Cruelty Read online

  “Are you curious why you’re here, Ella? Why you’ve been caged like an animal and are about to be fed to my dogs that have just bravely fought to earn the privilege of making you their dinner?” she asked me in a viciously sweet tone.

  I stood my ground and glared at her. She could hurt me all she wanted, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing the fear currently rumbling through my mind. I knew it was a bad decision, but I regretted nothing when I spit the biggest wad of saliva at the bitch standing in front of me. It was doubly worth it when it hit her square in the face.

  I smirked at her as her face turned bright red with rage. The smirk disappeared when she snatched the stun baton from the man behind me and slammed it hard into my stomach. My teeth smashed together and a cry of agony fell from my lips as I collapsed to my knees. Still, she held it there until I could no longer even rest on my feet and I fell backward onto my back.

  Tears sprang from my eyes and searing pain flashed across every inch of my stomach. My breaths heaved and sweat coated every inch of me.

  Nita walked over to me and stared down at me hard. It was difficult, but I made sure to keep total eye contact with her as she smiled down at me.

  “Your death with please me greatly. I promise to make it as painful as possible for that. Just you wait.” She looked up at the man and nodded.

  He bent down and dragged me up and off the floor, resuming his earlier hold on me. Nita raked one of her dragon-like nails down my cheek and laughed. “Make sure she is weakened and bleeding. The dogs are more likely to rip into her more if they smell blood. Ta, Ella Devlin.” She laughed once again and turned away.

  It wasn’t until she retreated through a door that I realized she hadn’t been talking to the man holding me. Instead, there were two other men who walked toward me. This time, I did speak.

  “You don’t have to do this! It’s fucking inhumane and you know it! Be fucking men and stop listening to that bitch!” I shouted at them, hoping that somewhere in their overly large heads that they’d see they didn’t have to listen to that psycho woman.

  Unfortunately for me, they were most likely well paid.

  I was tossed to the floor. Hard. I landed face first into the concrete, not expecting the shove. The dogs still in their cages barked furiously at the disturbance, understanding something was about to go down. I could feel stinging on my chin and the warm trickle of blood coming from the gash there. A boot connected with my stomach, kicking me with enough force in my side it knocked the wind out of me and sent me flying onto my back. Another boot connected with my right rib, and I howled in pain as I rolled to my other side and fell into the fetal position. These men were going to beat me half to death.

  A hand grabbed my hair and yanked me upward so hard, I flew to my feet. One of the other men came forward with a blade in his hand and slashed it across my neck. Not deep enough to kill me, but deep enough to draw blood. Another punched me across my face, rocketing my whole body in the other direction and once again onto the floor.

  I pleaded over and over for them to stop as I moved to my hands and knees, spitting blood onto the floor. I coughed and held a hand to my ribs, trying to crawl away from my torturers. I just wanted it all to stop. Either by them stopping or by them killing me. Agony radiated across my entire body and breathing only made it worse. I was positive a rib or two was cracked.

  Just when another boot was about to come flying up to my face, a loud sound like an explosion reverberated off the walls. Smoke filled the room and dozens of lights came pouring from somewhere at the side of the building.

  “Police! Get on the ground!” voices shouted in tandem.

  Police? I sighed out painfully and collapsed onto my stomach. The relief that I was finally saved brought tears of joy to my eyes. Finally, it was stopping.

  The men who’d been torturing me scrambled away in the opposite direction, but from the curses being spewed almost immediately after they ran, I knew the police had cut them off.

  “We’ve got her! Over here! Get the EMTs in here now!” I heard another voice yell out as a light fell on my crumpled form on the floor.

  Gentle hands rested on my back and the cop soothed to me over and over that I was safe just before the EMTs came rushing over and softly rolled me onto my back. They asked me the normal questions of who I was, what was my birthday, and what had happened as they checked my vitals, placed gauze along the wound on my neck, then lifted me onto a gurney.

  I answered them calmly, but all I wanted was my guys. I wanted them to know I was okay. That the Darlings hadn’t won. And that I loved them.

  “My family?” I asked the cops that trailed after the EMTs moving me. But my answer came in the most beautiful sound ever.

  “Ella!” Luca’s shouted from somewhere to my right.

  “Is that her? What the fuck happened?” Theo’s voice yelled right after.

  I lifted my head to try and see him, but the EMT gently pushed me back down as they wheeled me to the edge of the back of the ambulance. “They’re coming over. You just stay still, okay? We need to get you to a hospital,” the EMT said to me calmly.

  I nodded and only had to wait a few seconds before all three of my gorgeous men came rushing to my side. Luca’s eyes were glazed over with tears as he grabbed my hand in his and kissed the back of it over and over again. Rollins placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder and the other on my leg, his facial expression anything but calm. And Theo looked murderous as his eyes roved over every mark on my body.

  “Are you okay?”

  “We’re so fucking sorry it took so long to find you.”

  “What did they do to you?”

  Each question was thrown my way from my guys at once, but I shook my head at them. “I’m fine, just tell me they got them. I need to know.”

