light was brighter in this room. I knew this from the grey silhouettes brightening and their shapes suddenly becoming more defined.

  “The sickness hasn’t stopped in twenty minutes. You need to do something and now,” I heard someone bark from the corner of the new room, but again, I couldn’t identify the voice. All I knew was that their voice was different from those I had already heard. It was rich, dark, and held a thick accent.

  I was thrust into what felt like a soft chair. It was so quick, that my loose hair covered most of my face. Yanking away my hand, I quickly pushed my hair away and squinted into the room. I needed to see something. I needed to give my brain something to latch onto before I lost it completely.

  “Has she eaten?” I heard the soft melodic voice of a woman that had an English accent.

  “No.”

  “Okay, hold her down.”

  A bubble of panic squeezed my chest when I tried to run, but once again, I was captured by large hands, more than one set as I was gripped and pinned down. The bubble of panic popped and suddenly my eyes were clear, torturously clear as I saw many dark eyes staring down at me.

  Before my brain could speak to my tongue, to articulate the fear it felt from being pinned by several men with guns held to their hips, I was jabbed in my left arm. I flinched away at the sharp invasion.

  “That’s for the sickness,” the female’s voice cooed in my ear, as her perfectly polished fingernails pulled away.

  Red nails.

  “You’ll start to feel better soon.”

  “Please,” I begged, my voice suddenly hoarse. “Let me go, please just let me go – I can’t breathe!”

  I was trying with all my might to free myself, but I barely made my captors move. I was weak and weightless, a feather that they had pinned underneath their pinky fingers.

  Hot tears sprung to my eyes as their hands began to paint bruises against my skin. I was suffocating under their touch, desperate to break free for just one moment. Even in my terror, I was aware that the thin straps of my barely there nightgown were slipping down my shoulders, ready to reveal my chest.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” I cried, as I tried to hit out at the guy who had pinned my right leg. “What do you want from me?”

  “Merda,” I heard hiss from the corner, the rich tones of an Italian ac
cent travelling to my ears like someone had screamed right next to me. “Put her out.”

  “No!” I screamed, my own shrill scream wiping away all noise in the room. “Don’t you touch me! Don’t you dare touch me with that—”

  My scream was interrupted by a set of cold hands leaning into the pile of men pinning me down and grabbing my jaw, lifting me to meet a pair of hazel eyes that brandished honey hues.

  My brain fuzzed and misfired. It was trying to warn me about these dark eyes that pinned my soul back into my body, controlling every breath that I took. I knew by the way this person’s possessive hands held my face that this was my captor. I watched as his lips curled, ready to speak to me once again.

  Instead, my brain fought when my body couldn’t.

  I spat at him, my saliva slipping down his face, which forced him to painfully release me in disgust.

  A vicious hand slipped from my shoulder and pinned itself over my mouth, preventing me from fighting any further. It didn’t matter, this was one small victory that I had over them all.

  I sank my teeth into the hand over my mouth.

  “Fuck!”

  Before I could bask in my small victory, another needle stabbed into my arm, unlike the first needle, I began to feel the effects instantly. My fired blood was suddenly turning to a soft burn, my strength was faltering alongside it and my eyes were returning to the grey haze.

  “No,” I mumbled, as I felt hands slowly release me and a cozy warmth spread over my body. My muscles had no choice but to obey as the liquid invader infiltrated, wrapping me up in warm hands.

  “Don’t hurt me, please, please don’t hurt me.”

  My eyelids fluttered closed even as I screamed at myself to stay awake. The noises around me sounded so far away once again and I knew I had seconds left.

  “Why?” I whispered, hoping that someone would hear me and answer before the darkness ripped me away.

  “We can’t keep dosing her up like this,” I heard the woman again, her voice cold and distant. “If we do, we risk it affecting her heart muscles which could cause her further issues down the line.”