Page 113 of Say You're Mine

Elaine's smile widens, showing too many teeth. "Let's just say he's learning the consequences of defying his mother. But don't worry, I'm sure he'll come around eventually. And when he does, the three of us will be one big, happy family."

I lunge for her, pregnancy and drugs be damned, but my body betrays me. I barely make it off the bed before my knees buckle, sending me crashing to the floor.

Elaine tuts, shaking her head. "Now, now. That's no way for a lady to behave." She presses a button on the wall, and two burly orderlies appear. "Get her cleaned up and settled in. I want hourly reports on her condition."

As they haul me back onto the bed, Elaine leans in close, her breath hot against my ear. "Welcome to the family, Cara," she whispers. "I do hope you'll learn to love it here."

Then she's gone in a cloud of expensive perfume, leaving me alone with my terror and the growing certainty that I've stepped into a nightmare from which there may be no waking.

Days blend into weeks in my gilded cage. The room I'm kept in is luxurious by any standard - plush carpets, silk sheets, a view of manicured gardens through unbreakable glass. But it's still a prison, and the knowledge eats away at me like acid.

Elaine visits daily, all saccharine smiles and veiled threats. She talks endlessly about the future she's planning for "our" family, about the greatness my child is destined for under her guidance. Each word is a knife in my heart, a reminder of everything June and I dreamed of that's slipping further away with each passing hour.

The baby grows stronger, more active. Every kick, every flutter, is a bittersweet reminder of what I'm fighting for. I talk to them constantly, whispering promises of love and safety, praying that somehow, they can sense the truth beneath Elaine's poisonous lies.

"Your daddy's coming for us," I murmur, stroking my swollen belly. "He'll move heaven and earth to find us. We just have to hold on a little longer."

But as the days stretch into weeks with no sign of rescue, doubt begins to creep in. What if Elaine was telling the truth? What if June really has abandoned us?

No. I shake my head violently, forcing the traitorous thoughts away. June would never give up on us. Never.

I'm jolted from my brooding by a commotion in the hallway. Raised voices, the thud of running feet. My heart leaps into my throat. Could it be...?

The door flies open, and my hopes come crashing down. It's not June. It's not rescue.

It's Martha, and she looks terrible.

Chapter thirty-four

June

The iron tang of blood floods my mouth as I spit onto the cold concrete. My ribs scream with each breath, but the pain's a lifeline. I'm still here. Still fighting.

Elaine's goons worked me over good, but they couldn't break me. Nothing can, not when Cara and our baby are out there waiting.

I drag myself up, leaning on the piss-stained wall of this glorified coffin they call a cell. "You hear me, you sadistic bitch?" I snarl at the hidden cameras. "I'm coming for you. And I'm gonna make you wish you'd never been born."

Silence answers, but I can almost taste Elaine's smug satisfaction. She thinks she's won.

She has no fucking idea what I'm capable of.

I close my eyes, letting memories of Cara wash over me. The silk of her skin. The breathy moans when I hit that spot deep inside her. The way she looks at me like I'm her whole goddamn world.

My cock hardens, despite the pain and exhaustion. Even here, in this hellhole, just thinking about her gets me going. I don't push it away. I let the arousal fuel me, stoking the rage in my gut.

I'm gonna get out. I'm gonna find Cara. And then I'm gonna fuck her until she can't walk straight, until she's so full of my cum there's no doubt who she belongs to.

A sound snaps me back. Footsteps. I tense, ready for another beating. But when the door opens, it's Sarah standing there, looking like hell but determined.

"We don't have much time," she whispers, working the lock. "Dante's men are hitting the compound. We need to move."

Relief floods me, but I shove it down. "Cara," I rasp. "Where is she?"

Sarah's eyes flick to mine. "Elaine has her. In the main house. But June, you need to know-"

"Tell me on the way," I cut her off, pushing past the moment the door swings open. "We need to move. Now."

We make it to the end of the cellblock before all hell breaks loose. An explosion rocks the building. Alarms blare, bathing everything in hellish red.

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