Page 1 of Forever Found

CHAPTER 1

ADDY

“Max?” I gasped.

The look on his face instantly morphed into one I had never seen on him before – a look of delight and thrill at the obvious betrayal and shock that had to be written all over my own features.

“Don’t look so betrayed, Addy. I had to find a way to stay close to you after your escape, and that way fell right into my lap when your brother contacted me, needing my services to help you.”

“It was you?” I asked in a whisper, my brain still fighting to take everything in. “You…you worked with Joseph? You were a part of…of what he did?”

I was searching through every single memory I had recovered for any clue that Max had been mixed up in my father’s ill deeds, but there was nothing there.

“I was more of a silent partner in the venture,” Max sneered. The man standing over me now was not the same man who had arrived at that police station in Vegas when I most needed him. He wasn’t the kind, gentle man who had soothed me when I was at my weakest and made me feel somewhat safe. The man before me suddenly looked cold and hard, the sneer of enjoyment on his face nothing like the gentle smile that had reassured me somuch, months before. Even his tone of voice was sharper, and filled with venom. The Max I had known from my time in Vegas, and from the few phone calls we’d shared since, never existed, I quickly realized.

“Venture?” I snapped as anger filled me. I stepped forward so I was almost pressed against him, and glared up into his cold face. “Do you know what you were doing to those innocent women you took from the streets? Do you know what those monsters did to them, to me, you sick bastard?!” I yelled as my face heated and my body vibrated with rage.

“Your father was a very depraved individual, my dear. I don’t share his inclinations. I left the dirty work to him, since he enjoyed it so much. I simply handled logistics and took my share of the profits,” he explained, the ease with which he said ‘profits’ making my stomach roll.

“Do you know how many innocent girls have died, all for your damned profits? Do you realize what countless women are going through day after day just so you can line your designer fucking suit pockets?!” I shoved at his chest, my rage needing an outlet, but he barely moved, the smirk only getting wider on his face.

Of course, that was like a red flag to a bull and I started to beat at his chest with even more force. How could he stand there talking about ‘profits’ knowing what hell his and Joseph’s victims were enduring, just to make them money? He was a sick bastard, no matter what his ‘inclinations’ were or were not.

“Enough!” Max barked as he grabbed my hands in one of his and shoved me backwards so hard I lost my footing and fell to the ground beside where Eli lay, still out cold. I sat up and stared at my brother, trying to calm myself down and refocus. I was angry and I wanted answers, but Eli came first.

“Where are you taking us?” I asked as I grabbed Eli’s hand and looked back up at Max.

“Somewhere secure, where your other brother will have no chance of finding us.”

“Eli needs to see a doctor. His head…” I said as I placed my fingers over the pulse at Eli’s wrist. I could feel it beating strongly, but I was still terrified that he hadn’t yet woken up. “Just let him go. Drop him at a hospital. You don’t need him. Asher will pay money to get me back. He’ll give you whatever you want. You don’t need Eli too,” I pleaded.

“No can do, I’m afraid. I’m betting big brother will pay a lot more money if I have the both of his precious siblings,” Max threw back casually.

“Why are you even doing this?” I sighed as I sank to the side against the sofa Eli laid on. I knew I had to protect my brother, but how could I do that with this monster and his goons all around us?

“Your father. He tried to cut me out of the business we began together. He thought I wouldn’t even notice him stealing money from me month after month, but I did. You were a warning he didn’t heed. He thought he was untouchable. Now he’s dead and I’m going to make sure he pays what he owes, and then some.”

“Wh-what do you mean? How was I a warning?” I questioned, my head once again spinning.

Max bent down to his haunches before me and moved to stroke a finger down my cheek, but I turned away before he could touch me.

“You’re very attractive, my dear, but not so smart, huh?” he mocked. I closed my eyes and tried to hold back the shudder that wracked my body at having him so close to me.

“It was you,” I stated as the truth hit me. “You h-had me taken to get back at Joseph?”

“Very good,” he chuckled. “I was delighted when I saw you and realized you were the image of Joseph too. I knew he’d recognize you, and I was sure it would shake him, seeing his own child trapped in the trafficking ring he created.”

“But it didn’t.” It suddenly made sense then. That was why Joseph had been yelling at me, when he hurt me, that he was always in control. That was what he had meant. Max had put me before him hoping for some reaction, hoping it would somehow shake, or upset the old bastard. But it hadn’t. Joseph Lyle was a man who refused to show weakness, even if it meant torturing and abusing his own daughter. “He couldn’t lose. Hurting me was nothing to him if it meant he could prove he was still in control.”

“Maybe you are a little smarter than I gave you credit for,” Max told me with a smirk. “You’re right of course. You were nothing to him. I saw what he did to you that night on the cameras in the house. He was brutal and vicious, despite knowing exactly who you were. He walked away and left you with the senator without a backward glance. My warning failed, but the old bastard died anyway. Now it’s time I get what I’m owed. Lucky for me, Asher Lyle has proven to have something his father never possessed. A heart. That, I can use to my advantage.”

“You’re an idiot,” I growled. “You’ve underestimated Asher, and you’ll be really fucking sorry you did when he gets his hands on you!”

“So cute when you get all riled up. I have to admit, a huge part of me wants to have a piece of the joy I saw on your father’s face when he was taking you that night.”

“Fuck you, Max!” I yelled as I scrambled to my feet and backed up a foot, wanting to retreat but not willing to leave Eli. “You touch me and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

“Like I said, cute,” he sneered as he too stood. “We’re going to have some time together, Addy. You’ll do exactly as I tell you to in that time, or I’ll have Bull beat your precious brother to death.” Max looked down at Eli and my heart started to pound even harder as nausea threatened. He had me and he knew it. There was nothing I wouldn’t do or endure to protect Eli. I was already broken beyond repair. I would not allow them to break Eli too.