“That’s what makes people like him worse,” Cain adds from the couch while lazily swirling the whiskey around in his glass. “Guys like us still have emotions attached to this shit.”
My body starts trembling harder, exhaustion and fear crashing together so violently it feels impossible to separate one from the other anymore.
“But Kage?” A quiet laugh leaves him. “To him, you’re just another fucking job.”
Fresh tears instantly blur my vision while my breathing falls apart all over again, each inhale growing harder to drag into my lungs as fear spreads deeper beneath my skin until it feels like my own heartbeat is trying to suffocate me from the inside out.
“No…” My voice breaks apart completely. “Please… I won’t tell anyone anything, I swear. I’ll leave, okay? I’ll disappear. Please just don’t send me with him…”
Dom actually laughs at that, and somehow the sound feels even worse because it doesn’t come out cruel or angry. It sounds genuinely entertained.
“Too late for that, kitten,” he says while looking at me almost thoughtfully. “You should’ve learned a long fucking time ago that everything has consequences. Maybe you should’ve stayed wherever the hell you disappeared after Reed died.”
The words settle deep inside my chest before the meaning finally crashes through me properly, and for the first time since they dragged me into this place, something colder than pain starts spreading through my body. Because I finally understand this wasn’t the worst thing waiting for me. It was only the beginning.
“Did you tell her yet?” Tess’s voice suddenly cuts through the room while I stare at her in confusion, my exhausted brain struggling to understand what the hell she’s talking about now.
Dom’s grin widens instantly right in front of me. Something shifts in his expression so fast it makes my stomach tighten all over again, excitement suddenly flashing across his face in a way that feels almost childish.
“Ooh, let me tell her,” he says immediately while turning toward them with way too much enthusiasm. “No, seriously, let me do it. I wanna fucking tell her.”
Cain starts laughing from the couch, the sound low and genuinely amused, while he points his whiskey glass toward Dom.
“Alright, alright,” he mutters through a grin. “You’ve earned the right to do it.” Another laugh leaves him before his eyes drift toward me. “I mean… she is your wife after all, isn’t she?”
Dom grins wider before turning away from me and walking toward what looks like a large freezer shoved against the side of the room. The metallic door creaks open, cold air spilling into the space while he reaches inside and drags out a massive black bag that hits the floor with a heavy wet sound.
“Don’t think I’m some rude asshole, kitten,” he says while dragging the bag slowly across the floor toward me. “This is my wedding gift for you.”
The second he unzips the bag, terror slams into me so violently it feels like my entire body suddenly forgets how to function. Heat rushes painfully through my veins while my lungs struggle to pull in enough air, and within seconds panic starts exploding inside my chest so fast I can barely process what I’m actually looking at. Tears instantly flood my eyes while I keep blinking over and over again, desperately trying to convince myself none of this is real.
While I’m desperately trying to control my breathing, Cain’s laughter suddenly fills the room, low and genuinely malicious enough to make every hair on my body rise.
“See?” he adds through a grin. “I told you she’d fucking love it.”
Dom grabs the bag before shaking it hard at my feet, and within seconds, wet, heavy pieces start spilling across the floor beneath me with sickening sounds that instantly make my stomach twist.
Human pieces.
My entire body locks up while nausea crashes through me so violently I almost throw up on the spot, but somehow none of it compares to the moment the head rolls out last.
Everything inside me freezes.
No.
Oh my God… no.
The severed head lands sideways against the floor like some discarded mannequin, pale skin stained with dried blood while familiar dark hair falls across half of his face—Vince.
A scream rips out of me instantly. The panic attack hits so hard it feels like my chest is physically collapsing while I start thrashing violently against the restraints, my entire body shaking uncontrollably as sobs break out of me one after another.
The restraints instantly cut deeper into my wrists the harder I struggle, and within seconds I can actually feel skin splitting open beneath the metal. Warm blood starts running down my arms toward my elbows and shoulders before sliding over my chest, mixing with the cuts already carved across my breasts while my vision blurs so badly I can barely fucking see anymore.
Dom bursts out laughing the second I start screaming, the sound loud and completely unhinged while he crouches down beside the remains scattered across the floor.
“Jesus fucking Christ, kitten,” he mutters through another laugh. “You’re acting like you actually loved him.”
I keep screaming uncontrollably, the sound tearing out me over and over again while my entire body shakes so violently it feels impossible to stop.
