Book Title:
BONNIE
Come on, Bonnie. You can do this,” she whispered to herself, staring at the car she knew belonged to Rogan, her brother’s biggest rival.
She couldn’t believe what she was about to do, but, as they saidwhoever they were-drastic circumstances called for drastic measures. Her circumstances were definitely drastic. Dire might be a more accurate word choice. She was shaking as she stared at the car and the men walking away from it.
This might be the craziest, stupidest thing she’d ever done but it was still better than letting her brother, Ethan, marry her off to some stranger, probably in exchange for something that would benefit his mob. Just the thought of it, the memory of Ethan, who’d always been her protector, telling her his plan brought tears of frustration to her eyes. She wiped them away with her sleeve and scowled at herself. There was no time for emotion. There was no time to be scared. She just had to make good on her plan. “Just check if the door is open and slip in. That’s all you have to do.”
Well, that wasn’t completely true, but it was the first step. First, she needed to go over and check if the door was even unlocked. If it wasn’t, she was going to have to come up with a new game plan. No doubt her brother was starting to look for her. He had to have realized she was gone by now.
That meant Bonnie only had a couple hours until he found her. She needed the car door to be unlocked.
Even then, even if it was, they would still find her eventually. They would find out what she’d done, and they would figure out who she was.
When that happened, if it happened, she’d no idea how she would deescalate the situation. Her best hope, even if the chance was slim was to use their car to hitch a ride, then slip out into the darkness later.
If she hid in the trunk, she would have a good hiding place and not be seen. Then she could slip out and hide somewhere on his property. Bonnie had no clue what his security was like on his property, but she hoped it wasn’t too much.
Bonnie took a deep breath in, stood up, and slowly made her way toward Rogan’s car. She didn’t want to run and draw any attention to herself. If anyone saw her get into the car, any passersby, it had to look like she was supposed to be there. Like she was meant to be there.
Moving her head slowly to the right and then to the left, Bonnie looked to see if anyone around was watching the vehicle. No one was looking. She let out a little breath of air and sent up a prayer as she approached.
When she reached the door, she put her hand on the handle and gently pulled. It immediately opened and she did a little victory dance in her head. This was exactly what she needed.
Screw Ethan and his business deals anyway. She thought he was different, but he’d turned out to be no better than anyone else. That felt like the biggest betrayal. Especially after she’d told him she was a Little.
Pushing away the reminders of her brother’s betrayal, Bonnie climbed in and crawled over the seats to get into the trunk. It was one of those models where there was no top over the trunk and a person could easily get in through to the back seats. She knew if it wasn’t like this there was no way she would be able to escape this way.
Landing in the back, she sucked in a breath when she realized there were shopping bags where she’d planned on hiding.
“Shit,” she whispered. “What am I going to do?”
There was no time to do anything. Bonnie could hear voices talking loudly and getting closer to the car. Rogan and his men were coming back.
She moved quickly, laying down in the trunk and placing bags on top of her. She thought she’d considered about every situation she could get herself into, but this definitely wasn’t one of them. What was she going to do when they got back into the compound and started getting things out of the trunk?
Bonnie was going to be found. And that terrified her.
If they realized she was a Montgomery, they could kill her.
But Rogan and his men had one good thing going for them. Their reputation for never hurting innocent women. Hopefully, when they saw her, that would come into play. She just hoped they thought she was innocent. She really was, but that didn’t mean he knew.
“Where to?” the driver asked as they got into the car.
Bonnie took in quiet breaths as she felt the car moving with each person that piled in. This had been a very bad idea. She realized that now, but it was too late. There was no going back. If she made herself known now, she could get shot. When they found her after they got back to their house, she could get killed. Either way it seemed like every scenario she thought of, she was going to die.
Tears pooled in her eyes. She hadn’t really lived life to the fullest. She hadn’t found love, or a Daddy of her own to nurture her Little side.
“Home,” Rogan said.
She knew it was him, though she’d never met him. She recognized his voice from a video Ethan had showed her once. The clip had been very short, but she remembered thinking that Rogan’s voice was deep and smooth.
As the car rolled to a stop and the passengers began to exit, panic welled up inside of her. Everything in her wanted to burst into tears right away. She’d never been in a situation like this. Ethan would’ve never let her be in a situation like this. But Ethan wasn’t on her side right now and maybe Rogan could be.
Maybe he could help her, keep her safe from her brother trying to force her into an arranged marriage. She’d no clue if it would work but she needed to try. Bonnie probably should have approached him on the street and asked him for help, not telling him she was a Montgomery, but it was too late now. She was in his car and there was no way out.
“What are you going to do about Hedda?” someone asked. “She still deadset on moving?
Who was Hedda? Was she someone special to him, like a sister or a lover?
“I kind of want to kill her Daddies for taking her away from me, but I know she’s happy and I am trying to be happy for her,” Rogan replied. “Enough talk about my sister and her men. I don’t want to think about them.”
“Sorry, Boss.”
The car fell silent and turned to the right. The turn was sharp enough to jolt her, smacking her head against the side of the car. More tears appeared in her eyes as the pain radiated against her head.
Bonnie had never been good with pain. She was a crybaby when it came to everything. Ethan said she was a sensitive girl and she’d grown used to it. If someone made fun of her, her eyes would tear up, if someone hit her, she would cry. There was never a time when she didn’t cry and right now was no exception.
“What was that?” a different voice said.
