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I hit him a couple more times and felt a zip of joy streak through me when I saw a thin stream of blood trickling from behind the duct tape on his mouth.
I drew my hand back to hit him again when I felt a strong hand around my wrist, grabbing it.
“Hey, princess,” Ryker said and loosened his grip immediately. “I know how good it feels, but you can pull yourself back now. You can get out of this spiral if you want.”
“I don’t want to,” I said, knowing exactly what he was talking about. I felt anger rising up inside of me, and as I started to think about Maksim holding the gun to my temple and forcing me to do that thing with Avery, white-hot incandescent rage flowed through me. I could have breathed fire.
“You might not want to,” Kingston said, agreeing with Ryker. “But you need to, princess. Take a step back and take a deep breath.”
Valen and Archer left to return the SUV and the driver, so I sat in an office chair next to Avery.
“I’m sure you love seeing me out of control like that,” I said, glaring at her. My anger wasn’t contained. It was spilling over into my every movement.
“I don’t,” she replied. I wish I hadn’t. I don’t want you to lose control or end up like one of Maksim’s men, violent and out of control.
I scoffed and sat in silence.
Across the room, Ryker and Kingston roughed Maksim up a little before they recorded a message to Ilya.
We decided to leave me off the first video. Ryker and Kingston could make demands, but when they set it up, my anger spilled over.
I ran across the room while Kingston had his phone out, filming, and punched Maksim in the face as hard as I could. His head snapped back. He grunted and cried out. His eyes glittered with unspent rage, and his blond curls were plastered to his head with sweat.
I looked into the camera on the phone, let the energy take over my face until it twisted into a mask of hatred, and I screamed, “Give me back Ivan and Amara, or I’ll fucking kill him!”
I pulled a small knife out of my pocket at that moment, lifted it, and sliced the top of Maksim’s ear off.
It fell to the floor and bounced like a rubber prosthetic, and blood started pouring out and down the side of Maksim’s head and his shoulder.
He screamed, a keening high-pitched shriek as he fought to move away from me. He jerked his body and shook his head. Blood spattered across the front of my shirt, and Maksim rocked the chair until it fell over.
“Stop filming!” Ryker bellowed. “Cut the camera!”
I stepped over Maksim, who was lying on the floor on his back with his legs flailing against the chair.
I reached down, tore the duct tape off his mouth, and threw it to the side.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” I hissed and glared down at him.
“Why did you do that, you fucking bitch? Oh, my god, it fucking hurts!”
His words were a garbled stream of curses and agony, and it filled my heart with happiness. I enjoyed causing him pain. I craved more of it.
“Everly!”
Ryker’s voice sliced through my fog of anger, and I shook my head, turned slowly, and looked at him. I blinked my eyes as if I was sleepy, and I asked, “What is it?”
“You need to put the knife down, princess,” he said softly, holding his hands out as if he was talking to a wild animal. “You need to calm down.”
On the floor, Maksim was groaning and calling me a bitch over and over.
I walked around the concrete pillar close to Maksim and headed towards the windows.
I wanted to hurt Maksim, but I knew why. I could see my own shame through their eyes, his and Avery’s. I could see it reflected back at me, and it made me sick.
CHAPTER20
“Are you okay?”Archer asked me as he approached the spot where I was standing. I was staring out of the window at the setting sun. There was a red line along the horizon as it disappeared from sight. It was beautiful. I loved the cityscape juxtaposed against the undeniable force of nature and wished I was looking at it from a hotel room or apartment that we were using on vacation instead of this current fucked up situation.
