Page 48 of Before the Fall

“Do you think she’s still alive?” Lily whispers, like she doesn’t want to say those words too loud in case Tia’s gone already.

I look at her and Sophie and nod. “She was so strong back there. I don’t know where she found the courage to say some of the stuff she was saying to Victor. Tia’s got no experience with anything like this, but she made sure I got out of there. I’ll never be able to repay her for that.”

“Strong is good,” Sophie says. “Strong means she can take a lot. I know what she’s going through. I had to be strong with those bastards who took me. I had Kane, though. She’s all on her own with my uncle, and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

Lily nods, and she should know. Victor held her hostage to get to his son, and she’s told me she wasn’t sure she’d make it out alive.

“I hope he didn’t do anything to her. He can be so cruel. I used to worry that Cason would turn out like his father. I told him that, and he swore he would never want to be like that man. I should have known he wouldn’t become like Victor. After all, he’s never forgiven him for killing his mother. That kind of thing leaves scars that never truly heal.”

We sit in silence for a long time as the possibilities of what could be happening to Tia float through my mind. I push each one out, but then it’s replaced with something even more horrible.

Finally, to make myself feel better, I say out loud, “I know Tia is going to come out of this okay. The guys are going to take care of things, and she’ll be back here safe and sound tonight. She may not have been brought up to be tough enough, but she’s got it in her. I saw it firsthand. She’s going to be fine.”

Lily and Sophie nod their agreement, and all I can hope is that I’m right.

God, let her be okay. Bring her back to us so we can take care of her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Tia

For the past two hours, Victor has paced back and forth in front of me as I sit here tied to this chair wishing I could do something to hurt him. Then again, even if I wasn’t bound at my wrists and ankles, what could I truly do? He has a gun. I have nothing. I’d be no match for him.

All he seems interested in at the moment is asking the giant man guarding me if he hears noises. I don’t know what he thinks is happening, but I haven’t heard anything.

Even admitting that makes my heart sink. Where is Jaxon? Why hasn’t he come to find me yet?

Then a truly terrible thought enters my head. Did Victor already have him killed? Is that why he hasn’t come for me?

Almost as if he can read my thoughts, Victor stops in front of me and grins. “Strange that your boyfriend hasn’t come riding in like the knight in shining armor yet, isn’t it? I thought he’d be here by now.”

Relieved to hear him talk about Jaxon as if he’s still alive, I say, “He’s coming. You know that.”

I don’t know where my bravery is coming from. Before tonight, if anyone had asked me how I’d handle myself in a situation like this, I would have freely admitted I’d cry, pass out, and probably be dead in a matter of minutes.

But something in the way Victor listened to me when I said he should let Kaia go has emboldened me. I’m not that scared girl his dead son trapped in that big house years ago because he wanted to terrify me. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m strong now.

However, no matter how strong I am, I won’t be able to fend off Victor’s advances if he decides it’s time to rape me. I know he has no love for women of any kind, but I seem to occupy some strange place in his mind that so far has helped me stay alive and untouched.

I don’t know how much longer either of those states will continue, though.

Victor nods his head and sighs. “I know. I taught him how to work in this business. Did you know that?”

“I do. He’s told me what you did for him,” I say, hoping my gut feeling is right and this man has some familial feelings that still exist for his nephew.

And by extension, me.

“He did?” my captor asks, clearly surprised.

Nodding, I choose my words carefully, aiming to keep his focus on his love for his family. “Of course, he did. He said he knew nothing when he came to work for you. He told me you taught him everything.”

“And he stabbed me in the back the first chance he got,” he says in a voice full of rage before he starts pacing again.

“He didn’t mean to,” I say, my voice verging on pleading. “It’s just that he wanted different things.”

I don’t finish that sentence the way I want to by adding when he met me, but that’s the reason why Jaxon started working with Ryker instead of Victor. He didn’t want to be involved in trafficking women and drugs. He wasn’t trying to be a good man, but he didn’t want to be that man anymore.

The problem is I don’t think Victor understands that.