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But out of the blue, a shape stood before me. I blinked a man dressed in an expensive black suit into focus. He held an iron rod, playfully turning it over in his hand as if it was a toy.
“Hello there, Mr. Maddox.” His tone was cheerful as he approached. One clank of the rod against the bars made me wince from the sudden loud noise echoing across the walls. “We meet again.”
Did I know this man? There was something familiar about him, but I couldn’t pinpoint what.
“Aren’t you going to ask how Miss Remington is settling into her new life?”
“You,” I growled as it dawned on me.Mr. fucking X.The man who received Kaylie. The man I handed her to with no questions asked.Fuck.
Mr. X chuckled, fishing out a cell phone from his suit pocket and held it in the air for me to see. “I do appreciate how you ignored her calls for help. But aren’t you the least curious what she had to say?”
His words reached me too slow.Calls for help.Pushing myself off the ground, I winced. Everything hurt. My whole fucking body screamed in protest from being stuck on a hard concrete floor for too long. My mind swam, and I staggered over to the barred door and grabbed the bars to keep myself on my feet.
“You don’t look so well, Mr. Maddox,” Mr. X stated. “Do you need anything?”
I let out a harsh laugh, turning my gaze to his. “Fuck you.”
“Wrong answer.” He lashed out, stabbing the rod through the air, hitting me with the blunt end to the upper arm. A scream tore from my throat, and I twisted from the force, staggering back, only to collapse back onto the hard floor.
Another clank of the rod against the bars seemed to intensify the pain, even though it wasn’t fucking possible. But he didn’t need to remind me of what he was capable of. One fucking time was more than enough.
“You need to be more careful, Mr. Maddox.” Mr. X tapped the rod again. “Or something might happen to you.”
“What do you want?” I shouted. “The fuck do you want?”
Mr. X played the voice message on the phone, and I did a double take.Myphone. Before I could make sense of the meaning, Kaylie’s voice filled my ears.
“Marc!”she cried my name.“Please answer, please, I need you.”
Her desperation cut me deeper than any pain ever could.
“He’s forcing me to marry. Please get me out of here, Marc, please!”
Mr. X laughed at the shock I couldn’t keep off my face.
Marry? What the actual fuck?
“You failed her when she needed you the most.” He made a tutting sound, backing away as rage-fueled adrenalin got me to my feet and lunging for him.
“Just like Julie.”
“Son of a bitch!” I shook the bars, slamming my hands and body against them as screams and curses tore from my throat. He had to die. The mother-fucking son of a bitch had to fucking die. I’d kill him with my own hands. I struggled until my body had enough. My mind still ran on rage, still saw nothing but red, and as long as the man stood there with that amused, sick grin on his lips, I was enslaved by it.
“You’ve only got yourself to blame, really,” Mr. X spoke calmly, as if my shouting and cursing had no effect. “If you’d dropped her off as you were told, none of this would have happened.” He had the audacity to look regretful. “But you had to fall for her, didn’t you? I can’t say I blame you. She is a pretty little thing.” He took one step closer as my struggling faltered and my grip around the bars turned into stubborn attempts to keep standing.
“I saw how you looked at her. How you could barely let her go.” His hand shot through the bars, grabbed my hair, pulled my face toward his and leaned in. “I hope she’s worth dying for.” He spoke the words onto my lips, and for a few disgusted seconds, I believed he would kiss me. Then, just as fast, he let go. A rough shove snapped my neck back, and before I staggered away, he grabbed me by the shirt instead, tearing it open to reveal the bruised skin.
“Beautiful!” He marveled. “But not nearly enough.” He whipped out a gun, pressing it against my shoulder. I froze, breath catching in my throat as my heart rate skyrocketed.
He slid it around, dragging it slowly over my skin as if searching for the right spot. I gritted my teeth to avoid cursing. I didn’t dare to fucking breathe.
“Where do you want this pretty little bullet?” he asked. “Do you want to bleed out fast? Or do you prefer a slow, painful death?”
I swallowed, squeezing my eyes shut and tried to breathe.Fuck you. Asshole.
“I can make you live for weeks,” he purred. “And you’ll beg me to kill you.”
He stopped right above the bony part of my shoulder, and a sickening grin twisted his lips. “That will do it.”
