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“Eva is dead,” I announce, and her body sags in response, her pulse remaining the same. “I found her in your shop.” Now, her pulse rapidly thumps.
She only cares that I found out. I rip my fingers from her and pull her gag all the way off her head before I walk to the other side of the room.
“Are you expecting me to be sad?” She relaxes into her ropes like they’re made of satin and she’s on her throne. She looks straight into my eyes. Her tongue dips out, running over her dry lips.
In three strides, I’m towering over her. My hand juts out, grabbing her jaw, and when I tilt her head up, I can see the pain in her eyes. “You had me searching the world for you. Then made me marry you. You are the perfect decoy to keep me distracted.” My eyes must look crazy, my lips pursed as I study her every flinch.
“Look at you. The big, bad Russian regrets falling in love.” Her bottom lip pushes out as she mocks me.
I close my eyes, cutting off every emotion I allowed to surface. Like a slow trickle of morphine, I can feel each nerve becoming indifferent, lifeless like I was before her. My hand slips from her jaw as I open my eyes again.
“I’m going to let you watch me ruin your family. Then it will be our time to play.”
“Fuck you.” She spits.
“If you’re lucky, I’ll give you one more ride.” I step away, my footsteps loud as I retreat toward the steps leading up to the rest of the house. With one foot on the stairs, I turn. “I’ll be sure to give Capree a kiss from you tonight.”
Her body thrashes then. If her chair wasn’t screwed down, she would have toppled to the ground by now. Her voice cracks as she screams at the top of her lungs, calling me every name she can think of. She gets louder with each step I climb, trying to make me hear her, but her voice disappears completely when I close the door behind me to go check on the girls.
Katrina
Ithrashagainstmyties, and it burns where the rope is cutting into me. My heart is shredding into a million pieces, and it sits heavy in my gut. I scream for Demetri to come back and face me like a man.
I yell until my throat hurts, and I have no energy to keep my head up. My chin drops to my chest.I hate him. I promised myself I would lead a normal life, and what did I do? I got involved with the Bratva. No wonder I’m a disappointment to my family. And now my daughter… I’ve allowed the one thing I promised I never would; I let Capree be taken from me. I should have never let my guard down. I don’t deserve anyone’s love.
My self-hatred ripples through me. It hardens my fragile heart, its cracked pieces severed, and there’s no fixing it this time. I can feel my darkness crawl into me, my throbbing head allowing it all in. The memory of how I used to numb the pain circles like a drain. The idea of losing myself so I don’t care is tempting. Each cell in my body craves for the pain it’s in to stop. I want to forget everything. Because when you don’t remember, you can’t feel what it’s like to hurt or disappoint anyone. Nothing matters, and it’s the most freeing feeling one can have. It’s like you’re floating and happiness consumes you.
I would take that over how I’m feeling now. I can’t live with knowing that Capree will never understand how much I love her. That I tried to protect her.
Each breath I take is a reminder of the ropes that keep me in place.
To think the man I love is also the man who will destroy me.
I fade in and out. My stomach rumbles, but it’s easily ignored beneath the shattered pieces of my heart.
Footsteps echo and punch the walls as they descend.
“I never thought you would be the type to be broken so easily.”
My heart leaps at the sound of his rumbly voice.Stupid heart. Is it waiting for him to physically rip it out of my chest before it realizes he doesn’t love me?
I watch as he places a picture of Capree, Charlotte, and him down on a nearby table. “Thought I would get family photos done, so you’d have one at least until I’m done destroying yours.” He nods toward the picture frame.
“What did I do to you?” The words claw their way out of my dry throat but can hardly be heard.
“I can’t hear you.” He brings a cup up toward me. “Ice chips.” He smiles and takes one out, and I fly forward as much as the rope lets me, trying to take the ice, but he moves it from me and makes a tsking sound.
“Gently,” he says softly. If my throat weren’t so incredibly dry, I would tell him off. My mouth can’t even salivate at the thought of having it. He moves the ice cube, some of it dripping down his hand. My teeth try to grip it when he places it in my mouth, but he moves again. “I will do it. Open your mouth.” I don’t want to. “This isn’t the moment to be stubborn.”
I open my mouth, and he places the ice on my tongue. My lips close and wrap around the ice and his finger. “Good girl,” he praises as he slips out from between my lips.
I open my mouth again, my eyes pleading. One small ice cube isn’t enough. He places another piece into my mouth, and once again, his finger stays, and my lips are forced to wrap around it and suck his cold skin before I swallow the melted cube.
He offers me a piece of bread, and my stomach starts talking the moment it realizes it will finally be fed. I open my mouth for a bite and greedily accept it. I moan at the burst of flavor on my tongue. When he’s done feeding me, I realize he’s softly petting my hair.
I try to pull away, and he scowls. When I stop struggling, he praises me again. “Good girl.” I watch as he takes a step back. “I’m going to untie you, but if you misbehave, I’ll have to punish you.” We both look at the family photo that I’m not included in. I don’t want him to kill me any faster than he plans, so I do what he says.
He shifts his body, pulling a knife out. I hold still, not knowing what he has arranged. When he reaches over me, my wrist is cut free, then the other. Blood rushes into my hands, and the feeling of pins and needles takes over.
