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“You fucking bitch,” he growled in my ear.
I could hear how groggy and disoriented he was. He could barely open his mouth. The pills had done their job, but not quite to the extent I’d been hoping for.
“You’ll pay for this,” he snarled, and I cried out at the top of my voice when he pulled my head back. “You’ll pay with your sorry little life.” His hands came to my throat and squeezed hard, his eyes bulging as he took my breath away.
It was then that I saw him, the man in the doorway, the gun going off in his hand, something about him so painfully familiar I gasped in surprise as Ellis’ hands let go.
And I felt blood spatter me as I screamed and screamed.
20
Thorn
She fell into my arms like a broken doll.
I caught her easily, holding on to her waist when she folded in on herself. It was like the strings had been cut and finally, she let go and let herself drop.
“It’s okay,” I told her softly, and her eyes blinked in fast succession, not understanding what was going on. “It’s okay, you’re going to be all right.”
She stared up at me, her chest heaving and her breaths ragged. There was blood all over her, the gorgeous dress I’d chosen for her stained and ruined forever. She looked more beautiful than ever. The first time we met properly, her eyes on mine, and I’d killed the man who’d tried to hurt her.
Ellis’ body lay on the ground, unmoving. I’d sent a bullet into his chest, killing him immediately. I knew where to aim and I knew how to kill. The deed itself hadn’t been hard. The decision, however, would plague me until the day I died.
“Who-who are you?” she cried out, but from the way her body responded, I knew she’d already realized it.
“You know,” I told her roughly, and her eyes zeroed in on mine.
The blue of her eyes was gone, replaced by huge dilated pupils, vast dark pools I could lose myself in. Her bottom lip trembled and her back arched in my arms needily, as if she was trying to make her body get closer to mine.
“You…” her words dried up and she started to scream again, louder and more urgent.
The room filled with people in seconds. Guards. I barked orders at them as I dragged her out of the room, her body flailing in my arms. She wouldn’t stop resisting, painfully twisting her body to get out of my grasp. But I wasn’t letting go. I was never going to let go of her again. I pinned her arms behind her back and took her into my arms, carrying her the hell out of there.
There was no denying the spark that was there, the throbbing in my pants as I held her close to me, the perverse knowledge that I’d finally let her see my face, fucking see who I was, knowing that she realized in that moment that the spark was back, that it was me who had fucked her, not Ellis. Now he was just a dead body, and her real master had come out to play.
Her screams became ragged, her voice raw as she sputtered and coughed and began crying. Soft little sobs wrecking her little body, making me want to physically hurt anyone who dared as much as to fucking look at her. She’d always belonged to me but now I’d fucking claimed her, took her into my arms and showed everyone she was my girl, my slut, my submissive. From the way her body responded, I knew she understood it as well.
Her sobbing didn’t waver as I carried her into my own bedroom, her eyes filled with terror as I placed her gently on my bed. She pulled her knees up against her, folding herself into a position meant to protect.
“I won’t hurt you,” I told her. “I just want you to understand.”
She had a vacant look in her glassy eyes, but I needed to go on, needed to explain what had happened.
“My name is Rueben Thorn,” I said. “You will call me Thorn, for now. Do you understand?”
No reply. She just lay there looking so completely fucking broken I wanted to scream at the unfairness of the world.
I’d been on my way back when I got the news. Everyone thought I’d done that. I’d picked that little thing, fed her a bunch of fucking lies and flown her out here to taunt Harlow. But I’d been busy dealing with another one of Harlow’s former friends.
Carina.
She’d been stirring nothing but trouble, and she had to be dealt with. Thankfully, I’d disposed of the problem.
Meanwhile, Ellis had decided to stab one final knife into my back and arranged for Amber to be brought to the mansion. And he did it right under my fucking nose, while I was in London.
