Matt’s POV

“Eh, it looks like big boss man has had enough for the day,” the lead guard’s voice grunted before I was dropped back down to the floor. “Give him some time to think about how much more he wants to fight this.”

“Fuck you…” I said weakly, barely able to pick up my head from the floor. I felt another hard kick to my ribs before the voice replied. “Keep up this tough guy act and we’ll up the ante. We’ll see how strong you are when we kill one of your men right in front of you, boss man.”

I looked up with swollen eyes at the guard just as he spit in my face. If I had the strength I would have beat the living piss out of him, but I knew better than to waste my strength. I still need to come up with a plan on how to get out of here or at least get a message out to the Rev and Christ. Hopefully they had made it safely to the second safe house and were transferring all out data and lying low. The last thing we needed was for them to get dragged into this hellhole, and then we would officially be goners.

“So you assholes have two options,” the guard continued, raising his voice so Gates and Vengeance could hear him too. “You can come clean about what you actually did to the Pagano girls and tell us where your other men our hiding, or we kill you all slowly and painfully. It’s your choice and it seems like a fairly simple one to me.”

“Fuck off,” I grunted again, only for the dick to step on my fingers this time.

He chuckled lightly before he kicked me one last time. “Think it over and get some rest because we will be back in a few hours for your answer. Let’s roll boys!” he said and with in seconds I was left alone in the dark with my men.

“Fucking hell…” I heard Vengeance curse, from a few cells down. I could barely see him from where I was, but he was moving and talking so I knew he was okay. “Fucking bastard smashed my nose even more.”

I heard a weak chuckle from Gates’ cell and I let out a small sigh of relief. At least we were all still alive. I knew my men were strong, but I didn’t know how many more days full of beatings they could take. We would never crack and rat out our brothers, that was for damn sure, but that didn’t mean Pagano’s men wouldn’t beat us to death trying to gain that information. We would protect each until out last breath, even if that meant never seeing our loved ones again. I just hoped it didn’t come to that.

“I bet you’ll still be a lady killer, even with a jacked-up nose,” Gates weakly chuckled. “Oh wait…” At least they still felt well enough to bicker like fucking children.

“Fuck you, Gates. Your face is just as fucked up as mine,” Vengeance shot back and I had to admit he was right. Gates was looking pretty rough, hell we all were. I just hoped that if I ever saw Jolie again, she wouldn’t be afraid to look at me. I could tell by how bad my face and head ached that I was in fairly rough shape.

“Will you two stop,” I scolded, pressing my face to the floor. The cool cement felt good on my swollen face. “We need to save our strength, not waste it on bullshit bickering. Instead lets try to think of a way out…” We still hadn’t been able to come up with a solid plan on how to escape, even though we had each stealthily stolen a weapon from Pagano’s men in passing. I had a knife stored in the bottom sole of my boot for the right moment.

“We just need to wait for a guard to enter out cell alone… like on a meal delivery… if you could even call that slop a meal,” Gates sighed, lying back on the floor. You could hear the exhaustion in his voice. It would be long before we all passed out, that much I was sure of.

We weakly talked about our options before one by one we each slipped into an exhausted sleep. I felt my eyelids get heavier and heavier until I finally couldn’t feel anything anymore. All I could see before the darkness took me were Jolie’s stunning blue eyes, welcoming me to my own little slice of paradise.

“Zack?” I heard a familiar female voice squeak, bringing me back to a notable state of consciousness.

My head was still resting on the cold floor and my eyes seemed too heavy to open or really even register what was going on. I just wanted to go to sleep and wake up from this nightmare, for everyone’s sake. None of this was supposed to happen, but here we were, prisoners being tortured for information. I would never sell out my brothers, no matter how much they hurt me.

“Jolie,” Zack replied and my heart skipped a beat.

No, it couldn’t be. There was no way she was down here in the dirty basement prison. I had to be hallucinating from the massive blows to the head I received from Pagano’s men. That was the only thing that could explain the voices I was hearing. This must have been one of those out of body experiences, where you hallucinated the thing you wanted the most—Jolie Pagano.

“Oh god, Zack, what have they done?!” the voice sounded again and my instantly burst open. No, that sound was too close to be a dream… it had to be real…

“Not so close, Jolie,” a male voice hissed and I weakly scrambled to my feet. I had to see for myself if she was really here.

“Jolie?” I called out, only to hear her reply to Gates. My heart rate quickly accelerated as I moved as fast as my battered body would let me to the bars of my cell. I had to see her—had to make sure she was still in one piece. I felt responsible for all of this mess and I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her. She was the only woman I ever wanted. Hell she was the only woman I ever needed.

