Page 73 of Cain

I slowly open my eyes, trying to blink away the brain fog. My head is pounding as I try to get my bearings. “Where in the hell am I?” I whisper to myself as I look around the dark, furnitureless room, trying to focus. I’m really hoping that’s dirt on the walls and not blood. The sliding closet doors have been taken off their tracks, letting me see more blood splatter in the empty space. The bars on the window make it feel like a jail cell. It isn’t until I notice the thick metal lock on my ankle with a chain attached that’s anchored to the wall that everything comes flooding back to me.

“Levi!” I gasp, jerking up. The quick movement makes me wince as a wave of nausea hits me.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Okay. This is really happening, isn’t it? I’ve been kidnapped. All of the true crime documentaries I’ve watched over the years didn’t prepare me for this. I feel like all they talk about is what the victim was doing before and then how they died or escaped. Nothing really in between.

“God, I hope he’s okay,” I whisper to myself. All of that blood. That’s all I remember before I was hit over the head. I run my hand over the bump that’s throbbing on the back of it. The lightest touch feels like I’m being hit all over again. I squeeze my eyes shut as they start to burn. I try to hold back the tears. Now isn’t the time to break down. I need to be strong, or I’ll never get out of here alive.

I get a huge whiff of something foul and wrinkle my nose. It’s disgusting enough to make you gag but familiar at the same time. A smell this bad shouldn’t be familiar to me.

“Wait.” I rush out and franticly look around, only this time really noticing the room—specifically, the blood/dirt/matter in question covering the old wall panels.

Wall panels that match Storm’s living room.

“This motherfucker,” I hiss just as the door flies open. My eyes squint as I try to adjust to the light until I see a shadowy figure standing in the doorway.

“You’re awake. It’s about time. If you weren’t up, I was going to find a real sweet way to wake you up.” He smirks before walking away and leaving me alone again. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I felt them crawling over my skin.

“I’m really sorry it had to come to this, Evangeline,” a new voice says from the doorway as they enter the room.

“Come to what?”

“Your life ending at my hands,” he answers as if I just asked the most stupid question in the world.

The light from the moon coming in through the window lets me see an outline of a tailored suit. I know I should be scared. I know I should shut up. I definitely shouldn’t be running my mouth to this man who is probably about to shoot my brains out, but here I am. Instead of fear, I just feel rage. Lots and lots of rage. “Would you like to educate the class on why you think my life is ending?”

“Because I warned you.” His tone is sharp now. As if I’ve pushed a nerve. “I warned you to stay away from that club. And if you had given what I wanted to Storm, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” He lets out an exasperated sigh. “But here we are because, of course, you’re too fucking stupid to listen.”

“I don’t listen to men that think it’s a power move to flex their tiny dick around.”

“Shut the fuck up!” he roars before backhanding me across the face. My head snaps to the left from the surprise blow. I bring my hand up to my face, pressing my palm against where he just hit me, trying to ease the sting. Tears are falling from my eyes before I can stop them. The ringing in my ears only makes my headache more intense.

“If you had just given me what I wanted, you wouldn’t be here, Evangeline.” He says in a soft tone that’s borderline creepy. All of the anger from before is nowhere to be found. He closes the distance between us before kneeling down in front of me. “But you just won’t give it up. And then you had to go and fuck the biker.” His tone is just above a menacing whisper now as he sneers while reaching his hand up to twirl a section of my hair around his finger.

I stop breathing at the contact, and my skin starts to crawl. I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve this.

“You’re ruined now, Evangeline. And it’s such a shame. I would have proposed an arrangement. You could feel like you still had a little piece of what you started. A woman like you needs authority and to run under a firm hand.” He clucks his tongue. The disappointment he’s feeling from I don’t even fucking know what is suffocating the room.

My head flew back as if he slapped me again, proud of myself for not showing how much it hurt on my face. “Proposed an arrangement? Like a marriage proposal?”

“Yes,” he grits out. “You would have married me.”

“You don’t look high.” I study his face now that I can see it up close. His eyebrows are almost more manicured than mine. Other than that, his facial features are hard. My butt crack is probably as deep as his forehead lines. It’s clear this guy is off his fucking rocker. I’ve never seen him a day in my life.

“Enough!” He yells quickly, standing up. On instinct, I duck my head, covering it with my arms, expecting another blow to the face. Instead, he gives me a swift kick to my abdomen, which has me flying into the wall.

You know when you were a little kid and swinging really high on the swings before you jumped off? And sometimes you didn’t stick the landing and would end up flat on your back with the wind knocked out of you? Making you fear for your life for the longest five seconds ever? That’s what that kick just did to me.

I press my palm against my ribs, inhaling short, quick bursts of air. I feel a sharp pain with each one, which is only making me freak out more.

“I’m done listening to you run your mouth. A girl like you needs to learn her place,” he bites out as he raises the butt of his gun and brings it down on my temple. “And you’re going to learn today.”

And once again, the world goes black.

Chapter Forty-Five

CAIN

I’m driving like I did when I first got my bike.

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