Taking the Fall: Vol 3 Read online

  I look over at Jeanette who’s staring at me. I don’t know what to do with what my father has given me. But part of what he said is true. Why would Carter give up everything for me? Could this all be a game? If it is, I’m sure Carter is playing it in a way to keep me safe, to end this all. Right now it really doesn’t matter. I need to get us out of here.

  “I don’t care if I’m a pawn or not at this point. Carter is going to rip you apart. If he doesn’t want me then why would he fight to get me? What does having me really do for you?”

  My father smiles at that. I don’t know why I’m even fighting with him about it, it just makes my blood boil for anyone to question Carter’s loyalty to me. It’s almost laughable.

  “We all know what started Carter on this path – his family. So it looks like that thing growing inside you is all the family he has left. I’m guessing he’ll do whatever it takes to get you back, not because of you but because of what’s inside of you. And now I have my very own pawn.”

  “You bastard!” I scream, going to charge at him but Jeanette grabs me by the waist.

  “I’m done with them for now. Take them to one of the spare rooms, Marco. Have fun with them if you like. Don’t damage that one,” he says, pointing at me. “We need her for now.”

  “And the other one?” Marco asks, referring to Jeanette.

  “Do what you want. But when you’re done with her, bring her to me. I don’t like them as feisty as you do. I’ll let you break her in a little for me.”

  Jeanette starts to fight him, but I give her quick ‘just do it’ look. I need to get us away from everyone so we can try to find a way out of here. I still have no idea where Justin is, but time is clearly up. We’ve got to get out of here.

  Marco pushes us down the same hallway my mother disappeared down and he shoves us into a room with only a bed. He slams the door shut behind him and leans against it.

  “Strip,” he says while unbuttoning his shirt.

  “Fuck you,” Jeanette shouts at him.

  “Oh, trust me. I’m going to fuck you.”

  He pushes himself off the door and grabs the front of Jeanette’s tee, ripping it all the way down the center. Her breasts fall free.

  “They’re a little small for my taste but they’ll do,” he leers. She goes to smack him but he picks her up bodily and flings her across the room. She hits the mattress and bounces off, hitting the floor. I start to run to her, but he grabs me by the hair and puts a knife to my throat.

  “Take the hoodie off, Layla, or this will get bloody,” he whispers menacingly before biting my neck and releasing me.

  “And you.” He points the knife at Jeanette. “Take off the shorts and get on the bed. One wrong move and I’ll slice her real good,” he orders, waving the knife in my direction.

  Jeanette crawls onto the bed.

  “Hoodie, Layla,” he snaps again.

  Reaching for the hem of the hoodie, I make sure I’m facing him with my back to Jeanette and pull the hoodie over my head. He reaches for my tee and rips it like he did Jeanette’s.

  “Now, you’ve got big tits. I’m going to have to fuck these.”

  He slides his blade up my stomach and between my breasts. He pops the bra with the knife and my breasts spill out but so does the cell phone Carter gave me. It hits the floor with a loud thud.

  “You fucking bitch!” he yells and slaps me across the face. I fall backwards and onto my ass. He picks up the phone and throws it against the wall, shattering it. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his phone and makes a call.

  “She had a phone on her.” Pause. “Yeah, I bet my ass Carter is tracking. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Another pause. “Got it. I’ll bring them out to the garage now.” He ends the call. “You’re going to pay for that, you little bitch.”

  As he reaches for me, I pull the gun out from the back of my jeans and shoot twice. The first bullet misses because I wasn’t ready for the recoil, but the second hits his shoulder.

  “Come any closer and I’ll shoot again!” I scream at him. He steps back and stares at me.

  “You okay?” I ask Jeanette, not taking my eyes off Marco.

  “Yeah. Kill him,” she spits, but I’m not sure I can unless he charges me. My hand is shaking, and I’m not a hundred percent sure I can hit my target unless it’s closer.

  The door crashes open and my father is standing there. His eyes go wide when he sees me.

