His Brutal Game by Audrey Rush

CHAPTER 11

Maisie

I collapsed onto the ropes, the twine digging into my muscles, my breaths expelling in harsh sobs. Every muscle, every nerve, every sensation crumbled inside of me. Shivering wet. Exhausted. The aftershocks spasmed through me. I was scared, but relieved too. The ropes fell, and I slumped forward onto the metal bars. The head gate unlocked. Wilder scooped me into his arms. I stiffened in his grip, opening my mouth to protest. I should have fought him, should have rejected his help. I could walk by myself. I could have run away from him.

But I could barely think. I sunk into him, my composure melting. I rested my head against his chest, his heartbeat steady in my ear. The empty sky hovered over us, and I closed my eyes. With each step, he rocked me to sleep.

Later, I stirred and opened my eyes. The ceiling was above me. A blanket wrapped around my shoulders. Fuzzy socks clung to my feet. The door closed, leaving me in empty silence. I closed my eyes, falling back asleep with one thought on my mind: Wilder had saved me.

***

In the morning, when I woke up, images of the night before flashed in my mind: the metal bars, the water splashing out of the trough. Water in my nose, burning my eyes. The man’s blood gushing from his neck. Wilder’s hands inside of me, not letting me breathe until I came.

I held my chest, trying to see if I was actually alive. Somehow, I was still breathing. Outside of the window, the ranchers moved back and forth across the property, some of them heading out to the pastures, some going to the Dairy Barn. A coffee mug and bowl were drying on the dish rack in the kitchen. The sun stretched above us, magnifying through the windows. Life went on.

But nothing was simple. Wilder was a mess of conflicting ideals. He was always quick to declare that he didn’t want me, but that was a lie. His fingers stabbed into me, his teeth and mouth more worried about consuming than experiencing. Devouring everything. Controlling himself. Conquering me. His stormy eyes peered at me, his cock pressing through his pants. I didn’t understand him. What kind of man hacks a body to pieces, then a few minutes later, restrains, drowns, and fingerfucks a woman, then ends the night by tucking her in?

But I continued my day like I always had because that’s what Wilder had done. I cleaned the house, watched television, read another book, stared out the window with fresh eyes, knowing that there was more going on in this seemingly unsuspicious ranch.

I opened the back patio door, gazing at the pasture and the long stream of trees. This was a completely different life than I had in the city, but I miss any of it. There was a certain calmness that came from grassy fields. The security of knowing what loomed in the locked barns.

“How much have you gotten your hands on?” a male voice asked. Sawyer pushed himself off of the back of the house, his chin angled toward the clouds. A surge of adrenaline coursed through me. I hadn’t noticed him there. “Five grand? Six?”

“What are you doing back here?” I pointed at the Calving Barn. “If Wilder catches you, he’ll be—”

“Already going to your protector.” He rubbed his tongue across his teeth. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you two actually have feelings for each other.”

I rolled my eyes. He needed to screw off. “That’s what happens in a marriage, even if it’s arranged. You spend time with someone. You see them for who they are.” I crossed my arms. “End of story.”

As a smile perked on his face, his words from the reception rang through my mind: You have no idea who you married.

I hadn’t, then. I didn’t know anything about the Feldmans. But now, I knew. And I should have been scared. Should have been running. But I wasn’t.

Maybe I trusted Wilder.

That was stupid. Wilder was a criminal. A hitman. A murderer. Not someone who was capable of anything like trust.

And yet, I couldn’t brush him off. Not entirely.

“So where’s the money then?” Sawyer asked. He tilted his head. “Another thousand went missing last night. Where did you put it?”

A chill ran down my back. I hadn’t taken any more money since Wilder had warned me, back when I watched him execute the employee. Was another employee stealing from them?

Or had Bambi been there? With Green?

Was it my fault?

“Where did you put my family’s money, Maisie?” he asked. “Is my brother still covering for you?” His chin jutted forward. “It took us a while to figure out that it wasn’t the new hires.” He chuckled. “But when you steal from our family, we don’t let it go.”

I forced a smile. “I am your family now. Or have you forgotten the vows I made to your brother?”

“Like you actually meant it when you said those words,” he sneered. “I know he’s helping you, sister.”

“You handle the money, right?” I asked. “Just you. Only you.” He narrowed his eyes, suddenly venomous, but I continued: “It’s easy to figure out where to pin the blame when you have the accounts under your control.”

He clenched his fists. “What are you saying?”

“You know exactly what I’m saying.” I widened my smile. “Maybe the crime is in the family. Maybe it’s you, brother.”

Footsteps stomped around the side of the house, the grass parting. Wilder’s shadow stretched over the dull green blades. Wilder looked at me, then turned to Sawyer.

“Another thousand went missing last night,” Sawyer said. “It seems we brought a thief onto our property.” He jerked his chin in my direction. “Keep a better eye on her.”

“It wasn’t Maisie,” Wilder said, his voice triumphant. My heart squeezed in my chest.

“You’re defending her?” Sawyer asked.

