Page 52 of A Reputation Dark & Deadly

"I'm going to enjoy breaking you," he told her. He sounded like gibberish, but somehow, Peyton heard him clearly. "I'm going to hurt you and laugh and then I'm going to hurt you some more. I'm going to take video and I'm going to send it to Logan and I'm going to keep doing it over and over again until I grow tired of it."

"Logan will come get me," Peyton told him.

"Oh, I'm counting on it," Brandon said.

Flecks of his saliva splashed onto her face and her entire body recoiled at the feel of it. She continued to struggle beneath him, despite the fact that he had her hands in a vice grip, despite the fact that he weighed heavily on her torso. She wouldn't let him do anything that could hurt her and she definitely didn't want Logan to find her this way, even though she tried using Logan as a fear tactic to get Brandon off of her. No surprise it didn't work. The problem was, if Logan saw her in this predicament, he might think she deserved what she got because she hadn't listened to him.

No, Logan isn't that type, a voice reminded her. You know better than that, Peyton. Yeah, he'll be mad and hurt and frustrated with your behavior but he would never think you deserve to be harmed in any way. He cares about you. Don't doubt that now.

"Why are you doing this?" Peyton asked. She could feel her face heat up due to the struggle against him. Her body was starting to get tired. She was starting to get tired.

"I thought it was obvious."

Peyton didn't know if it actually hurt him to talk through a jaw that was wired shut but Brandon looked like he was struggling as he attempted to enunciate each word properly. And then, an idea took hold of her. If she hurt his jaw, it might catch him off-guard and she would be able to escape. He hadn't locked the front gate and all she had to do was throw open his office door and run. All she needed to worry about was breaking free from Brandon.

"I'm going to hurt Logan," he said, oblivious to Peyton's thoughts. "I'm going to hurt him in the same way he hurt me. By taking away someone he loves."

Peyton's brows shot up. What the fuck was he talking about? Taking away someone Logan loved? She had come here so he could apologize, not to be a pawn in this game between brothers. She shouldn't have come here. She knew that now but she had been such a goddamn fool that she hadn't realized the sort of man Brandon was until she had already allowed herself to be swept in by her incessant need to make things right.

She was a fucking idiot, and if she didn't get out of here soon, she was going to be a dead idiot.

What Peyton needed to do was kick him in the jaw. She needed to get his head down towards her pelvis and then she needed to be able to get her legs free from his grasp so she would be able to hurt him in such a way where he couldn't recover as quickly as he might have been able to otherwise.

At that moment, her cell phone rang. Brandon's brows perked up and it wasn't long before he could detect her cell phone vibrating in her jacket pocket.

"Well, well, well," he murmured. "Who is this calling you? Probably lover boy, no doubt." He reached into her jacket pocket and Peyton cringed. The gesture was too intimate, it violated too much of her space. Her entire body tensed to the point where she stopped struggling just so she wouldn't have to feel his gesture completely.

After looking down at the caller id, Brandon's eyes sparkled. "It is," he said and without warning, swiped the screen so he could speak to Logan. "Hello? I'm sorry but Peyton isn't here right now" -

At that moment, Peyton started to scream. "Logan?" she called. "Call the cops. Brandon is trying to" - Before she could finish her sentence, Brandon slapped her across the face. That only deterred her for a moment before she started screaming again. "At Old Newport in his office. He says he wants to" -

"Shut up, you bitch!"

"Hurt me to hurt you or some kind of weird" -

Another slap. Peyton grunted even though she wanted to keep her mouth shut so she wouldn't scream.

"Brandon," Logan said. His voice was crisp and stoic and directly to the point. Peyton knew that voice. She recognized the danger it held. She knew what that voice meant. Judging by the curious look on Brandon's face, however, it didn't seem as though he understood the shit he was in with his older brother, and what Logan was capable of.

The fact that Logan was asking for his brother in a calm tone caused Brandon to be distracted. He sat back on Peyton's waist, releasing her hands and focusing his attention on the call. This was her chance. If she planned this right, Logan's call would be the perfect distraction to get her out of there.

"Yes?" he drawled as best as he could, placing the phone to his ear to make sure Logan could hear him as clearly as possible due to the fact that his words were coming out jumbled.

"You know I'm going to fucking kill you for this, right?" Logan said, his tone casual, as though they were discussing consequences for a fender bender, not for kidnapping and striking someone Logan cared about.

Peyton's heart stopped for a moment, her eyes going to the phone in Brandon's hand. There was a sudden chill in the air, a chill that was as cold as Logan's voice and as true as the promise he just made his brother. In that moment, Peyton knew Logan would kill for her if he needed to, if he felt the situation called for that kind of response. She knew, in that moment, that he would even kill his own brother, blood, the only person in his family that was still alive.

She needed to get out. She needed to get away from this as quickly as possible so Logan wouldn't have to do that on her behalf. She never wanted to make it this way in the first place.

This was all her fault. But she could make it better. She just needed to escape from this as quickly as she possibly could.

Brandon was laughing at Logan's words. He seemed to feed off pissing off his older brother and therefore wasn't as focused on her as he had been before. In fact, Peyton actually seemed to have some wiggle room she could use to her advantage if she played it right. Her eyes went back to Brandon. He wasn't even looking at her anymore. In fact, he was looking at the phone, goading Logan with offensive comments about her in order to get a reaction from his brother. It was stupid, petty, and juvenile. It was also exactly what Peyton needed to get away from Brandon.

Peyton pressed her lips together and after a quick prayer, turned her hips sharply to the right, throwing Brandon off balance.

"What the" -

Before he could finish that sentence, Peyton sat up and punched Brandon in the throat, right in the Adam's apple. That did the trick. He toppled off Peyton like some pathetic domino and Peyton, using her remaining strength, grabbed the phone and stumbled to the door. Her hand was already in her pocket, and when she felt the familiar metal of her keys, felt herself relax, if only temporarily.

"Logan?" Peyton asked, as she ran.

At that moment, Brandon came from behind and knocked her down just in front of the open entrance gate. Peyton didn't even think. She turned so she was on her back and kicked out her right foot so it connected with Brandon's jaw. He screamed, like a beast is pain. It was an ugly sound, one Peyton wanted to get away from.

So she did.

Tightening her grip on her phone, she ran to her car and pulled out her keys. She nearly collapsed in the driver's seat but knew she needed to keep going. Once the car was started, she backed out of her spot, refusing to look at Brandon. She didn't want to know if he was okay. At this moment, she didn't particularly care. He was going to hurt her. He had said so himself. There was no reasoning with him. His apology was bullshit; he just wanted to get her there. She was at a second stoplight when she realized Logan was still on the phone.

"Hospital," she managed to get out.

Once she pulled up to the emergency room, she slipped into unconsciousness where blackness took her away.