  “How did she get a fucking gun?” he yells at Marco, who’s holding his shoulder as blood pours down his arm.

  “I don’t know,” he mutters through clenched teeth.

  “We don’t have time for this shit. He could be here any minute.” They both look at me. My father takes a step towards me, and I fire in response. The bullet hits his leg. He stumbles back and hits the wall.

  “Boss. Fuck,” Marco sputters, bracing my father so he doesn’t fall to the ground.

  “You better run,” I yell. “If you come any closer I swear I’ll fucking shoot you. You hear me? I’ll fucking shoot you!” I scream the words, hoping they carry some force.

  “Don’t think this is over, Layla. And don’t think Carter is on your side either.” He leaves on that warning, leaning on Marco for support.

  Jeanette jumps from the bed and is at my side in an instant. “We’ve got to get out of here. Or should we wait for Carter?”

  I have no answer to her question.

  I turn to Jeanette and my only response is a sob.

  CARTER

  “What the fuck was that sound?” Saint asks.

  We’re crowded behind a car outside the building Layla is in, or at least where the signal was coming from a few minutes ago.

  “You know exactly what that was. Gunshots. We’ve got to move.”

  As I start to move in Saint grabs my arm. “Wait, they’re coming out.” I look and see a few of O’Leary’s thugs running out of the building. Figures as soon as shit gets thick, the rats scurry. “Just wait until they clear out. We need to even the odds a bit. You’re a badass but even you can’t take twelve men at once.” Saint says.

  I’m twitching with anticipation but I know he’s right. There’s another exit in the back, but we can’t move to cover both. I watch for a few more moments as the last of the men and some strung-out chicks leave. When I finally see an opening I turn to Saint. “I’m going in. Cover my ass.”

  I’ve got a gun in each hand as I head towards the building. I can feel Saint close behind with his guns drawn too. It’s broad daylight now, and we’re sitting ducks if anyone feels like waiting around to take us out.

  Finally we make it to the entrance and slowly enter. The main room is huge and completely empty. We both creep in quietly, not wanting to disturb anything just in case.

  “Hallway, on your left,” Saint whispers, and we head in that direction.

  He covers our tail, and I look in every room carefully as we make our way down the hallway. I want to scream out Layla’s name but I know I can’t.

  We get to the end of the hallway and see that all the rooms are empty. “Fuck,” I hiss, not knowing where else to look.

  “Let’s check the exit out back and see if they left a trace,” Saint suggests.

  I tuck one gun in my shoulder holster and open the back door with my free hand. I push the door and swing it open and immediately I’m looking down the barrel of a Colt .45.

  “Back up, motherfucker!”

  “Jeanette!” Saint yells. As soon as she sees him her eyes start to water, but she turns the gun on him.

  “I said back up!” she screams, and Saint and I stop instantly. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but this chick means business.

  “Where’s Layla?” I ask calmly. I don’t want to spook her, but I need my woman. Now.

  I look around, and I don’t see her. There are a few abandoned cars out here but nothing much else.

  Jeanette shakes a little and it’s evident she’s shed a few tears, but the girl
is tough as nails as she aims her gun at me and Saint. This isn’t her first time with a firearm. I look her up and down and notice she’s barefoot, dressed only in tiny shorts and a ripped sheet that’s tied around her chest.

  “Mama, listen to me. It’s me, baby. It’s Saint and Carter. We aren’t going to hurt you. We are here to save you. Put the gun down and come here.”

  She shakes her head a little as if to clear out what he just said. “Put your guns down. I don’t trust anyone right now.”

  Saint immediately puts his on the ground and kicks it away. He gets on his knees and puts his hands behind his head. “Jeanette, come here, Mama. You know how much I love being on my knees in front of you.”

  Jeanette cracks a small smile, and I make my move. I quickly grab her arm and twist her hand back a little. Not hurting her, just applying enough pressure to get her fingers to release without pulling the trigger. In a matter of seconds I have her disarmed, and I push her towards Saint. He catches her and wraps her up in his arms. Jeanette struggles for only a second before she melts into him and starts to cry big full sobs as she clings to him.

