Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 127484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
They stopped speaking to me after that, my would-be rapist sulking and scrolling on his phone, the other just sitting there, staring off.
My mind raced with escape attempts, with worry for Knox, wondering about my sister, if this meant that they had found out where we were because of her.
I knew she wouldn’t give up our location easily. The vision of how they might’ve extricated the information from her turned my stomach.
With my mind torturing me relentlessly, I struggled to keep my expression even, to hold the tears at bay. Creating grief in the unknown was a surefire way to insanity. I had to maintain my head. I gathered all of those panicked, painful worries and images, then I shoved them into a closet, bracing the door shut.
It rattled, but it didn’t open.
Stone had arrived at the motel after a few hours, wearing a three-piece suit and a sedate expression. As if he were walking into a boardroom and we were having a civilized meeting rather than a cheap motel where he had me tied to the bed.
“Piper.” His oily gaze traveled up my exposed legs. “Not the circumstances I wanted us to see each other again in.”
I pursed my lips, refusing to greet him.
“I’m disappointed,” he sighed, unbuttoning his jacket before sitting on the edge of the bed. “I thought Knox was loyal. But it seems he is just another snake who can’t control himself.” His eyes ran over me again, and I shivered in disgust. “Not that I blame him. I can understand why he thinks you’re worth dying for.”
My vision went blurry and a low roar erupted in my ears. I struggled to catch a full breath, as if all the oxygen was stolen from the room. “He’s dead?” I whispered, forgetting my vow to myself that I wouldn’t speak. The two words were rasped out, coated in pain, agony so visceral I could barely swallow a scream.
Stone smiled with satisfaction. The pain, the despair in my breath made him happy. “People who betray me, Piper, do not walk this earth for long.” He gripped my neck, hard. I might’ve focused on that pain if my heart hadn’t been splintering in agony right then. “You’d do well to remember that.”
I wouldn’t cry. Not in front of him. Knox wouldn’t want that. I wouldn’t give him that. “Fuck you,” I spat.
Another smile. “I will be fucking you, Piper,” he returned placidly. “The night you become my wife. And I’ll ensure that I do it so thoroughly that I remove any trace or memory of Knox that remains.”
His cologne was sickly-strong, an assault on my senses, making my head pound. Or maybe that was his grip on my neck. Or maybe it was the world falling apart on top of me.
“Where is my sister?” I demanded. I needed to understand how much pain I was going to be in.
“Safe,” he smiled pleasantly. “She’s dancing in a production tonight. I hear she’ll be wonderful. Such a talented dancer. So much ahead of her. But that future is so fragile. So reliant on her small body staying healthy. Whole.”
My mouth went dry. Not from the fear of his threat—I’d been living underneath that pressure for months. But from relief that she was okay. Unharmed. Stone might’ve been the biggest piece of shit to walk the earth, but I didn’t think he was a liar. Killing Daisy was losing the leash he’d fastened me on. He was smart enough to understand that.
Still, the question remained of just how he’d found me. Not that the how of it really mattered at that point. He had found me.
I was screwed. I understood that. I was chained inside a motel room with men with guns, the mob, guarding me. I didn’t have a weapon, no protector, no man who loved me more than anything coming to rescue me.
Knox was dead.
Dead.
I couldn’t breathe around the agony of that.
Cold certainty circled around my neck like a noose. There was no escaping this. My fate was sealed. Because Daisy was their bargaining chip. And I’d give up for her. My fight was over.
Don’t you dare, Knox’s voice growled in my ear. Don’t submit.
I steeled myself and stared into Stone’s brown eyes. “You can try,” I hissed. “You and your pathetic excuse for a cock can try. But Knox has ruined me completely and utterly for all men. No matter what you do to me, I’ll always be his.”
Fury, white-hot, flashed in Stone’s eyes, and I thought he might hit me. I wanted him to. I wanted to show him that I could fracture the control he valued so dearly. But he tamped it down, sucking in a deep inhale and squeezing my neck harder.
“We will see, fiancée,” he murmured, pulling me so our lips almost brushed. “I know I seem civil now, but I have thought of all the ways I will bring you to heel. I will break you, Piper. And you’ll be nothing but my obedient wife. If you’re not, I’ll throw you to my men and let them fuck all of your holes until you’re bleeding from the inside out and begging for death.”