  All three of them glanced over to the other side of me. I turned my head the slightest and saw the next best sight to seeing my guys. Nita and Robert Darling handcuffed and getting shoved into the back of police cars.

  “They’re going away for a long time. The police know everything,” Rollins assured me.

  “We really need to get her up and in the ambulance,” the EMT said to my guys.

  “Just a moment. Please,” I begged the man.

  He sighed and nodded. “One minute.”

  I thanked him and turned back to the guys. “Everything?” I asked, worried.

  “Yeah,” Luca replied sheepishly. “We kind of had to. But I think the police will go easy on you since you helped bust the biggest dog fighting ring in the state. Don’t worry, beautiful. Zoe is all over it as we speak.”

  I nodded, relieved that it was finally over and the Darlings would never see the light of day for a very long time. At least, I hoped so.

  With that off my conscience, there was only one thing left to do.

  “I love you. All of you. I had to tell you that. The thought of never telling you guys again, of never kissing you or hugging you again, it was too much. So, yeah.”

  Three looks of sheer shock flashed across the face of each of my guys.

  A throat cleared beside me. I flicked my eyes over to the EMT. Make that four shocked faces.

  We all chuckled and the EMT finally said we had to go. A very quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors was played as the guys decided who would ride in the ambulance with me. Luca got the winning hand and jumped up after the EMT had loaded me into the back. I waved and blew kisses to my other two guys who assured me they’d follow behind us on the way to the hospital.

  The EMT continued checking over the more superficial wounds on me, but I could do nothing but stare at Luca.

  “What happened after I was taken?” I asked him.

  Luca snorted. “Rollins broke a few things and started calling the local police. Zoe cursed a lot then got ahold of some of her contacts. And Theo and I headed to the shelter. He put his mad charm skills to work on that staff girl that was there, trying to figure out where the Darlings were when we realized t
hey weren’t there. Didn’t really take much for her to give up the address where Nita and Robert owned a warehouse. Apparently the girl had delivered some dog food for them there before and figured that was where they meant when they said Santa Monica. Zoe immediately began damage control after Rollins told them about the thefts and why the Darlings would take you. Then the police contacted the Santa Monica police and they agreed to do a sting of the operation. We, of course, followed them out there. Unfortunately, the warehouse is separate from where the fights were held, so the police decided to just record the dog fights as evidence and wait until Nita led them to you to do the bust. It was really intense.”

  I couldn’t believe so much had happened, but it didn’t surprise me one bit that the guys and Zoe had worked through the night fighting to find out where I was.

  “You really think the police will go easy on me for the thefts since I helped?” I asked Luca, panic prickling at my skin.

  “Pft. You know Zoe will make sure of that. We’ve got you, beautiful. Always. We’re going to get through all of this together. You, me, Rolllins, and Theo. We’re a family.”

  I nodded as tears once again flooded my eyes. He leaned down and kissed my lips chastely, giving me a big smile and holding onto my hand as we rode.

  “Are you really all in a relationship together?” the EMT finally piped in with a curious tone. I was honestly surprised he lasted that long before asking.

  “Damn right she is. Kinda suckered her into it, really,” Luca joked, shooting me a wink.

  “Damn right you did,” I replied back.

  And I couldn’t be happier to be so completely suckered.

  One year later…

  The wine selection at the grocery store nearby had been slim pickings, but I wasn’t about to pass up the highlight of my entire year. It had been too damn long since I had a decent fucking glass of wine, and nothing was going to stop me.

  After everything with the Darlings had gone down, it was hard to hide the fact that I was the one who’d stolen all the animals from shelters in the greater San Francisco area from the entire city. The news spread like wildfire. Sadly, a lot of the dogs involved in the ring had to be put down because they were either too far gone for rehabilitation, or they were too injured from the fights to be saved. However, a large majority were taken in by safe havens all over the state to be given a second chance at life and new families who would love them the way they deserve.

  Thankfully, because I helped the police take down the ring, they’d let me off with a hefty fine and a year long probation. Which was a small price to pay for my crime, and I was willing to do it. I just hadn’t been informed drinking alcohol was a big no no during said probation.

  Needless to say, it had been a long goddamn year.

  Don’t get me wrong, it had also been one of the best. My relationship with my guys had skyrocketed to epicly amazing proportions. The first six months it was a constant back and forth with the Baden brothers coming to me and me going to them, and Theo pretty much lived with me and Zoe during that time. Let me tell you, I was in heaven. My sex life went from non-existent to more times a week than I could keep track of.

  But after a while, my Baden boys had enough of the back and forth and wanted more time with me. So they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

  By month eight, I was being moved to the ranch. Even Theo was invited to live there and jumped on the offer. He would be the groomer for all the animals on the ranch and for the clients that came through the vet clinic on the property. So the move was no big deal to him. Zoe wasn’t the least bit upset over the move either. Her and Becky’s relationship had also taken a turn for the better, so she ended up moving into the apartment with Zoe. They were blissfully happy basket weaving without anyone there to bother them.

