First of all, I have to say a massive, huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to Ambrosia Rush, HGRHfan35, Sky Venom, Hollywoodlove09, redkazi, AmandaN, akinka, susie8807, Shanynde, MRsprofile, and Guest (dear God, I hope I didn't forget anybody). You guys wished me well when I was in a really rough place, and that means more to me than you know. I am slowly but surely recovering, and at least I can sit up and move around (kind of) and eat solid food, and obviously, type. So here is the next chapter. It is a bit short, but it is better than nothing, yeah? Hopefully, I will be up to writing a bit more this week than I have been this past week. No promises on when the next chapter is coming, but I will do the best I can. Thank you all again, and I hope that you guys enjoy the chapter and continue to leave some love. Also, please forgive any mistakes. I am kind of heavily medicated.
Tess woke up in a comfortable bed, head on a fluffy pillow and body covered in soft, silky sheets. This confused her, as last she remembered, she was bound in a trunk unable to see of move or do anything at all. She wondered how she had gotten from there to this beige room with plush carpets and a plush bed.
The room somehow gave her a familiar feeling, as if she had been here before. She put that off to the fact that it was so standard, so plain, that anybody would think it felt familiar. The walls were the standard, off white color, chosen to match with any decor and not show dirt. The bed she was tucked into had plain white sheets and an olive green comforter. They sterile, plastic smell told her that they were brand new sheets. Whoever had made the room up hadn't bothered to to wash them. Still, it was better than the trunk of a car.
Slowly, Tess sat up in the bed and gripped her still sticky wrists from where the duct tape recently held her captive. She was surprised to find that she wasn't tied up or bound in anyway. She was still wearing the same clothes, jeans and faded blue t-shirt, but somebody had removed her shoes before putting her into bed. It seemed as if somebody had taken pains to make her as comfortable as possible, and she couldn't understand why. She had been kidnapped and shoved into the trunk of a car; that didn't quite fit with somebody who would give a shit about her being in bed with her shoes on.
She slipped her sneakers back onto her feet before getting up. As soon as she was on her feet, a wave of dizziness hit her. Her head still ached; whoever had knocked her out had done a thorough job. She slowly turned her head left, and then right, trying to get used to the twinge of pain she felt with every movement. It took a moment, but Tess was finally able to swallow the nausea that struck her. She raised her fingers to trail over the sore spot on the back of her head. The second she made contact, she let her hand fall her side. She wouldn't be making that mistake again. Best not to think about it.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she glanced around the room. Of course, there was no window. Whoever had her wouldn't want to give her the opportunity to attract attention. Her eyes scanned the room, searching for a weapon. The bed was made of solid wood, so it would be essentially useless, unless she could fight off an attacker with a pillow. There was a dresser, but it was flimsy, made of particleboard. There was nothing in it either, just a spare pillow and blanket, which wouldn't help her in the slightest. Hanging on the wall was a framed Chagall print that featured distorted people and a violin in shades of blue. Looking at it made Tess's head hurt more, so she looked away as she tried to tug it off the wall. Of course, it was bolted in.
Her eyebrows knit together in frustration as she eyed the door. Could she maybe get lucky? Could whoever had abducted her have possibly left the door unlocked? She tiptoed across the room, practically holding her breath in hopes that just maybe, she would get lucky and be able to get herself out of this surprisingly comfortable hell that she found herself in. Tess palmed the door and squeezed tightly, saying a silent prayer to literally anybody who would listen that this would work, only to be sorely disappointed. The door was very securely locked. SHe knew that she wasn't that lucky.
Tess sank to the floor, threading her fingers through her own hair and biting her lip against the sobs the threatened to overtake her. She was locked in a room with absolutely no hope of getting out anytime soon. She had absolutely zero idea where she was or who she was with or what they planned to do with her. She really wanted to scream and cry and throw a fit. She laid her head against the wall and tried to take deep breaths and calm herself. Panicking would get her nowhere and she needed to stay calm. She needed to be able to think clearly and be on her toes and figure out a way to get out of this. Also, she really needed to pee.
Tess was about to haul herself back to bed, where at least she could lay down in an attempt to shake the nagging headache, when she heard something that stopped her. It was very faint and difficult to make out, but she thought that she heard somebody talking. She leaned closer to the door, pressing her ear against the cool painted wood. Now, she was absolutely sure she heard it. Somebody was talking.
It took her a second to decipher the sounds, mostly because they were clearly not in English. Tess barely managed to suppress a groan, but she didn't want to alert her captors to the fact that she was awake. Despite the fact that she didn't understand a single thing being said, she felt like it was important to listen.
"Chto my budem delat' teper?" one voice asked.
"Teper' zhdem," said another voice. "Kogda nastalo vremya, my prinosim ikh na koleni."
"Ozhidaniye," the first voice scoffed. "Ya nenavizhu zhdat'."
The second voice laughed, lightly. "Alexei, u vas net terpeniya."
