Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 87961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Long minutes drag by, and no one says a word. They’re just standing there, staring at me. They seem to be waiting for something. The longer I wait, the more anxious I grow, and the colder I get. Shivering turns to full body convulsions. My teeth clench so hard, they feel like they might break.
Just when I think I can take no more, I hear footsteps. I glance up just as a figure steps into the doorway. Jude.
His eyes instantly lock with mine. He clenches his jaw, as he drags his gaze over my body. They’re stone cold, unfeeling, remorseless. If I thought he would help me, I was wrong. He looks exactly like the cold killer I know he is.
She’s sitting in the middle of the room on a chair, soaking fucking wet, and her lip is split. There’s blood trickling down her chin. Torture a fucking woman? It’s sick. But what choice do I have? What fucking choice do I have when everything is at stake?
“What the fuck is this?” I growl at Caleb. “I told you, no one fucking touches her until I get here!” I shout.
“She was like this when I got here. Apparently Bob couldn’t control himself for two fucking minutes.” He glares at Bob, and my gaze follows.
“The bitch bit me!” Bob sulks, showing me his bloodied hand.
I can’t look at her. I clench my fists hard, wondering if I can actually go through with this. I inhale deeply. The longer I stare at Bob, the shallower my breathing grows. From the corner of my eye, I can see her shaking.
Taking several steps into the room, I tighten my fists. “I told you…” I can’t even finish my sentence. I slam my fist into Bob’s face and grab him by the shoulders, throwing him to the ground. “Get the fuck up!” I shout, my voice echoing around the concrete room. He clamors to his feet.
“You can’t follow directions worth a shit.” I take a second to calm my breathing. “You know what’s been discussed. You veer from that plan and I will fucking gut you.”
I go to look at her, but can only manage for a moment. Her teeth are chattering violently, her skin’s pale, almost grey, and her lips are tinged a light blue. She almost looks like a corpse. “Victoria.” I say her name in as stern a voice as I can manage, but she doesn’t respond. “Victoria!”
I pull the gun from the waist of my jeans and cock the trigger. That sound rebounds off the walls. I swallow because honestly, what I’m about to have to do to her sickens me to no end.
I close my eyes as my hand grips the handle of the gun. “Bitch!” That comment causes her eyes to slowly rise. She blinks; the slow flutter of her lashes tells me she’s barely coherent. “I know why you’re here, and I have to tell you, it really, really pisses me off.”
Her brow wrinkles. “Why I’m here?” she says through her chattering teeth. “You took me.” Her words are slurred and weak.
“No, you showed up here, remember? I had nothing to do with that.” I raise my hand back like I’m going to strike her, the gun clenched tightly in my fist. She flinches, and I lean in closer to her. “This was well-played, I’ll admit, but now the game is over. You made a mistake coming here, little girl, and you’re about to learn just how much of a mistake that was. Woman or not, you step up like a man, you’ll be treated like one.”
“What are you talking about?” Her voice wavers, tears trickle down her pallid cheek.
“Who sent you here?”
“Euan,” she says, her voice snagging, and her body convulses. I watch her eyes drift in and out of focus.
“If you won’t tell me, I can make you tell me, I promise you that.” I draw my hand back a little more, then snatch her chin; her chilled skin sears through my fingertips. I force her face up to look at me. “I will have no choice but to hurt you if you don’t answer me.” I swallow hard, then place the barrel of the gun underneath her chin, dragging it across her damp skin, and that action is harder for me to manage than I thought. My hands are shaking. My nerves are on fucking edge. She doesn’t say anything, and I squeeze her jaw. “I will break you, and I will end you. You are fucking with the wrong people.”
I drop her chin and stand, moving to the side of the room and leaning against the wall. My heart is hammering in my chest, my stomach knotting. Deep down inside, I don’t think she has anything to do with this, but to be sure I’ll have to break her like I would any other enemy. I will have to utterly destroy her, and if she really is innocent, I don’t know that I will ever be able to forgive myself for what’s about to happen.