Page 101 of The Perfect Stranger

Chapter Thirty-Five

Footsteps crunched on the ground.

I was barely awake.

My brain felt like exploding, my skull thudding in pain.

I could smell blood. Lots of it.

The world was still black even though my eyes were cracking open.

I was wearing a hood, hands tied around the back of the chair I was sitting on.

Somewhere behind me was an incessant drip, the cold air biting.

I stilled, waiting for whoever was lurking to make the next move.

He doesn’t keep me waiting.

The hood is pulled off roughly, my head wound sticking to the fibers and screaming as a new raw layer is exposed. I was in a warehouse, an abandoned one that had turned almost derelict. The walls on the far side had been knocked out exposing the cloudy afternoon sky. Exposed beams both horizontal and vertical were the only things keeping this place up.

I heard him before I saw, his boot splashing in a stale puddle of water.

I didn’t move. I didn’t have to. His face stood in line with mine, a smirk reaching his eyes.

Gabriel Santos was alive and well.

“Brother,” he greeted, almost mockingly. “It’s good to see you again. You’re looking… well.”

“Where is she?”

He nodded, a glimmer of satisfaction that I had asked the question he wanted.

“See for yourself.” He pointed to his left, and my heart broke before the remaining pieces pounded hard in my chest. A fiery anger almost had me exploding as I awkwardly shuffled the chair on a better angle.

“Nina?” I swallowed hard fearing the worst. I took in the sight, loathing myself and Gabriel equally. She was completely naked. Strung up, hands high above her head to a rope attached to a beam. Her body had paled considerably, lips, fingers and toes blue from the freezing conditions. “Nina, can you hear me?”

And then it occurred to me with a sickening dread in my gut.

“Is she alive?” I barely breathed, eyes trained on her like a hawk, waiting for any sign of movement.

“Would you like to find out?” Gabriel practically bounced, keen to display the next trick up his sleeve.

He approached her, circled her, mauling her with his preying eyes, making me itch with need to kill him once again. His hands touched Nina’s waist, sliding over her bare skin until he reached her breasts. He groped, pinched and pummeled until red marks remained over her icy body. He turned to me and smiled knowing what it was doing to me.

One hand slid into her hair, pulling, tilting her head back enough for him to claim her blue lips. He kissed, rough, without care and only with the need to show off. He kept his mouth on hers and when she still didn’t rouse, Gabriel pinched her nose.

I grew panicked, fearing if she didn’t wake, he would kill her.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” I practically begged.

After a few seconds he released her altogether, her sharp inhale followed by several that dragged while she recouped her breath. Inside I smiled. Tears prickling my eyes knowing that she was still alive. Her eyes were barely open, her chin started to quiver with the cold.

“Nina,” I begged her to look my way. She turned her head the slightest degree at the sound of my voice. Eyes widening that little bit. She was coming to.

“Nina, it’s me, Antonio.”

“Well, isn’t this just a lovely reunion,” Gabriel interrupted, and Nina flinched at his words. He swung her around so now she faced me head on.

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