With every footstep I heard echo through the cold damn room, my heart raced faster. I had been dreaming about seeing Jolie’s beautiful face for days now and I could barely stand to wait a few more seconds. I knew I couldn’t touch her but just seeing her in front of me was enough to make my heart stop in my chest completely.

“Matt,” Jo said as soon as our eyes met each other. God, she looked just as beautiful as I remember, even more so if I were being honest. I stepped as close to the cell bars as I could without getting shocked, feeling drawn to her like a magnet. I would give anything to touch her right now, and by the look in her eyes, Jo felt the same way.

“I missed you,” she breathed, tears forming her eyes as they scanned over my battered body. I shook my head, wanting to pull her into my arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. But was it really going to be okay? Were we all going to make it through this? I didn’t know the answer and I didn’t want to give her false hope.

As if on cue, Jolie took a step toward me, only to be pulled away by the guard and I couldn’t help the growl that escaped from my throat. No one touch what was mine, not like that.

“Not closer,” he hissed, causing Jo look over her shoulder at him with a pleading look in her eye. “Can you turn off the electric charge, just for a moment?”

“I cannot do that, Jolie,” the guard replied through gritted teeth. “Please, Jer… And can you find something to clean the wounds, please… I cannot see them like this, you know they saved me, saved us,” Jo pressed and my eyes grew wide. She told him what happened?

Thankfully after a little more prodding, the guard left Jo and I alone. “Babe…” I breathed, wishing more than anything that I could pull her into my arms. She was so close and it was almost painful that I couldn’t touch her. “How are you able to be here?” I asked in shock. Part of me still thought this was a dream.

“I made a deal with Jeremy, I cannot stay long, but… I had to see you guys. Make sure you are okay… What did they do to you? And why?” I couldn’t miss the tear that fell down her cheek as she spoke, breaking my heart. I would literally give anything to see her happy and not like this.

“Don’t cry, beauty. We are okay, right boys?” I did my best to comfort her, but I didn’t know how much she would actually believe me. Jolie was one of the most intuitive women I had ever met, which was one of the reasons why she was perfect for me.

“We had been through worse, don’t worry,” Zack agreed and I gave him a small nod of thanks. I was glad my brothers had my back here.

“Are you okay?” I reached out to comfort her but quickly thought better of it. If I touched the electric bars it would only make things worse. Jolie didn’t need to know all the tortures we had suffer here these past few days.

“Yes,” she nodded “I’m okay. Our father plans the meeting of Emery and her highest bidder… and he is about to find one for me… Everything is set for this week I think.”

Suddenly there was a loud crack and the guard appeared again holding a water bowl and some clean cloths in his hands. “We have five minutes.”

We have five minutes? Did that mean? My heart suddenly started to race as I realized the guard had actually done it. That bastard actually turned off the bars. Within a second I reached through the bars and pulled Jolie into my embrace, a different kind of electric shock washing over my body.

“Let her fucking go!” Jolie was suddenly ripped out of my arms and my head snapped up, glaring at the blonde guard.

“He wont hurt me, Jer,” Jo argued but he simply shook his head, unwilling to relinquish his grip on her arm. “I don’t care, he is not to touch you.” That’s when I lost it. No one touched what was mine like that!

“You are not to touch her, you damn bast—” I snarled, only to have Jo press her finger to my lips to stop my harsh word. “It’s only for Jeremy’s help, that I am here, now.”

With a sigh, Jolie started to clean the wounds on my face, lightly nibbling her bottom lip as she worked. I couldn’t help but let my eyes wash over her, taking in her every feature. From her gorgeous blue eyes to her beautiful dark locks and high cheekbones, I couldn’t get enough of her. She was like a drug to me and I was highly addicted.

“I missed you so,” I muttered, closing my eyes, enjoying her touch. I could spend an eternity like this, just relishing in her ever touch of my skin.

“Me too. I was so afraid.” I nodded in agreement. I couldn’t even tell her how afraid I was of never seeing her again. She was my everything and I wanted to give her the world. I just had to make sure we all got out of here alive.

And just like that, Jolie was pulling away from me and moving over to help my men. I didn’t want her to leave my side, but I knew they needed her medical attention even more so than I did. As she worked, I couldn’t help but press as much of my body as possible through the bar so I could see her. Hell, was there anything that girl didn’t look doing?

