RED SOX: "It is summer again up in Boston!"
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Sage let herself in to her darkened loft. Soft lights glowed from the electrical power strips against the polished floor. All the monitors were off save one. It continued to display the dining room the Sebastians had only recently vacated.
Sage cringed thinking Tristan watched the ugly arguments the family engaged in prior to their meal. Cade left at his father's request. Phil stormed out sometime before that. Greg was going to whisk Brook away but stayed when Simone pleaded for them to remain, as a couple, as family.
"Hope Tristan went to bed long before the food was served," Sage muttered to herself as she climbed the stairs to her bedroom.
She pushed the door open and found the room to be pitch black. No lights shining in from the harbor meant the heavy drapes were drawn. The alarm clock on the night stand was dark as well. Sage blinked trying to adjust her eyes to the lack of light. Just as she was starting make out the form of a body on her bed, the track lights clicked on with full force; momentarily blinding her.
"What the…," was all she could gasp when her shirt front was grabbed by two strong hands.
A fist slammed into her mouth and snapped her head back. Her body was released and allowed to follow the fall to the floor. Sage's right hand instinctively went to her wounded mouth but her assailant had other plans. Her arm was snagged in a tight grip and she was dragged across the floor. A cold metal handcuff snapped around her wrist and pulled up and back to be locked to something behind her. Something very heavy. Sage's struggle to clear her senses was aided by a shrill laugh.
"Cade," she hissed.
The kick to her ribs was from a heavy boot. She knew it was delivered by whatever thug Cade hired. Cade was no heavy weight. Sage shook her head to focus her blurry vision. When she saw the scene before her she wished she hadn't made the effort.
Cade was sitting on the foot of her bed facing her. Chester, Mr. Matthews' trusted assistant, was standing over Sage with a grin plastered on his face. But, it was Tristan's position which made Sage futilely tug on her chained wrist.
Tristan's head and shoulders were hanging over the edge at the foot of the bed. Her wrists were bound to the bed frame with handcuffs. The cut on her forehead was large and purpling but had stopped bleeding. Anybody in her position would be crying but Tristan wasn't. She appeared resigned to her fate and that frightened Sage the most.
"Knock it off," Chester kicked at Sage's thigh. "Stop fidgeting."
"Don't hurt her," Tristan's warning resonated low and deep.
Cade chuckled. "Oooh, true love! Ain't it sweet? Tristy, I think you have enough to worry about without adding Sage to your list." Cade reached over and began to kneed Tristan's breast, "After all, you're about to be raped and that idiot kid of yours is gonna get drowned."
"So help me, Cade, if you touch either of them," Sage's threat was cut off by a solid kick to the gut.
"DON'T!" Tristan screamed and fought against her restraints to no avail. Another kick was quickly delivered to a gagging Sage's midsection.
"Easy Chester, I want my niece to be able to assist with Tristan's violation so don't incapacitate her too much."
"What the fuck…," Sage coughed hard on the last word. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Cade got up from the bed and squatted down next to Sage. He brushed the hair back out of her eyes and gave a sad smile. He whispered to her, "I need you to help me. My wife tells me you were the best lover she ever had. I'm just a joke in the sack compared to you. And, she's not the only one who thinks so." Cade used his thumb to wipe some of the blood from Sage's mouth. "I've fucked every one of your conquests and they all told me the same thing. 'Sage was amazing.' Apparently, you've even got a prosthetic dick which makes my real deal look like limp linguine."
"You need help, Cade," Sage tried to reason with him.
"Yes, I do! I'm so glad you're on board with this. I should have appealed to your ego sooner." Cade smiled broadly, "So, here's the plan. I'm going to make my moves on Tristan. She, I should mention, hasn't had the pleasure of me pleasuring her yet. And, you are going to talk me through the places I don't measure up, so to speak."
Sage shook her head no slowly. Her lips were forming the words to refuse when Cade interrupted her.
"It's either going to be me raping your babe or Chester; your choice. Pick me and it happens the way you think she'd most like it. Pick Chester or don't pick at all and it will be brutal, bloody and fatal."
"Sage…," Tristan started to speak but was silenced with a backhanded slap from Cade.
"You just shut up or I'll duck tape that mouth closed until I need it!" Cade's voice sounded a little less controlled.
Sage watched Tristan's head roll with the hit. Blood appeared at the corner of her mouth. Tristan glared at Cade but kept silent. Sage waited for Tristan to spare her a look but there was none. Sage would be on her own with what to do next.
