Page 23 of Slaughter

He closes his eyes as if he can’t believe this is happening.

A loud feminine scream comes through the speakers, and I smile at the sound of her voice. Then glass shatters. “Get off …” she calls out, but the rest is muffled by a hand over her mouth.

“Fuck.” One of my guys moans.

“Fucking bitch,” another says, followed by the sound of her being slapped.

My smile widens at Preston while he listens in horror.

“Hold her down,” another demands.

“Trying …”

She screams again, and then you hear commotion as things get knocked over. More glass shatters.

“She ran out the back door,” another one calls out.

Hope blooms in Preston’s eyes that she may get free. I continue to smile, knowing they’ll get her. That’s what I pay them for. Plus, my men like to hunt.

We can hear him running after her, and her faint cries in the distance, but he’s gaining on her. He’s six-foot-four, so those long legs will get her in no time. I know they’re running behind her house. I could have taken her last night after I made love to her one last time, but I wanted to play mind games with her. I had slapped her earlier and then told her I was gonna take her body. But I wanted her to give it willingly. I wanted to see just how far she would let me go. When I showed up back at her place, she was even drunker than when I left her, but there was no denying it. She may hate me, but she wanted me between her legs. But that’ll never happen again. Not like that—soft and sweet. It’ll be hard and dominating. I’ll remind her why she hated me in the first place.

“Please, Avery …” Preston pulls me back to the moment. This is why I waited. He never really treated her like he cared, but put in a situation he can’t control, I knew it would affect him.

A few gunshots go off, and Preston gasps before he narrows his eyes on me. “If you kill her …”

“I want her alive,” I say simply. And my men know that. They did it as a warning.

His jaw tightens, and he looks away from me. Once I get her, she’ll wish they would have killed her.

“Found her,” a man shouts, and then she screams as we hear them hit the ground. “Drug her,” he orders, barely out of breath.

I run my men like dogs, so they attack like wolves.

“No.” We hear her panicked voice. “Don’t …” Her voice trails off, and then there’s silence.

I walk forward, closing the distance between Preston and me.

“You son of a bitch,” he says through gritted teeth.

“This is your fault. You chose to fuck up! Now you must pay the price.”

“She’s innocent,” he growls.

“The innocent are the first sacrificed in war.”

He hangs his head and shakes it, knowing I won’t give her back. “How long?” he finally asks.

Now we’re getting somewhere. “You have four weeks to kill him.” The longer I have her, the more he’ll sweat. I snap my fingers, and the men drop the black duffle bag by his feet.

“No one can kill him!” he growls through gritted teeth.

“You better find a way, Preston,” I say. I’m setting him up. He has to know that. I plan on finding Damon and killing him myself. But this will keep Preston busy and out of my way. And who knows, maybe he’ll get himself killed along the way.

“When I finish the job, you’ll let her go?” he asks roughly.

I almost laugh. “No. You complete the job in four weeks, and I’ll kill her.” He doesn’t even flinch. “If you haven’t fulfilled your duty by the end of the four weeks, I’ll keep her.” Whatever he chooses to do, she will spend the rest of her days under my control.

“Fucking bastard.” He sneers. “You loved her once.”

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