“It’s good to see you, Jo” Zack said, glancing over at me. “Matt was driving us crazy, and so is Brian” He winked and I rolled my eyes when Jo laughed. “I missed your jokes…”

“Oh shut up Vee, no one want’s to hear your jokes, don’t encourage him, babe” Matt I chuckled, watching the scene in front of me. It was so good to see her again, though I knew her time was limited.

“Step back” The guard announced, after Jo had finished taking a note from Gates.

“Don’t fucking touch her!” I growled. Seeing Jo’s body pressed to the guards made my blood boil. She wasn’t his to touch like that! But before I could say anything else, I heard a loud crack and the cell bars sizzled back to life. Fuck!

“We have to go, Jolie. We overstepped our time by far, our deal,” The guard spoke again and I felt my heart sink. No, she couldn’t leave us already. Would she be back?

“I’ll try to come back,” Jo cried before she was quickly dragged up the stairs, taking my heart with her.

“Fuck, we have to get out of here soon,” I hissed, hitting the wall. “I can’t leave her with that bastard guard! No one touches her like that except for me!”

“Relax, we have a plan. We just have to wait for the right moment,” Zack said but my eyes were on Gates. He was sitting in the corner of his cell, staring off into the distance with a scowl on his face. “Maybe if Jo can come back we can make an escape plan…”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I mused, feeling a little guilty about seeing Jo while Emery was still trapped somewhere in the mansion upstairs. I had never seen Gates act like this before, especially when it came to a woman. We could all see he was worried about the little blonde, but he had to get himself together if we wanted to see the girls again. We just needed to hold strong until we could get out of here. “But we can’t count on that. She may not be allowed to come back.”

“Let’s just get some sleep,” Gates grumbled and I knew he was right. We needed to get our strength up to help deal with tomorrows beating.

I felt like I had just closed my eyes when I was roughly kicked awake. “Good morning, sleeping beauty. I hope you’re ready to squeal like the big hog you are!” he said before I was hoisted up and the beating started. Each hit was more ruthless than the next and I had no idea what was going on around me.

I felt like I was in slow motion as I received blow after blow, the loud noises in the room making my ears ring. I had no idea if the guys were alive as my eyes slowly fluttered shut. The last thing I heard before the darkness took over was the laughter of the guard…

“Matt?”

I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes, my head throbbing painfully against the hard surface I was laying on. What the hell happened to me? I had a metallic taste in my mouth and my head was spinning, not mention that I felt like I got the shit beat out of me.

I blinked a few times, trying clear my blurred vision as I pushed myself off the cold stone floor. And as if on cue, the memory of waking up and being hit time after time flashed through my mind. Fuck! Were my men okay? Had they endured the same beating I had?

“Matt?” the voice called again as I forced my eyes open. Suddenly the image of Jo’s horrified face lingered before my eyes and I sprang up, my head screaming in protest.

“Jo?”

Emery’s POV

I couldn’t help but stare at my reflection in the gold floor length mirror that adorned the back of the door in my father’s office. There in front of me stood a girl that I barely recognized anymore. She looked absolutely stunning in a Pnina Tornai ball gown wedding dress with a perfectly made over face and curled blonde hair. My father’s stylists had really outdone themselves this time but it just didn’t feel right.

Ever since I was a little girl, I had always pictured myself getting married in a dress like this, perfectly made over like the Barbie Doll I thought I wanted to be. Back then I would have given anything to look like the princess that stood in front of me, but now all I wanted was a small beach wedding. I closed my eyes as I imagined the wind blowing through my gently curled hair, as I stood in front of the man of my dreams in a cute white sundress. I could picture Brian’s haunting brown eyes staring back at me with his signature smirk on his lips as we exchanged our vows. Only deep down, I knew there was no way out of this deal. Once I was forced into this marriage, I was another man’s property that he paid a hefty price for.

I swallowed thickly as I tried to stop the tears from falling down my face. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t marry a stranger and forget about the man I had fallen in love with. That was like asking a bird to learn how to swim instead of fly. The whole thing made me sick to my stomach and I could feel it churn every time I tried to turn the locked door handle, making the fact that I was caged in this room even more real.

I could feel my chest tighten with each breath I took, the panic rising in me. I couldn’t marry this stranger. No, I refused! I wasn’t some mail-order bride that could just be handed off. And they couldn’t force the words ‘I do’ out of my mouth. I would rather die than be stuck as Thomas McGinely’s wife.

I quickly made my way over to the patio doors, only to find that they were locked too. No, this couldn’t be happening. There had to be a way out of my father’s office, even if it meant breaking one of the glass panes out of the window. Without a moment’s hesitation, I picked up the paperweight from my father’s desk and headed towards the door. I raised the weight up, and just as I was about to smash it through the window, I heard the eerie sound of my name being called behind me.