  Thanks to my spotted dress design, I was given a major job opportunity. I had worn the dress to an annual animal charity gala I attended every year, and a very well known fashion company wanted my design in their catalogue. They even gave me a very hefty advance to create more spotted designs for them, which I aptly named Pretty in Spots. It seemed only fair my favorite spotted muse got credit for being my inspiration.

  My career took off after that, and I started selling more of my clothes online. The boutique stayed open, but I had hired Tibby to manage it in my absence and brought on more help. Sales were through the roof, and I couldn’t be happier.

  Speaking of my spotted fur baby, all her puppies found amazing homes. All except one, of course. We kept one of the boys which had been the runt. We named him Lucky since he almost didn’t make it like his sister. It felt fitting. Gus was not in the least bit pleased, of course.

  Now that my probation was over, I could finally celebrate all the victories from the past year. I was so beyond excited, I could practically taste the sweet decadence cascading down my throat.

  When I strolled into the large cabin home I shared with my men, I had the happiest little bounce in my step. I hummed a happy tune as I made my way to the kitchen and began searching for the corkscrew the guys had hidden from me. They wanted to take away temptation. We had wine here, but it tasted like shit. However, when you like to sit and enjoy a glass every now and then and you can’t, even the shitty wine starts to look good. Hence, they hid the corkscrew.

  I’d gone through every drawer almost, when a throat cleared behind me. I turned to find a smirking Luca standing in the doorway.

  “Whatcha doing?” he asked, amusement thick in his tone.

  “Don’t fucking look at me like that,” I told him, pointing at him accusingly. “Today my probation ended, so I’m going to drink me the largest glass of wine possible.”

  Luca came up behind me and wrapped his arms around mine, stopping my progression of looking through more of the cabinets and drawers. “Hold on for a sec. We need to have a chat with you first.”

  I groaned. “Can’t you wait until I have my wine? I can assure you, I’ll be in a much better mood if you do.”

  Luca chuckled and kissed the back of my head. “No can do. You’re coming with me.”

  “What?” I asked just before I was hoisted off my feet and walked toward the living room. “I can walk you know,” I said to him drolly, not understanding why he was doing this to me. Didn’t he love me? This didn’t feel like love. This was torture.

  I found my other two guys sitting in the living room looking nervous as all hell. I glared between them when they noticed us and stood up immediately.

  “What’s going on? What’d you guys do? Did you kill someone? Cause I just got off probation and refuse to listen to your admissions. Guilty by association won’t look good on my record.”

  The guys all snorted out laughs, but shook their heads. Luca set me down and turned me, then pushed me to sit on the couch. The others then sat on the opposing couch, making this look like some kind of intervention.

  “We didn’t kill anyone, El,” Theo responded, not really using a very convincing tone.

  “I’m not sure I believe you,” I responded, skepticism dripping from my lips.

  “Ella, this is serious,” Rollins huffed out. “We didn’t kill anyone, but we think we need to address the elephant in the room that we think you’re clearly avoiding.”

  I raised a brow at him. “The only thing I want to avoid is whatever this conversation is about to be. I don’t like it.”

  “You don’t even know what we’re going to talk about,” Luca retorted with a laugh.

  “I still don’t like it. I can not like something before I try it. Drugs. I’ve never tried those, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t like them.”

  “Oh my god, please shut up and let us just say it,” Rollins said, exasperated.

  “Fine. What is it? I’m listening,” I sighed, deciding I would just humor them. The sooner I got this over with, the sooner I could get my wine. These assholes were keeping me away from it long enough.

  “Okay, so,” Luca started, “we’ve been noticing some things that we
think might mean something. Something big. And we think it’s time we figure out once and for all if we’re right.”

  I looked between the three of them in confusion. “Okaay. Like what?”

  “Like the fact that anytime any kind of animal commercial comes on, whether it’s happy or sad, you become a sobbing mess for an hour straight,” Theo replied.

  “That’s a problem how? I love animals, for fuck’s sake.” It wasn’t my fault the stupid toilet paper commercials had a cute, little red bear shaking his hiney. That was fucking adorable and anyone who said otherwise could suck it!

  “You also have been hoarding all the twinkies in the house. If anyone so much as goes anywhere near your stash, you flip the fuck out and try to bite us,” Luca added, inciting a laugh from the other two.

  “Try? Pretty sure she got a chunk out of me last Saturday. Look, you can still see bite marks!” Theo said, dramatically waving his hand in front of Luca. To which Luca replied by shoving his hand out of his face.

  “None of you fucking ask! You just grab! If you would ask, you wouldn’t get bit!” I was starting to get a little irritated. What the hell was wrong with crying at cute animal videos and not wanting to share my sugary treats? They were mine to hoard as I pleased. We could face an apocolypse in the future, and guess who the fuck would be all prepared with her stash of twinkies? This girl! Those sugary bastards never went bad.

  “And you chucked your favorite boots into the pond because they suddenly stopped fitting you. Like, angrily,” Rollins said, wincing a bit as if remembering the night all over again like I’d tried to murder someone.

  “Okay… so that might have been excessive. But I fail to see how any of this warrants an intervention. Didn’t I already say I haven’t taken drugs before? So I’m not suddenly on drugs. I just get emotional. Big fucking deal.”