"Cade, you've left me with no options here. I don't want Tristan hurt or killed. If I do this for you will you let us walk away with our lives?" Sage asked in a calmer voice than she guessed she could muster.
"You'll do it and then I'll fucking cut your damned head off, dyke!" Chester emphasized his anger with another heavy boot kick to Sage's ribs. "All you'll get for an option is a quick easy slice or a hacking multiple chop job to separate your head from your shoulders."
Cade frowned deeply. He raised his hand to hold Chester's beating but the beefy man kept kicking. Cade scowled when he lost his patience. He pulled the gun out of his coat pocket and fired once. Chester hit the floor with a large hole in the middle of his forehead.
"Him being dead doesn't change anything, Sage. I can hurt Tristan just as much, if not more than, old Chester could have. So, will you assist me or am I going to have to kill Tristan fucking?" Cade asked calmly.
"I'll help you," Sage could barely force out the words.
Tristan focused on Sage. There was hatred in her eyes. Her lips sneered before she spit at her beaten lover.
"I'd rather he kill me! Don't do this, Sage. Life isn't worth living if we have to remember you helping him rape me tonight."
"Didn't I say to shut up!"
Cade was about to swing at Tristan again when Sage spoke up, "You don't need to hit her. There's a better way to quiet her down."
Cade turned slightly and cocked his head to the left, "I usually save blow jobs for the clean up."
Sage felt her stomach lurk but continued talking. "If she's enjoying what you do she won't be able to say much more than 'harder' and 'please.' Just ignore whatever else she says."
"That's what you think! You fucking two faced bitch!"
Cade grinned. "We should have had this conversation years ago. But, better late than never, right?"
Sage nodded agreement. She took a deep breath to try to slow her racing heart beat. She decided she would not look at Tristan again until she figured a way out of their nightmare.
She corrected her own thoughts, "If there is a way out of this horror show."
Cades stood and kicked his shoes off. He slipped one arm out of his suit coat sleeve but his other hand still held the gun. Kneeling again, he wrapped Sage's useless hand around the handle. Sage suppressed a wince of pain the weight of the gun caused her shoulder.
"You hold that for me. If Chester moves again then shoot him, okay?" Cade asked in all seriousness.
"Sure," Sage agreed and began to clench and unclench her fingers around the gun butt.
Cades stood again. He quickly stripped himself of his remaining clothes. His cock began to bob in excitement. He took it in hand and stroked the length of it firming it up.
"Do you think I should shove it in her mouth first?" He asked like an athlete would ask a coach about a play.
Sage swallowed down her revulsion at the question. "No, women don't really enjoy any sudden shoving into any opening. You have to warm her up a little." Sage's cheeks flushed in pain as her fingers worked to hold the gun. "There're some movies in the cabinet under the TV. Pop one into the DVD. It doesn't matter which one. They're all pretty dirty."
Cade gave a thumb's up and hurried over to the entertainment console. Sage gathered enough confidence to sneak a glance at Tristan. The woman's eyes were shut. Tears were making their way down her forehead. Small shudders shook her bound body. But, to her credit, Tristan wasn't sobbing uncontrollably or begging.
The noise of an orgy on the TV screen brought Sage's attention back to Cade. He was stock still watching the images flashing across the screen. His penis was fully erect and weeping. Sage debated whether to let him come right there or hurry him along to where she needed him to be.
"Okay, Cade," Sage tried to sound helpful. "Are you ready to do this or what?"
"Fucking bitch!" Tristan's eyes snapped open as she shouted but Sage would not look back at her. "I'm going to hate you forever!"
"If this doesn't work to shut her trap then I'm going to have to cut her tongue out," Cade promised as he walked back to the bed.
"Understood," Sage replied. "Now, you need to tell me a couple of things. Are her legs tied down?"
"Yep! And, they're staying that way. I don't trust you, Sage. I'm not giving either of you any slack with your chains."
"Again, understood. Do you have enough room to…work…comfortably or do you need to spread her further?"
"Nope."
"Fucking assholes," Tristan bitterly hissed.
"Okay, good. Hop up on the bed between her legs." Sage thought she might vomit but sucked in another deep breath. "Keep your body off of her except for your hands. Let them gently caress her outer thigh."
"Should I pull her all the way back on the bed?"
