again.
“Yes, you are…” he yells, his hands biting into my shoulders.
“Get your fucking hands off me.”
“Hit me,” he growls.
“What? No.” Now, I know this is all a game to him. He is not letting me go. He wants me to fight him.
He smirks, and the look alone causes my belly to roll. “I bet I could get you to hit me. All I would have to do is slide my hand between those pretty little…”
“STOP! Leave me alone,” I cry, taking a step away from him. I can’t tell if he is being serious or baiting me.
“Make me…” His voice holds a darkness I want to run from. The green of his eyes grows darker in that one single moment. My eyes slide over his body, landing on his feet as I watch him advance on me. Every step he takes, I match with a step back.
“Just let me go. I’ll run as fast as I can, and you can tell them whatever you want.” Real fear burrows into my mind.
“Your dad is a fucking monster, just like the man you claim to love. Neither one of them wants you anymore. I mean, seriously—if they did, don’t you think they would have come for you already? You are nothing more than a fucking bargaining piece to them. They used you! Used you to bring the other one down... and after I see how sweet that cunt of yours is, you are dead.”
He is lying. I know he is.
“Stop lying to me,” I scream as he reaches for my hair. Grabbing a fistful, he pulls on it roughly, making my head snap to the side.
Fighting myself for the last bit of sanity I have left, I grab his wrist, trying to make him loosen his grip. Before I can convince myself this is a part of his game, I whip my free hand out and slap him across his face. The instant burn soothes the raging storm inside of me as I watch a smirk come across his face.
“That’s it, darling. Get mad, get fucking angry,” he spews at me right before he stretches his arms out as if he is the king of the fucking world.
“Look around, take a good look. It’s not a lie. All the proof you need is in front of you, behind you. It’s surrounding you, for fuck’s sake, if you would only open your eyes,” he whispers, his breath against my cheek.
“Stop. Just stop.” I hold my hands out, stopping any further assault by him. His hard chest brushes against my fingers. The warmth of his skin against mine sparks something in me.
“If I threw you on the ground right now and fucked the daylights out of you, what would you do? Would you scream?” He taunts, a small laugh leaving his lips. “Better yet, I bet you would love it… You would love my cock. I’ve been thinking about your cunt since that night in the basement. I know you wanted it. Fucking maid ruining the moment.”
My already clenched fist reaches out, slamming into the side of his jaw. My skin stung with the connection.
“That’s all you got?” he grits out. Giving him a you’re-fucking-crazy-and-you-know-it look, I pull back and kick him right in the shin. Then I do it again for good measure.
“Fuck!” I hear him mutter under his breath. “Now run…” Run? He wants me to just run away? I’m never going to make it. Why can’t he just take me to Enzo?
“But...”
“No buts, fucking run. Run until you get to your old house.”
“If my father is behind this, why would I go there?” I can’t believe I’m even saying this, but I believe Eli. I believe that my father has something to do with me being here.
“Go there. Enzo will be there. Tell him he owes me one.”
He winks at me as he crawls around on the ground as if I had actually kicked his ass. Inside, I smile, but deep in the bottom of my belly, a snake of anxiety slithers its way through me. What awaits me once I get to the house? Is Enzo really there, and what about my father? I don’t know the answers, but I’m about to find out.
I take off in a dead run toward the house. I will find out what my father’s intentions were all along. The pain in my limbs and the harshness of the ground beneath my bare feet almost makes me stop running, but I don’t—not when my life