Chapter 34

Charlie's scream caught in her throat as the door to the cabin opened and a tall, blonde-haired man walked in, followed by a grey-haired, well-dressed gentleman in a dark suit. As she looked at his chiselled jawline and caramel eyes that matched her own, her heart fell to her butt.

"Hey, Maria, finally. Has anyone ever told you that you look like your whore of a mother? You have my eyes though, which is a waste on the likes of you."

"My name is Charlie and my mother wasn't a whore."

She could see Aiden from the corner of her eye. He was still passed out on the floor. Making a silent prayer that he stayed that way, Charlie prepared herself for whatever her father was going to do.

"You've been a pain in my ass, you know? Year's, Maria, year's I've built my reputation on fear. I take pride in my work and the fact that nobody will fuck me about. You see, in my line of work, there have to be rules and everybody knows the rules, Maria. Everybody. Your whore of a mother knew the rules. Your stepfather knew the rules. Even you. You know the rules."

"Your rules never applied to me. You were just a sperm donor," she spat.

"Maybe that's true, but you were there that day. If you didn't know the rules, you would have opened your mouth back then, but you didn't. Why?"

Charlie looked away as Rafael walked closer to her then leaned into her face. Gripping her chin between his thumb and finger, he pulled her to an inch away from his face.

"Loot at me when I speak to you. Have you no respect at all? I asked a question and I expect an answer. Why did you not open your mouth back then? Why wait until now?"

"I was a scared little girl who had just watched you plaster my parents' skulls across the wall." Her voice was steely as she spoke through gritted teeth. "I regret what I did."

"Well, that's good to hear, I guess. A little too late, though, but still, good to hear,"

Rafael said, pushing her face away from his.

Charlie stretched her jaw wide to remove the feeling of his fingers digging into her skin, then said, "Yeah, I know. Too little too late. I should have told the police back then instead of leaving it until now."

Her face stung as an ear ringing slap hit her left cheek, knocking her head sideways. The yelp that left her mouth did so of its own accord and she risked a glance at Aiden.

"You got guile, kid. I'll give you that. Let's see how bullheaded you are when I really get to playing. Now, who convinced you it was a good idea to stand witness?"

"Nobody. It was just the right thing to do."

Charlie's head spun as the slap landed on her right cheek and a cry left her mouth. Tears flooded her eyes at the throbbing pain in her jaw and blood seeped into her mouth. As she righted her head, she saw a glint of brass in Rafael's right hand and knew that he had walloped her with a knuckle duster.

"Who convinced you?"

His voice was hard and filled with contempt. Charlie braced her jaw for the hit that she knew was on its way as she shook her head. Rafael's fist connected with her left temple and upper jaw bone, causing her to cry out. She couldn't control the sobs or the tears that streamed down her face as she looked at Aiden through watery eyes. He was still passed out and although her head willed him to wake up, her heart longed for him to stay unconscious.

"One more time?"

"It doesn't matter how many times you crack me one. I'm still not telling you what you want to know."

Rafael laughed and looked at the other skinny blonde who had entered the room with him. "This chick has some balls, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, great big ones by the look of that chest. Wouldn't mind having my face between them, that's for sure," the blonde man laughed.

"Yeah?" Rafael laughed, then looked at Charlie. "You hear that? He thinks your balls are big, too."

Suddenly, Rafael grabbed the man by the throat and shoved him out of the open door. "Go get your fucking Alpha to show you some respect, you son of a bitch. Nobody and I mean nobody, gets to talk about my daughter that way. Asshole."

Charlie forced a laugh as she said, "Playing the doting father, now?"

"Blood means shit to me unless it's on the floor, which yours isn't. Yet. Shall we get back to business? I still have a question that needs answering."

"I've told you. I won't talk, no matter what you do to me."

Charlie couldn't help the scream that left her mouth as Rafael rained punch after punch into her face. She felt her lips splitting open, tasted the blood in her mouth and heard the crack of her mandible as the knuckle duster landed on her lower jaw. It seemed to continue forever before he eventually relented and stood back to admire his work.

"You have such a pretty face, now. Much too plain before. Next, it will be your fingers, so, do you want to change your mind?"

Charlie knew she was going to die. She had known it the minute that she knew where she was. Nothing she told her father would change that.

"You're going to kill me anyway and there's no way I'm putting someone else's life at risk," she said.

"Not even your mate?" Raphael said, twisting his head towards Aiden.

Charlie tried to keep her face neutral as she shook her head. "Not even him. He's nothing to me. He couldn't even do the job he was supposed to do. If he had, I wouldn't be here."

She had hoped he would believe her but the sneer on his face as he looked at her, told her that he knew she was lying.