Acts of Mercy: A Stepbrother Romance (Men of WRATH Book 5)

“What do you mean, they disappeared?” I swear, this week has felt like some sort of surreal nightmare and it’s about damn time I woke up. I need off of this crazy rollercoaster of horror.

“They went into the ladies’ room and never came out.” Sam’s voice cracks, sounding like a nervous teenager.

“They can’t just disappear into thin air. Find them. Right the fuck now!” I pace in front of the team I’d assigned to look over Alyssa. I’m at The Walton, her last known location.

It looks like they were coming for brunch but when the hostess was asked if they had a reservation, it was made clear they didn’t.

“Sir. My name is Jeffrey Michaels. I’m the manager of this location. It’s my understanding you have misplaced someone?”

“Misplaced?” I grit out through clenched teeth. “No. My pregnant wife is missing.”

Sam stills at my words. I’m not sure if it was the part where Alyssa is pregnant or the fact that I called her my wife. Semantics. All fucking minor details, unimportant until I have her back.

The way we left things is killing me. I wouldn’t be able to go on if something happened to her and the last thing I told her was ‘Never again.’

Sam speaks up, breaking the thick tension in the room. “She was last seen in the ladies’ room with her mother. Neither of them ever left and Mrs. Maxwell’s tracker has stopped broadcasting with its last known activity being in the restroom.”

Mrs. Maxwell. It warms my aching heart to hear Alyssa bearing my last name, even if it technically isn’t accurate.

I turn to Sam. “The tracker was her keychain. Did you find the keys or her purse? Was anything left behind?”

“No, sir. We haven’t been able to locate the tracker or anything she might have kept with it.”

“If I may,” Jeffrey speaks up, glancing back and forth between Sam and me. “There’s a secret door behind one of the storage closets in the powder room. It’s lined with technology that blocks out cells and transmitters of the sort. This could be why the signal died.”

My lips peel back, teeth exposed, a feral growl blanketing the room. “Why are we just now hearing about this?”

The manager shifts nervously, his hand going to the back of his neck and squeezing. “This is an old hotel. We can’t very well disclose all of its well-kept secrets to the general public.”

“I’m not the general public,” I spit out. “I’m the owner of one of the top national security firms and your holding back is costing us precious time!”

“Right, please follow me. I’ll take you through the tunnels.”

He better pray this little stunt didn’t cause any unnecessary harm for my sweet girl.

Sure enough, Jeffrey opens a closet door inside of the powder room, and to the right, there’s a small hollowed-out section of wall. He pries it open, and a tunnel is revealed.

Based on how old this hotel is, this exit is probably back from the prohibition era in the 1870s. This must’ve been how they smuggled alcohol in and out.

But the blocking technology is definitely new. It’s clear they’ve taken this secret passage and given it a modern upgrade.

As my theory would support, the halls are narrow and extremely dark, but there are no signs of cobwebs, showing it’s well maintained and frequently used.

Despite the lack of dust and eight-legged inhabitants, it’s still creepy as fuck. The whole pathway gives off a dark vibe, and it’s definitely not just because of the lack of lighting.

No matter. There’s no doubt I’d travel through hell to get Alyssa back.

Thoughts of her bound up and gagged cause my stomach to lurch. Picking up the pace, I lead my team through and out.

Don’t give up on me, Little Red. I’m coming.

Alyssa

I blink my eyes open, wondering why my head feels like I just chugged a bottle of tequila.

Memories. My mother holding me, her hand stroking my hair, and then darkness.

Looking around, I see I’m on the floor of a ratty motel room, the filthy red carpet scratching against my cheek. What the hell?

The room is small and the scent of cigarettes clings heavily in the air, saturating everything within its presence. My eyes are scanning the full-sized bed with the tattered comforter when a movement catches my eye.

“Ah. Sleeping beauty is finally awake.” It’s my mother’s voice coming from the corner of the room, her body hiding behind shadows in the barely lit room.

“Mom?” I croak, unable to piece together why my own mother would do this to me. “Is this because of the baby?”

I try to sit up, but find that my hands and feet have been bound together, making it impossible for me to get upright. I tilt my head up, trying to see as much of her as possible.

“The baby?” A maniacal laugh escapes her, her chest bouncing up and down. “So that’s what set Hudson off, asking about the paternity test.”

“He told you about the paternity test? I don’t understand why he wouldn’t come to me first.” Feeling a frown pull at my lips, I know I should keep quiet, but this is all too much. I have no control over what comes out of my mouth right now.

Filter? What filter?

“You dumb child. I knew I should’ve aborted you when I had the chance.” Lynora gets up from her chair, her words gutting me with every stride she takes toward me.

I knew she always thought of me as a mistake, but to hear her say it so blatantly is nothing short of excruciating. “Why? Why do you hate me so much?”

My words come out a whisper but the evil glint in her eye and her raised brow tell me she heard.

“Why would I hate you? Really? You have to ask?” She lets out an exasperated breath as she sits at the foot of the bed, her sneakers mere inches from my head.

My face scrunches, eyes traveling up and down my mother’s body. I see she’s changed out of the summer dress she’d been wearing at brunch and is now donning jeans and a t-shirt tucked into her waist.

“Ah, you’ve noticed.” She waves her hands over her body. “There’s no way I could’ve hauled your dead weight around in a dress and heels. I had a bag waiting for me with everything I needed. Honestly, I expected you to put up more of a fight.”

