Page 147 of Ruthless Savage

I know that voice. Heard it countless times.

This can’t be happening.

This isn’t real.

I can’t breathe.

Can’t run.

My body, it feels like lead.

Anger and fear tangle furiously inside me as I pant, reeling from the realization of it all.

I’ve been betrayed.

“I want to see the look on his face when I slit her throat.”

Every hair on my body wakes, and I’m instantly doused in absolute mind-crunching panic. The kind that seeps into your marrow and wakes up every nightmare you’ve ever had.

Why? That’s the question that plays in my head. Why would she do this?

“Oh, look, she’s awake.” Someone yanks the blindfold off me and I blink faster, registering her face.

The woman I trusted, the one who was like a mentor to me, was nothing but an enemy.

Professor Montgomery snaps my chin, turning my head both ways, a gun in her other hand.

“You’re not hurt, right?” She feigns concern while quiet sobs rip from my throbbing chest.

Her forehead is bandaged, but she’s clearly fine.

“I thought the accident was a bit too much.” She rolls her eyes, glancing back at the man behind her. “But the boys can be a little dramatic.”

Her laughter makes my sobs grow louder.

“Now, now,” she tsks. “I know this is all scary, and I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

“W-why?” I wrangle out the word, sticky in my throat. “Why would you do this to me?”

My wrists pinch, tied behind me on the cold floor in a building of some sort.

“I’m not doing it to you, sweetheart. I’m doing it to Scott. Or Devlin.” The scrape of her laugh is like a knife puncture to my throat. “If he hadn’t betrayed us, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Us?” I whisper. “You’re…”

My head spins. She can’t be. How? Nothing is making sense.

“Yes, sorry.” She hikes up a well-manicured brow. “Getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning. My name is Lordes Palmer. I’m the youngest daughter of Francis Palmer. Nice to officially meet you, Eriu Quinn.” Her eyes narrow, a seedy look within them.

She’s a Palmer. She’s one of them. How the hell did she manage this?! Is she really a professor? Did she start working at the school because of me?

“See, Devlin betrayed us to the feds. And after we killed his brother, they came for my dad and my brothers. My father killed himself to avoid prison, and my brothers finally got out recently.”

Her heels clack as she ponders the rest, gripping her gun tightly in her grasp. I just need to keep her talking long enough to survive. I have to believe Devlin will save me.

“Is Roy your brother?” I ask her.

She freezes, snapping those cold eyes at me. “One of them. The other two are with our men downstairs, waiting to kill your husband.”

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