Wilder straightened, his stance solid. “I was with her last night.”

“All night?” Sawyer asked. Wilder nodded. Sawyer took his time scrutinizing Wilder, dissecting him from head to toe. “You’re under her spell.”

“Can you remind him that I am your wife?” I asked. Wilder stiffened. Shock ran through me. He had done so much for me and had defended me more than once, and yet he couldn’t remind his own brother that I was part of the family. Maybe that was his limit, when I lost my importance to him. But I pushed on. I needed to know that he was in this too. “Tell him, Wilder. Tell your brother that I’m your wife.”

“Yeah,” Sawyer said. “Tell me how much you love her. How attached you are.”

***

Wilder

Maisie puffed her slim shoulders at my brother as if her strength and size had meaning. Passion pounded into her, a tiny force of nature, ready to take whatever came her way, even when she knew she didn’t stand a chance. But right then, she wanted me to handle it. To prove that I stood with her.

But with my brother, we handled it a different way.

“Go inside, Maisie,” I said. Sawyer grinned, anticipating what was coming next.

“What? Why?” Maisie asked. “He just—”

“Go inside,” I repeated, my words hollow.

Maisie’s eyes flicked between the two of us, weighing her options, realizing that if I was warning her to stay away, then she needed to go.

The door shut behind her.

“You do have feelings for her,” Sawyer said. “Admit it.”

Jealousy swirled behind Sawyer’s eyes. It was better to ridicule me. To alienate her. To show us our boundaries.

“She didn’t steal,” I repeated.

“You’re protecting her.”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

Sawyer cracked his knuckles. “Are you lying?”

He swung forward, punching me in the chest. I grinned, pain pushing through my shoulders; he had been practicing. I blew my fists into his eye sockets, each punch harder than the last, both of us always ready to prove our points. A flash of the window caught my eye: Maisie peeked through the curtains, her brown eyes stuck on us.

Maisie hadn’t stolen it; I was willing to say that. But she could have been behind it. Her friends from the motel. That piece of shit who had managed her. But that was before. She knew what I could do in the Dairy Barn now.

She must have been warning them.

I swung around, kneeing Sawyer in the chest, then pulled him into a headlock. His neck strained against me.

“If she didn’t steal it, then who did?” he coughed. He tapped my arm, then shook free. “I don’t trust her.”

I steadied my shoulders. “I trust myself. And she was with me last night.”

Sawyer wiped a hand over his brow. “I don’t have time for this,” he said. “Neither do you. You know what happens when you get too close. You act like it will never happen to you.”

I tightened my fists, ready to start another round. “You chose the farm,” I said. “You act like you’re a martyr, but you’re not. You let her die.”

Sawyer chuckled, dismissing me. “Don’t let her blind you too.”

Those words struck me. I wasn’t blind. I knew Maisie was messing with my head. I could feel it, could see it, could hear it in the words she had used to tell Sawyer that she was my wife. But he was right. I needed to make sure I saw her and myself for what we were. I wasn’t going to fight for a future that didn’t exist. Death was the only true answer, the only power I had. And eventually, we all surrendered to it. Even Maisie.

My phone buzzed. I pulled it out. A new livestock order had come in, a highly specialized case, which meant that it was up to me to complete.

“We’ll finish this later,” I said.

“Always backing out,” Sawyer said. He tossed a hand to the side. “You’re avoiding what needs to happen. The Feldman Trial isn’t something you can pretend doesn’t exist. Fate is fate. The Trial will follow us. No one can live forever.”

I bared my teeth at him, full of rage.

“Later,” I repeated. This time, Sawyer didn’t say a word.

Inside the house, I got my keys from the kitchen counter, then headed to the front door. Maisie followed behind me.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Work.”

“Take me with you.”

I chuckled, shaking my head, making sure she knew how little I thought of her abilities when it came to my line of work.

“Okay, fine,” she shrugged. “I’ll stand in the corner. I won’t get involved.” She stepped closer, lifting her eyes to meet mine. “But don’t leave me here when your brother is clearly trying to get rid of me.”

For a moment, I considered doing exactly what she said. But bringing her with me on a job? That wasn’t going to happen.

I picked her up, hauling her to her bed, finding the restraints, and cuffing one of her wrists. Her jaw dropped. Sawyer wouldn’t do anything to her. He knew what would happen if he did. But she needed to be bound. She thrust herself against the restraints and the urge to do more to her built inside of me, but work called. It was the only thing that cleared my mind, and that was getting harder to do with Maisie. I needed to stay focused.

“What if he hurts me?” she asked. She yanked on the restraints, a fierce pout coming over her bottom lip. “Come on, Wilder. He was waiting for me to leave the house. And now I can’t leave. I can’t run if—”

I cracked my neck. “He won’t kill you,” I said. “If he touches you, I’ll kill him.” I bent forward and she sucked a breath into her chest. “I’m the only one who will touch you like that. And trust me, Maisie. When I want you dead, you’ll be dead.”

I left her like that. Work was calling me.