Maid For Daddies.

Chapter 15

Law.

The Ferrari skidded hard onto the gravel as Silas wrestled it to a stop. Lake Mary’s calm surface was broken by a fading ring of bubbles where the car had punched through.

I tore off my jacket in one motion, shoes kicked away, knife already open in my fist. I dove immediately kicking down hard, lungs burning from the sudden depth. Darkness everywhere except for the faint yellow glow below headlights still burning underwater.

The car was nose-down in the silt, tail tilted up, water pressing the doors inward. Pressure was building fast. Five minutes at most before it dragged deeper and crushed whatever air pocket remained.

I reached the passenger side first.

Billie lay motionless behind cracked glass. Head lolled against the seat, eyes closed, mouth slack. No bubbles from her lips or any struggle. The seatbelt pinned her like a noose, jammed tight across her chest.

I drove my fist into the window. Glass shattered inward in a slow, silent bloom. I reached in with my blade and began to saw the belt. The Fibers resisted, then parted with a snap. The strap floated free.

Leon was beside me in the next heartbeat. His arms hooked under her shoulders. Silas arrived a second later, grabbing her legs, anchoring her body between us.

We broke the surface as one, gasping, Leon carried her onto the shore.

She wasn’t breathing.

Her lips were blue, chest still and pale skin.

Leon dropped beside her instantly, hands on her sternum, starting compressions, counting low under his breath. “One… two… three…”

I tilted her head back, pinched her nose, sealed my mouth over hers. First breath pushing air past cold lips. Her chest rose, nothing else. Second breath and still nothing.

Silas knelt opposite, fingers pressed to the side of her neck . “Her pulse is weak, but there.”

I went back in. Mouth to mouth. I breathed for her, once and twice willing her lungs to remember how.

“Come on,” I muttered against her mouth between breaths. “You don’t get to die on me, little thief. Not after you finally landed that punch.”

Another breath from me and her chest jerked.

Then a cough. Lake water spilled from her mouth in a choking rush. Her body convulsed then sucked in air on her own.

Her eyes fluttered open halfway.

“I’m… sorry,” she whispered, barely audible over the sound of her own breathing. “I’m late… again…”

Her lids drifted shut. Head lolled to the side. Her chest rising and falling. She was breathing.

I pressed two fingers to her neck. Pulse stronger now.

Silas exhaled sharply. “She’s back.”

Leon was already on the phone, ambulance dispatched, ETA under five. He looked at me once, then back to the lake.

Baron came.

“We found the driver,” he said. “A few meters down the shore. He tried to run on foot. He’s in custody.”

“Apprehend him. Take him to Lilith.”Leon said.

Baron nodded.

I stayed on my knees beside her. Wet hair plastered to her face.. I brushed a strand from her cheek.

She was safe.

And we were going to make damn sure nothing like this ever happens again.

~~~~~

Silas.

The door of Lilith clanged shut behind me,

Brian was already waiting.

Tied to the metal chair in the center of the room, wrists bound behind the backrest, ankles strapped to the legs. Duct tape over his mouth had been peeled away. His eyes were wide, red-rimmed, darting from wall to wall until they locked on me.

“Where the hell am I?” he rasped, voice cracking on the last word.

I walked past him to the table against the wall and flipped open the black case sitting there. It was packed with all kinds of knives.

Small paring blades with wicked curves. Longer serrated ones for sawing. Thin filleting knives that could split skin like paper. A heavy cleaver at the end, more for weight than precision.

“What… what are you gonna do with those?”He asked.

I pulled on the black nitrile gloves.

“You Stupid piece of horse sh!t,” I said, almost conversationally. “You should know too well by now. Billie isn’t to be touched. Isn’t to be taken. Not by anyone other than us.”

His eyes flicked to the knives, then back to my face. Recognition hit him like a slap.

“So you’re the guy she’s cheating on me with.”

I laughed once.

“We’re her bosses,” I said.

I selected a slim boning knife, turned it slowly so the light ran along the edge.

“We let you off easy after that little stunt you pulled in Vegas. Thought maybe you’d learned. But like a cockroach, you just had to crawl back.”

Brian’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Sweat already beading on his forehead.

“If you’d stayed in Vegas,” I continued, stepping closer, “you wouldn’t be sitting in this chair right now.”

I pressed the button on the cordless drill sitting beside the case. The motor whirred to life.

Brian jerked against the ropes.

“Please—wait—listen—”

I leaned in close enough he could feel the heat of the drill bit spinning inches from his cheek.

“I’m listening.”

“You can have her. I’m done. I swear. Take her. She's all yours—” He stuttered.

I tilted my head, letting the drill hover near his ear so he could feel the vibration through the air.

“You see, that's where you got it wrong. We aren’t asking for permission to take Billie,” I said softly. “She’s ours. And you’re in the way.”

I leaned back in.

“And the next time someone tries to drag her under water and tries to drown what belongs to us… we don’t just cut the seatbelt. We cut everything that ever let them breathe. And you are the lucky specimen to enjoy those blades. ” I whispered.

Brian’s eyes went wide, his pupils blown, sweat rolling down his temples now, chair creaking as his whole body shook. He stared at the drill like it was already inside him.

He opened his mouth to scream.

“Help! Somebody—!”

I smiled.

“No one’s coming.”I said.

The drill whined higher.

His scream rose to match it.

~~~~

The drill’s whine died as I set it down on the steel table with a soft clank. Brian’s hands had two neat holes drilled clean through each palm, blood welling around the metal rods that held him to the chair arms. He jerked once, then sagged forward, breath hissing through clenched teeth.

“f**k… you… bastard…”

“Language,” I said. “You’re in polite company.”

He spat blood onto the concrete. “Where’s my wife?”

I picked up the tablet from the table.

“You shouldn’t worry about Billie right now,” I told him. “You should worry about how long it takes a man to bleed out from two holes in his hands when no one’s coming to stop it.”

His eyes flicked to the screen as I turned it toward him.

First clip: grainy night-vision, timestamped weeks ago of Brian sprawled across a cheap bed, snoring, arm flung over Billie like dead weight. She lay on her side, facing away, eyes open, staring at nothing. Looking clearly upset.

I swiped.

Another clip. Same room, different night. Brian passed out drunk, Billie curled small at the edge of the mattress, again upset.

Lastly, he fell asleep while she stared at the ceiling, also angry.

It's pretty clear his se.x must've been so bad he always left her upset.

“Been watching you for a while,” I said. “You’re a nuisance of a husband. For a man who looks like he fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, you’ve got some nerve talking about her looks.”

Brian’s jaw worked. “She’s my wife.”

I chuckled.

“Ex wife.” I said.

I swiped to the live feed.

My bedroom, Billie in the center of my massive bed, tucked under black sheets, hair fanned across the pillow. Law on her right, shirtless, one arm draped possessively over her waist, smirking straight at the camera like he knew exactly who was watching. Leon on her left bare chested, tattoos stark against pale skin, head bent close to hers, murmuring something that made her lips curve in sleepy half-smile.

Brian’s brows knit teeth clenching. He was furious.

“You son of a b***h—”

I leaned in until our faces were inches apart.

“She survived,” I told him softly. “She’s alive. Surrounded by men who don’t sell her when the chips are down.”

“You’re a demon.”He snapped.

I straightened, tapping the drill’s trigger once.

“Some people like to think that. ” I corrected.

I pressed the button fully.

The drill screamed back to life.

Brian thrashed.

His scream started high and frantic, then cracked into something rawer.

I stepped closer. Aiming for somewhere else other than his hands.