  “Where. Is. She?” I ask through gritted teeth. I’m getting real sick of asking the same goddamn question.

  Jeanette points to one of the abandoned cars, and I run over.

  I get to the car and jerk the entire door off the hinges in my panic to get to her. I throw the door to the ground and see Layla is huddled on the floorboard. “Cherry!” I call out and reach for her. She looks me in the eyes but doesn’t move towards me. “Cherry, baby?” I ask and reach again. I look her over and see she’s in the same kind of torn sheet Jeanette is dressed in, and I wonder what the fuck happened.

  She looks at me doubtfully but finally sits up and holds her hands out. I grab them quickly and pull her from the car. I wrap her body in my arms, and I feel her shaking. She doesn’t cry or speak, she just shakes all over.

  I run back to Saint and Jeanette, scanning the area the whole time to see if anyone is still here. “Get her up. We’ve got to get out of here. I don’t know who’s left or how much time we have before the cops show up.”

  Saint gets off the ground with Jeanette, and we head to the car. I put Layla beside me in the front seat, and Saint and his woman get in the back. It’s a silent ride back to the safehouse and I feel Cherry continue to shake during the journey. I take it as a good sign that she still has her arms wrapped around my waist and her head on my chest. I kiss her head and tell her it’s going to be okay, repeating those words the entire way back.

  Once we get to the safehouse I put us on lockdown – nobody in and nobody out. I’ve got alarms on top of alarms as well as bulletproof doors and windows. Unless someone drives a tank over this building, it’s Fort Knox secure.

  I carry Cherry upstairs, and we head in one direction while Saint takes Jeanette to his room. I know that whatever she went through she’s in good hands with him, but my focus is on my girl.

  I walk to the bathroom and carry Layla directly into the shower without bothering to undress either of us. I turn my back to the showerhead and flip it on so the cold spray hits me until it warms up. Once it’s warm enough for her I turn so the water hits her shaking body. I reach around and turn on all the other showerheads so that the enclosed space is filled with hot steam. I can feel her body start to relax as she warms up. I don’t know how long I stand there holding her, both of us in drenched clothes. If I had to hold her for eternity to make her better I would.

  After a little while longer, she lifts her head and leans back into the water. I sit her on the high seat I had built into the shower. I stand between her legs and pull my shirt off and then peel off my sopping wet jeans and boots. I’m naked when I move back between her legs and go to take the ripped-up sheet off of her body. She puts her hands up as if to stop me, and I halt my movements. She looks me in the eyes like she has a question. “Layla?” I ask and then it’s as if she makes her decision. She moves her hands and nods as if to tell me to go on undressing her.

  I take everything off her and then pick her back up. She wraps her arms and legs around me, her naked body molding perfectly to mine. My hard cock is trapped between us, but I’m doing my best to ignore it. She starts to wiggle her hips and, while I want to be as gentle as possible with her, I’m desperately in love with her and I’m only so strong.

  “Just ignore that, baby. I’m gonna hold you for a bit.”

  She leans back and looks me in the eyes. “Carter, I love you. I need you to love me right now too.”

  “I do, baby. I love you so much.” I kiss her lips and she tries to deepen it. I let her.

  “I need you to love me with all of you right now,” she says and grinds harder against my cock. “Please,” she whispers against my lips, and I’m done for.

  I turn our bodies so she’s on the ledge of the shower seat again. At this height my cock lines up perfectly with her pussy.

  I grab her face with both my hands and look deep in her eyes. “I love you so much, Layla. Don’t ever, ever do that to me again.” The tears running down her cheeks mingle with the drops of water from the shower. I lean down and kiss her full soft lips as my cock nudges her opening.

  She grabs on to my shoulders, and I push home. Once I’m seated inside her, I just hold us there. I don’t move, I just enjoy the feeling of being inside her and having her safe.

  “You scared the life out of me, Cherry. I thought I’d lost you and the baby. What the fuck were you thinking?”

