James is coming for me. Hold on until James comes.
“I know you’re not accustomed to our ways, Prudence, but you’ll f**king learn to do as you’re told, or there will be consequences. I have no problems killing you or giving you to a few of my business associates.”
He flicked his hand at her. Daren pulled her by the arm leading her upstairs.
Neither of them spoke as he closed the door behind him. Holding her face, she stared at him in the room she’d been staying.
He moved closer, and she took a step back. Daren kept advancing in the room until she fell to the bed. He held her hand away from her face turning her this way and that. “You won’t bruise.”
Releasing her, he stalked to the door.
“Why are you even pretending to care? What is with you checking me after you hit me?” she asked.
With his hands in his pockets, Daren turned to face her. “Regardless of what you think, I don’t like hitting women. Yes, I’ve hurt you, but now that James is working on getting it, I don’t see a need to continue hurting you. You hurt Henry’s pride down there. If you want to get back home then I suggest you hold your tongue.”
Daren left her slamming the door behind him. She watched him go feeling confused. He didn’t like hitting women? Daren was the one responsible for her bruises.
It was a trick. Daren was giving her a false sense of comfort. He worked for Henry, no one else.
She curled up on the bed. Cindy came to take her food. The woman glanced at her as she lay on the bed. The bruise on the other woman’s face had turned into a split lip.
“Thank you for bringing me food, Cindy,” she said.
The girl gasped and quickly left the room. Wrapping the blankets around her, Prue thought about James. She wondered what he was doing.
You need to stay strong. Don’t give in to their demands or what they threaten.
Tears leaked out of her eyes, but she didn’t sob or cry out. No matter how much she wished differently, Prue needed to resign herself to her fate.
The hours passed as she lay on the bed. She didn’t know what time it was when the door opened.
Henry, the man from the head of the table, stood staring at her.
She wanted to run away and hide. Instead, Prue lay there on the bed pretending his presence didn’t have any effect on her whatsoever. He looked shocked by her lack of response.
He closed the door then made his way over to the bed. She resisted moving away as he sat down.
“You’re a lot different from other women,” he said.
“Why? Because I’m American, or because I refuse to be scared of you?”
He chuckled. “You’re scared of me. I see it in your eyes. That doesn’t matter to me. Continue to be afraid.” Henry reached out to stroke her face.
Prue tensed. His touch repulsed her. The slicked back hair really made her feel sick to her stomach. Everything else about him sickened her. His arms were covered in tattoos, and those very arms were thick. She guessed he’d killed people with his bare hands.
“Don’t touch me,” she said.
Henry chuckled and still caressed her cheek. She grabbed his hands stalling his movements.
“I belong to James. Everything I am is his.”
“Do you really think that means anything here? You’re staying in my house, eating my food, and I demand payment.” He pulled his hand away then made to touch her more intimately.
Prue jerked away pulling herself out of the bed. “You can think I owe you for that shit, but I’d rather scrub your f**king floors than have you touch me.”
She tensed waiting for him to hit her.
He raised his palm to strike her. Before she could stop herself she broke the distance between them. Grabbing his face between her palms she glared at him. “If you think to harm me then do so, but I don’t think Daren has told you the consequences of doing so. James Castleden is not just a rich, pampered boy. He likes nice things, and he’s strong. I belong to him. Daren took his token that I wore around my neck. If you harm me then James will kill you.”
Henry chuckled. “Little girl, I’ve got far more dangerous weapons than money.”
“Laugh, but he’s part of The Owners, and they have power in high places. If you really think it will be easy to get away with what you’ve done, then go ahead. Hit me. Do your worst, but I swear, you’ll live to regret doing what you’ve done. You heard of Dominic Green? Lloyd and Eugene Black? Think about what happened to them. They went against The Owners and threatened their women. One is rotting in jail while the others are rotting in their graves.”
James had told her everything about the men who’d tried to take everything away. She didn’t know how much she was saying was true. James was a powerful man, and he was the type of man to get everything at his disposal to get back what was his.
You’re his woman, and he will come and get you.
Henry growled then left the room.
Prue wasn’t under any illusions that she’d won anything. In fact, she’d probably just caused herself more of a problem.
She resisted the urge to beg for James to come and get her.
Chapter Six
For the past week James had done nothing but listen to what Josiah and Hubert had to say. They had a shit-load of evidence already but nothing concrete that could take Henry out of the equation for life. If they acted too quickly then they risked Prudence’s life. James had told them that no matter what they didn’t put her life at risk. The file his father had kept in his safe had been the file that should have gone to the Feds.
His father never got the chance to tell him what he’d planned to do. James was still in shock by the fact his father knew what was happening inside their own clubs.
Hubert explained that they felt his and Stephen’s parents’ deaths were no accident. Exhuming the bodies now wouldn’t do anything but raise suspicion. They didn’t know how far Henry’s influence ran.
All of them had been staying at Possession working out the best course of action. Daren hadn’t called, and that worried James. He’d not heard Prudence’s voice. The one single photograph on his phone was all he had to go on to know she was all right.
Kevin and Tate were accessing security cameras from England. It was amazing what CCTV could do for people like them. With the right code, they could hack into the system or in their case, ask for permission from the force to see if they could find footage of Daren.
Rebecca sat next to him as all of them went about their business organising the trip that would get his woman back.