Sins of a Bad Boy (The Original Bad Boys Book 1) (21 page)

There was no sound except for their breathing. No movement, no footsteps. Markson and Jerry weren’t moving either, or at least, William couldn’t hear them. And he didn’t know if Holden was with them or not.

William’s hand searched for Ivy’s face. She was standing in front of him when he quietly implored, “Don’t let go of my hand, okay? Whatever happens, hold on to me so that we can stay together.”

He felt her nodding as his thumb caressed her cheek. He could sense her trembling in fear and wished he could end this quickly. For her sake. A similar fear raced down his spine. He didn’t want to be apart from Ivy, because he desperately craved to protect her. Guilt burned in his cells.

In the obscure dark, William moved around and found the cold metal of a container, edging alongside it while holding a death grip on Ivy’s hand.

“This is really taking too long, and you two are pissing me off. There’s no way out!” Markson shouted.

Moving forward was growing problematic because of the blackness surrounding William.

“What should we do?” Ivy asked, plastered to his back.

“I’m not sure. I have no idea where the entrance is.”

“William, he’ll find us, and I can’t see a thing. Can you see anything?”

“No.” He turned, and Ivy embraced him.

“I’m terrified, William. I’m sure he’ll have a weapon.”

He was positive as well but sought to comfort Ivy. “We don’t know that. I swear to you that I’ll do anything to protect you. Do you believe me?” William caressed her hair tenderly as she laid her head on his shoulder and he hugged her back. Pain seemed inconsequential at that moment. All that mattered was getting them out of there in one piece.

“I do believe you.”

“Do you trust me?” he asked, whispering.

“Yes.”

“Then all I need you to do is stay with me. I won’t allow anything else to happen to you,” William vowed.

Apparently, in the dark, they were finally able to bare their true emotions. Ivy had not only become enamored with William. William was infatuated with her too. He’d known it for a while but only accepted it then and there. Under these dire circumstances, he was able to acknowledge how this girl had become important to him.

“How’s your eye?”

“It throbs badly,” she answered.

William kept stroking her hair, calming her, while he absorbed the sounds around him. “It will subside soon, I promise. I have salves to heal your skin without leaving any marks.”

Out of the blue, a voice rang out near William. “Oh dear god, aren’t you two just the sweetest.”

Ivy gasped and was being ripped from his arms.

“William!” Her distressed voice floated away.

“Ivy!” William lunged forward in the dark, feeling left and right in a wild attempt to get to her.

He bumped against containers and kept screaming.

“Will—” Her mouth was smothered.

Dread contaminated his blood while his main goal was to get her back.

He didn’t know which way he was going, yet he kept running. Biting through the stinging pain. “Ivy! Ivy!”

“Kade, calm down. Get back to where you were tied up. Will you do that? Say ‘yes’, and I’ll turn on the lights again,” Markson stated.

“Fuck!” Recognizing he didn’t have a choice, he answered tersely, “Yes.”

The lights turned on again, gradually shining brighter. Still, William had lost every sense of direction.

Just then, Markson started repeating, “Ivy is with me. Follow my voice, William. Ivy is with me.”

Pacing restlessly toward the voice, he found Markson and Jerry. Markson with his knife against Ivy’s throat while he held her against his chest. Jerry with a pistol targeted at William.

He treaded closer, afraid that any unexpected movement would prompt Markson to cut Ivy, and he didn’t want another scratch on her. Her face was already black and blue, and it hurt to see Ivy in that state more than his own injuries did.

“Stop right there.” Markson stepped back with Ivy, whose panic was palpable. “You’ve just made things worse for yourself. Although, I can’t really blame you for using the opportunity. Luckily, Jerry recognized his mistake of using the long rope that would enable you to reach her. And I have to say, your interaction with sweet Ivy was just adorable. I’ve never seen William Kade caring for anyone but himself.” Markson traced the tip of the blade along her collarbone, down the swell of her breast.

Tears poured from Ivy’s eyes as she stood motionless in his hold, looking at William.

