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He was on top of me, his tight fingers around my throat. With crushing force, he squeezed me until I couldn’t breathe. “You’re too pretty to be dead. I’m going to take you home, and once you wake up from your nightmares, I’ll going to fuck that pussy raw.”
I slammed my elbows hard onto his forearms to break the hold, but he only groaned and never weakened his hold. I did it again and again, desperate to break the bones and run free. But my mind was already growing hazy. I felt myself slip away.
Then he was off me.
I gasped for breath and felt for my own neck.
Grave was on top of the man, punching him in the face over and over, knocking him out cold before he grabbed the gun and sprayed his face with bullets up close. Where there used to be features was now something horrific that resembled raw meatballs.
I continued to gasp, the adrenaline still heavy like the attack was ongoing.
Grave tossed the gun aside. “Are you alright?”
All I could do was nod.
He came over to me and pulled my hands free of my neck. “You’re going to have some serious bruising, but you should be fine.”
“What about you?”
“I’m fine.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.
I was weak on my feet, still horrified by everything I’d just witnessed. “Who are they?”
He stared at the residence as he worked his wrist, like he had a kink in it from the ropes. “I’ve got a lot of enemies, darling.”
“He sounds like a big one.”
“Oh, he is.”
“What did you do?”
“I trafficked his brother. Didn’t know about their relation at the time.”
My eyes were wide open.
“I just took the job and the money. Didn’t think that far ahead.”
“He’s never going to stop, then.”
“Nope.” Grave headed back to the estate, making it up the hill until we were on the cobblestone pathway. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead right now.” He didn’t look at me as he said it, didn’t issue a real thank-you either. “Why’d you do it?”
“I knew Cauldron wouldn’t want you dead.”
He stopped in his tracks and looked at me. “You did it for him?”
I nodded.
“And for no other reason?” he pressed, pursuing his usual agenda.
“No. My life would be a lot easier if you were dead, Grave.”
He stared at me with eyes I knew all too well. Eyes that made me feel other things for a different man. He turned to look at the dead bodies across his property, bodies of his men as well as strangers.
“What about the staff?”
“They have their own hiding place.”
“Oh good.”
“My chef is the last person I’d allow to die.” He released a slight chuckle, like this was an appropriate time to make a joke.
“I want you to return me to Cauldron in the morning.”
He turned back to me again.
“I saved your life. You owe me.”
There was a gentle viciousness to his eyes. “You saved me for Cauldron, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you didn’t save me for me. Therefore, I owe you nothing. He’s the one who owes you.”
I felt the steam explode from my ears. “You’re joking.”
“If I am, I’m not very good at it.” He walked away.
Floored, I stood there and watched him walk off. “What’s the point in keeping me, exactly? You won’t force me to fuck you, and there’s not enough money in the world to make me do that again. So, what? We just wait around until Cauldron comes knocking?”
“You might have a change of heart.”
“Asshole, I lived with you for years, and I felt nothing. That’s never going to change.”
He stopped and turned back to me. “Well, we’ve both got all the time in the world. Let’s see what happens.”
Let’s see what happens?! “Should have let them kill you.”
“But you didn’t. And I suspect there’s more reason to that than Cauldron.”
FOURTEEN
CAULDRON
The entire drive was spent going above the 90 km speed limit, but once I pulled up to the property, I hit my brakes so hard I skidded across the road several inches. The iron gate was blasted inward. Half of it was broken off altogether. There was soot on the cobblestones on either side, like someone had previously used an explosive to break it down.
“Shit.”
Someone had beat me here.
I sped down the dirt road of the property then drove up the hill, the line of three cars behind me. There was no security. No staff attending the gardens. It was quiet, like all that remained were the dead.
I ditched the car and stepped onto the property, the cobblestone wrapping all the way around, smaller buildings outside the main three-story building in the center. I feared no one was here, because I would have been shot or threatened by now.
If anything happened to her…
“Camille!” I moved past the courtyard and finally found someone. The staff were on their hands and knees, scrubbing bloodstains off the stone. They tensed as they stared at me, like another wave of soldiers were approaching. “Where’s Camille? Is she still here?” I feared the men killed Grave and only spared Camille to enjoy her in terrible ways. Now I was even less likely to find her because I didn’t know what kind of enemies my brother had made.
