< Ashore
Ashore
The men lifted the door off the groaning man on the floor and Presley stifled a giggle.
“That was insane.” She looked at Cruz who was glowering at the man with such rage she wasn’t sure he wasn’t going to stomp on the man without the door between them. She immediately moved to stand in front of him. “Hey, Kong,” he turned and gave her an annoyed glance, “good job taking out the bad guy like a movie star stunt man but maybe we can get out of the way so they can get him upstairs.”
“I’d rather throw the f*****g door back on top of him.”
“With the way his nose is bleeding, I think it’s broken and he’s breathing funny so definitely some broken ribs. You’ve done enough damage.” She was tugging him back towards the stairs. She grinned at Belkin who was waiting, “it worked. Cruz jumped on him.”
The men all started cheering as Liborio was dragged up the stairs and thrown at Belkin’s feet. Belkin squatted and grabbed the semi–conscious man by the jaw.
“You f****d up my friend. You kidnapped a woman and extorted her to with the intent to take her against her will and impregnate her. This goes against everything we agreed upon when we set up our organization. You will face the leaders and be held for judgement.”
Presley looked at Cruz in confusion, “do you know what he’s talking about?”
“Yes. They created an underground organization to rescue trafficked women and because they were never satisfied with what the law would do to such men and killing them made it too easy for the traffickers who they felt should suffer for their crimes, they created their own little judge and jury system.”
“They throw them in mafia jail?” she asked in confusion.
“I think it’s more the criminals die but slow painful torturous deaths instead of instantly dying and not paying in the real pain and suffering the women they’ve taken have. Belkin mentioned they have one man they keep alive to torture and his punishment is to last as long as his victim needs therapy. Apparently he took her when she was fifteen, held her for ten years and kept her as a toy for his rich buddies. Sometimes he threw
parties where she was the only party favor. She will be in therapy an extraordinarily long time.”
“I kind of like the imagination but,” Presley looked at where Belkin was whispering something she couldn’t
hear to Liborio, “I did kind of agree to go with him.”
“Don’t you dare.” Cruz grabbed her and spun her to look at him. “Don’t you dare take responsibility for his sick
and twisted mind fuckery. He did this. He extorted you into a situation you were given no way out of, and you
know it. None of this was voluntary. His bullshit of telling you it was a choice was bullshit. Telling you to
watch your family suffer and die or get f****d over by him was not a choice. It was a torturous extortion. Do
not accept the blame.”
“She wanted to come with me!” Liborio spat at Belkin in response to whatever he said.
“Yes, she wanted to come with you which is why you tased her and probably drugged her too. Asshole.” The
sound of motorboats coming made Belkin look up. “Ah, the rest of the team is here to take the men back to shore. Your men as well, will be joining us. Oh, and I got word,” Belkin waved his phone in Liborio’s face, “your backup plan reconsidered once he realized it wasn’t only myself and Algernon were not the only ones who
were opposed to you kidnapping a woman. He isn’t coming.”
O
1/4
< Ashore
“No. It’s not possible.”
+ Points 2
“It is possible. All we needed to do was get the recording of you telling us to kill Estrella and how you would kill both yourself and Presley before letting her go for everyone to realize you’ve lost the plot, Liborio. The entire organization wants to interview you. Your punishment will be harsh because you helped found this with us in honor of your sister. Now I cannot help but think your sister would be bitterly ashamed.”
“She would grow to love me,” Liborio tried to kept up from where he was forced into a kneeling position by multiple guards.
“No. She would never love you because she loves him,” Belkin pointed at Cruz. “You knew it. You knew she loved him because you have been spying on her for years. You knew she brought him up at multiple therapy sessions about how his treatment of her hurt more than anyone else’s because she loved him so very much.
All along she has loved him, and you knew it.”
“Ladybird?” Cruz looked at her in confusion. “You talked about me in therapy?”
She shrugged, “shouldn’t my therapy be private.”
“It’s why you hated me so much,” Cruz touched her cheek. “You loved me, and my bullshit made it so much
worse.” He picked her up off the floor bridal style and held her to his chest, touching her forehead to his. “I
will spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”
“You do know he sent your first lover away,” Liborio called out angrily through the mess of blood and mucus trailing from his face and mouth. His words were mumbled, and it was evident his jaw might also be broken.
“I do know,” she met Liborio’s eyes. “We talk about everything, and he told me what he did. I forgive him.”
“Impossible!” Fury coated Liborio’s eyes.
“It is time to go,” Belkin pointed at Cruz. “Get her out of here.”
“You cannot take her from me. She is mine. She is meant to be mine. She and I will have perfect children who
will rule the world!”