"No," Sage stated firmly with her eyes locked on Tristan's. "She's perfect right where she is."
Tristan swallowed hard when she saw the tears on Sage's cheeks. Tristan's anger was fleeing and fear was flooding into its place. She was about to be used in front of her lover, at her lover's directions. It would be a violation of both her body and her heart. She closed her eyes once more trying to hide from the inevitable.
"No, look at me," Sage coaxed and two sets of eyes focused on her. "Cade, bring your right hand to her center and use two fingers to stroke her. Keep the same rhythm you're using with your left hand."
Sage saw Tristan's body stiffen. "Too hard. Lighten up. Gentle. Keep to the outside."
Cade dropped his gaze to watch the body which was beginning to squirm below him. He mistook the action for arousal and grinned. He kept his hands moving in unison which warmed Tristan's clammy skin.
He let out a deep sigh with a pleasant memory. "You know, history really does repeat itself. I watched Endicott and Brook the night you were conceived, Sage. Of course, Endicott beat Brook into submission. He knocked that girl senseless. Bet she doesn't even remember the climax. Or, should I say climaxes." Cade snorted a laugh but it sounded grim. "He paid me to stand look out. Man, he was able to keep it going all night. Even gave me a crack at her. Hey, maybe I'm your father, Sage! Ha ha, don't worry about that. I did her from behind. Should we do this one that way too?"
Sage shook her head before finding her voice, "No. You said you wanted to learn my best moves and that ain't one of them."
"Don't underestimate yourself, honey. My wife tells me you are the queen of anal drilling."
"She lied to you. I never did that to her," Sage stated.
Cade's hands stopped. Another scowl passed over his features. He moved in closer to Tristan. His thick red erection poised at the entrance to her body.
"Don't even try to lie to me, Sage," he ground out. "Now, I'm gonna stick it in her. Any recommendations?"
Sage didn't answer. Tristan let out a painful cry when Cade planted himself between her spread legs. He began pumping back and forth with forceful slaps of flesh against flesh.
Sage drew her knees up under Tristan's watchful but blank, open mouth stare. Sage managed to get one knee under her left arm. Slowly, she moved the wounded appendage so the gun was pointed directly at the bed. She raised her knee a bit higher to point the barrel up and used every fiber of her will power to urge her index finger over the trigger.
"She's ready to come. Pull her all the way back onto the bed now! NOW!" Sage barked the command.
Cade put both hands on Tristan's shoulders and dragged her completely under him. He howled in satisfaction when his entire shafted slammed into Tristan's pussy. He relentlessly drove deeper into his captive while his juice shot free of his throbbing cock.
"Oh ya, oh ya, oh ya! Who's the best fucker in town now, baby?"
"Cade," Sage spoke just loud enough to be heard over Tristan's cries.
"Damn straight," Cade agreed as he lifted his head up.
The last thing he saw was the light reflecting off the barrel of the gun. He never heard the bang or felt the bullet rip through his brain.
April 15, 2009
Sage enjoyed the feeling of the cold glass cradled in her left hand. It was about the only thing she was enjoying on this particular night. The ICA was packed with people attending the opening night of her exhibit. It was initially intended to be a retrospective of her work because conventional wisdom strongly indicated she would never hold a chisel again. She certainly believed she had sculpted her last stone.
Everything changed when she killed Cade with her left hand.
"Sage, it is magnificent! What a wonderful night," Simone said before kissing each of Sage's cheeks.
J. Granville stood stoically behind his wife with a hand resting on her hip. It struck Sage at that moment how much her father had aged in the last year. His hair line had receded at a rapid rate. Once twinkling blue eyes had dimmed behind heavy bags from sleepless nights. His broad shoulders which had seemed able to carry the world were stooping slightly lower each day. He was suffering and Sage had no words to ease his hurt.
"Thanks for coming," Sage managed to say without a stutter. "I hate these parties. Rather be home working."
"Don't be silly," J. Granville tried to perk up her mood. "You need to see how much people respect your art."
"More important, you need to see how much people will pay for your art," Brook chimed in from behind.
Sage shifted from foot to foot with her discomfort. She knew her mother bought out her last show. It had taken the better part of a week to make the woman promise not to do the same thing this time. Sage was fairly certain this time she would need as many moving vans to pack up her work at the end of the show as she did for the beginning.
"Don't embarrass her, Brook," Greg warned with a smile. "Unless you don't want her to sculpt something new for you, 'cause there is nothing left to buy tonight."
