Page 43 of The Deceived

He rubs the tip of his cock against my pussy and I whimper.

“Please, don’t. Please!” I shout the words hoping that he will come to his senses. Praying that this isn’t my fate but as he lines himself up with me, I close my eyes and think of Rex.

The way he looks at me. The way Rex touches me. Maybe if I think hard enough, I can get lost in those memories that at the time I didn’t realize were so precious. Now I’m stuck in this nightmare.

Steven begins to surge forward and everything happens in a blur.

CHAPTER22

REX

We were lucky as hell that the first place we checked was where Winter was being held. Steven’s aunt owns a lot of rental properties in this area. The van was one of many in her maintenance fleets and he just so happens to now work as her head of security since I fired him.

I didn’t see or hear anything at first when I entered the building. I still don’t know where the van is but this is an old run-down industrial complex that has been long abandoned. He could have parked it anywhere. I was about to give up and leave when I heard a cell phone ring out in the distance. I know Lazz and the guys are somewhere behind me so I will have a backup if needed, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Every second that Winter is gone is a second that she could be in jeopardy or taken from me permanently, and I realize that I am not okay with that thought.

I sneak down the hall and I can hear Winter pleading with whoever has her. That sad, resigned sound in her voice almost breaks me. I pick up speed and when I turn the corner and scan the room, I see fucking red.

Steven Holland has Winter trussed up by her arms and, as my beautiful girl lies in the nastiest filth that I have ever seen, this piece of shit is about to fuck her. I don’t even think. It’s like muscle memory at this point. I have taken more lives than I have saved. I exhale and squeeze the trigger.

Steven doesn’t even know what hit him. He is dead before he can blink. Winter screams as his dead body twitches on top of hers and I walk over grab him by the collar of his shirt and push him off. She is still screaming, her face is covered in blood, and I hate that she will have this memory of this piece of shits’ death on her mind until the day that she dies. I lean over, keeping an eye on Tori as I unhook the handcuffs from the hook that bind Winter’s wrists to the wall.

“Are you ok baby?’ I ask and she whimpers but shakes her head. “I’m okay, now.”

The site of her covered in that asshole's blood makes me even angrier. I want to shoot another hole in his dead fucking ass. I keep an eye on Tori and slip my jacket off and lay it across Winter’s exposed lap just in case Lazz and his men come in. I look behind the camera and Tori stands there, a look of horror on her face.

“You wanted me. Well, here the fuck I am, sweetheart.” I stride across the room and I have never hit a woman in my life, but I fucking punch Tori right in the mouth. She howls with pain and covers her bloody lips with her hands as she cries.

“I should fucking kill you.” I seethe with anger that this woman, whom I’ve known all of my life, who I thought was my friend, has betrayed me in every way that she possibly could.

“I don’t understand, Tori. Why did you do this?”

She tries to laugh but when she moves her hand, I can see that I busted her bottom lip pretty well. I don’t even feel bad about that.

“You were supposed to love me. Me! I have given my life to helping you! I didn’t mind so much when you fucked random women. I knew they didn’t mean anything but when you brought her onto the campaign trail,” Tori shakes her head. Her dark hair cascades around her shoulders. For such a beautiful woman, she’s ugly on the inside. “I knew she was different.”

My God, she is crazy.“You had Steven leak the story.” I look to Winter as she stands, pulling her pants back up and it makes me sick that she has gone through all of this because of me.

“Yes. I thought with the threat to the campaign that you’d get rid of her.”

“I guess once you realized she wasn’t going anywhere you decided to what, to have her kidnapped and raped?”

“She wasn’t supposed to make it out of here alive!” Tori runs toward Winter and I’ve heard all that I need to hear. I raise my gun and squeeze the trigger.

Winter gasps as she stares at Tori’s dead body, and I’ve had all of the distance that I can bear.

I walk over to her and hope to God the woman can even stand the sight of me now that she sees what I am.

“I’m sorry Winter.” I reach out to touch her but she leans back away from me.Damn, that hurts more than I want to admit.

“I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me now.” I don’t like it, but I understand.

“No, Rex, it’s not that. I am thankful that you saved me. I know they were about to kill me. But I have to tell you something and honestly, once I do, I think it is you who won’t want anything to do with me.”

“I don’t know what you think that you could possibly have done that would make me not want to be with you.”

Winter hangs her head and I pull my pocket square from my jacket pocket and walk over to her. “May I?” I ask and she shakes her head yes. So, I gently hold her chin in my grasp as I try to clean the blood from her face.

“Talk to me, Winter.”

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