Page 81 of Safe and Sound

“Fuck you!” Whirling around, I started stomping across the room. “I’ll just go out the way you guys came in.”

“No! Don’t open that door!” Dare shouted.

For once, I wish my stubborn side had listened. But no. I had to ignore the voice screaming in my head.

When I threw open the door, the scene before me was even worse than the one in front of me. Instead of being in a chair, the man was strung up by metal cleavers through his shoulder blades. The skin on his black was flayed open while blood and chunks of flesh oozed down his body.

It was like something out of my worst nightmares or the goriest horror movie I could ever watch.

A scream tore loose from my throat before everything went black.

I woke to something soft and warm on my face. Water lapped against my body. When my eyelids fluttered open, I found I was in the bathtub. Sitting on the edge of the tub, Dare stared down at me, his expression unreadable.

At that moment, I sighed in relief. The two tortured men had been a horrible nightmare. Dare wasn’t a torturer or murderer.

But one glance at his shirt and the blood spatter, and I realized it was all true. Even the reason why I was in the tub was to wash away the blood I’d slipped in. “Oh God,” I murmured, as my stomach clenched.

“Are you okay?”

I narrowed my eyes. “You can’t seriously be asking me that.”

“When you fainted, you hit your head before I could catch you. I wanted to make sure you’re not in pain.”

Smacking my wet chest, I countered, “The only thing that hurts is right here.”

With a pained expression, Dare reached out for me. Batting his hand away, I stood up in the tub. “I’m getting my things and getting out of here, and don’t you dare try to stop me!”

“Ava, please.”

When Dare tried to help me out of the tub, I shrieked, “Don’t touch me!”

“Can’t we talk about this?”

Ignoring Dare, I hiked my leg and stepped out of the tub. After grabbing a towel, I began drying off.

“I didn’t choose this life, Ava. I was born into the Kavanaugh clan. I’m the third generation of a very powerful Irish mafia family. Because of my honor to my family, I took the oath when I was just a teenager. It’s all I’ve ever known.”

Turning around, I stared at him. “Is that supposed to make it right?”

“It’s supposed to give you a greater understanding for why. I took an oath to protect my family. I’ve done a lot of shit I’m not proud of. But I’ll never allow someone to hurt my family. Even if that means doing terrible things to them.”

Turning away from him, I continued to dry my hair with the towel.

“Please talk to me,” Dare begged.

“There’s nothing to say.”

“Yes, there is. What can I say to make you stay?”

“There’s not one possible reason that would induce me to.” Whirling around, I then started out of the bathroom. I went over to my suitcase and grabbed out a pair of yoga pants and a hoodie. I didn’t even bother digging out underwear. As I jumped into the pants, Dare came to the bathroom doorway.

“Ava, please listen to me. What you saw tonight is not who I truly am. It’s just something I do to protect my family.”

With a mirthless laugh, I pulled the hoodie on. I just wanted to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. Once I was dressed, I grabbed my bag and marched out of the bedroom.

Dare was close on my heels as we got into the living room. “Did you hear what I said?”

Whirling around, I argued, “There are other ways to protect your family that doesn’t include torture.”

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