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“I’ve done everything right. I played the game, bided my time… You’re mine!” Nicholi paces, and I keep my eyes on him. “Nico should have stayed away. But no, once again, he’s getting the life he wants. My fucking life!”
“Do you even hear yourself?” I ask. “Nothing you say makes sense. Nothing you do makes sense. If you wanted me, what were the others for? What purpose did Bethany serve? Or Tasha? They didn’t have to die.”
“Yes they did,” he roars. “They weren’t you!”
All I can do is stare. There is no reasoning with the unreasonable. And Nicholi is beyond unreasonable. He’s certifiable. In every way. I bet if he were evaluated, loads of issues would be discovered. Maybe his childhood fucked him up. Maybe it was not having a mother. Maybe his mind just cracked one day and never sealed back up.
Who the fuck knows?
Whatever it is in him that’s broken isn’t going to get resolved in time to save me. I’m not going to be able to talk my way out of this.
Nico, where are you? I know I’m stubborn, and I know I told you I can take care of myself, but this time, I can’t. I need you. Our baby boy needs you.
Nicholi stands over me and presses a booted foot into my chest to hold me down. His stare is crazed, and fear settles in my gut. I've managed to keep it at bay up until now.
“Maybe I can’t fuck you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t take what’s mine.” He lowers himself over me to straddle my hips again. I buck wildly, but that only makes him laugh. “Struggle, please. I like a little fight.”
Nicholi leans forward and licks a nipple before biting down. Then he repeats the process on the other side. Tears well in my eyes because there’s nothing I can do to stop him. I’m trapped, destined to be raped by this man.
I close my eyes and rely on an old trick. I force myself to go somewhere else in my mind.
Waves crash against the sand, the white caps beautiful. Nico’s there, and so is our son. They’re walking toward me, father and toddler, hand in hand. I run to them, pumping my legs until, but the faster I run, the greater the distance between us.
Nico!
I call out to him, over and over, screaming at the top of my lungs for him to stop, to wait for me, but I don’t think he hears me.
Nico, please!
“Stop fighting me.”
“I’ll never stop,” I sob.
“Stop,cuore mio. It’s me. I’m right here.”
My eyes fly open and I’m staring into dark orbs that seem to see right through to my soul. The eyes. The eyes tell me everything.
“Nico?”
When the man above me nods, the fluorescent light catches the gold flecks.
Chains prevent me from throwing my arms around him. I keep trying, ignoring the pain and the blood.
“P, stop!”
I whip my head to the side and see Harlow standing there. She’s gripping her hatchet, but there’s no blood on the blade. She must not have used it.
“Where’s Nicholi?” I ask, frantically searching for him.
“Malachi has him upstairs,” Nico tells me.
Harlow starts to work on the cuffs, muttering the entire time about needing me to teach her to lockpick. I’d laugh at her if the situation wasn’t so fucked up.
“Is he dead?” I ask.
Nico shakes his head. “No.”
“He’s mine,” I snarl, some of my fight returning.
