Page 140 of House of Lies

The man turns his sights on me, and I nearly wet myself at the look of psychotic glee on his face.

I struggle valiantly, but the ropes are just as tight now as they were before.

“Now that we’re alone,” Angelo murmurs into my ear. “Time to make a mess of your panties, too.” He pats the tape over my mouth, giving me a slow, manic smile.

Oh fuck no.

Is that what’s in my mouth? Ethan’s decomposing fiancé’s underwear?

Bile rushes up my throat, but I force it down like my life depends on it, because it probably fucking does.

“Yeah, you get it.” Chuckling, Angelo slices through the duct tape on my right wrist.

As soon as my wrist is free, I try to grab the knife from him. He slams the hilt into the side of my face, and my head flops back as a wave of dizziness and pain crashes through me.

I moan, my head lolling forward, watching blearily as he frees my other arm. I make another weak grab for him, refusing to just sit back and die, but he brushes me off with a flick of his elbow.

He cuts through the rest of my ropes and drags me out of the chair. I try to kick him, but both my feet are numb and utterly useless. I collapse in front of Ethan, sobbing as I reach out to stroke his face with a shaking hand.

When his eyelids tremble, I quickly pluck my fingers away.

Oh my god, Ethan’s alive!

Angelo’s shoes come into view beside my head.

He crouches beside me, patting the duct tape over my mouth with his gloved hands as if to make sure it’s still stuck in place.

“I’d tell you that this will all be over soon. That it won’t hurt.”

Then he takes his knife and slides it down my dress, tip snagging on the fabric.

“But I’d be lying.”

Chapter 58

Ethan

I hear voices. It’s so tempting just to slip back into unconsciousness, maybe even deeper into oblivion…but Cassidy needs me.

My eyes open just a crack, barely enough for me to make out the two shapes in front of me. Angelo is crouching in front of Cassidy. She’s close enough for me to reach and touch her, but I don’t dare move.

That second blow did some serious damage. Even lying here on the floor, I’m so dizzy I want to puke.

Angelo wasn’t pulling any punches when he slammed that fucking candlestick into my head.

I should be dead.

Angelo drags his knife over Cassidy’s clothing like he’s planning to slice it off.

“Tell me, sweetheart…you ever been fucked with a knife before?”

“No!” I summon every ounce of strength I have to lunge forward and knock the knife out of Angelo’s hand.

A searing pain spears through my head, but I shove it aside with a grunt of determination. This isn’t the time to be a fucking pussy. I throw myself at Angelo, bearing him to the ground.

He lands a knee in my stomach as we’re going down, and I roll off him with an agonized wheeze. I don’t know how much more punishment I can take in this state.

But I slam my arm down, crashing my fist into his balls as he’s reaching for the knife.

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