“Emery? What are you doing?” I swallowed thickly as my father entered the room, looking down on me with a sickly sweet smile.

“I’m not doing this!” I stated, looking him right in the eye. “You can’t force me to marry this guy!”

My father just laughed, took the paperweight out of my hand, and grabbed me be the forearm, dragging me toward the grand staircase. “You look absolutely stunning, Emery,” he replied in the same tone, dragging me along with him. “Tom is a very lucky man.”

“No hes not! I’m not marrying him!” I shot back, my voice echoing through the corridor. “I refuse!” I struggled against his grip as I tried to free myself, the thought of escaping slowly diminishing. My father’s grip was strong and firm and was surely leaving a bruise on my already scared arm.

“You’ve just got a case of the cold feet. Just relax, it will all be over in a matter of minutes,” he said simply.

Normally when I disobeyed my father, he cut me down and put me in my place, but this time was different. No, something was definitely different about how he was acting. But why? What was making him look so happy-go-lucky this morning? Was he really that excited to get his paycheck for selling me off?

I looked at him as I continued to struggle against his firm grip, my hatred for him growing a little more. He just has a smug look on his face as he dragged me toward the staircase. At the bottom the wedding ceremony was set to take place, which was the last place I wanted to be.

“I don’t have cold feet! I don’t want to do this! Please Dad, please don’t make me marry him!” I begged, now pulling on his arm, trying to get him to look at me. “I’m your daughter. Don’t you want me to be happy?”

“You will be happy,” my father replied, giving me a quick glance. “You will be the richest couple in all of California. What more could you want?”

“Love! I want love!” I cried, tears slowly running down my face.

My father scoffed and shook his head. “No you don’t. You don’t even know what love is. It’s nothing but a cruel disease. Trust me, you’ll be much happier this way. Now smile, here we go.”

“No! I wont be happier and I do know what love is! I love someone else… please, please don’t make me do this!” I sobbed, but it was too late we were already descending down the stairs. “I wont do it! You cant make me!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Emery. You don’t love anyone. It will only make you weak and you will do as your told.” Father roughly pulled me up next to him as the wedding march started and the huge crowd turned around to face us. “Now smile…” he hissed, not caring that the tears were streaming down my face.

As I was dragged down the aisle, I couldn’t help but notice my sister standing to the right of man I was being forced to marry. She had tears running down her face as she held in place by two guards, both of them forcing her to watch what was about to happen to me. “See even your sister is following directions. Now be a good girl and no one will get hurt.”

“Get hurt?” I asked, looking up to see him gesture to the left side of Mr. McGinely. To my horror, there were both Brian and Matt tied up and held down by a group of guards. Brian struggled against his holds as soon as he saw me and I felt my heart plummet to my feet when I saw the knife being held at his throat. “No…” I chocked, only to hear and evil chuckle from my father. “Please… don’t do this… they didn’t do anything!” I cried quietly to my father as we got closer and closer to the alter.

“Do as your told,” he chuckled, handing me off to Mr. McGinely before going to stand next to Brian and Matt with a sick smirk on his face.

I chocked back a sob as my eyes met Brians, my look begging him not to do anything stupid. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to him because of me. God, just seeing him like that was hard enough—so battered and bruised.

Throughout the whole service I stared into those brown eyes that I loved so much, my heart breaking with each passing moment. How could my father be so cruel? It was sick and twisted for him to hold the one person I loved the most against me, especially at this moment. From the look in Brian’s eyes, I could tell he was devastated too. What I wouldn’t give to wake up from this nightmare and be in his arms again. Though sadly, I knew that there was no waking up this time.

“Now, Miss Pagano, take the ring and place it on Mr. McGinely’s finger,” the priest said, looking at me and I shook my head, chocking back a sob. My eyes darted back over to Brian to see my father pressing the blade of the knife into his neck.

“No… please! I’ll do it! I’ll do it! Just don’t hurt him!” I cried, my hands shaking as I placed the ring on the man’s perfectly manicured fingers.

“Now I ask you both to repeat the marriage vows,” the priest said as my body shook with sobs. I couldn’t control myself as Mr. McGinely pledged himself to me, undoubtedly looking me up and down like a piece of meat the whole time. I didn’t want to be with this disgusting man. No, I wanted Brian… and no amount of wishing was going to change that now. No, the only thing I could do was follow directions to keep him alive.

“Now Miss Pagano, repeat after me. I Emery Jane Pagano, take Thomas Michael McGinely for my wedded husband.”

