And he wasn’t.
Russ saw she needed friendship, nothing else.
By the end of the day, he had her agreement, and when she was discharged, they were going to stop by her apartment. Russell let her have the afternoon to herself in her room, but instead of going back to his apartment, he went to the club. He wasn’t surprised to see all of the guys in the club, fucking the shit out of the women. Tina was between Jamie and Dave, one man fucking her ass, and the other her cunt.
The club was filled with screams of pleasure, and he couldn’t get Anna’s scream of pain out of his head. It was driving him crazy, and making him feel sick to know she’d been suffering as he drove away. This club was the only constant in his life outside of work. He needed it, and the missions that Lewis had them going on kept him alive.
Russ didn’t even know what it was about Anna. She wasn’t his usual type. He liked his women without complications, and their main aim was to please him. Anna wasn’t about pleasing him. She was nervous around him, and had gotten worse since finding out he was a billionaire. It was only going to be a matter of time before she found out. He was pleased she’d found out from him, and not anyone else.
Entering the main office, he saw the dozens of laptops and devices waiting to be examined. Lewis was in the room, scrolling through one of them.
“You look like shit.”
“I came back from Anna.”
“What is it about her?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Jackson is the one who gets mushy over the women we save. You go in, kill and capture, release the women, and go home. You never get attached.”
“I’m not attached to Anna.”
Lewis stared at him.
“I don’t know what it is, okay? I think she’s the woman I heard screaming out in agony that night, and I drove away as if I didn’t hear it.” He felt sick to his stomach every time he thought about it.
“It’s out of pity then?”
“I don’t know what it is. I only know that I’ve got make sure she’s safe. It’s strange, and stupid, but I can’t walk away.”
“You’re going back there tonight?” Lewis asked.
“Yes. She can’t sleep alone. I watch over her so she can rest.”
“You know how fucked up that sounds, right?” Lewis asked.
Sitting down at one of the desks, Russ fired up one of the tablets, and clicked it open. There wasn’t even a password to keep anyone out.
“Have you found anything?” Russ asked.
“I’ve found a list of requests.”
“Requests?”
“Yes. Descriptions of women, body type, age, race, sexual status.”
Getting out of his seat, he moved until he was standing behind Lewis, who had a large document up.
“Fuck,” Russ said. “Is this an order?”
“It’s a shopping list. He wants a blonde, American with attitude, and willing to put up a fight but not be broken.” Lewis leaned back. “I feel fucking sick.”
“Who is she, Lewis?”
Russ had never actually asked who they were hunting for, but he felt now was a better time than any.
“She’s the biggest fucking mistake I ever made. The one time I didn’t keep an eye on her,” Lewis said.
“What?”
“I had a family once, a nice family. We lived in the perfect dream house, with the picket fence, and I had a best friend who lived next door, and he had a little sister. I was eighteen when she was taken. She was ten years old.” Lewis ran his fingers through his hair. “She was such a sweet girl, pretty too. I guess if she was given the chance, she’d be the girl next door type. One day she was playing out on the front lawn, and I was mowing our yard. I always kept an eye on her, you know. She was so trusting and sweet, and she didn’t let anyone have a bad mood around her. She would always be laughing and having fun. It was great.”
Russ didn’t interrupt.
Lewis wiped under his eyes, and it was the first time for Russ to ever see the man cry. Everything they had all been through, and this was the first time he’d cried. “I was mowing the bastard, fucking lawn, and I turned my back for a second. It was long enough for them to snatch her. I’ll never forget her scream as they pulled her into the car. They must have stopped by to ask for directions or something. I chased the car down the road, screaming and shouting. The neighbors that were in ran with me, but we were too late.”
“Did you get the license plate?”
“I got the plate, and they ran a search. It turned up as a stolen car on the outskirts of town. What I was able to get from what the cops told their parents, there were tire marks from another vehicle. The sons of bitches took Mandy, and changed the vehicle.”