Page 80 of The Wages of Sin

“That’s enough. The family reunion’s over. Time to end this.”

I hit the floor hard, my legs sprawled out beneath me. I kicked out my feet, desperate to right myself, as Hollis started for the door. Using his hold on my hair as a leash, he dragged me behind him out of the bedroom.

The whole way down the hall, I struggled and writhed, desperate to pull away. I didn’t care if I ripped every hair out of my head in the process. My system was so flooded with adrenaline that I barely registered the pain.

I bit and clawed and screamed. Raising my arms, I scratched at his wrist, digging in my nails far enough that my fingers eventually became slippery with blood. Still, Hollis’ hold on me didn’t falter. If anything, his grip only became more sadistic as my cries for help echoed off the walls.

“Shut up,” he shouted.

When I didn’t, he kicked out behind him.

The heel of his boot missed the top of my head by inches, instead landing hard against my right shoulder.

I felt an internal pop, followed by a searing flash of pain so bright that, despite all the adrenaline, it threatened to swallow me whole.

To Hollis’ disappointment, the blow didn’t shut me up, though.

If anything, now I was screaming twice as loud, even if it was in agony.

But as my arm fell away from his wrist and flopped uselessly against the floor, I realized he’d dislocated my shoulder.

Hell, with a kick that hard, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d fractured my collarbone.

Not that any of that would matter if I didn’t start landing a few hits of my own.

Clearly, Hollis wanted me dead, but I was determined that as long as there was a single spark of life inside me, I wouldn’t give up. If I had to die, then I’d go down fighting.

So, with my dominant arm out of commission, I changed tactics. Reaching out with my left, I grabbed onto Hollis’ ankle and held on with all my might.

“What the fuck?” he cursed as he stumbled, reaching out to catch himself against the wall before he fell.

Okay…clearly, that wasn’t enough.

So, I pulled myself closer before he could fully right himself and sunk my teeth into the meatiest part of his calf. I snapped my jaw shut as tight as I could, determined to make my back teeth meet.

I didn’t quite get there, but I still managed to do plenty of damage. Hot blood soaked through the fabric of his pants and ran out the cuff as Hollis fell to his knees.

“You bitch!”

Now, it was his howls of pain echoing down the hall.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t filled with a sense of righteous satisfaction at finally seeing him rolling around on the floor in agony, but sadly, there was no time to soak in the moment. Not if I wanted to live to see tomorrow.

As quick as I could, I lifted myself up to my feet. Having learned my lesson with Carlo, I didn’t even try moving past him without first planting a solid kick to his balls.

In an instant, Hollis curled up like an armadillo, both his hands protectively clutching his groin and giving me enough space to stumble by.

Even though he wasn’t down permanently, I’d bought myself some time—hopefully enough to make my escape.

Hope took root in my heart. There was no doubt that I was in bad shape, but at this point, that was nothing new. In the last eighteen months, I’d survived being shot, an FBI manhunt, head trauma, and a mob contract being put out on my life.

I hadn’t survived all that just to die here.

Especially now that the door was now only a few feet away.

Of course, I wouldn’t be home free even once I was out in the hall. I still needed to make it to the elevator. But at least I’d be out in a public space, and I figured the chances of Hollis shooting me in the back would go way down once there were curious neighbors peeking out their doors.

I let out a sigh of relief the moment my hand landed on the door…but it was short-lived.

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