Soldiers of Pearl 1: Invasion of Hearts (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it was you needed Cora to do,” Arabella said. She heard her mother gasp and cry out no. She saw the shocked expression on Cora’s face as well as Anthony’s, and then he smirked as he lowered the gun, placing it back into the holster.

  “You’re not trained for this,” he said, looking her over again.

  “How trained do I need to be to get a guy into a back room?” she asked, sounding more confident than she felt. Anger ruled her mind and her actions. She could do this. One illegal thing to help Cora and the babies live. Then she’d be done.

  He stepped right over Cora to come closer. Arabella held Julia’s head against her chest. The poor exhausted two-year-old was out cold.

  Anthony reached out and gripped Arabella’s chin.

  “Get your ass upstairs, put on the blonde wig. He doesn’t like brunettes. Your tits are much bigger than your sister’s, so show them off. He likes them big.” He released her chin and slid his hand down her arm to her hip and then across her ass. She was shaking with anger. How badly she wanted to knock him on his ass, put his own gun to his head, and pull the trigger. But she knew she couldn’t. She wasn’t a killer. But after this she was out of here.

  “Wear something tight, sexy, to show off this body you’re hiding all the time.” She needed him away from her. She couldn’t take letting him touch her like this. Her sister and mother sobbed in the background.

  “Just tell me the details and what you want me to do.”

  He smirked.

  “You’re a lot smarter and stronger than Cora.” He glanced at his watch.

  “Twenty minutes, Arabella.” He opened his arms to take baby Julia from him and bile rose in Arabella’s throat. She didn’t want this monster’s hands on the babies, but with her mom holding Liam, and Cora lying on the floor in the fetal position crying, Arabella had no choice. She let him take Julia from her arms. Julia’s little angelic face scrunched up, but she was so damn tired she slept through the exchange. He held her in his arms like a father would as he rocked her and smiled. The man was a fucking psychopath.

  * * * *

  Arabella stood in the back parking lot with Anthony, Roland, Tysen, and Willie as they waited for the person who was going to do the job with her. Her part seemed simple enough but she wasn’t stupid. Growing up on the city streets of Chicago, she knew how many different ways this small role could go badly. She could wind up raped or murdered by the gangster they were fucking over. By the way the men looked her body over in the tight, way-too-sexy dress she wore, she knew it was going to be difficult to pull off slut whore. Tysen made a comment about how she looked too fucking classy. But then Roland caressed a finger along her arm and across the cleavage of her chest and smirked.

  “Victor Sotoro loves a classy woman. With her body, the man won’t have a chance.”

  The dark sports car pulled up alongside the SUV and Anthony’s Cadillac. Her heart began to pound inside of her chest. Her worst nightmare was coming true. Kever Slane was here. She was going to have to do this job with Kever.

  She swallowed hard and tried not to show the fear that man put in her. He was six foot three, filled with muscles, tattoos, and an arrogance that made Anthony look like a pushover. His gaze landed on her immediately and he strode closer in his traditional Kever attire. Black dress pants, designer shoes, dark dress shirt, burgundy tie, and he looked as debonair as a stockbroker with the mind of a serial killer.

  They all greeted him and he nodded his head in a small acknowledgment, but his eyes never left her body. She lowered her eyes, not wanting to piss the psycho off in any way. She just needed to lure this gangster Cuban guy into his back office at the club. That was all she needed to do.

  She flinched when he placed his fingers under her chin to tilt her head up toward him.

  She inhaled the scent of his pungent cologne, something expensive. Kever liked the finer things in life. She slowly looked way up and locked gazes with his dark brown eyes.

  “Are you sure you’re up for this, Arabella?” he asked, shocking her. She held his gaze and licked her lower lip in nervous response to having this man she feared so close to her, touching her.

  “Like I have a choice, Kever.”

  His eyes appeared as if they darkened. He released her chin.

  “She’ll be fine. She knows what she’s doing, unlike Cora who’s a fucking wreck right now. The bitch needs a fucking beating,” Anthony stated and Arabella glared at him.