Markson ripped the stitches of her dress right between her breasts so that it fell open, partially exposing her. “God, she’s beautiful, William.” He licked his lips. “I can see why she has your attention. Someone who’s captured your interest for longer than a minute must be an exceptional specimen.”

“What the fuck do you want?” William snapped, his patience lost. “Do you want to keep provoking and talking all day?”

“What if I do? There’s nothing you can do about it.” Markson tightened his hold on Ivy.

William saw her flinch and stepped forward again.

“Stay there!” Jerry pushed the barrel of the pistol against William’s nose.

“Because of your little stunt, you’ll be separated now,” Markson spat and shoved Ivy to the side to a container with an open door. She was pushed inside, and Markson slammed it closed while she banged on the metal in desperation.

“William!” she yelled.

“William won’t be able to help you. Shut up!” Markson locked it by turning the key and then pocketed it.

Ivy’s pounding slowed and then stopped. It must have been under a minute but felt like hours to William.

Markson went to work with the chair next, straightening it and holding the rope. 

“Jerry, bring William here.”

 William quietly obliged as Jerry pushed him into the chair, hoping Jerry would tie him up again. And he did, after he gave Markson the pistol to aim at William.

“I’ll be back any second, so don’t even think about escaping again. I’ll fuck Ivy up, William! And I won’t be as nice as I was before. You’re lucky I’m in a hurry,” Markson told him while Jerry secured William’s wrists behind his back and his feet to the chair legs, just as they’d positioned Ivy earlier.

William kept his hands apart only a bit so that Jerry wouldn’t notice as he knotted the rope. He could take the risk since Markson and Jerry were sloppy and in an obvious rush.

“Have a good night, William,” Markson said and hit his temple with the butt of the gun.

The blow resonated through his skull, and he pretended to be knocked out by letting his head fall forward.

“What a pathetic fighter.” William heard Markson insult. “He’s out cold with one punch. Let’s go. I want to find Alfred Ravensdale as soon as possible. He’ll pay us to get his daughter back.” Markson’s voice traveled; they were moving away from William. “We have to be careful about Charles, though. I’m sure he’ll try to find me at Hookers, so we’re not returning there tonight.”

The door creaked once more, announcing their exit.

William’s eyes opened instantly, and he surveyed the room: alone again.

“Ivy?”

“Yes.”

“They’re gone.”

“What did they do to you, William?”

“Nothing. He tied me to the chair, but I have some slack and am trying to get loose.”

She cried softly.

“Don’t cry, Ivy.” William was in so much pain from the strain his body had endured, and his energy was low.

“It’s so dark. It terrifies me.”

“I know, but I’m here. Keep talking to me.” He took a moment to regain some strength since he had room to move his tied hands and pull one out. If he had all his strength, he would’ve been free already.

“Are you sure we’re alone?” she asked.

“Yes.” William, lacking the skill of consoling damsels in distress, racked his brain on how to calm her. “Are you standing or sitting?”

“I’m standing.”

“Sit down, Ivy. Give yourself a moment to regroup. I’m so proud of how you handled yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you sit down?” William, who knew Ivy by now, expected her to keep standing.

“No, but I’m doing so now.” She gave a brusque snort, probably feeling emotions similar to his.

This night, horrendous as it was, had somehow brought them closer together.

“Good. I’m proud you never gave up hope,” he kept on talking to appease her fear, and then he took a steadying breath, struggling to pull the other hand from the rope.

“I didn’t think you noticed.”

“I notice everything about you,” he revealed.

Why was it easier to open up to people when you didn’t face them? Or perhaps it was only like that between them?

“Do you honestly?”

“Yes, I’m very aware of you. There’s an inexplicable sensation that overcomes me when you and I are in the same room.” William’s skin was on fire from extracting one hand from the binds. One more pull, and finally, his other hand was free.

“I’ve known you for longer, William.”

“I’m free!” he rejoiced.

“What?”

“I pulled my hands free. I’m now untying my feet, Ivy.”

