Page 118 of Cruel Dominion

He would care.

And he knew the real me, stripped down, with all my flaws and insecurities laid bare.

And if Carter saw me cowering in front of Josh and acting like what he did was okay…

His voice drifted through my mind, a memory from the beach when we were kids and he was talking about the first tyrant in my life; you have to fight back, Anna. Don’t let him control you.

It was possible no one would ever find me in this motel. I had to fight for myself like Carter would fight for me or I’d never forgive myself.

I squared my shoulders and gave Josh a superior, icy glare that would make Carter proud and then I screamed.

If this was a motel, that had to mean there were other guests, other guests who would hear me.

I braced, my pulse racing as I anticipated being hit or choked or suffocated, but Josh just watched me scream.

He released his hold on my hair, and I stared at him with so much unconcealed hatred as I screamed again. And again. Until my lungs started to hurt and the sounds came raw and broken and I needed to stop to catch my breath.

“Are you finished?”

It hurt to swallow. I struggled to listen over the drone of the TV. The whir of the bathroom fan. The sound of my own breathing as loud as my heartbeat in my ears.

I couldn’t hear anyone, I realized. No one was coming.

“There isn’t anything around here for miles, Annie.”

“My name is Anna.”

“I bought the place last week with my money from my father’s shell company.” He spread his arms wide with a mean smile. “We’re the only guests.”

“Fuck you, Josh,” I spoke over the ball in my throat, refusing to cry again. “You don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as me after what you did back in St. Louis.”

He smiled, showing newly yellowed teeth. My mouth went dry. Josh had completely broken from reality. He told me how he was before we met. How he had it under control now. That the drinking wouldn’t lead him back to using, no matter what his sponsor said.

In this state, I didn’t know what he was capable of, but I didn’t want him to see how scared I was. That usually only made it worse.

“If you’re hoping to collect ransom from my dad, I’ve got bad news,” I told him. “He’s done with me. He won’t give you a cent.”

Josh’s crazed eyes widened. “Why would I ransom you when I worked so hard to get you? Do you know how expensive it was just to find you?”

“Any idiot with half a brain and an internet connection could’ve found me, Josh.”

Grabbing my collar, he ripped the grungy t-shirt I wore down the middle, making me jerk forward. The sleeves caught on my handcuffs, keeping me partially covered. Josh growled in annoyance, spinning to prowl over to the bed. He rummaged through a pile of stuff on the bedside table. I shivered when he held it up to the light.

A dull blade.

Josh sauntered back, getting off on the fear in my eyes that I was working so hard to hide.

He sank to a crouch and brought the knife to my wrists, tutting when he saw my one hand a third of the way free. He heaved the manacle back down, taking a layer of skin with it until it was back around my wrist and my throat burned with tears I wouldn’t let myself cry.

His hands were shaky as he tried to cut away the t-shirt fabric. The tip of the knife flicked against my skin, making me wince, but it wasn’t sharp enough to break the surface.

But Josh paused at the sound, a slow grin widening over his face.

“Josh—”

He pressed harder. I screamed when he sawed the blade against the sensitive flesh of my forearm.

Fuck.

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