Marco lifts my head again just as I feel Andrei thrust into me, causing my head to slam back into the table. There’s a shattering as the glass table gives way under the force of my head crashing into it.
I black out for a few seconds, or at least I think it’s a few seconds. When I come to, my upper body is still draped over the metal frame of the table, little burns from the cuts erupting over my skin from the broken glass. My body jerks with each punishing thrust, my mind retreating further and further until I become numb. The fight completely leaves me, and I think it pisses Andrei off even more.
He grabs my hair, yanking my head back painfully mid-thrust.
“Fight me, Dani. Fight me!”
I do the exact opposite. If he get’s off on frightened women fighting for their lives, I’m not going to give him what he wants.
“Fucking, stupid cunt!”
He pulls out and I choke back a sob, unwilling to give him any satisfaction.
His knees disappear from between my legs, and I immediately clutch them closed as he walks around the couch, does his pants back up, and places his suit jacket back on—as though nothing even happened. Yet, here I am, completely broken all over again.
“You’ll learn, Dani. You’ll learn to fight me. You’ll learn that I yearn for the struggle and the fear in your eyes. Ultimately, you’ll learn to give me what I want to avoid being passed around to my men,” he says, pouring himself a glass of wine in the kitchen. “They won’t be as nice as I can be.”
Marco and Ivan release their hold on me, causing me to fall to the floor, the glass cutting into my hands. Marco takes a seat on the couch as Ivan stands over me, looking down at me with lust in his dark eyes.
“There will be time for that later, Ivan. For now, let’s get going.”
Every second that passes has my hope that Kayden will get here in time dwindling.
I should have never left him, I think to myself.
My heart breaks all over again as the hope of a future with him escapes like sand through my fingers.
Kayden’s darkness is nothing compared to the pure evil of these men. Why I didn’t accept that sooner is beyond me at this point; all I know is the regret is so overpowering I sob. A silent, choking sob.
I refuse to be taken again, I think to myself as I grab a shard of glass—I could cut my own throat, completely ruin all of Andrei’s plans, ensure no one else takes advantage of me—escape this hell.
The thought of what that would do to Kayden stays my hand.
Maybe there’s a little hope left.
And I hold onto that sliver of hope with everything in me.
Twenty-Seven
Kayden
The trek through the woods was slow going. The underbrush was thick and caused more of a problem than I thought it would. Jax and I stayed close to the driveway so we wouldn’t misstep down the gulley and into the river below.
“You guys almost to the house?” I ask James and Emilia over the headset.
“We’re here, just to the right of the house. We’re laying low until you’re in position,” James whispers.
“Ten-four. We can see the house now. I’ll make my way around to the back and up the cliff. Jax will stay to the left side of the house. I want all of you to wait for my orders.”
“Sí, sí, sigue adelante,” Emilia says with enough sass to make me roll my eyes. (Yes, yes, get on with it.)
“Jax, wait here. I’m going up to that cliff, see if I can get a clear shot.”
“You got it, Brother,” he replies, his handgun lowered but ready should anyone come out of the house.
Slowly and carefully, I pick my way through the woods, eventually coming to the crest of the cliff. I get down on all fours and drop to my stomach, inching my way to the edge to avoid being seen.
As I look over the edge of the cliff, all the lights in the house appear to be on. Looking into the scope of my rifle, I see one man sitting on the couch in the main living room and another looks down as he stands. Marco and Ivan. I recognize them from Franklin’s intel. Ugly bastards. My blood runs cold when I see Dani on the floor, shirt torn off her shoulder, naked from the waist down, and her right eye swollen shut. From the view in my scope, she lies in shattered glass. Ivan stoops down and lifts her head by her hair before grabbing her cheeks with his other hand in a punishing grip. I decide right then and there he’s going to be the first one to die.
