Wicked Liar by Faith Summers
Chapter Forty-Five
Candace
The first thing I see when my eyes open is a wooden cross attached to a wall unit in the corner of the room.
I’m lying on a padded floor and there are all these strange looking things around me. Handcuffs on the wall, a black whip on a padded unit, ropes hanging from the ceiling. Vibrators on a table?
What the fuck?
I sit up too quickly and instantly regret it when my head throbs, feeling like it might fall off.
Where the hell am I?
I can’t remember how I got here.
That unit is a St. Andrew’s cross I’ve seen used for BDSM, and the apparatus around the room are used for that too. There are no windows in here, just a wooden door. There’s also a plastic smell hanging in the air.
I bring my hand to my head and will my brain to work, but I’m so disorientated it takes me a moment before anything comes to mind.
I remember being at the pizzeria with Emelia and Isabella. Then…. I gasp when the full memory hits.
“Jacques,” I say, standing up.
Like I summoned him, the door swings open, and he stalks in, locking the door behind him.
“Sleeping Beauty is awake,” he cajoles with that charming smile. “How fitting you should wake up in my playroom. This was where I was going to play with you. But it never worked out that way, did it?”
I swallow hard, not knowing what I should do or say.
I now know this man is dangerous, and the fact that he’s kidnapped me is enough to let me know I need to choose my next words very wisely.
“Not going to say anything?” he prods.
“Who are you? Who are you really?” Maybe that’s a good place to start. I don’t really care to know the answer, but basics will bide me time to figure things out.
If I can.
“I am who I say I am. Jacques Belmont. My real father, however, just happens to be a very interesting, powerful, man.”
“You’re real father?”
“Yes. I’ll skip over the 101 because I know you know what’s going on. So, you’ll know him as Richard Fenmoir.”
Okay, I’m interested now.
“He’s your real father?”
“Yes, aka James. I found out when I was sixteen. My family knew all along. He was a close family friend. I found out by accident, but things worked to my advantage when he started helping me with my business ideas. He gave me money when I needed it to increase my wealth. Getting control of the Syndicate was supposed to be the cherry on top, and I was the perfect candidate because Massimo never suspected me, not even once.”
“I’m sure you got a kick out of that.”
“I did, you know. But what got my head spinning was your boy when he asked me who Richard Fenmoir was to me. That’s not a name that’s supposed to raise suspicion, unless if someone made him suspicious. He wouldn’t have been able to find any shit on me, but it was you who gave him the dirt, wasn’t it? You do the checks on clients and dig around to find shit your boss might not like. It was you.”
I don’t answer. I don’t need to.
He laughs. “I know who you are Candace Ricci, I know what happened to your family. I figured out that the only thing suspicious about that name was who it might be linked to. When I found out you people use Gibbs Mackenzie to get dirt on people, I knew you had a hand in my downfall. I guessed that Gibbs must have told you, your father worked for Richard Fenmoir and that’s where things went wrong. And that fucking auction was just shit to get close to me.”
Something dark flashes in his eyes that frightens me and I know there’s no way I’m getting away from him, unless if he lets me.
“Let me go,” I plead. “Please.”
“Please? Do you think that’s how this is going to work? You’ll beg and I’ll let you go? You have no idea what your meddling cost me. It cost me a massive opportunity of a lifetime and my father. He’s dead because of you.”
I guess that means the guys did it then. They were able to kill the king. Now Jacques is blaming me. God in heaven, what am I supposed to do now?
“That’s shit. How the fuck can you say that to me? He was evil. His death is a result of that, not me.”
“You fucking bitch. Don’t even try that. Don’t. I’m pissed off Candace. I already planned to catch up with you for leading me on when I actually did like you. You would have made a nice pet to fuck for the month, and I have to admit, I still want to fuck you. But you no longer deserve my cock.” He steps closer and I step back.
What is he going to do to me?
I take bigger steps when he advances closer and try to breathe past the constriction in my lungs.
“Jacques, please let me go. I just wanted answers. I wanted to find out why my parents died. You wouldn’t have told me if I asked you outright.”
“No, you’re right. I wouldn’t. I would have fucked your brains out and you would have gone away with nothing. Nobody screws with me, and nobody plays games with me, taking me for a fucking fool and gets away with it. I’m only telling you now because it’s the end and you need to know why you’ll be punished for what you did.”
“Punished?” I back into the wall, but he grabs me.
His hand grabs around my throat and he squeezes so hard I think my head might pop.
My hands fly up to wrench his free, but I can’t get him off of me.
“Are you a whore, Candace Ricci? Little whore. You wanted to fuck me, to get close to me. Little did you realize you have to earn my cock.”
When he starts shaking me, my vision blurs. I don’t even allow the sting of being called a whore to settle in. I have bigger problems because I can’t breathe.
“Jacques,” I choke out, but his grip tightens.
“You bitch, you deserve my fists.”
I don’t get the chance to scream or try before he lands a fist right in my face.
He drops me, and I get a moment of reprieve to catch my breath. But the pain in my face makes me scream once I hit the ground.
He snarls and gets on top of me, sending another punch to my face. That takes me out.
“We’ll see what your boyfriend thinks of his angel now.”
That’s all I hear before I blackout again.