“Holy f**k he’s nuts,” Cruz carried her away from the man who was able to fight off the two men and despite his wheezing breaths and broken face, needed to be held down by five men who struggled to keep him
pinned.
The men helped them into a boat and Presley was glad to see Rami and the Captain and his wife and child in
the same boat.
“You’re leaving your ship?” she asked the captain with concern.
“When we were taking her,” he pointed to his daughter, “up through the window her leg caught a piece of glass. She has a deep cut. This is the first boat out. We’ll get her seen in Nice at a clinic.”
“Is she okay?” Presley looked at Katya.
“She will be fine. I didn’t even realize what happened. She was crying but I thought it was because she was scared because they took her out first and alone.” Katya wiped her ruddy tear–stained cheeks. “I feel like a horrible mother. She was there screaming and crying, and I shushed her telling her she was fine.” She looked down at her sleepy child in her arms and sniffed, “she’s so pale.”
“Everything was chaotic once we got above deck. Don’t blame yourself.” Presley reached out and squeezed Katya’s hand.
III
O
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< Ashore
+ Points
It didn’t take long for them to reach the shore where the boats were dropping them off and a group of men were in place to grab Katya, the captain and their child and rush them away. On shore, Presley noted her parents running towards her and she launched into her father’s arms as her mother hugged them both.
“Daddy.”
“Shh, I’ve got you, P.” he hugged her tight. “I’m sorry. I was so f*****g wrong to tell you to do it. I was an asshole and I’m sorry. I was scared.”
“I love you.” She shivered as she heard the true sorrow in her father’s voice. “I forgive you.”
“When I knew he’d taken you so violently, let someone tase you, I was f*****g beside myself. What kind of
father simply gives up?”
“Daddy, stop,” she touched his teary cheeks and smiled. “It’s okay. We’ll be okay. I promise.”
“I’m not ever going to get over this,” he shook his head in denial.
“You will. We will.”
“Is he still a threat?” Her mother asked seriously. “Is he going to come back for you?”
“No.” Cruz spoke up. “He’s under Belkin’s hold right now and they are in the process of dismantling everything he owns. When these motherfuckers decide to ruin someone, they don’t hold back. I know I’ll never make an enemy out of either Algernon or Belkin.”
“Speaking of Algernon,” her mother made wide eyes at her. “Sloane is here but I guess he needed a blow job first. He came right out and said it. Before you see your friend, blow me.”
Everyone shuddered as Presley appeared confused. “She just did it?”
“She was ready to do it in front of all of us. Instead, he pulled her into the car.” Her mother pointed to a vehicle. “We’re supposed to go back to the resort in that car.”
Anderson and Halima arrived, and Halima threw her arms around Presley and hugged her tight.
“Sloane is blowing Algernon so we’re going to take another car. Apparently he’s hiding a boa constrictor in his pants. She said it’s as big as her forearm and she swears his tongue is forked. I don’t even want the information she’s sharing. A few days with him and the small filter she once had is shattered.”
“It’s gross.”
“I would agree,” Halima made wide eyes, “except he’s already bought her a villa around here somewhere. He wants to get a boat and name it after her. He wants to give her a baby and if she can’t have one of her own, he’ll adopt. He yelled at the server at dinner last night for spilling her soup. She is going to be treated like a f*****g queen. I cannot, for the life of me, understand how his wife cheated when he dotes the way he does. Sloane is set for life. He’s besotted.”
“Really?” Presley was smiling now unable to stop herself looking in the direction of the vehicle which was now rocking vigorously.
“Let’s get Presley back to the resort and finish our catching up there,” Cruz suggested.
“Where is Odin? Cruz said he was on the ship with you.”
“They are taking him for medical treatment. Liborio beat him bad, Daddy. Where is Marsha?”
“She is with Paris and her husband. She was worried she’d get here, and he’d be in a body bag, and she
C
< Ashore
couldn’t face it after the last conversation they shared.”
“With Paris?”
+9 Po
“Uh–huh,” Scarlett nodded. “She slept at their villa. They’re taking exceptionally good care of her. They are good for her.”
Cruz groaned, “can we please go? I’m really tired of talking about everyone else’s s*x lives.”
“We’re in France. A country of love,” Anderson tried to touch Halima’s hand.
“Not for you, playboy,” Halima growled at him and pulled her hand back, looping her fingers through Presley’s elbow. “He forgets I know how many women he’s dated. I don’t date whores.”
“You will be the last woman I ever sleep with.”
“Because I will kill you in your sleep if you even touch me.”
Presley started laughing, giggling uproariously until tears streamed down her face. “It’s good to be back.”
13
H
