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He dragged me back to the bedroom and shut the door, pushing me onto the bed.
‘Stay here,’ he barked. He went to leave, then turned back, yanking the phone cord from the wall and taking the phone with him.
As the door slammed behind him, I began to sob heavily. Soon I was hysterical. But the last thing I needed was to attract any more attention.
I slid off the bed and crawled underneath, lying on my side among years of dust and other, nastier things. I pressed my face into my knees as I drew them up to my chest. I would hide here. I would hide here and cry and maybe nobody would ever find me.
I could only hope.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
DORNAN
Bella was a mess. Literally. Someone had punched a couple of nails into her forehead, reducing her to a mumbling zombie. Her eyes couldn’t focus, and her blood was everywhere. Thank fuck he’d come to his senses before he’d opened the door and shown Ana. It was something she would never be able to get past. If she had seen Bella in this state, it would have ruined her.
Dornan shook his head. Whoever the fuck had done this was an evil, twisted son of a bitch. Even he couldn’t do this shit, and he was pretty fucked up. This had all the markings of his father. The man was as dead inside as this girl was about to be all over.
He drew his gun from his belt and shot her twice, in the heart. She died immediately, and for that, he was glad.
CHAPTER FIFTY
MARIANA
When Dornan came back, he was calmer, and he’d removed his shirt. I was still hiding underneath the bed. The first thing he did after locking the door behind him was push the bed to the side and crouch in front of me.
‘Come on,’ he said, offering me a hand.
I trembled at the sight of him. At the touch of his hand, I cringed.
‘I’m not asking,’ he said.
‘What did you do?’ I whispered.
He tugged my arm, and reluctantly I uncurled myself, letting him pull me to my feet.
He had ignored my question. But I’d heard two faint pops, and somehow, I knew they’d come from him.
‘Did you shoot someone?’ I asked. ‘Are you going to kill me?’
He set his jaw as he glanced between the door and me, his hands coming to rest possessively on my shoulders.
‘I put her out of her misery,’ he said. ‘She was too far gone. Do you understand?’
I nodded. Honestly, I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.
But then — I remembered the papers at the burlesque club, and I choked.
‘The accountant?’ I asked, hearing the pitiful desperation in my voice. ‘It was her, wasn’t it? Oh, God. Oh my God.’
I broke away from him and started to pace nervously. The accountant who had cooked the books had died a horrible death.
‘She died because of me,’ I said, raking my hands through my hair. ‘I didn’t mean for her to die!’
Dornan’s hands shot out and grabbed me, pulling me to his chest in a crushing embrace. I couldn’t decide if he was trying to comfort me or just trap me.
‘I need to throw up,’ I said dully. He immediately let go of me, and I made it to the rubbish bin just in time to decide I didn’t need to be sick, after all.
I might have held some hope before, but the woman’s last death scream had wiped hope clean away, and replaced it with nothing but fear and despair.
