Page 58 of Cruel Master

Waking up after being knocked out with a fist was not on my list of situations I’d ever like to repeat. It was like waking up with a raging hangover without having any of the fun from the night before. A low groan echoed up my throat as I blinked my bleary eyes open and stared at the room I was in. Gray darkness invaded and it took me a moment to recognize the heat surrounding my face and seeping into my neck was a bag over my head. Not two seconds after I’d made that realization though, the bag was ripped off—the hand doing so catching a few strands of my hair and yanking them out as well.

I gritted my teeth and glared up at the man responsible. The ginger from before. Asshole.

It wasn’t Gaven and it wasn’t the corporation after Ron. It wasn’t about Ron at all. It was about me, and Ron was just collateral damage. So much for my sparkling business record.

“Hello, baby sister.” Like a true villain from some cheesy B-rated thriller, the clicking of Jackie’s heels accompanying her voice—which I hadn’t heard in five years—set my nerves on edge.

I clenched my jaw and settled my gaze on her as she stepped in front of me. Blood red lips, black winged eyeliner, and a perfect updo all sculpted my older sister’s look. She smiled, her skin not even wrinkling the slightest bit as she looked down on me.

I stared back at her. “Jackie.”

“Welcome home,” she said. “Though it won’t be for long, you should enjoy it while you can.”

“You mean the home you stole?” I asked, lightly. “The one you slaughtered your own father for?”

Her smile tightened. “I stole nothing that I didn’t deserve,” she snapped. “I was built for this life, and I told you that if you wanted to survive it—then you should make sure to never show your face again. Yet…” she waved red painted nails in my direction, “here you are.”

“Forgetting that you had your men drag me here?” I asked. “Always convenient that forgetfulness of yours. Are you sure you’re not going senile in your old age, Jackie?”

I didn’t see the slap coming, but I wasn’t all that surprised by it. The painful echo of her palm hitting my cheek rang around the room and through my skull for a moment before my mind caught up with my body. Turning my face back in her direction, I licked my lip. Blood lingered on my tongue and I prodded the fresh cut on my lower lip with it before shaking my head.

“Why did you bring me here, Jackie?” I asked, continuing the conversation as if nothing had happened. I knew that would rankle her. I wanted it to. “And where is my client?”

“Ronald Wiser?” Jackie clarified. “He’s here. Not to worry, though. I have no intentions of doing anything to him—my plan was simply to capture him to lure you out. I didn’t know, yet that you’d gotten away from Gaven’s grip. You were always good at running away.”

“You should let him go,” I snapped. “He has nothing to do with this—it’s just you and me.”

“You should worry about yourself more than your client, little sister,” Jackie replied. Pivoting away from me, she strode towards the far side of the room, giving me a moment to actually analyze where I was.

The familiar walls were painted light gray, and the curtains had been changed from black to a pale lavender. If it weren’t for the length and width of the room, the old Victorian windows, and the desk that sat in front of them, it might have tricked me into thinking it was a different room. But it wasn’t. I recognized it, and as my eyes fell to the floor over the red carpet, I remembered the last time I’d been in here.

The same room my father had been killed in.

The doors to the office opened and I jerked my head up, shaking off the melancholic memories as a new man stepped inside. He was tall with a dark wash of scruff across a face that was almost leathery. His eyes were black—whatever color they might have actually been swallowed by his pupils.

He glanced over at me with disinterest as Jackie welcomed him inside and touched his chest. Without hesitation, the man bent down and gripped her waist. She went up on her toes, smiling as she offered her mouth to his. He took it, the wet sounds of their kiss filling the room. I grimaced and tried to look anywhere else but the two of them as they made out.

Other than the ginger at my back, at least three other men were stationed around the room. One by the windows, one at the doors, whoever the fuck she was sucking face with, and another against the wall. No sign of Ron, though she had said he was here.

My hands were tied firmly behind my back with some sort of durable tape. I adjusted my shoulder, pulling against the binding as discreetly as possible to determine how hard it would be to get out. Definitely not easy, I realized as the tape ripped and tugged at my skin. I winced. It felt like the adhesive was strong enough to rip flesh from bone. Before I could test it further, Jackie pulled her face away from the man’s and turned back to me.

Somehow, her lipstick was still perfectly in place—guess the kiss had only been loud because I knew for damn sure had I been kissing Gaven like that, he would’ve ruined my makeup. She swiped one nail down the side of her mouth—as if removing some unseen wetness as she left him and strode back to me.

The man followed. “Is this the one you wanted me to take care of?”

“Yes.” Jackie smiled at me. “This is my sister. Angel—meet Blade. He’ll be your killer tonight.”

Blade?I looked up at him in disbelief.What grown fucking man wanted a cheesy fucking name like that?As that thought spun through my mind, Jackie’s words overpowered them, reminding me that there were more important things to focus on than some pathetic name of some pathetic killer.

“You think killing me will keep you safe, Jackie?” I snapped, growing angrier by the second. “You fucking killed your own father and blamed it on me. Father’s old men know as much. Gaven knows as much. You’re not getting away—even if you kill me.”

Long black lashes lowered and then lifted as Jackie blinked at me and then, with blatant fabrication, she stifled a fake yawn. “Doesn’t matter to me,” she replied. “In the end, you’ll still be dead and only one Price will be left.” Her smile returned as she leaned down in my face and reached up, grabbing me hard. Her nails dug into my cheeks as she held onto my jaw. “Me,” she sneered.

A coldness entered my body. Almost the same kind of coldness that I’d felt after killing that man in the motel parking lot. Except this type was a little different, it felt … darker. More sinister.

Whatever thin tendril of connection I’d once had to my sister had been severed, and as the dark snake-like eyes in her skull bore into mine, I realized something else. Iwantedto hurt her. No normal person wanted that. No normal person contemplated killing their own family for revenge. They left justice to the authorities, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that no police or government agency could stop Jacquelina Price.

Before I thought better of it, I reared my head back and slammed my forehead into her nose. She was so close that I could hear the crunch upon impact. A violent throb burst behind my eyes, but Jackie’s shocked scream was reward enough and I looked up just in time to see her stumble back—a hand clasped over her face as blood dripped from between her fingers.

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