“Oh my god, hurry, William, before we’re caught again.”

“I am.” He untied the rope around his ankles and raced to the container, checking the lock and door.

“William?”

He was running around trying to locate anything he could use to bash in the door, but the warehouse only held containers, nothing else. William hastened from left to right, seeing nothing except a window at one end. No tools he could use. So he ran back to where Ivy was imprisoned.

His heart sank to his feet when he realized the door would be impossible to break open. He tapped the metal; it was thick.

“William? Please talk to me,” Ivy requested. She was standing right on the other side of the container door.

“Ivy, I don’t know how to break this door open. There’s nothing in this place I can use.”

She was silent before asking, “So what does that mean?”

“I’m going to have to leave you here.”

“No, you can’t leave me alone. Please, I beg you.”

William clutched his hair with both hands, glancing around, to the floor, everywhere, desperately hoping he would have a lightbulb moment on how to open the door.

“William? William? Are you still there?” Her voice became more hysterical with every scream of his name.

“I’m here. There’s absolutely no way I can get you out of there right now,” he whispered, but he knew she heard.

“What if he comes back when you’re gone? What will happen to me? Have you thought about that?” Ivy hit the metal in trepidation and, probably, rising anger.

He didn’t know where the warehouse was located. He didn’t want to fail again and have Markson catch him. All he knew was that he needed to act fast.

William’s only choice was to leave, and he was at a loss for how to explain it to her, so he only said, “Don’t think about that,” before he dashed out.

As if she sensed his departure, she cried out in a tone that would haunt him for the rest of his days, “William! Don’t leave me alone in the dark here! William!”

Although it tore at his heart, he went to the window and pried it open, jumping through it into the cold night’s air.

William ran as quickly as his mangled body could manage, ignoring the raw pain, disregarding his own anxiety over leaving her behind.

The wind kicked up and slapped his cheeks with stinging drops of rain.

Freedom!

But at what cost?

CHAPTER 22

Ivy

“Don’t think about that,” William said.

Ivy heard his retreating form and panic rose.

“William! Don’t leave me alone in the dark here! William!” Her palms hit the steel walls of the container.

All of a sudden, there was only silence, darkness, and her tears.

He’d left her.

Still, something inside her fortified. She wanted to believe that he would come back for her. Yet, there was also a good chance he wouldn’t.

Ivy slumped down to her ass.

Realizing that she needed to get used to the dark anyway, she focused on inhaling and exhaling, seeking calmness. Her bruised eye ached, and she didn’t know how this would affect her affliction, but she pushed that thought aside. Swallowing hurt too, and she caressed her hand down her sore throat.

Time passed as threatening sounds creaked outside. She could hear the rain pouring on the roof, which only increased her angst. Every unknowing sound startled her, and her body trembled nonstop. She hugged her knees to her chest as coldness enveloped her in the torn golden dress.

Ivy needed a plan, so she took a rare moment of quiet contemplation. It was all she could do while being locked up anyway.

After an eternity of battling her thoughts, she recognized a familiar sound: footsteps approaching the container.

Please be William. Please be William.

Ivy held her breath. Panic pounded in her chest when a key turned in the lock of the container. A sliver of light shone inside as the door opened. It was Markson with a pistol pointed at her.

“Get out,” he ordered. His face flamed with anger.

Ivy blinked profusely, eyes adjusting to the light.

“William seems to have left you,” he mocked.

Ivy ignored him and looked around, observing that Markson was alone.

What should she do now? There was only one option left, and that was to come clean. She needed to keep him occupied while she figured out a plan.

Ivy swiveled around with her palms facing him, capitulating. “It seems that he’s chosen to only save himself.”

“Did you think you actually meant something to him? Oh dear, cold-blooded businessmen like William only care for themselves.”

“I get that now. But this means I can now tell you the truth,” she replied.

Markson arched a brow, unquestionably intrigued. “Hmm, continue.”

She confessed, “I’m not who you think I am. I’m not who William thinks I am. I’m not Ivy Ravensdale.”