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“Mr. Hale,” Mateo murmured, clearing his throat. “I don’t think you should be too hasty…”
“Mr. Ristani, with all due respect, you have no authority where the safety and well-being of my future wife is concerned.”
“Your future fucking wife?”I snapped.
Gone was the heaviness of exhaustion. Gone was that loss of control. I was laser fucking focused now as I took a step closer, closing the distance between me and this cunt in a three-piece suit. Sebastian VanHalen just looked at me like I wasn’t worthy enough to tread on as Haelstrom Hale crossed the space between us, stopping at my side. “That’s right. Make no mistake,boy,when this is over, she won’t belong to you.”
I turned my head and stared into the eyes of my enemy.
Something savage carved its way through me, slithering out of the darkness of my soul.
And bared its goddamn fangs.
45
Kat
“Get up.”
I opened my eyes, jerking my gaze up at my abductor, and blinked. “What?”
He lashed out. The toe of his boot drove against my thigh with athud. “Move.”
Sleep was snatched from me as I shoved upwards, drawing away from his blows. “Did he pay?” My voice was hoarse and croaking.
He said nothing, just stared at me. I licked my lips and felt that deep flare of agony move through my side, a reminder of his cruel fists. The leather jacket slid from my body, falling to the floor. I reached out, snatching it against me, and pushed to stand. “He paid you, right? He paid you the money?”
“No,” he answered. “He didn’t.”
Fear moved through me. “That can’t be right. He wouldn’t…”
“No more talking…move.”
I’d waited all day, too scared to sleep. All day curled in that one spot in the corner of the cabin, desperate for them to tell me I was free to go. But that never happened. Not last night as the wind howled through the cracks in the wooden floorboards, nor all day as the gloomy shadows still clung to the cabin. An ache throbbed in my chest and radiated outwards. Desperation was all I had now as hope slowly started to fade away.
“Bathroom,” he snarled, shoving me forward.
I crossed the floor, scanning the empty rooms. It was the second time I’d been allowed to pee since they'd handed me an apple, a green banana, and another bottle of water. When I'd asked for a blanket to stave off the night coolness, he stared at me until I slowly made my way back to the corner of the room and draped Lazarus’s leather jacket over my body.
I glanced behind me to where he followed, then stepped into the small, filthy bathroom. I closed the door behind me, until he shoved his boot in the way, stopping it. “Make it quick.”
My pulse sped at the words. Maybe they were moving me somewhere else, somewhere the Institute’s guards were to collect me? Panicked thoughts shoved the last traces of exhaustion away. Dad had to have paid. There was no way he wouldn’t…no way…
I watched the open crack of the door while I slid the sweats and my panties down. I was grimy and stank, still wearing yesterday’s clothes. Clothes that held traces of the scent of sex. I gripped the soft cotton shirt and pulled it against my nose as my bladder released.
The ache in my side pinched, making me draw the shirt a little higher. A bruise bloomed across my side, dark and throbbing. I pulled my shirt down and hurried to wipe before washing my hands and bending low.
My abductor said nothing as I splashed water onto my face and washed my eyes. One small shove of the door and he watched me like a hawk watched a field mouse from high above.
I swallowed a shudder and looked away from his reflection.
I tried to think, tried to fight the lingering exhaustion from my mind. He would’ve paid in an instant. He would’ve had a team of people around him, and the best negotiator money could buy. The memory of that day in his office came roaring back to me. I gripped the cracked, filthy sink and stared at my reflection. He was angry, furious I was defying him. Out of control with rage.
I allowed it to happen!
His scream came back to me as movement came from my right. “Out.” My abductor gave a jerk of his head.
But he didn’t move from the doorway, crowding the space, giving me no room to get past…not without—