  “Let’s get this over with,” she said.

  Kever grabbed her arm and yanked her hard against his body. Teeth clenched, he stared her in the face. “You better be ready. You better come through. If you fuck this up and we get caught, I’ll be sure to make you suffer if you live.”

  She nodded as her legs nearly lost all ability to stand upright.

  They heard the command and Kever pulled her along with him to one of the SUVs while he tossed the keys to his car to Roland.

  As she slid into the backseat between Kever and Tysen, Kever’s stare and the way he looked her body over with hunger in his eyes did not go unnoticed. Tysen smirked.

  “We’ll park around the corner and be ready to get you two out of there quickly.”

  Kever nodded. Her stomach hurt something terrible. She was shocked that Cora did shit like this often and God knew what else she did.

  When they finally got to the club, she took one final deep breath and released it. Kever took her hand and pulled her close as they got out of the car. He whispered into her ear.

  “I’m not looking forward to you being touched by another man. When this is done, you and I need to talk.”

  She felt her entire body shake with disgust and of course fear. She had been right all these months. Kever wanted her. He wanted to take her like Anthony took Cora. Her sister’s mistakes in life were costing Arabella her own life. After tonight she was finished. She had to leave this town, this city, and disappear.

  * * * *

  Kever watched Arabella like a hawk. For months he’d kept an eye on her, wanting her. She was stunningly beautiful, naturally voluptuous, and classy. She worked hard, even wanted to become a cop, which made him chuckle. He’d been there, done that, and got to see the real way people lived and survived in Chicago. He thought he would have more opportunities to kill people as a cop but instead he had to swallow shit, roll around with dirty scumbags, and work long hours for shit pay. That crap was behind him. Now when he walked around this town, people avoided eye contact and they avoided pissing him off.

  He watched Arabella flirt and mingle with Victor. The man’s eyes were focused completely on her tits. The blonde wig suited her well but he preferred her long brown hair and would love to grip a handful as those luscious lips of hers sucked his cock in the back of the SUV. Perhaps he’d break her in tonight and start setting the groundwork for her to be his woman. There was something very special about her, maybe her toughness, her determination to succeed in life and protect her sister and the two brats she had with Anthony. Whatever it was that drew Kever to her, he knew that she would be his. When he wanted something, he got it these days. There was no waiting, no process to go through. He had the power in his hands to let someone live or die.

  Arabella is mine.

  * * * *

  It took all of about thirty minutes to get Victor Sotoro, an obnoxious pig of a man with hands like an octopus, to bring her to the back room. She needed him in the office, but he had other plans as he whispered about a large couch and fucking her on it all night.

  She had to get him into that office, the one with the back door to the loading dock. She ran her hands along his shoulders, could feel the fat against his sides as he pulled her against the wall and plunged his tongue into her mouth. She wanted to vomit, scream in protest, but she knew she needed to get him into this office or Kever and Anthony would kill her and kill Cora, their mom, and the babies.

  She pulled her mouth from his.

  “I don’t want a couch.
I want you to take me in your office and fuck me from behind over your big, hard desk.” She ran her hands down his chest and straight to his cock.

  His eyes widened and he smirked.

  “You surprise me, Vivian.”

  She had this role to play and survival was helping her get through this. “A good surprise, jefe?” she teased, calling him “boss” in Spanish.

  He pulled the keys from his pocket, looked around to be sure they weren’t followed, and he opened the door. He closed it, but before he could lock it she shoved him against the wall next to it and then pulled him by his shirt as she backed up to the desk. She prayed that Kever would come in fast and do whatever it was to be done. Victor ordered his security away from them a while ago so no one should come and interrupt.

  “You are fucking hot. How come you’ve never been to the club before?” He cupped her breasts. She felt so sick she instinctively shoved his hands away.

