Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Two
Kelley drove back to the upper parts of town, avoiding the main road and sticking to the back ones that didn’t have cameras. Kelley couldn’t stop thinking about Blain, laying against a warehouse, treated like human trash, left at the docks.
The image of Marella’s eyes, wide and full of fear, was seared into his mind. He tried to shove it away, to think of anything else, but that image bled into one of her on the floor, Lee on top of her, trying to protect her.
Kelley pulled off onto a side road, grabbed the hidden pistol from the locked compartment in his boot and set off down the dark road with quick, quiet steps. Kelley scaled the wall and landed on soft, green grass.
He looked toward the mansion, the sculpted driveway, the pool house nestled in the back. He kept to the side of the wall and walked towards the back of the house. Lights blinked in different windows of the house but Kelley knew exactly where he was going.
They’d been about eight years old when they’d discovered the cellar. It had a hidden staircase that led directly to the library that they’d found by accident. The hidden doorway was hidden by a one-way mirror giving the occupant of the staircase an obstructed view inside.
A sudden memory gripped Kelley. They were standing at the top of the staircase, stifling their giggles because Lewis’s father had walked into the library, his hand holding a woman’s arm. He’d then told her to disrobe and had proceeded to have sex with her bent over the armchair.
They had run then, back to the cellar and they had never ventured near it again. Kelley didn’t even know if Lewis remembered that day because he hadn’t, not until he’d seen that picture with the mirror in the background.
The cellar door was unlocked, just like it had been that day. It looked just like Kelley remembered. He inhaled clean, fresh air and the dim overhead light was still mounted to the ceiling. The odd shaped bench that he now knew was a sex bench still stood to the left. To the right was a bar with a fridge and large, stuffed chairs still stood in a semi-circle viewing the bench.
It took him a little more than a minute to find the old hidden door and the bottom step still creaked when he stepped on it. The stairs didn’t seem so daunting now that he was an adult. He took them slowly until he stood behind the mirror, looking into the room and his breath caught in his throat.
Instead of Lewis he saw Charles standing in front of Marella. She was no longer tied to the chair but standing. Charles gripped her hair and he could hear her cry out in pain. Kelley pushed on the mirror but it didn’t budge. He needed to find a way inside.
Charles pushed Marella down to her knees and Kelley had to swallow the bile back. He undid his belt, the sickening grin on his face telling Kelley exactly what he had planned for Marella. He had his cock in his hand now, stroking it up and down as Marella sobbed.
“You just have to be a good girl, Marella, and things will be so much easier for you,” Charles said.
“I’d rather die,” Marella said with a surprisingly strong voice.
“So brave, we’ll see if you feel the same way once I’ve broken you in,” Charles said with that same smile on his lips.
Kelley found a latch and pressed it backwards. The mirror slid to the side and he raised the pistol as he stepped through the doorway. Charles hadn’t noticed him yet and a floorboard beneath Kelley’s shoe groaned.
Charles looked up, his eyes widening in shock and Kelley pulled the trigger. The soft pop from the silencer was all he heard as Charles’s head snapped backwards and blood and brain matter exploded from the back of his head.
Marella screamed and Kelley’s hand shook as he lowered the pistol. He was breathing hard and then Marella’s hands were on his face. “Kelley, Kelley, we need to get out of here.”
His eyes focused on Marella’s face and he seemed to snap out of his daze. “This way.” He grabbed her hand and stepped through the doorway. Kelley pulled the latch back and the mirror slid back into place. A shudder ran through him as he looked back at Charles.
He led Marella down the stairs, through the cellar and across the lush green lawn. He picked her up so she could get on top of the wall and Kelley jumped down on the other side, farther from where he had scaled it the first time.
He jumped down and Marella followed, sinking down as she muffled her scream. Kelley picked her up and ran to his parked car. Marella had just gripped his shoulders, burying her head against his chest, trying not to cry.
The drive back to the house took approximately ten minutes. It was almost seven am when Kelley pulled his SUV into the garage and he noticed that Connor and Blaire hadn’t returned. Kelley switched the car off and turned to look at Marella.
“They killed Blain,” she whispered.
“We found him,” Kelley said. His hand sought out hers and she clasped it tightly. “Who pulled the trigger?”
“Charles ordered one of his guards to shoot him. They shot him in the driveway and took him somewhere. They made me watch, Kelley.”
Kelley clenched his jaw and pulled his hand away from Marella’s. “That day I found you and Lee …”
“Kelley … please don’t.”
“Lee went back to the house to tell you something. Something important, Marella.”
“To break it off … for good.”
“No, he was going to tell you that he wanted to try. He wanted that baby, he wanted you, a life with you and your child,” Kelley said softly and opened his door to climb out.
Kelley carried Marella into the house and up the stairs. She hadn’t said anything to Kelley’s revelation and he hoped that it would give her enough pause to at least talk to Lee. They belonged together like nobody else ever had.
Kelley stopped in front of a door and he looked down at Marella. “This is Lee’s room.”
Kelley opened the door to find Mason with his arm around Lee’s shoulder. Lee was leaning forward with his head in his hands but he wasn’t crying. Lee never cried, probably didn’t know how to cry after the life he’d endured.
“Lee …”