"What?" Sage asked in disbelief.
"You heard me," Greg grinned. "It's a sell out. Every piece was spoken for in the first twenty minutes. Maybe you'll make something new as a wedding present for us in July?"
Sage smiled, "Just tell me how big you want it."
Sage let her family chat around her. It was one of the few truly happy conversations they shared in the last ten months. They were one more step closer to normal. She looked around the crowd and spotted Child-Hassam and Phil arguing.
"Guess everything is back to normal for them too," she thought sadly to herself.
A cluster of security officers by the front door caught her attention. Gareth was already hurrying over to investigate the ruckus. She decided to join him.
Pushing her glass into Brook's hand, she asked, "Could you hold this for me?"
She didn't wait for an answer. Walking through the crowd, Sage had to nod thanks and side step well meaning hand shakers. The room seemed to double in size with the crowd. When she was within earshot of the door, she heard a familiar voice.
"…I told you, I'm an invited guest. I just lost the invite."
"She's with me," Sage called over while she was still a few feet away.
Gareth loosened his tie before addressing her, "Sage, this really isn't a good idea. The litigation is ongoing…,"
"I don't care. I invited her."
Sage muscled into the crowd of gray suited guards. At the center of the huddle, a defiant Tristan stood. She had both hands on her hips and was tapping her foot impatiently.
"I told you I was invited."
"But, she's not on the list," the chief of security defended to Sage.
"What? Now, I'm invisible! Over here buddy, talk to me," Tristan demanded.
Sage couldn't hold back her grin. "It's okay. She really is with me."
Sage offered her hand to Tristan and the woman accepted it. The two walked away from the confused security detail. Neither of them looked back nor provided any further explanation.
"I don't think you'd come," Sage hushed as she lead Tristan into an adjacent, deserted gallery.
"I almost didn't. An hour ago I was in yoga class."
Sage stared at the face she missed for ten long months. After the attack, Tristan walked out of Sage's life as soon as she was discharged from the hospital. Emails, letters, and phone calls all went unanswered. The only contact Tristan initiated between herself and the Sebastian family was a lawsuit. The action wasn't enough to deter Sage. She pressed on with weekly invitations to lunch at the finest restaurants in Boston. Sage attended everyone and waited alone.
"What made you change your mind?" Sage raised her left hand and gently stroked the curve of Tristan's neck.
Tristan pulled away from the contact, "Got to move slow. I'm still not sure I should be here." Tristan took a moment to steady her emotions. "I'm pretty much a basket case, Sage. Can't work, sleep, or eat. I can't even watch television because loud voices and gun fire freak me out. But, I also haven't been able to stop thinking about you."
"In a good way or a bad way," Sage needed to know the truth.
Tristan shrugged. "Both, I guess. I meant it, Sage. I really would have rather died than to live with such a horrible memory. The only thing keeping me from killing myself is the lawsuit. I need to make sure Max gets as much money out of your family as possible. Then, I think, I can rest."
Sage was devastated. "But, I don't want you to die. Please, Tristan, what happened doesn't have to be the end of your life."
"It doesn't matter what you want, Sage. Just like it didn't matter what I wanted. I'm at the end of my rope."
"So, you're just gonna let go. Again!" Sage felt her fear fueling her anger.
"What?" Tristan was stunned at the accusation. "When have I ever given up?"
Sage began to list off with her fingers keeping score, "You gave up when Mr. Arnold showed you an easy way out of poverty. You gave up when we fell off the building. You gave up when my mother outsmarted you at your own game. You gave up Max…,"
"That's a low blow," Tristan flinched.
"…and you gave up on me. Why won't you fight for us? You know, I was only trying to find the best, worst solution in the worst, worst situation. Why can't you be angry enough to want to stay alive?"
Tears filled Tristan's eyes, "Because it hurts too damn much!"
Sage shook her head, "It only hurts so much because you're trying to deal with it alone. Tristan, come back to me. We can start over. We can make a life with Max together. Please, don't give up again."
"I don't know, Sage. I really don't know. Part of me wants you to sweep me off my feet and live happily ever after." Tristan frowned as her thoughts turned dark again, "Another part of me hates you for saving us."
The pair was silent as they waited, watching the other.
"I do love you, Sage. I just don't know if love is going to be enough."
"Are you willing to try?"
"I guess that's why I came here tonight," Tristan answered.