  His eyes widened and she held his gaze, hoping she didn’t just fuck up all she did to get him here, when he smirked. “I get it. You want it rough.” He turned her around so fast and shoved her down over the desk she screamed out. Things toppled to the floor and she tried unsuccessfully to push back against him. He unzipped her dress and she feared that she would be raped, her virginity taken from her by this monster, as he cupped her breasts and squeezed. She felt the pain by her thighs and then his hands ripped her dress. She pushed upward only for him to slam her face down hard on the desk. She was sure going to be bruised up, but that was the least of her worries.

  She was so scared and knew this situation had gone out of control when she heard his zipper go down. She had to do something. Kever wasn’t coming in and she couldn’t help but think the bastard did this on purpose. He wanted her fearful. She never should have accepted doing this to save Cora. Her sister was an idiot, but she loved her and she loved the babies and her mom.

  She felt tears sting her eyes. Fear like nothing she ever felt before consumed her, and she reached around on the desk for something as Victor groped her. Her fingers hit the letter opener, a long, sharp metal piece. She stopped fighting him and he eased up enough for her to make her move. She somehow dislodged the man from her body and stuck the letter opener into his hand.

  He yelled out and then lost it. He swung his hand at her, knocking her to the ground. She knew she was done in for and then she heard a sound.

  Swoosh, swoosh.

  She cried out as Victor fell onto the floor and she saw blood. Looking up, there was Kever putting his gun with the silencer away and then reaching out his hand to help her up. His eyes took on an expression of anger at the sight of her. She was shaking so much she could hardly move and her teeth chattered.

  “Stay here, don’t touch anything,” he warned her. She wrapped her arms around her waist, realizing but not even caring that her dress was ripped and falling off of her. He walked over to a door, opened it, and opened the safe that was there. He stared at loads of money and stuffed it all into a bag he pulled from his coat pocket. Was all this over some money, a robbery? She wondered and then she saw the file and a bunch of thumb drives. There were documents that were obviously important. She turned away. She didn’t want to know what he took or why. If they were caught, she would go to jail. Her hope of becoming a cop one day had just disappeared as a possible profession. She had just watched a man get murdered. She was an accessory to armed robbery.

  “Now,” he said to her. Reaching out his hand, he pulled her close and they exited the room through the back door.

  She was numb, barely able to comprehend what was happening until she was in the backseat of the SUV and on top of Kever’s lap. He was pushing her dress up to cover her breasts when Tysen handed over the jacket. Kever covered her body with it.

  “Never again, Arabella. No man will ever touch what’s mine ever again,” he whispered and kissed the top of her head.

  * * * *

  Arabella called in sick for the week. She couldn’t get out of bed. When she got home after doing all that to help save Cora’s life, Anthony had beaten Cora up. He even shoved Julia against a wall. He was enraged because Kever said something to Anthony, making him take his anger out on Cora. She had no idea what happened, but Cora kept coming in to check on Arabella and beg her forgiveness for making Arabella go through with the job. She said it was all her fault and that she could never repay her for what she did.

  What was really shocking was that the hit, the murder, had never made the news. Cora said that Victor wasn’t dead. He lived and his team of people covered everything up. Which meant a couple of things. One, he was probably going to seek revenge and come after Kever, Anthony, and them, including her. Two, no police were notified, so if she survived, not being identified and found by Victor and his crew, then she had gotten away with being part of a violent crime to save her sister. She never had to talk about this shit ever again. Then there was the possibility that Kever or Anthony would force her to do more, or worse, force Cora, who now was trying to get healthier and build her strength up so that Anthony would only use her, not Arabella, to do these jobs. Arabella didn’t care.

  She was a changed woman. She had done something and was part of something no one could ever find out about. She was ashamed, disgusted with herself at how she had to let that man touch her, fondle her, and nearly rape her.

  There was a knock at her door and Arabella didn’t answer. She had taken a shower and was trying to pull herself together because she needed the damn chef job. Stomach flues couldn’t last longer than a few days without a doctor’s note so she needed to snap out of this.

