My eyes fluttered open but the quietness had gotten to me quickly. I rubbed the back of my neck and hissed at the pain. My memories of fighting the huge Tonka of a man in a garage came flooding back. There was definitely a bruise forming on my throat.
I got up from the bed and looked at my surroundings. I tried to swallow but found that was more difficult than I thought it would be. I surveyed the room that I had been placed in and found several things of interest to me.
First, one of the brothers had taken the handcuffs from my wrist. The other was that I was put in a room that had not been occupied in weeks. There was dust and filament on the chest drawer that stood against the wall. When I looked at the window seal I saw that I was high…very high up. I slowly backed away from the window.
At least they don't have to worry about me scaling the wall.
I sighed as I saw three doors in the room. I opened the one closest to the dresser and found that it was a bathroom. It had a nice color scheme of light blue and black. There was a titanium steel sink and a shower inside. I frown at the thought of not being able to soak in a porcelain tub.
I closed the door to the bathroom and opened the door on the opposite side of the room and found a walk-in closet. It was bare.
I quickly shut it and opened the last door and smiled as I found the exit to the room. I slowly moved out of the room and shut the door behind me. I wanted to find my laptop but, with my luck, I would not be able to find anything in this place.
As I traveled down the hallway I found that this was a decent-sized place. The hallway where the room I was staying in had three other rooms. But I did not dare open them.
I found the kitchen and a dining room that were adjacent to it. I searched further into the house and found a sparing and weight room. It did not surprise me that the men that captured me worked out. The muscles alone were the dead give away.
I stopped when I saw a few pictures that decorated the wall. One that made me stop was a picture of a young woman holding the hand of a little girl. As I looked closely at the picture, I felt something come behind me.
"Are you through snooping little lamb?"
I quickly turned around to find Colin smirking at me. I went back up into the room and stayed silent. I lifted my chin to get a better look at him. Tattoos decorated his neck and right arm. As my eyes traveled down at his frame, I could not help but pause at his attire.
He was wearing gray slacks and a red-colored A-shirt.It made sense that he would be barefooted, but I felt my shin lift to his face. I gulped when I realized that he was holding my chin. I hissed at the pain and he frowned, quickly letting me go.
"Shit Carlson really did a number on you," Colin said. He tilted my face to the side to get a better look. "Let's go to the kitchen and get something for the swelling."
"Am I to assume Carlson is the asshole that slammed me into your truck?" I followed suit but my focus went back to the picture I was looking at.
"That is my cousin and one of her students. She is a teacher and loves kids." He said with his back to me.
As we made our way to the kitchen, I could smell different aromas in the air. When we came to the opening, Colin pointed to the chair at the bar top that was against the kitchen island. Black marble decorated every inch of the place. I zeroed in on the person inside the kitchen and found that Noah was cooking.
He had covered one of the pots and was glaring at me. He looked at his brother who had raised both of his hands to chest level.
"I found her wondering around the halls. Figured it would be better to keep a better eye on her."
"So why is she not in cuffs," Noah asked as he looked down at my wrists. Colin went to the kitchen and pulled out an ice pack and tossed it to me. I caught it just by reflexes and immediately placed it close to my neck. I winced at the pain but recovered when the chill eased the pain.
"Rory took them off, we thought it would be better that way. Besides, she was passed out and seeing what she did to Carlson with cuffs on," Colin paused with a chuckle. I stared at him as I pushed my bottom lip inside my mouth. I sighed, finding that there was another cut inside my cheek and at the corner of my lip.
I sighed heavily. "Not that I am not happy to be rid of my Russian captors, can someone please tell me what I have to do to get out of here." I said, getting the two brothers' attention.
Before any of them could answer me, I saw that someone had left their Tech-9 on the counter. I kept eye contact with the two before quickly getting the gun into my hands. Both of them reached for the weapon but I was able to get to it first. As I had the gun in my hand, I was slammed against the wall and someone's hand was tightening against my throat.
"Fucking hell," I groaned. "Not again." I said, trying to keep my breathing under control. I tried to raise the weapon but Rory had my wrist in a grip as well. I could see him growling at me and glaring like he was ready to snap my neck.
I could see Colin and Noah behind him, but neither of them made a move to stop him.
"Fucking hell Rore. Did you really leave your piece in my kitchen!" Noah shouted at the twin. Rory laughed but kept his eyes on me as he answered him.
"I wanted to see if she would try to make a grab for it. Gotta say sweetheart you are good." He moved me closer to him, but when I tried to kick him, he slammed my frame against the wall again. "Try me, and I'll have you seeing stars."
I laughed, "You know the last man that gave me that promise left me angry and frustrated." I saw the shock in his eyes. HE quickly recovered from my lewd comment.
"What the fuck is going on?" We all stopped and looked to see the eldest Cathal brother standing at the front door. HE dropped down and duffle bag with a loud thud. "I leave you mutts here for a few hours and what do I find." I looked at Noah. "Is dinner ready," he nodded to the pots on the stove.
"Almost, we got a little distracted," Noah stated.
"Clearly," Asher said as he walked towards me and Rory. He bent down and snatched the weapon from my grasp. He inspected it and sighed. "Put her down Rore." HE shook his head as Rory set me down and gave me a quick smirk.
I glared at the eldest as he showed me the weapon. I inspected it and quickly looked at the twin, who were still smiling.
"You piece of shit. You tricked me." I shouted.
Rory shrugged as he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the dining table. "First rule of escaping sweetheart, always check and make sure the safety is off."
Colin shook his head as he walked over to me and led me back to the bar-top. "I thought the first rule was to make sure the damn thing was loaded."
Colin pulled out a roast of the over and shot a look at both twins. "Please tell me, you did not leave a loaded gun in here?"
Rory stopped chomping on the apple and ripped the juices from his mouth. I could not take my eyes off of the man. Seeing the juices flow down his chin makes my thoughts run wild.
"Of course I did not load it," Rory said, looking at me. "I wanted to see what our little hostage would do if we gave her an opening. I am surprised to be honest and disappointed." He said, winking at me.
I shook them off and clenched my thighs together as Colin handed me the ice pack once more.
I looked up at the other twin who offered me a smile. "At least he did not aggravate your injury." He said, trying to comfort me.
I put the pack at my throat and looked over at Rory. "Disappointed how?" I asked.
Instead, Colin answered, "You pointed the gun at me first before Rory disarmed you. He figured that you would have gone to the door or you would have pointed to Colin." I chuckled at the idea of them actually testing me.
I shrugged as I set the pack down. "I would have gone for the most experienced fighter. Since you were the oldest in the room, you have had the most training. And Colin's back was turned away from me. No offense cowardly, but I am not shooting someone in the back...it's a cowardly move."
Rory gave me a slow clap at my comment. I could tell he wanted to get under my skin. He smiled as he got up and walked toward his twin. "Pay up."
Colin muttered something in Celtic and pulled out his wallet. He shoved a fifty into his brother's hand.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Rory said as he turned and went down the hall.
That was when I realized these fuckers betted on my reaction. They knew that I would go for the gun, but they wanted to see which brother I would go after first.