“Thank you.”
“I need to go. I have a class in like five minutes. I’ll bring some food later. Or Orion will. Whoever is quicker,” he says, as he walks off. “Thanks for the chat. It was … enlightening.”
The darkness returns, but my wicked smile never fades.
My hands are tied right where the jacket rests, and I tug it close enough to reach into the pocket to pull out my beeper.
Game.
Set.
Match.
CHAPTER 39
Sunny
My jaw drops asXavier slams the door to the operating room shut and barricades it.
“How did you—”
“The woman at the front desk nearly escaped, so I locked her in the basement.” He smashes the key onto the table. “I followed you here. Wasn’t easy, but I don’t give up that easily.”
“I told you to stay where you were,” I growl.
He picks up the loose scalpel on the table and clutches it tightly, approaching my victim, who screams bloody murder.
Without even so much as saying a word, he grabs the man’s finger and slices it off, while looking me dead in the eyes. No remorse.
And for some reason, I find it deathly hot.
“Which finger did he touch you with?” he asks.
I lick my lips. “Index.”
He grabs the exact finger I mentioned and cuts it off cleanly.
No man has ever done anything more romantic for me.
“Which one next?”
I frown. “How did you know?”
“He’s a surgeon. Doesn’t take a genius.”
He grabs Carlo’s thrashing leg, takes off his shoes and socks, and cuts off the toes, like it comes naturally to him. Maybe I wasn’t the only one born to be a psycho.
“Wow,” I mutter. “You didn’t come here to play games.”
“I wasn’t kidding when I told you I was going to help you.”
“I don’t need any help,” I reply, thrusting my own knife right into Carlo’s arm, using him as a pinprick cushion.
“And I’m still going to give it anyway,” Xavier answers, taking off another toe.
“You’re being disobedient. You know that comes with punishment, right?” I cut off a finger too, and it almost feels like we’re in a competition.
“I’m not afraid.”
