A Woman's Empire

XXXII

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

Audrielle shook like a leaf as the mysterious person dragged her into a room she had never been in before. Even though the curtains had been pulled close, Audrielle was able to make out that the locked room was a spare bedroom. It wasn't until he slammed the door close and shoved her against it when Audrielle could see who it was.

She had to bite her lip to stop herself from crying as Tanner stood over her. He wore an evil smirk on his tattooed face and his piercing, blue eyes shone with mischief.

"Listen here, Princess," Tanner muttered as he pulled out a shiny object from behind him. Audrielle looked down and eyed the knife, her eyes growing wide when he brought it up to her chest.

"I'm in deep shit because of you and your family." Tanner snarled as he used the sharp blade to play with Audrielle's pearl necklace she wore.

"You fucking Harrington's are pussies and you've made my job a whole lot harder." A tear ran down Audrielle's cheek and she flinched when Tanner used his thumb to wipe it away.

"I-I don't know what y-you're t-talking about." She mumbled as she watched the knife dance along her chest, her heart beating faster when he'd apply more pressure.

"I'm an assassin. But I'm a lone wolf so I work with anyone. I've killed nineteen people this year. All high profiles, all done quietly, but you, if you don't help me, you'll be lucky number twenty." Tanner cackled, leaning closer to Audrielle's ear.

"The person that hired me wants me to kill off your family. I thought that shouldn't be hard, put a bullet through your mother and father's head and with Grandpa Charles dead, it made my job easy," he started explaining before looking up at the ceiling. "May he Rest In Peace."

"And of course there was you. I was going to keep you as my trophy, you know my play thing before I killed you but of course after doing research, I found that your family had sold you off to the Amours." He said before turning around for a split second.

"And that makes my job a lot fucking harder!" Tanner boomed, spinning around with the knife in his hands. Audrielle gasped when she saw him aim the weapon at her neck.

She expected to see blood, to feel the warm, crimson liquid drip onto her dress and create pools of red at her feet. But instead, she heard things bounce onto the wooden floor and quickly realised that he had sliced off her pearl necklace. The expensive necklace now scattered across the floor.

"So here's what's going to happen sweetheart. You're going to tell me everything, and I mean everything, you know about your family's business so I don't end up with a bullet through my brain. You're also going to tell me about the important shipment that the Amours are having shipped over and which dock it will be going to. You are going to tell me every little secret you know and if you don't, then I won't hesitate to use this knife." Tanner glared.

Audrielle closed her eyes before speaking. "I-I don't know anything - I swear!" She cried but that only caused Tanner to stab the sharp blade into the door behind her. Her eyes glanced at it, it was only a couple of inches away from her head and then she suddenly felt Tanner wrap his hands around her neck.

"Liar! Tell me everything now!" He shouted in her face. As he squeezed harder, her oxygen suddenly limited, she took her opportunity to attack since he didn't have the knife in his hands.

Instead of using her hands to claw his hands off of her, she reached up and grabbed the knife, chucking it across the room so he couldn't grab it.

Tanner watched the knife fly across the room and Audrielle immediately reacted, bringing her leg up and kneeing him right between the legs. He let go of her neck, his hands cupping the area she struck and she turned around, grabbing the door handle until she was suddenly thrown across the room.

Audrielle landed on the bed with a thud and she could hear her dress rip just as Tanner crawled on top of her, pinning her down by sitting on her torso. Just as she tried to get up, his hands snaked around her neck, this time showing no mercy. She gasped for air, her nails clawing at his arm but it was no use. Instead she scratched his face.

"I should've just killed you in the first place." He spat, venom dripping from each word. Since her arms were no use, Audrielle lifted her legs into the air and kneed Tanner in the back. He howled in pain and Audrielle quickly pushed him off of her before making her way towards the door.

Suddenly she was pulled back and fell to the floor. Tanner had held her back by the dress and as he tried to drag her closer, she scratched at the floorboards, trying to pull herself away but it was no use.

She was about to give in and accept her fate but then realised that because the dress hung off the shoulders, she shimmied out of it, only in her underwear and heels as she made her way for the door.

"Fuck!" Audrielle heard tanner scream as she ran into the hallway until she bumped into someone's chest.

"What the fuck is going on here?! Where the hell is your dress?" Leo snapped, his eyes darkened as he looked down at his half naked wife.

"T-Tanner... trie-d.." Audrielle huffed as she bent over, trying to catch her breath. Leo stormed into the room and stopped in his tracks when he saw Tanner standing by the bed, buttoning his pants back up.

Fuming, he looked around the room and found the bed sheets bunched up and Audrielle's heels and dress lying on the floor.

"L-Leo i-it's not what it looks like..." Audrielle cried, reaching out for his arm but he shoved her away.

"It damn well is what it looks like!" He yelled and Audrielle whimpered.

"What do you have to say?!" Leo barked at Tanner and Audrielle couldn't help but look at the subtle smirk growing on his evil face.

"Bro, she just came onto me and one thing led to another..." Tanner lied, pulling his suit jacket on.

Suddenly, like a raging bull, Leo lunged at Tanner and threw a punch at his jaw. Audrielle screamed while she watched the scene unfold.

Tanner tried to defend himself but Leo was quick and sharp, a couple more punches were thrown and then Tanner fell to the floor unconscious.

As Leo stormed out of the room, he snatched Audrielle's arm, harshly dragging her out of the room and down the hall towards their bedroom.

When he unlocked the door, he basically threw Audrielle in and she luckily landed on the bed.

"Leo! Please!" Audrielle pleaded, hoping that he would listen to her, listen to the truth. But instead, he slapped her across the face.

"You disgust me. Fucking whore." He spat as he walked over to the bedside table and started rummaging through the draw.

Leaning over to Audrielle, he snatched her wrist and wrapped the shiny metal around it tightly. Clipping the other one around one of the gold posts, he handcuffed her to the bed before walking to the door.

"Leo! Y-You can't just l-lock me in here!" Audrielle sobbed and Leo turned around.

"Watch me." He snapped, slamming the door. Audrielle heard the keys rattle and the door lock before she broke down into crying fits.

She felt alone. Nobody ever believed her. All she wanted was to love and to be loved but it was proving a lot harder than she thought.

That night, while Leo partied downstairs with his guests, Audrielle cried herself to sleep, her thoughts consuming her.