bloody; my body contorted and broken in unnatural ways only a sick mind could come up with. While he paints, my stepbrother talks to me, and I realize just how twisted his obsession has become.
He tells me how successful he is under a fake name. He says he earns millions. And he's even more pleased to inform me that he was behind the raffle that got us the tickets to this hellish paradise. He brought us right into his lair, and we didn't suspect a thing. Marissa is like his servant, bringing us food and almost kissing the floor he walks on. Their whole relationship is disturbing, and I try hard to talk to the girl, but I'm gagged and bound unless I'm eating. And then, Parker holds a knife to my throat to stop me from screaming out loud, my tears mixing with the stale food they feed me.
I hate the fact that my worst nightmare has become a reality. I let the darkness take me and spend time in a state of semi-consciousness, not even fighting the currents that are pulling me under. I know I won't last long, even though he hasn't touched me, tortured me... But I know it's coming. And when it does, I don't want to be here anymore.
Hope comes in the shape of a knock on the door, so loud I can hear it from the basement. My hopeful eyes shoot up, but Parker yells for Marissa to get it, coming closer to me and pressing that now-familiar silver blade against my throat.
"Not a word," he hisses in my ear, and I whimper, listening to the conversation upstairs.
I hear the door opening, and Marissa's voice speaking next. "Can I help you?"
"Hello," a man's voice comes through. I recognize it instantly as my husband's voice. "Don't mean to bother you. Just wanted to let you know my wife has gone missing from the island. Have you seen anyone around here?"
"No, not at all," Marissa feigns ignorance. I start thrashing in Parker's arms, but he presses the blade closer. I feel it cutting my skin as I gasp against the gag in my mouth. "I'm just here on a romantic honeymoon with my husband."
"Shut the fuck up," Parker whispers in my ear. "You let him hear you, I'll fucking kill you both." I turn deathly still in his arms, the tears of humiliation burning my cheeks as they stream down my face. The conversation upstairs becomes muted, and we sit there for what seems like ages until I hear Marissa saying goodbye, and she comes down the stairs quickly.
"Didn't suspect a thing," she says triumphantly, her eyes feverish with the need to please Parker. "We're off the hook! He had no idea." Parker finally lets go of me, and I tumble to the floor like a sack while he walks over to Marissa, pulling her closer and pressing a kiss against her mouth. It's the first sign of affection I've seen him show her since that display on the beach, which I'm now sure was just for my benefit. Then he slowly turns toward me, and his eyes are burning with a new desire. My heart blackens with soot as I realize what he has on his mind.
"Now, June," he says softly, a grin splitting his face into a grotesque mask of horror. "It's time to play, wouldn't you say?"
35
Parker
My blood is pumping with adrenaline. June is tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Marissa looks anxious but still victorious from fooling Kade into thinking we haven't done anything wrong. I'm fucking ready to get this game started.
"Take your clothes off." My voice echoes in the room, and Marissa obeys, peeling off her white linen dress to reveal inch after inch of toned, tanned skin. "Good fucking girl. Now come here and sit by me."
She does as she's told, settling on the floor next to me. I pet her hair absentmindedly as she kneels on the hard floor, but my eyes are on June, devouring her fearful expression. God, she wakes up my sadistic fucking appetite. I can't fucking wait to hurt her.
"Nox, can I—" Marissa speaks up, but I respond with a smack on her face, my eyes still focused on my stepsister. "I'm sorry."
"Shut up," I tell her firmly. "I don't want to hear your voice right now." She shuts her mouth obediently, and I smile at June as she watches the scene unfold with terror in her pretty blue