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“Lily, Lily, Lily. My sweet, naive, Lily.”
“Jax.” My hands tremble to match the shakiness of my voice. Why do I get the feeling I’m completely fucked?
“Come on, Lily.” He strolls around the room, passing behind me to the other side. I can’t even turn my arms. Everything, every muscle, every piece of me is frozen. “Use your head. You’ve figured out harder things.”
No. It’s not possible. Tears prick at my eyes, stinging them. Vaguely aware of my arms lowering, every memory of him and I flash through my mind. Little conversations I’d long forgotten playback like whispers in my ears.
“It’s not true.” My hair tickles the sides of my face as I shake my head.
“I’ve worked for the Taurus long before I became an Interpol agent. I’d hoped you’d join me on this side of the line eventually. Revenge can only take you so far, Lily. Running a ring though, well, you’d have ultimate control. You’d be rich beyond your wildest dreams.”
“No. It’s not true.” I’m breathless, all strength seeping from my limbs.
My guns clatter to the floor as my knees give out and I sink down onto them. Squeezing my eyes shut, I will this to be a dream. When I open my eyes again, I’ll be in bed next to Blake. I won’t have even left for this mission yet.
“Yes, Lily.”
Fuck. Shut up. Dream. It’s a dream. My stomach churns, nausea rising and hitting me in waves. Oh, fuck, someone make this stop. This isn’t happening.
“See, you and the team never stuck around after infiltrating the auctions to see what happened to the girls. Yes, some of them were saved, but most of them were . . . redistributed, if you will.”
My hand flies to my mouth as I double over, using my ot
her arm to hold myself up. The heaves start low in my stomach and each time I swallow back the urge to puke. I gasp as he grabs my hair and pulls me up straight, his knee pushing into the center of my back.
“All that time you thought you were saving those girls. You helped the Taurus shut down damn near all the rival organizations and filter the merchandise into our hands. Oh, we owe you so much, Lily. You’ve helped us thrive over the last ten years. Too bad you had to go all— murderous with Dresden this past year. You’ve pissed me off just a little with your killing.”
He shoves me down and my head bounces off the floor. Pain explodes through my forehead and temples, a grunt escaping from my throat. I could easily kill him and end this. I should kill him. He deserves it.
“Why me?” Carefully, I push back up to my knees.
Jax stands before me, cold fury in his eyes. They’re almost black with none of the affection or warmth I remember.
“We’d never seen a slave kill an owner before you. They always killed themselves. But, you . . . you decided that even with everything you’d gone through, your life was worth more than his. Which means you’d fight extra hard to stay alive no matter what the odds were. The perfect assassin. Hate driving your reactions, your impulses. No emotions to get in the way. God, you were perfect.”
He used me. Over the last year, I’d convinced myself that some outside factor caused Jax to send me into an auction alone last year. Numbness floods my body, truth bringing with it all the things I’d known deep down but never wanted to admit . . . Jax didn’t give a shit about me.
“You still are perfect, baby girl. All you have to do is work for us. Leave Interpol behind. Be our assassin. You want to save Blake and the others, don’t you? What with Sorina getting older, and Shannon being pregnant. And Blake. I mean, you love him, right? What would you do to ensure their safety?”
“I won’t join you, Jax.”
My eye damn near explodes with pain as the back of his hand connects with it.
“I will kill him. He’s the entire fucking reason you’ve changed. If it wasn’t for him, you’d be working for us by now. God damn it, Lily. You’re the only daughter I ever wanted. You belong with me and the Taurus, not with him.”
I shake my head. His hand connects with my face again, the coppery taste of blood filling the corner of my mouth. “I belong with him.”
Jax growls, grabbing the front of my shirt. My body doesn’t even tense as he jerks me to my feet and slams my back into the wall behind me. This is where it’s going to end. Somewhere in me, this is completely okay. My family didn’t want me. They sold me. Jax pretended to love me just to use me and in the process, he let repeated men abuse me.
A sob erupts from my lips and he backhands me again, my head snapping to the side. He pulls me against him and slams me into the wall, the back of my head cracking into the plaster. The tears flow down my face, something inside me breaking again.
“Enough of that shit. Let’s get this over with.”
The door creaks open, and the sobs inside me rip from my throat as Jax throws me across the room. I’m seventeen all over again.
I’m ready to go. I just want it to end.
†††