"I ya nikogda ne budu," the first voice, Alexei, replied. Both men laughed, and Tess bit her tongue to keep her own laughter in. What kind of name was "Alexei" for a criminal mastermind? It sounded more like the name of a pigtailed schoolgirl. Maybe he had a nickname, one more appropriate for a criminal mastermind, a name like- "I ne nazyvayte menya Alexei. Menya zovut Lex."
It hit Tess all at once, and she felt lucky that she was sitting down. She didn't understand a lick of Russian, but she understood "Lex", suddenly much better than she had before. She knew "Lex", intimately. She knew how he liked his eggs and she knew what he smelled like right after a shower. She knew what kind of wine he liked and she knew what color panties turned him on. She knew that he was a fan of the Walking Dead and sleeping late on Sundays. And now, she knew that he was a Russian plant who had been sleeping with her for months, probably to get to Kozik. As the tears fell down her cheeks, she suddenly felt lucky that she was alone.
She hauled herself off the carpet and over to the bed in a trance. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to keep from falling apart. Tess didn't understand how she could have fallen for it. She should have been more suspicious. She should have known that a guy like him, a handsome, successful, charming guy like him could do far better than a woman like her. She should have known; she DID know, but she hadn't cared. He had said and done all the right things and she had fallen for it all at once. She had liked him and he had used her from the very start. She was stupid; so, so stupid.
But she wasn't. Tess was anything but stupid. She was smart and sensible and she had a good head on her shoulders. She had left home, on her own, run away from everything she knew to make a life for herself in Charming. She was a strong, capable woman who had simply fallen for the oldest trick in the book. She wasn't the first, and she sure as hell wouldn't be the last to be duped by a handsome stranger with a fast car.
Suddenly, the feeling of sadness and betrayal left her and was replaced with something new. She wasn't sure what had triggered the change, but Tess was absolutely sure that righteous rage felt a hell of a lot better than sadness and fear. Ignoring the pain reverberating through her skull, Tess tore across the room and launched herself at the door. She banged her fists against it, over and over.
"Lex, you chicken shit coward! Did you seriously just fucking hit me in the head and shove me in a trunk? You kidnapped me, you piece of shit? Why don't you come in here and face me, you son of a bitch?" Tess screamed, as she continued to pound on the door. There were sure to be bruises tomorrow, but the way she figured, she could handle a few more bruises. She heard the voices outside stop. She really didn't care. "Are you telling me that you are too much of a pussy to come in here and face me? How can you even look at yourself in the mirror, you pathetic dickface!"
The door swung open suddenly, and there he was. Lex stood on the other side in all his six foot two glory, dark hair hanging in his face, smoldering brown eyes staring at her from behind thick lashes. Immediately, despite all common sense or reason, she launched herself at him, fists flying. It did her ego a world of good to know that she connected at least a couple of times. Really, though, he had almost a foot on her and outweighed her by about a hundred pounds, so she didn't stand a chance in hell. He lifted her off the ground and threw her down to the bed. She glared up at him, almost daring him to speak.
"I see you're awake, my dear," he said with a sick smile on his face. "That's good. I was worried about you."
"Go fuck yourself," she spat back.
She saw him grit his teeth. "No need to be impolite. Not when I have gone to such great lengths to ensure your comfort and safety."
"Comfort and safety? You shoved me in a trunk, you fucking psycho!" she screamed at him. That earned a chuckle from the men in the next room.
"That was unfortunate," he explained, but she could tell he was losing his cool. "But necessary. If you would have cooperated and come along like you were supposed to, we could be at a beach house with some of my comrades right now. But no. You had to be stubborn and go running to the stupid, pathetic blonde biker. I had to improvise."
Him bringing up Kozik set off something inside her. Her mouth opened before her brain could stop it.
"Don't you bring him up," she commanded, her voice low and fierce. "Don't you even speak of him. He is twice the man you could ever hope to be, and he's got the cock to prove it. I promise you Alexei, when he gets his hands on you, and he WILL get his hands on you, he is going to tear you apart."
Tess only had a moment to see the look of pure rage that crossed his face in response to her words, but in that moment, she was terrified. In that moment, she wished more than anything that she had listened to her blonde biker and stayed in the Clubhouse, safe with him. Then, that moment was gone and the back of his hand connected with her face, and she didn't feel anything at all.
"Chto my budem delat' teper?" (What do we do know?)
"Teper' zhdem" (Now we wait.)
"Kogda nastalo vremya, my prinosim ikh na koleni." (When the time is right we will bring them to their knees.)
"Ozhidaniye. Ya nenavizhu zhdat'." (Waiting, I fucking hate waiting.)
"Alexei, u vas net terpeniya." (Alexei, you have no patience)
"I ya nikogda ne budu." (And I never will)
"I ne nazyvayte menya Alexei. Menya zovut Lex." (And don't call me Alexei, my name is Lex.)