I turned, panting hard and eyeing the three men approaching as I fumbled with the remaining high heel buckle. Slipping it off and wielding it like a weapon, I took up a defensive position and waited for them to descend upon me.
They didn’t disappoint or hesitate. Mountain Man blocked my right while the other two blocked front and left. Short of jumping ten feet in the air or being able to shoot a web from my wrist, I was cornered and about to go down kicking and screaming.
Two pairs of hands latched onto my arms and shoulders, while the other grabbed my first attempt to kick him in the balls. Lifted from the ground and spread eagle like a starfish wasn’t my idea of a fun time, and I bucked and kicked with everything I had until my second leg became locked down.
“Get her to the fucking house, quick!” one of my captors growled. “And why the fuck is Arno still in the car?”
“She broke his fucking neck,” Mountain Man exclaimed.
I jerked and twisted in their hold when anger rose again. “And you’re next, you son of a bitch—fucking rapist!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“The fuck is she on about, Mandla?”
“He raped me on the way here,” I hissed, absolutely seething at the way I’d been treated this afternoon.
The man at my ankles gasped and his widened eyes glared hard into Mandla—a.k.a Mountain Man. “Johannes is going to lose his shit over this.Unscathed,remember? Tell me she’s lying.”
“She’s lying,” he snapped. “And she would be unscathed if she hadn’t fought.”
My efforts to make this as hard as possible for them rekindled. I jolted and struggled, then went completely limp. The sudden change in my weight distribution had them all cursing and almost dropping me on the sealed driveway.
“I’m not lying.” As much as I didn’t want to ever set my sights on my father again, I used the threat of him against his employees. “Just wait until my father hears about this. You’re a dead man walking,Mandla.”
The man laughed a deep, sinister chuckle. “He ain't gonna kill me.”
“He may not, but I will.”
The three men grunted as I changed rigidity again, this time tensing and renewing my endeavor to break free. They cursed me all names under the sun and were satisfyingly out of breath by the time they got me inside and dumped me on a leather couch.
I was on my feet and tugging my dress into place before they’d taken two steps back.
Mandla leered. “Feisty one, aren’t you? Reinhardt’s sure as fuck got his work cut out for him.”
My eyes narrowed. “Who’s Reinhardt?”
“None of your fucking business at the moment,” the third guy snapped. “Mandla, you need to shut your fucking mouth or Johannes will kill you. Especially if what she said is true.” His attention dropped to my thighs, and he gritted his jaw. When his eyes cut back up to mine, I saw remorse in them even though it wasn’t his to feel.
I lifted my chin and steeled my expression, meeting his gaze with as much fire as I could bring to my own. Show no weakness, even at my lowest point. That was how I was going to get through this.
“Mandla, go get Johannes,now,”third guy demanded.
“You go get him,” he snapped back.
The man’s pale complexion reddened with rage. “Go fucking get him because you can’t be trusted to be with her. Fucking go!” he yelled when Mandla didn’t move immediately.
A muttered, “Bitch deserved it,” hung in the air as he stormed from the room.
I glanced back and forth between the two remaining men, still on edge, half-expecting them to come at me again.
“Take a seat, Helga.”
A humorless laugh left my mouth. “I don’t fucking think so.”
“You’re safe here,” the nicest of the two reasoned.
“Safe!” I exclaimed. “You’re kidding right? So far today I’ve been attacked, assaulted, abducted, threatened, raped, and held against my will. So no, there’s no fucking way I’m ‘safe’,” I hissed furiously and air quoted.
“I regret that’s happened,” he said softly, stepping forward.