My eyes go wide and my mouth hangs open. “Well, excuse me for not being weary of a hug from my own mother!”

Heat develops behind my lids and I know tears are soon to follow. I cannot let her see me cry. If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that this woman thrives on the reactions of others.

“Dumb whore. If you’d just kept your legs closed, we wouldn’t even be in this position.” The sound of a car door slamming shut makes Lynora jump, her attention on me wavering. “Don’t you get any ideas and make me have to gag you.”

Walking stealthily to the window, she pulls the curtain back, bringing her hand down to the back of her waistband. That’s when I see the glint of black metal.

“You’d shoot me?” I blink rapidly and my forehead crinkles, but as soon as the words are out of my mouth, I realize how ridiculous they were.

She’s got me hogtied on the floor of a dingy hotel room. Of course, she’d freaking shoot me.

“In a heartbeat, sweetheart.” Satisfied with what she sees outside, she walks back toward me, crouching down by my side.

“But why? Why now?” None of this makes sense. Her reaction to the baby, like my pregnancy, was news. “If it’s not my baby, then what is it? What would possess you to do this?”

She lets out a loud sigh. “As I said, you’ve ruined everything with your whore legs.” She pulls out her gun, the hand which holds it tightly reaching up and brushing back a strand of hair that’s fallen over my face. “I suppose part of it is my fault, too. Letting such a pretty girl prance around a known manwhore. It was only a matter of time before he set his sights on you.”

My nose scrunches. “I’m sorry, but what does Hudson have to do with you kidnapping me and threatening to shoot me?”

A closed-mouth scream comes from her puckered face, her head shaking back and forth before she gets up and begins pacing by my body. “Everything, girl. Everything. Had you not fucked him with your apparently magical pussy, James wouldn’t have felt the need to step in and show him the paternity test.”

“What paternity test?” Is Lynora on drugs? What the hell is she talking about?

“The damn paternity test I forged to make James think he was your father, you twat! How else do you think I managed to get a man of his caliber to marry me?” She rolls her eyes like it’s the most logical assumption. “Once your daddy died, the child support stopped coming, so I needed to think something up. I remembered James and how I used to mess around with him when my mother was under his employment.”

I’m slack-jawed at the realization that she’s been conning Hudson’s dad this entire time.

“Oh, don’t you look at me like that. I did what I had to. You should thank your lucky stars that the timeframe worked out to about when you were born. If it weren’t for my quick thinking, you wouldn’t have the things you did growing up in California or that nice stash of money sitting in your bank account. An account that will now transfer those funds to me.”

My eyes narrow. “But doesn’t that mean you were sleeping with both James and my dad at the same time?”

She cackles, “Well, you had to get your whore legs from somewhere, didn’t you? And before you go asking, you’re not James’s daughter, as much as it pains me to say. Your life would’ve differed greatly from the get-go had that been the case. But nope, your daddy had me do a test when you were born because he knew of my ways.” She purses her lips, looking as pleased as punch. “It’s that same test I copied and forged when James asked me to confirm that you were his.”

“So all this time, James has been under the impression that I’m his real daughter?”

“Yes. And it would’ve stayed that way had you steered clear of seducing Hudson. Your selfish actions sent James into a tizzy.” She waves the gun in her hand, whirling it in a circle. “He couldn’t stand the thought of his two babies giving way into incestuous desires, even if they were unknown to the both of you, or weren’t even an actual issue.”

Like a combination lock clicking into place, everything becomes clear.

Oh. My God.

Hudson fucked me thinking I was his own flesh and blood sister. No wonder he said he was going to hell and apologized like he’d been wronging me.

My poor man. He must be tortured out of his mind!

“The paternity test,” I whisper, piecing that little box into place. It was for me, not for our baby.

“Yes. That damn paternity test. Hudson had been reaching out to me, trying to get more information on the results I’d given James. It was only a matter of hours or days before he found out that the test results were fake.” She taps my head with the tip of her shoe. “And when that happens, I’ll be left penniless and forgotten. And that’s if James doesn’t press charges or something.”

Disgust roils in my chest, the heat of fury snaking through my torso and up my throat. “So what? If you’re going down, you’re taking me with you?”

“Oh, god no. Stop being so dramatic.” She rolls her eyes again, resuming her seat at the edge of the bed. “No. I just need your money. The one you have because of me.”

“You went through all this, so I’d give you money?”

“Not just some money. All of your money.” She tilts her head toward a laptop on the nightstand. “I already cleared out the personal account James opened for me, and now I want what’s in yours. I needed to get you away where I could explain everything to you. Bring you to a place where… you’d be more amenable to help me escape.”

I cock my head back. “Amenable? What in the hell makes you think I’m amenable?”

“For one, you wouldn’t want to do anything which could bring your baby harm.” She traces circles on my stomach with the tip of her handgun. “And refusing me, Alyssa, would definitely bring harm to your baby.”

My heart stops and body freezes. This psycho bitch would really hurt me and my baby. Of that, I have no doubt. “Fine. But you’ll have to get me up. It’s not like I can wire you the money from the ground.”

A smug expression takes over her sour face. “I knew you’d see it my way.”

She gets behind me, crouching and sticking both of her arms under mine as she hooks them upward.

It’s then when everything happens all at once. A door bursts open, Lynora screams, a gun goes off and a searing pain shoots through me. I swear I see Jesus himself before the world goes dark.