Page 124 of Fall Into Me

“I think we should call him. Do you want to do the honors, or should I? Wait, I know!” Declan just kept talking, grabbing ahold of my upper arm and dragging me toward the bedroom. He shoved me down to sit on the edge of the bed before replacing his knife back at the same spot on my throat. The tip bit deeper than before as he rustled around in his pocket before presenting me with my phone. The lock screen illuminated to show a photo of Fane and Jerry when they’d fallen asleep together on the couch.

“I’ll call him usingyourphone, so we can share the honors. By the way, you dropped this, Rosie.” He gave a little shrug, histone a mocking reprimand as he held it up to my face to unlock it. “You should really keep better track of your things.”

I was trying to think of every single scenario in my head. Trying to think about what I could do to get out of here. Tonotthink about where he had brought me. Why he had brought me there and what he was going to do.

The phone rang only once before Fane picked up, and I knew it was because he’d been waiting for my call.

“Baby.” His voice rumbled through the line, warm and familiar, so solid it sent a tremor through me, like my soul was shifting. Reshaping. Preparing for impact.

That was all it took to push me over this line I’d been teetering on. Of numbness and feeling too much.

“I’m going to speak to Delilah about how long she kept you. I think we need a rule. No longer than an hour. Two,max.”I closed my eyes, the swelling making it hard to move my face, and felt a tear fall down the side of my face he hadn’t touched.

For this man who had always been my definition of safe, who’d given me the safety to be soft, just like a rose. Just like Declan had pointed out.

But roses weren’t just soft, were they?

They were also covered in fucking thorns.

“What about me?” Declan’s voice crawled over my body, the intent behind his words cold and heavy. “Does that time limit apply to the time thatIget with her?”

The silence on the other end of the phone was deafening, and I felt it then, like I had the first night I’d seen him. This string, tied to every rib in my body, going right through my phone to him on the other end.

“Calista?” I heard every ounce of terror, of fury, of blazing fucking anger in his voice brewing on the other end like a storm.

“Don’t be shy, Rosie.” Declan moved the knife just enough to dig a little deeper, making me wince. A fresh trickle of blood dripped down my neck. “Say hi to our Fane.”

“Fane,” I murmured, my voice strong. Sure. My eyes trained on the imaginary piece of string I pictured leading from me and into the phone. Light, luminescent. Something made of sunshine, and drew strength from it.

“Cali.” Fane’s voice broke on my name. It was a plea that time, a little piece of him breaking and slicing me wide open in the process. Declan’s smile widened at it.

“I wouldn’t leave your hotel room if I were you, boss. The moment you do, I’ll know, and if you happen to weasel yourself past my notice, then there’s a really good chance you won’t make it back to dear old Darling.”

“What do you want?” There was no emotion in Fane’s voice. It was flat and lifeless and sounded a whole lot like how he looked when he showed up at my café all those weeks ago.

“Finally what I’m fuckingowed.” Declan bared his teeth at the phone. His face shifted from one mask to another so fast I thought I was losing my mind because in the very next second, his smile was back in place. He looked so relaxed he could have been sipping fucking cocktails on a beach somewhere. “First Rosie, then everything else will fall into place, and I will finally be the one he respects.” He took a deep breath, a sick, pleased smile on his face. “Well, we didn’t want you to miss the show, did we?”

“I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about. Don’t youfuckingtouch her!” He practically roared the words into the phone. They were visceral, and that string that led from me to him pulled taut. Aching.

Declan’s hand shot out, making contact with the side of my face he’d already hit. The sound of it crackled through the room.It echoed off the walls and made the tips of my fingers tingle, but I didn’t make a sound.

One plan came into play, and for it to work, for me to have even a tiny shot, I needed Declan closer. I needed him out of his fucking mind.

“That’s okay. You will soon, boss.” Declan grinned, leaning down toward the phone, his voice smug and triumphant. “The important thing right now is for you to know that every time you tell me I can’t do something to her, Fane, I will absolutely do it.”

Declan set the phone down beside me, and then his hand trailed against the side of my face he hit. His tongue darted out, wetting his cracked lips sending a spike of nausea through me again.

“She is soft, Fane. I’ll give you that. I think I’ve learned what she likes from watching you both. I have to say, you did surprise me.” Declan laughed to himself. “You don’t talk much, but you sure have a lot to say to Rosie when you fuck her.” His fingers trailed over the shell of my ear and elicited an involuntary shiver from me, making my organs twist and roil.

It was like slugs in my stomach. Their fat, slimy bodies worming their way up and out of my throat. My body revolted. I didn’t have time to say anything before I lurched forward, the contents of my stomach emptying violently onto the floor of my bedroom. Declan’s knife had been at my throat still, and the slice nicked deeper and even wider. The flow of blood now felt slow and constant.

“You fuckingbitch,” Declan spat. A hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing until my air was cut off completely. The pressure of his hand on the cut on my neck made my eyes water. I felt the tip of his blade dig in just under my collarbone, sinking in with a stinging, burning pressure that made me feel stupid for thinking the burning on my face was anything to cry about.

This felt like fire was beingpouredinto me. My hands gripped at the hand that wrapped around my throat, and I dug my nails in even when it tightened. Even when my world began to narrow, the edges of my vision darkening.

I could hear Fane on the phone, but the rushing in my ears was so loud I couldn’t make out what he was saying, and then Declan’s hand was gone as quickly as it had reached out for me. I pulled in a deep inhale of air, the burning in my lungs dissipating slowly as I pulled in breath and breath, reigniting when it was pushed back out in a fit of coughs.

“You’ve let me down, Fane,” Declan gritted through his teeth. “I studied you for days. Learned how you touched her.” His lips curled into a sneer. “I guess you were doing it wrong.”

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