Page 83 of Forbidden Hearts

“You got it, boss,” the reaper says, dragging me to the door. I lift my legs and press them against the doorframe, but the reaper is much stronger than he seems and manages to get me out of the door. Alice and a few reapers sitting at the bar stare at me as the enforcer drags me out of the club, kicking and screaming.

The reaper tosses me into the backseat of Jacob’s truck. I put up a good struggle, but five minutes later, I’m lying across the backseat with my arms and legs bound with zip ties. He stuffs a dirty rag in my mouth to keep me from screaming for help.

Eventually, Jacob comes out of the club and tells the reaper that Ben is on the way and we can head out. He joins me in the backseat. He is wearing a makeshift tourniquet over the arm that I shot, but he still looks flustered. His two enforcers get in the front and drive us out of the club.

“You really fucked up, Alex,” Jacob says. “I could’ve overlooked you shooting me as nothing more than a kink. But you killed Sammy, and now we’re gonna have to make him disappear. Do you know how much of a pain in the ass that’s going to be? Not to mention that other little thing you confessed to.”

He licks his bottom lip and puts his hand on my leg, tracing it up to my thigh. I feel his disgusting touch over my jeans.

“I’m gonna have so much fun taming you, sweetheart,” he says.

I pull my legs back as far as I can and slam them against his injured shoulder. He shrieks and puts his other hand over it.

“You fucking bitch!” he yells, red-faced. He balls his hand into a fist and rams it into my face.

Pain explodes above my right eye and pulses throughout the rest of my face.

Got it. Don’t do that again, or he’ll hit me.Hard.

A hundred thoughts race through my mind about what Jacob is going to do to me. I killed Sammy and tried to kill Jacob, and now he knows I’m the one who got his reaper arrested. Things are not looking good for me. Fuck.

Alonzo, please help me.

I don’t know why I’m thinking about Alonzo right now. He’s the last person I expect to show up to help me. Even if he wanted to, the reapers would outnumber him.

Some time later, maybe ten or fifteen minutes later—it’s hard to keep track of time when your mind is preoccupied with the unknown horrors that await you—the truck comes to a stop.

It’s difficult to see anything because I’m lying down, but we stopped by a large tree. One of the reapers gets off, and there’s a loud squeak, like an old gate opening. A moment later, the truck moves again before stopping in front of a white two-story house, tall enough for me to see from my angle.

“We’re here,” Jacob says.

One of the reapers opens the door closest to me, drags me out, and tosses me over his shoulder. In the distance, the sun is setting on the horizon over green fields.

The reaper carries me into the house and takes me to the first room to the left. He tosses me on a bed under a window facing the front yard and leaves.

I roll out of bed when he leaves and look for anything I can use to free myself. But the room is sparse, with only the old bed and an empty nightstand. The closet is empty as well. The door is locked, of course, and the window is barred on the outside.

I sit back on the bed and think of all the mistakes I made that led me to this place. I wanted easy money and overlooked all the shady shit that went on at The Den. This must be my punishment.

About half an hour later, Jacob returns. He’s wearing a patch over the spot where I shot him. One of the enforcers must have patched him up because the bleeding stopped.

“Alex, Alex, Alex,” he says. “What is it about you that drives men crazy?”

He grabs a chair and sits by the bed, placing his hand on my leg again.

“Well, I know why.”

I recoil at his touch. My legs are still bound together, so I roll away from him toward the wall. He scoffs and shakes his head.

“You should have seen Alonzo’s face when he saw you on that stage last night. It was fucking priceless. I almost fell out of my seat. That poor bastard. I know what he sees in you, but what I don’t get is whatyousee in him.”

He pulls the gag out of my mouth.

“Tell me,” he says.

“He’s a bigger man than you are. In more ways than one,” I say, dropping my eyes to his crotch.

His face sours.

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