“I-I-I Emery J-Jane Pagano, ta-a-ake T-Thomas Michael M-M-McGinely for my wedded…” I chocked out in sobs, the last word not coming out. I couldn’t force myself to say it and either could my body. I wasn’t about to be a wife. I was being sold as a slave for this man and having Brian watch was heartbreaking. It felt like my father was stabbing me in the heart with the knife himself.

“To love and cherish, For better or worse, for richer or poorer, In sickness and in health. From this day forward.”

“To l-l-love and-and cherish, For-for better or woooorse, for richer or poorer, In sickness and in health. From-From this d-d-d-day for-for-forward.” No, this couldn’t be happening… couldn’t be true. I didn’t just marry someone else….

“I now pronounce you, man and wife! You may seal your vows with a kiss!”

“No!” I sobbed, giving Brian and apologetic look before I was pulled into the most disgusting kiss I had ever experienced. Thomas was trying to shove his tongue down my throat as I tried to push him away with all my might.

“I now pronounce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas McGinely!” The priest said just before my father quickly ran the blade across Brian’s neck, dropping him to the floor lifelessly in an instant.

“NOOOO!” The scream erupted from somewhere deep inside me as I sprang straight up in my bed. My heart was thundering in my chest as the tears pour from my eyes. I felt like I was going to be sick as I looked around my dark empty room, the realness of the dream almost debilitating. It had been so real…

I put my head in my hands and pulled my knees to my chest as sobs raked my small frame. I just kept replaying Brian’s death over and over again in my head and I didn’t know how move on from it. Just that image alone crushed me and took away all will to fight. All will to live.

But it was just a dream, right? A terrible nightmare that would never actually happen… or at least that’s what I was trying to convince myself. We were all going to get out of here and escape my father’s prison. We had to… for all of our sakes.

“Em? Em? Are you okay?” I heard my sister’s soft voice suddenly call from underneath the door that connected our rooms. “I heard screams… I’m here…”

Without a second thought, I jumped out of bed and curled up into a ball next to the door. “I had a nightmare,” I whispered under the door as I cuddled into Brian’s t-shirt that I pulled out from its hiding spot before bed. It still smelled like him and that in itself was comforting at least. “An awful, awful nightmare, Jo…”

“What happened? Was it the Vipers again?” she asked and I took a sharp intake of breath. I would honestly take a Vipers nightmare over a losing Brian nightmare.

I shook my head, only to realize she couldn’t see me. “No… worse,” I breathed, wiping the tears away. “It was about the wedding… and-and Daddy used Brian to get me to go through with it… and then he-he—” I couldn’t even bring myself to say those awful words.

Jo’s fingers careful moved underneath the door, touching my fingertip. “I’m sorry Em… just know that they are all alive and well.”

“How do you know? You’ve been trapped here too,” I sighed, lying down on the carpeted floor.

Jo hesitated for a minute before continuing. “Jeremy snuck me to see them… and they are a little battered but in good spirits,” Jo said and my heart soared. Brian was okay? My dream wasn’t true? “Brian gave me this to give to you. He was really worried about you,” she said before a little piece of paper hit my fingers. “I know it’s not much, but it’s all we could do.”

I quickly unfolded the piece of paper to see a short note scribbled on the page.

I know you’re worried, but we are all okay. We will make it out of here and then you and I are going to start that empire. I love you, Em. Stay strong.
Love,
Brian

I read the note over and over again, my heart soaring with the mention of our future together. I just hoped he was right and that we could actually make it happen. Hell, I would do anything to be in his arms again. “How did you get Jeremy to take you down there?” I asked. “Can you get him to take me too?”

“I’m sorry, Em… I don’t even know if he’ll take me again. I had to do a lot of manipulating to get him to take me. I don’t know if he’ll go for it again…” she admitted. “Could you talk Chris into taking you?”

“I doubt it, he’s been all about the rules lately,” I sighed, frowning and looking down at the note before another idea came to mind. “Do you think you could get Jer to deliver a note?” I asked, my heart starting to race with anticipation.

“I don’t know but I can certainly try. He’s on our side… he just needs some convincing,” Jo said and for the first time since we were brought back to our golden birdcage, I had hope. Maybe this could work out in our favor after all.

Without a second thought, I quickly got a piece of paper and scribbled out a small note for Brian. Hopefully Jeremy would be able to deliver it and we could start making a plan on how to get out of this hellhole.

Notes

So what did you think?

Jo got to see Matt and Emery got Brian's note! What will happen next? Will they make a plan to get out or will Emery's awful dream come true? Tell us your thoughts!