Page 48 of Dark & Deceitful

I nod just enough for him to understand that I promise not to as the first woman’s shrill scream makes my ears ring.

“No. No. No! Don’t! Please!” Dee begs.

There’s a harsh slap, fists, and then the snapping of something. An eerie chill tingles my spine as I keep my eyes on Dark, only Dark. His thumbs draw circles across my cheeks, and that’s when I realize I’m openly crying, and he’s wiping away the evidence.

“That’ll teach you, bitch,” Elden roars, and I stiffen at the cold, cruelness in his voice. He’s a monster.

“Eyes, babe. I’ve got you,” Dark reminds me, showing little emotion—as if he’s cold as ice, as cold as Elden. According to Romeo, he is. Is this what Dark does, too, when I’m not around? Do I want to know? Do I believe he could do such a thing? No. But… his face is unreadable.

Fuck, women are being hurt, and I can’t help them.

He can’t help them.

We’re sitting ducks as someone chokes in pain before a wheeze pours from their lips.

“I—”

“Shhh.” Dark cuts me off with a firm shake of his head. “No. Talking.”

Okay.

I won’t.

Dark’s brow wrinkles in the middle as he watches both me and something over my shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” a different woman says to who I assume is Elden.

“When I said stick my dick in your ass, I fuckin’ meant it, bitch!” the monster roars.

The woman wheezes again.

Someone snaps their fingers.

“Give him your gun,” Darmond announces.

My back goes ramrod straight, and I grip the bottom part of Dark’s shirt, twisting it in my fist.

What’s the gun for?

What’s the gun for?! My eyes beg Dark to tell me, to make it stop, to make them stop. They can’t… can they? They wouldn’t… right?

“Shhh. You’re mine. I’ve got you, babe. You’re mine,” my ex whispers harshly.

Another rush of tears trickles down my cheeks, and he brushes them away with the pad of his thumbs.

“Please. No. I said I was sorry!” Dee screeches. “Please!”

“I’d rather fuck you when you’re dead,” Elden states with no inflection in his tone, just like a serial killer, and I jump as the gun unloads once, twice.

Fuck.

Dee’s dead.

He… he killed her.

“You are safe,” Dark reminds. “You. Are. Safe.” He jostles my shoulders to get his point across.

But I’m not safe. Not really. That man is a fucking monster. If I took this job on my own without Dark, that could have been me.

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