Dawn Again

Twelve

Josh started the ball rolling with, "You guys are talking about this man Quinn as if you know him." Chad told him that did know John Quinn. He was in the same business as ACE (which was the name of the firm that Richard, Brian, Jason and Chad worked for ), security contracting. The difference being that ACE always worked for the good guys whereas Quinn always worked for the highest payer.

Sophie heard the security contractor bit and suddenly it made sense that John's men always seemed so well trained and disciplined. It also made sense for John to have secure...facilities....where he could do shady stuff. Like torture and kill people. Sophie closed her eyes as she thought of the one time she had been to such a place.

They had been at the party for nearly two hours now. It was a charity dinner for veteran's welfare and John was the guest speaker as he was one of the major donors to the charity. John had been introducing her to people and otherwise ignoring Ana. It suited her perfectly. She was anyway not too fond of John's attention. Her feet were killing her and she really hoped she got to sit down soon. As if on cue, the event organiser requested everyone to take their places and started introducing John. John led her to their table and helped her to sit down. Then he squeezed her shoulder gently and walked away to take his place at the lectern.

Ana was shocked at the difference in his public persona and the real John. It had been just about a month since their marriage and Ana had figured out that John was essentially a sadist. He got off at other people's pain, and now, for some reason he was fixated on her. Ana sat at the head table, along with three other couples and contributed to the conversation just enough to keep things polite. About five minutes after John left her, a man came and took up John's chair next to her. Ana looked at him in surprise and the man grinned back. He could not be more than a few years older than her and was quite handsome. "Can't have the honored guest's partner getting bored now, can we?" he said leaning towards Ana. Ana leaned back and said, "Thanks. But I am good." The man ignored her and held out his hand introducing himself, "Byron White." His grin was infectious so Ana smiled back, answered, "You already know who I am." and offered her hand to shake. But the man took her hand and gently kissed her knuckles. Ana asked him, "So, how do you, John?" "I actually don't." He replied. "I am here as a pillar of moral support for my sister. This is her first big gig as the event manager and her senior manager decided that today was the perfect day to fall sick. Becca was nervous, so here I am...to work the crowd and generally to see if there is anything Becca needs help with." "That is really nice of you. Do tell Becca that she has done a wonderful job with the event."

Bryan kept up a constant, comfortable stream of conversation involving the entire table. He had a wonderful sense of humour and Ana was found herself smiling and laughing for the first time in ages. It was short lived though. She felt John's strong hand on her shoulder and he said, "You seem to be having fun with my wife, Mr..." "Byron White. It is an honor to meet you, Sir. And your wife. She is a wonderful lady. I was just making sure your table has everything they required." With that, Byron stood up and took his leave. The rest of the evening went well, and thankfully Ana did not have to stand on her aching feet for long.

As soon as John and Ana were in their car, John took out his phone and typed something into it. He then turned to Ana, rested his arm along the back of the seat and started drawing lazy circles on her upper arm. "So....you enjoyed White's company tonight," John said in a deceptively soft voice. It was not a question, so Ana shrugged, "He kept the conversation flowing around the table." She said non-commitally. John's voice was colder, harder, "That is not what I asked Ana." Ana knew John had already made his mind up about what do about the perceived misbehaviour of Ana's and there was no room for a discussion. Exasperated, she threw her hands up and said, "What do you want me to say, John? You..." Ana did not get to finish what she was saying. John grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her face to his, crushing his lips on hers and invading her mouth. It was a violent kiss, a kiss to show who was the master in the relationship. Ana whimpered and John let go of her mouth. He hissed, "I want you, Ana, to apologise to me. I want you to be very sure that everything that you have belongs to me. Your body, your smile, your laughter. Everything. No one else can have a taste and live. Remember this. Because it will save a lot of lives."

A chill ran down Ana's spine. She could not decide whether or not the last ominous warning was rhetorical or real. She wouldn't put anything past John. With a hard tug on her hair, John pulled Ana off the car seat and said, "You know how to apologise Ana." Ana unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his pants. Yes. She knew how to apologise. Ana was happy when John let her into his apartment and left without a word. She had a long soak in the bath and desperately tried to wash his taste out of her mouth. She had just got into bed when the door opened and John stalked in. He grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her to the door. As they got out of the apartment, Ana tried to dig her heels in, "John...wait. where are you taking me? I haven't got any shoes on." John shoved her into the elevator and took her to the car park. They got into his car, and he drove off. Finally, John said, "Remember Ana. This one is on you."

Ana was chilled to the bone. After a 40 minute drive, John pulled up into a garage next to a large warehouse. John got out and, hurriedly before he could come around to get her, Ana did too. John led her into the warehouse and Ana's steps faltered. There, in the middle of the large space was a chair. A man in what had been a white dress shirt was strapped into it. His head hung low, his chin nearly resting on his chest. His shirt was soaked in red...definitely blood. Ana prayed that it was not who she suspected it was. "Revive him" ordered John and dragged Ana closer. "No...no...no. John. Oh my god! All we did was shake our hands. He talked to everyone on the table...not just me." John looked at her said calmly, "I had told you, Ana. Defy me and you will pay dearly." He then went to Byron, jerked his head up by the hair and asked him, " Mr White. You enjoyed kissing my wife on the knuckles." With that, John let go of his head, looked at one of his men and snapped, "Make sure he sees this."

"Come here, Mrs Quinn." He ordered. When Ana got to him, John caught her by the jaw and jerked her face up, forcing Ana to look into his eyes. "You gave him your knuckles." With that John flung her on the floor near Byron's chair and with one large step, he was standing over her. He then stepped on Ana's hand on the floor. "You are a crazy bastard, you f**k!" yelled Byron and earned a fist to the face. John looked Byron in the eye and started crushing Ana's hand with his boot heel. Ana clamped her lips together to keep from showing her pain. She knew it would turn John on. But as he ground his heel on the back of her hand, whimpers escaped her. John did not stop, but only increased the force and finally, Ana begged, "Please John. I understand. Please stop. Please let him go!"

"Oh no. Ana. I had told you. This is on you." said John. Then to Bryan, he said, "Do you understand who she belongs to now?" "You will not get away with this you bastard. I will report you!" John chuckled, it was not loud and all the more frightening for it. He picked Ana up by her arm and crushed her lips under his. Taking his gun out of its shoulder holster, John let go of Ana and took aim. Ana fell to her knees at John's feet and whimpered, "Oh John, please it was a mistake. Don't do this, please. He won't report you." John's lips turned up in a smile. Ana could see defeat clearly. She whispered, "I am so so sorry Byron. So very sorry." She then closed her eyes knowing the night was going to end with innocent blood on her hands. "No Ana. I am sorry" she heard Byron say just before the crack of a gun.