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I reached for the phone, glancing at the unknown number and furrowing my brows. Normally, I would've ignored the call, but with Violet's disappearance, I just had to take it.
"Devlin Windsor," I answered the phone. "How can I help you?"
"The question, Devlin Windsor, is how I can help you." The voice on the other side was robotic, masked beyond recognition. I glared at the number again, but it was blocked. "I heard you were offering money for Violet Cabot's safe return."
"What do you know?" I barked into the phone, making the voice laugh robotically.
"More than you," the voice said cryptically. "A hundred million, was it?"
"Only if she's unharmed," I hissed in response.
"Oh, she's unharmed," the unrecognizable voice went on. "Unharmed, unscathed and comfortable. Happy, even."
"Cut the shit." I could barely hold my anger back anymore, my words dripping with venom as I shot them out, like stabs to the stomach, the knife going in and out and tearing the flesh. "I know it's you, Peterson."
Just then, the door to my study opened, and Jasper appeared in the doorframe, frantically shaking his head at me. I'd had a tracer put on all incoming phone calls, and Jasper was signaling me now, trying to say the voice wasn't who I thought it was. I glared at him, and he muttered, "It's not Peterson. I've got the signal he was calling from, and this ain't the same place."
Knitting my brows together, I returned my attention to the phone.
"Well, finally you're listening," the voice said. "I made you a deal, Windsor. Are you going to take it or not?"
I had no reason to trust this person. I didn't even know who it was. But the thought of Violet imprisoned, hurting, being subjected to torture that wasn't a direct order from me, made me fucking crazy. I grit my teeth together and tried not to think of the insane amount of money I was giving up in exchange for her safe return.
She's not just a plaything, I realized again, my stomach tightening into knots as I remembered my sweet princess. This just fucking proves it. To her, to me, to everyone who's got their fucking doubts about us. Let them fucking talk now.
"I'll take the deal," I said firmly. "But I want proof that Violet's unharmed."
"Money first, Windsor," the robotic voice interrupted. "Money first, and then you'll get what you want."
And with that, the line went dead.EightVioletI didn’t give in to the darkness, no matter how much it tried to shred what was left of my sanity. The image of Connor--defeated, dripping with sweat from whipping me, and frustrated over my refusal to scream kept me grounded every time I let myself think about it.
If that wasn’t enough, I had the memories of Devlin to pull me back from the brink of despair.
What Connor did to me solidified the hazy, melted thoughts that had been on the edge of my reality. Devlin might have been the devil, but he would have never sold me to someone like Connor. Devlin would have never let someone treat me like that--he had his own brand of cruelty, but it was driven by desire. Connor enjoyed whipping me, but it was a twisted disdain instead of an aphrodisiac. He wasn’t even hard when he finished.
Connor wanted me to be his plaything, and he wanted me to willingly submit, even if he had to hurt me to get that. He must have thought it would have been easier. The frustration was practically dangling from his tongue like a treat he begged me to bite. In a strange, misguided way, he was the one submitting to me. Every time I denied him, his desperation grew.
That was power through suffering.
But I didn’t want it.
I just wanted my freedom. I didn’t know where I would go when I finally escaped Cabot Vineyard, but my mission hadn’t changed. My father was in prison for something he didn’t do. If Connor didn’t put him there, and Georgia was lying about Devlin, then the person who did was still out there. I had to save myself so I could save the only person in the world I might actually be able to trust.
I wanted to trust Devlin. There was just a lot of confusion after everything I heard and the lies I was fed. I needed to see him again and look in his eyes--I needed to know the truth. To unravel that, I had to find a way to unravel my wrists from my confines again--no matter how much it hurt--no matter how much flesh it cost--the price was mine to pay.
“Come on, Violet… You escaped from this once…” I muttered out loud to myself as I squirmed against the ropes.
The ropes were tighter than they were the first time. Connor made sure of it. The knots didn’t have any give. All I managed to do was hurt myself even more, to the point that I soaked the blindfold with my tears. I wondered how long it would be before I couldn’t cry anymore--before I had another taste of water--before I actually got food.