  She could hear the voices downstairs and as she looked into the mirror she saw how badly bruised her cheek was and how her breasts were scratched up. She noticed in the mirror in the bathroom that the back of her thighs were bruised, too. Victor was a big man and his hands forceful as he bent her over the desk. Even her ribs were sore.

  She swallowed hard as she heard the knock again and more commotion downstairs. “Go away!” she yelled out as she pulled on her tank top after stepping into the tennis skirt.

  “Never.” She heard Kever’s voice and gasped as she turned toward him. His eyes absorbed the bruising on her cheek and then the scratches on her chest.

  He closed the door and stepped into her tiny bedroom. She stepped back as he approached, raising one eyebrow at her.

  “Don’t step away from me. I told you that we needed to talk.”

  “About what?” she asked.

  He pulled her by her wrist, drawing her against his chest. One arm wrapped around her waist and he inhaled against her neck. “About us.”

  Oh God, please. My life can’t get any worse.

  “You did good, Arabella. You held your own. You improvised like a true soldier would.”

  She shook her head. “Please don’t talk about it.” He gripped her face with one hand. She stared up into his dark eyes.

  She smelled the alcohol on his breath and cringed as his hand moved under her skirt to her ass.

  “Please, Kever, don’t do this. I don’t want this.”

  She saw the flash of something in his eyes appear and then disappear so quickly. His grip tightened. “You belong to me. I’ll protect you and watch over you. Victor and his men will never lay a hand on you.”

  She shook her head. “I’m done. I’m not involved with this shit. I have a career, a life.”

  He stared at her breasts and he gripped her close. “I wanted to kill the fucker for touching you like that. For ripping your dress and shoving his tongue down your throat as he touched and fondled what’s mine.”

  He hadn’t even heard her words or acknowledged them. He was staking a claim to her like Anthony did to Cora.

  She shook her head. “I’m not Cora. You can’t make me yours and force yourself into my life.” He shoved her to the bed and was between her legs and over her in a flash. She gripped his shoulders. “Kever, don’t.”

  “You are mine. We shared a moment. Yo
u clung to me in the SUV afterward.”

  “I was shaken up, scared, and in shock. I’ll never do anything like that again. I shouldn’t have been there. I don’t want this.”

  He caressed her cheek, his body heavy over hers, crushing her, limiting her movement. She wasn’t prepared for this, for his pursuit.

  “Please, Kever, let me up.”

  “Not before I fuck you and make you mine, under my protection and guard.”

  Was he out of his mind? Who thought like this? What made him think that claiming her as his, raping her, would make her stay with him, be his woman? Was this what Anthony did to Cora? She couldn’t’ stop the tears that flowed from her eyes. She tried pushing upward as his hand cupped her breast and he leaned forward and kissed her lips. She was shaking, her lips quivering in fear. The last twenty-four hours had done her in. She was finished with this life.

  She shoved upward again as he licked along her neck to her breasts. He nipped her areola and twirled his tongue into the cup of her bra to taste her nipple.

  “Oh God, please stop. Please stop.”

  “I’ll go slow, baby, although I know you’ll like it fast. I’ll be better than any other lover you had.”

  “No, Kever, please.”

  “How many lovers have you had, baby?” he asked.

  When she didn’t respond, she heard the click and felt the tip of the switchblade against her neck. “Oh!” she cried out in terror. He held her gaze and pressed the metal tip to her throat.

  “How many men fucked this pussy?”

  “None. No one ever.”

  His eyes widened. “No one?”

  She shook her head side to side and he sort of smirked.

  “I knew you were special, but damn, baby, a virgin?” He slowly rose up but kept the blade at her breast.

  “Don’t fight me on this. You’re not going to win. I’m claiming you, letting everyone know that you belong to me.” He trailed the knife down her belly, over her skin where her shirt had raised up. “Don’t make me hurt you, Arabella. You don’t know what a man like me is capable of.” He began to tell her about his time in the service as Special Forces. He said he’d skinned people alive and could peel away her skin from neck to toes. That he was good at it.