He didn't smile as he stared down at the children he'd given up. "She's beautiful, isn't she? Just like her mother."
"She's not yours," I snarled.
Dropping the picture back onto the floor, he stepped on it as he came over to me. Grabbing a fistful of my hair, he wrenched my head back. I stared down at him. In my mind, his eyes were glowing red, like the demon he was. "Where is my daughter, Tristan?"
I couldn't breathe, couldn't get enough air and my heart pounded in my ears so loud I could barely hear him. "Don'ttouchme," I growled.
He smiled at me then. "Oh, I'll do whatever the fuck I want to you. Just like always." The cold blade of my knife scraped down my chest to my cock. He rested the edge at the base. "And you'll like it."
I bared my teeth at him, even as I broke out into a cold sweat.
"You've always liked it. If you didn't, you wouldn't do things to get my attention, would you?" Knife still at my cock, he let go of my hair and ran his other hand over a few of the scars he'd left on me. My skin crawled beneath his rough palm, and my muscles went rigid.
He continued to taunt me, touching me everywhere—my chest, my stomach, my cock. "Where's my daughter, Tristan?"
"Fuck you!"
"Is that what you want? Because we can do that. I've got four men here who can bend you over the back of that couch." Reaching down, he gave my balls a squeeze. "You took my Luna away from me. I know you did. So you owe me."
I threw my head forward, smashing my forehead into his nose. The demon who haunted my nightmares cursed loudly as hestepped back out of range and covered his face protectively. "You son of a bitch!"
I thrashed against the chains as he pulled the whip from his back pocket and brought it back, but made no sound as the thick leather set my skin on fire. With so much scar tissue already, I barely felt it. Or maybe it was just because my mind had snapped and I was floating above my body, watching the scene act out from somewhere else. I wasn't dead. I could see my naked body twisting violently against the constraints that held it, could hear the animalistic screams torn from my throat as they tried to contain the monster they'd unleashed.
He was fucking hard. I could see the outline of his dick. And I knew what was coming next.
Like rushing through a bright tunnel, I was suddenly back in my body as a rough cord of rope was wrapped around my throat.
No. Noooo!!
One of the hooks came out of the ceiling, freeing my hand, and everything went red.
I reacted on instinct, driving my elbow into the gut of the fucker with the rope and grabbing the chain wrapped around my other wrist. A few seconds later, I'm not even sure how, both hands were free.
An inhuman scream filled the small room, echoing in my ears. Mine? Or one of theirs?
I lashed out with my fists, hitting flesh and breaking bones. Shots fired and there was a gun in my hand. Where did it come from? It didn't matter. I swung it around wildly, shooting at anything that moved.
Then suddenly, there was silence, and it was so loud it rang in my ears. Four bodies were bleeding out on the floor. The door to the room was open.
Gino was nowhere to be found.
My legs gave out, and I fell to the floor, landing half on top of one of the bodies. On my hands and knees, I crawled over to my clothes, my breath sawing in and out of my lungs and my heart racing. The only thought in my head was to escape.
One of my hands hit the picture, sending it sliding across the floor. I followed it, crawling awkwardly on one arm, my clothes in the other. When I reached it, it was so slippery I had a hard time picking it up.
The scratching noise started up again in the wall.
Forcing myself to my feet, I stumbled out of the room. There were stairs I somehow made it up, and then a long hallway to the left. To the right was a door. After a few tries, I got it open and then I was outside.
It was dark, but I could see well enough to know I was still at Gino's. My legs started to move, jogging across the yard to the tree line. Once I was under cover, I pulled on my slacks.
Next thing I knew, I was in the SUV, and it was running. One foot was on the gas and headlights were blinding me as voices threatened me, shouting in my ears.
Home.
I just needed to get home, where it couldn't hurt me.
CHAPTER 15
