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A creaking sound jolts me. The stairs…shit!
“Shaye, what’s that noise?”
I gasp and jump off the bed and stumble over the corner of an area rug, slipping across the floor in my haste to get the fuck away from the psychopath struggling to his feet behind me.
“Lily!” I yell. “Get back upstairs and lock that door! Don’t come down here!” A firm hand grips my ankle, yanking me backward, but I grab onto the door handle for leverage, kicking at the bloody hole in his face with my free foot.
A loud roar that sounds more like it came from the lungs of a jungle predator than a man shakes the walls. Milliseconds are all I have before his beefy hands close around my neck again, and this time, I’m not so sure he’s going to care whether or not I’m alive when he fucks me.
The sound of screeching tires registers somewhere in the depths of my mind, but my window is about to slam shut. I slide across the floor, pulling my bag with me.
Thump, thump, thump!
“You fucking whore!” he yells, stomping into the foyer, reaching out to grab me by the neck again. I fumble around inside the bag, my fingers closing on the cold metal. Sobs explode out of my throat as I roll onto my back and point the gun at the evil monster staring down at me. “Die, you motherfucker!”
I pull the trigger, but my eyes are too blurred with tears, my hand trembling with an uncontrollable force. I fucking missed! All of those months of target practice, and I missed! He reaches down and pulls me up by the shirt, slamming me against the wall. Hard. So hard that my brain shudders inside of my skull. My hands fly up to my constricted neck, the gun clattering to the floor. I kick my feet against his shins and squeak out some imperceptible sounds, trying like hell to pry his fingers away from my neck as I gasp, flail, and pray for mercy.
Nico…Nico…please save me…
The front door slams open and Nico barrels in, my unspoken prayer answered, yanking Luca away from me. My body hits the floor, cold and limp. Lifeless.
I need to move. I need to help him. I need to do something before…before…
But the tingling sensation in my arms and legs is replaced by an all-consuming numbness that seeps into every cell of my body, draining me of any and all remaining energy. My vision is hazy, but I can see blood. So much blood.
He saved me.
But I don’t think anyone can save him.
* * *
NICO
Luca twistshis hulking body toward me, blood gushing down the side of his face, pure malice in his demonic eyes. A slow smile lifts his lips as he takes a few steps toward me. My fingers twitch to grab my gun, but in my haste to get inside the house, I left it in the car. I glance quickly around the foyer to see if there are any potential weapons close enough to grab. Where the fuck is Max’s baseball bat when I need it?
“Salesi,” he grunts, closing the distance between us. “You finally found your balls. I was afraid you’d lost them for good, that I’d never get a crack at you because you were too much of a pansy ass to show your face.”
With a hammering heart, I look past Luca to see Shaye lying motionless on the floor where he’d dropped her. Her limbs are twisted, eyes closed, neck bruised and covered with welts. Rage courses through me as my eyes return to his twisted grimace.
“Don’t worry. She ain’t dead. She’ll wake up soon, hopefully in time to see me fuck your shit up. Maybe I’ll make her suck my cock before I kill you. Give you a good show as a parting gift. It’ll be a nice memory to take to the afterlife. Something to haunt you for fucking eternity.”
He lunges for me, and I duck around him, grabbing a brass candlestick holder from the entryway table. I launch my arm back and swing it to the side of his head, but he slips away before it crashes into his skull. Motherfucker!
“Come on, bitch. That’s all you’ve got? I’m gonna tear your fucking ass apart with my bare hands, Salesi. I don’t need a weapon. Remember your pal from the club? The guy whose throat I punched a hole through? You know what I’m capable of, so don’t fucking bother.” He leans closer, his breath hot against my face. “You can’t escape me anymore. Nobody can save you.”
I throw my weight against him, pushing him back against the wall, framed pictures crashing to the floor from the force of impact.
“Nico?” I look up for a split second to see Lily’s tearful face peeking out of one of the upstairs bedrooms.
“Go back inside and lock that d—!”
A piercing shriek erupts as my body flies backward, airborne for long enough that I know the landing will be fucking hell. Sharp pain slices through my jaw, but it’s nothing compared to the crushing agony of cracked ribs and mangled limbs. I lay in a corner like a rag doll, hunched over, trying to catch my breath, thanking God I can still feel my fingers and toes after being flung across my front hall. This guy doesn’t need a gun, but I fucking do. Panic settles into my shattered body. How the fuck am I going to battle this lunatic? There isn’t time to get to the gun safe, and if I can even manage to grab a knife from the kitchen, he’ll grab it and fillet my ass before I have a chance to use it.
I’m out of my fucking league here, but I have two people to protect. I take a deep breath as he kneels in front of me. “That was quick. I expected a little more from you. Now get up so I can knock you down again.” He fists my hair, yanking my head back. “I want you to feel real pain. You think this is it, but it’s not even close. And it won’t be quick, either. I wanna enjoy every goddamned second of it, so I’m gonna work nice and slow on both of you.” He nods his head back at Shaye, whose body stirs on the floor. Her eyes flutter open and then close again. “I want you to watch me fuck your girlfriend, Salesi. I want you to see me fill her with my hot cum. And then I want you to watch me kill her. You need to feel that loss, asshole. It’s what I’ve waited five years to do to you. Pain! Like you’ve never fucking felt before! You’re the reason I’m here right now, you’re the reason she’s gonna die!”
“You’re not gonna fucking touch her, you bastard!” I gather every sliver of strength in my bruised and broken body and shove him backward, cringing in pain. Adrenaline rushes to the surface, arming me with power I never thought I had. He tumbles back, caught off-balance, and I jump on top of him, pounding at his open facial wound, the only thing I can think of that might slow him down and give me a chance to get us the hell out of this alive.
Left, right, left, right. My fists are flying, and he laughs like the fucking psychopath he is. “Does it feel good? Do you feel like more of a man? You’re tickling me, jackass.” He shoots upward and pushes against my chest with his two huge hands. I groan and fall backward, the candlestick holder on the floor next to me. He grins, still taunting me. “Go ahead. Grab it. Take another shot.” He points at his face. “Come on, ya pussy! Right there! Hit me! Show me you’re a real fucking man, not some jealous asshole who needs to steal shit away from people to feel better about himself!”