  “Carter, please. Love me now, scold me later.”

  “Fine, but I want answers.”

  I pull my hips back and slowly rock back into her. “Heaven,” I whisper and wrap my arms around her body. Her arms come around my neck, and she clings to me like she can’t stand the thought of space between us. I feel exactly the same way. I plant my feet and start to love her with every inch of me. I rub my hands up and down her back, holding her tightly as we share our passion.

  We reach our peak at the same time, our bodies so attuned. It’s a vital moment for both of us. It felt as though this time we needed to reconnect something that came unplugged. I don’t know what happened to her in that building, but for a few moments she was lost to me.

  I kiss her lips, and as our breaths even out I look into her eyes again. “There you are,” I whisper, and I can see that she’s back with me.

  After I washed us off in the shower, I took Cherry to bed and made her eat before she took a nap. We lay there naked for a few hours while she slept on my chest and I played with her hair. She clung to me the whole time, like I would suddenly have the need to be somewhere else.

  “Wake up, baby.” I rouse her, and she opens her eyes. She’s so goddamn adorable when she first wakes up. “I brought you and the baby more to eat. And I’m ready for some answers about what happened.”

  She looks at me reluctantly but slowly starts to explain. She tells me everything that happened from the moment I got the phone call to when I found her in the backseat of the car. I sit there and listen to everything. On the outside I look calm and collected, but on the inside I am a raging bull ready to tear this whole fucking place to shreds.

  “Carter, I know the answer and won’t ask…”

  “No. I’ve never fucking touched your mother,” I answer before she finishes her sentence. I need to erase all doubts in her mind about the lies her parents told her.

  “I didn’t so much as shake her goddamn hand the first time I met her, and I certainly never fucked her. I don’t know what kind of delusional bullshit your dad is telling you, and most likely feeding your mom, but it’s lies. All. Of. It.”

  “I know, Carter. I trust you. I believe you. Everything he’s ever told me has been a lie. They both just messed with my head, and I didn’t know what to believe. I’m sorry if I ever had a shred of doubt that you didn’t have what’s best for me in mind. I know you would never do anything that would hurt me in anyway if you could prevent it.”

  My heart warms at h
ow much she trusts me. She’s finally got it. Really got it. Everything I do since the moment I laid eyes on her is for her.

  “You’re mother has issues, Cherry. Big ones. When I first came there she did try to get with me a few times and I brushed her off. I was annoyed at first, but over time I just felt bad for her. Your father is good at playing head games, Layla. That’s what he does, and he even did it to your mother. He finds people’s weaknesses and then exploits them. He gets off on the shit. He knows the part of you that is most vulnerable and he attacked it and that’s what he did to you tonight. I’m betting he’s been doing it to your mother for years. I’ve never used you for anything, and I’ll never leave you, Cherry. I swear.”

  “I know, Carter. If there is anything in life I know for sure it’s that you will always find me.

  “Always,” I confirm

  “Why do you think my mother acted that way tonight? Where has she been?” I can see the pain in her eyes. Having both your parents lose it on you can’t be easy, but I don’t think her mother is as bad as she seems.

  “I think your mom got caught up in your father’s games. Once she even said to me she saw how I looked at you, that she wanted to be looked at like that. I think she’s lonely, and after everything went down that night I think she bolted for a while. Why she came back, I have no idea.”

  “I hope she gets the help she needs,” she whispers. I just nod because I hope she does too. I have no idea what the woman was like before she met O’Leary, but spending years with a man like him couldn’t be good for anyone’s sanity.

  I watch her to make sure she eats everything I made for her. She needs to keep up her strength for herself and the baby. I worry about them both so much. After she’s finished I clear the plates and slip off the loose shorts I had on.

  I stand naked in front of her and my cock is hard…again.

  Layla smiles up at me and raises an eyebrow. “Now what did you have in mind, Carter?”

  “Well, obviously, I need to eat. Spread them thighs, baby, I’m a starving man.”