Page 11 of Hunter

A terrible thought creeps into my mind—what if Maxim has been lying to me this whole time? What if our relationship was nothing but a façade, a way for him to get revenge for something my father might have done to him before he died? What if I’ve been a pawn in some twisted game all along?

My chest tightens, and the air feels like it’s closing in on me. I can’t breathe.

Relax, Sophia.

No. I can’t.

“Sophia, please calm down,” Maxim pleads, his voice cracking, but it only makes things worse. I can’t listen to him. I can’t trust him.

I feel hands on me, and I know it’s him.

“No.” I scream. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

I thrash, desperate to get away from him, knocking over the IV pole. The needle is ripped out, but I don’t feel it. My body is numb. Nothing hurts right now.

Maxim’s voice keeps pleading, but it’s useless. It doesn’t reach me.

“Let. Go.”

“Of.”

“Me.”

The words come out between sobs, my body wracked with emotion. I scream them over and over, thrashing with all the strength I can muster.

And then, something sharp pricks my neck, and the darkness welcomes me, pulling me into its embrace.

FIVE

MAXIM

My heart feels like it has been ripped from my chest and stomped into the ground. My head spins, and it feels like I can’t breathe. This is the second time in my life I’ve stood paralyzed in a room, unable to do anything. Helpless. Lost. Broken. Confused. Like a blind man groping for light in the darkness.

I couldn’t get to her in time. I don’t know how I’m going to help her when she clearly doesn’t want me near her.

She hates you.

She hates you.

She hates you.

She hates you.

The words echo in my mind on a constant loop, engraving themselves into the very fiber of my soul. She blames me for what happened to her—and she’s right. This is all my fault. She should hate me. She was taken because I wasn’t careful enough. She’s in this state because I failed to protect her the way I should have.

My eyes fixate on the nurse reattaching the IV to her arm. I study her battered, bruised body, my chest heavy with grief, my throat tight. Scenarios play out in my mind like a nightmare Ican’t escape, torturing me with images of what those bastards could have done to her. I wish it was me lying there instead of her, hooked up to all those machines. I wish I could take away every ounce of pain she’s feeling and make it my own—leaving only happiness in its place.

She doesn’t want me near her, and I understand why. I will respect her wishes. I will stay away from her. But I won’t abandon her. I refuse to leave her alone while she deals with this. It won’t be easy for her, and I know that. I’ll support her from the shadows, even if she never knows I’m there.

I close my eyes, sucking in a breath, trying to contain the storm of emotions swirling inside me. Rage coats me in red-hot fury. I may not know how to help Sophia, but one thing I do know is how to make them pay.

They’ll all pay, every single one of those bastards.

I give Sophia one last glance. Her beautiful body is marred by bruises and cuts. My blood boils. They’re going to regret the day they touched her.

I storm out of the room, my fists clenched.

Her bruises. Her cuts. Her perfect skin is now permanently scarred. I can’t stop the tears that fall as my anger surges. Those marks on her will forever serve as a reminder of what they did. She’ll never look at them without being pulled back into that nightmare. My chest tightens painfully. It feels like the oxygen has been knocked out of me, making it hard to breathe.

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