“Boss bought some pretty expensive and heavy things. Something probably just rolled and hit the side of the car,” another person said.
“Fucker. Drive carefully. I don’t want anything getting broken,” Rogan replied.
Bonnie tried to keep track of how long they drove straight and when they turned, but she quickly lost track. She’d never been good at remembering things. This was no different. If she didn’t have a pen or paper to write it down, it was a lost cause.
“If anything is broken, you’re paying for it,” Rogan said.
“Sorry Boss. I forgot all about them,” the man said. “We don’t normally put things back there and it slipped my mind.”
What were the odds that Bonnie would choose the day they did things differently? Apparently, not very good for her since that was what happened.
“Will you be needing me to take you anywhere else today?” the man asked.
“Not that I know of. I’ll be working in my office for the rest of the day,” Rogan replied.
Hopefully, by the time they got back to his house, they would have forgotten about the stuff in the back. Maybe then she could get away before they noticed she was in the car.
Bonnie felt the car turn again before stopping. She held her breath as she heard the doors open and close. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping and praying they wouldn’t come back to the trunk.
But luck wasn’t on her side today. The voices got louder and louder as they walked toward the back of the car. Fear coursed through her body as the door popped open.
Before Bonnie even knew what was happening, two of the bags were lifted off of her and three guns were pointed at her. She let out a shriek of fear and held up her hands to the best of her ability as she laid on the floor of the car.
“Stay back, Boss!” someone shouted. “There’s somebody in the back of the car.”
“Who the fuck is in my trunk?” Rogan yelled.
Tears went down her face again. She was staring down the barrels of three guns and a bunch of angry men. She was in so much trouble and she didn’t know what to do.
Bonnie realized then she hadn’t thought through her plan as well as she’d thought, and it was showing.
The guns were still pointed at her, holding her focus. She didn’t see Rogan pushing through his men to look at her. “Get behind me, Boss!” someone yelled “It’s a woman!” another one cried.
“Move out of my way,” Rogan commanded.
Bonnie’s eyes were wide and filled with tears as Rogan pushed to the front. The guns were still pointed at her, the implication clear. She knew if she made even the slightest movement, somebody was going to shoot her. The thought terrified her. So much so, she almost peed her pants.
“It’s a woman. You can lower your guns. She doesn’t look like she could harm a fly,” Rogan said. “She’s crying.” His eyes narrowed at her when he said the last bit. “Stop fucking crying.”
But that wouldn’t stop her. She could feel the tears running down her face even as she saw the guns lowering. Relief filled her but she knew it wasn’t going to last long because they were going to start asking her questions. Would she be able to answer them?
Rogan growled at her. “Stop fucking crying, woman, and tell me why you’re here.”
She opened her mouth, but nothing would come out. Meeting his gaze head on, she took a deep, shaky breath in and tried again, but nothing. “Ppl.”
Bonnie wanted to tell them she wasn’t a threat, and she was unarmed but words were escaping her. Her brain was not functioning. There was no way she was going to be able to tell them she was unarmed.
“Stop crying!” Rogan demanded again. “Are you fucking deaf?”
She closed her eyes tightly, and gulped air, trying to control her emotions. She’d never been good at stopping her tears right away. It had always infuriated Ethan, but over time he’d gotten used to it. Of course, that was after he’s spent tons of money on therapists and even sent her to a specialist to help her stop crying so much. It hadn’t worked. If anything, the crying had gotten worse.
Bonnie opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was how angry Rogan was getting and she didn’t like it. She’d never been good with angry people and Rogan was a ball of anger right now. She made eye contact with him and tears immediately appeared in her eyes again. She could see the anger dancing through his, and feel it rolling off of him in waves.
“Fucking grab her,” Rogan said. “Maybe she’ll start answering our questions when she’s locked up in the basement.” He stepped to the side and let two men step forward.
“Maybe she’ll fucking learn not to cry,” a guy said.
“It shows fucking weakness when you cry. So learn to fucking stop, and then we can have conversation,” Rogan said.
She opened her mouth, wanting to tell him she was never going to be able to stop crying. It wasn’t in her, especially in high-tension situations.
“No,” she yelled as the men grabbed her arms and ankles.
Bonnie tried to escape, but they just tightened their grip. She couldn’t get away. She couldn’t do anything but whimper and cry out.
“Don’t hurt her. Just handcuff her to a chair in the basement. I’ll deal with her later,” Rogan said.
Rogan’s direction set off a new wave of panic and tears and she thrashed against their hold. They held tight. Rogan walked off and her talking to him went down the drain. Why couldn’t they have been more civil?
The men started to walk toward the house. Bonnie screamed and wiggled the closer they got.
“What about her screams?” the guy holding her legs asked. “Won’t your sister ask questions?”
“No, she won’t. She won’t be home for another couple of hours. Place the girl in the basement and make sure the door is closed. Even if she screams, no one will be able to hear her,” Rogan said.
Fear went through her as he said those words. She didn’t want that.
“Please!” she begged. “No!”
But they didn’t pay any attention to her. The two guards continued to walk into the house and down the basement stairs. They roughly placed her in the chair and before she could do anything, a handcuff was placed around each of her wrists, way too tightly, and the other cuff was connected to the chair arms.
She screamed in pain as they dug into her wrists. “Please,” she begged.
“Tight.”
Both men chuckled, turned their backs, shut the lights off and left.