Page 48 of Bound

He maintains his firm grasp even after he’s gotten me to my feet. I struggle to breathe through the tight hold. Tipping his head to the side, he squeezes harder, and his eyes grow wide as he watches me. My heartbegins to pound, and my lungs burn as hestarves me of oxygen. Desperately needing to breathe, I claw at his hand and try futilely to free myself from his fingers.

“You might find it benefits you to fucking listen when I tell youtodosomething.” His voice is deep and gravelly. “I’m going to have very little patience for that smart fucking mouth of yours.”

I gasp violently for air when he releases me, choking on it when it finally fills my lungs.

“Come.” Emil grips my wrist and pulls me through his apartment. Reaching a bedroom, I pause. When I see the bed a few yards fromme,my feet suddenly have the weight of cement blocks.

I am fucking strong, and I want to fucking live.

He roughly yanks me through the open doorway. “I also have little patience for your inability to listen.”

Relief washes over me as he drags me past the bed and into the attached bathroom. It’s a fleeting feeling, immediately wisked away when he turns on the shower and demands, “Strip. And do not make me ask you twice.”

With trembling hands, I grip the loose ends of the bow at my back and undo it. The bodice of my dress becomes lax, and Emil crosses his arms as he waits. Slipping the spaghetti straps from my shoulder, my blood-soaked, ruined wedding dress slides down my body and into a fluffy cloud around my feet. Standing in nothing but my panties, I cover mybreasts with my arms.

“Panties,too.” Emil’s eyes dart to my white lacy thong. Taking a deep breath, I push the material over my hips and let it fall down my legs. A deep grumble rattles from him, and the hairson the back of my neck stand on end when he groans, “Anaturalredhead.”

I am strong. I want to fucking live.

“You can relax.” His tone is sincere. “As much as I want to see if that little pussy of yours is as enjoyable to use as it is to watch, I won’t be taking my turn with youquite yet. ThePakhanwants you passed through the ranks to teach both you and those fucking Evans brothers a lesson. He has demanded he gets to be the first to fuck you, and luckily for you, he won’t be back from Mother Russia until tomorrow.”

His confession is as comforting as it is terrifying.

“Shower,” he demands, pulling back the curtain and signaling for me to enter. “Imight not be able toput my cock in you, but I have other ways of making you listen.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

DECLAN

Finn walks into the kitchen as he shoves his phone back into his pocket. “I just got off the phone with that hot nurse thatworksNew York General?—”

“The psycho one who tried to stab you?” Liam interrupts him.

“She wasn’t psycho. She was just really fucking mad that I fucked her best friend,” Finn corrects him, and I try unsuccessfully to hold back my sigh of annoyance.

“Finnigan!” I huff. “What the fuck does this have to do withQuinn.”

“Nothing,” he responds, and I nearly climb over the counter to kick his arse. “Rory. I called her about Rory.”

“And?” Conorasks the questionwe are all wondering the answer to.

“He’s still in surgery, but it looks promising,” he shares, and we all collectively expel a sigh of relief.

Rory might not be blood like the men in this room, but after today, he is no less an Evans than any of them. He might nothave been successful, but he was more than willing to give his life to protect Quinn.

He didn’t fail her. I did.

I never should have given in to her insistence for a stupid tradition.

We’ve all been back home for hours and have made no progress toward figuring out where shewas taken. These fucking Bratva, for as brazen as they are, they hide like fucking cockroaches when the lights turn on.Inthe hours that we’ve been back here, we haven’t made it any further.

Me foolishly expecting different does not differ from expecting a miracle.

“Between the lot of us, we must know someone. Anyone that can give us a shred of useful information.” I flex my hands and groan at the soreness of my cracked and bruising knuckles. “We have to do something. I can’tfuckinglose her.”

I promised I would protect her and that I would keep her safe. We might not have sworn it before God yet, but I promised her a life with me.

“We are trying, Dec,” Tristan imparts. “Every lastone of us is doing everything we can.”

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