Page 60 of Cruel Master

“Then why bother following her at all?” I snapped, leaning forward as I worked my shoulders against the chair I was strapped to. The tape around my wrists pulled, my flesh smarting at the small rips, but still … I was getting there. Closer and closer to freedom. I couldn’t rely on Gaven to save me. If he even knew I was here, there was no telling if he’d make it in time. Plus, there was still my client to consider.

Blade flipped the knife in his grip up into the air and deftly caught it again. Blood stained the flat metal side. My blood. I glared at it, finding the sight more offensive than anything he’d said or done thus far. The second I got the chance, I was going to shove that knife right through his throat.

“Here’s one lesson before you die,” Blade said, leaning over me as he gripped the back of the chair with his free hand. He turned the knife back to my face and held it inches in front of me. “Consider it a farewell gift.”

“Fuck your gift,” I sneered, spitting back at him as I struggled against my bindings. The tape was getting looser with each movement. He didn’t even appear concerned, the arrogant ass.

“Now, now,” he said, using the sharp end of his knife to lift my chin, smearing my own blood on my skin as he did so. “Don’t be like that. This is important to me.”

I breathed through my nose. My anger gave me strength. It poured through my system, heating me from the inside out. I glared into Blade’s face and waited.

“Victory, little girl, goes to those who will do anything to get it.”

Well, that, I had to admit, was right. But if he thought he was the victor now, then he was in for a rude awakening. As he pulled his blade from my face and lifted it in the air, I felt one hand break free at my back.

“Now, scream pretty for me, sweetheart,” he said. “I want your sister to hear you from all the way across this house.”

I stared into his eyes and just before he slammed the sharp point of his blade into my other shoulder, I twisted and dodged. The knife lodged into the wood at the back of the chair and I turned and glared at him.

“You first,sweetheart,” I said as I curved my now free hand around the hilt of the blade and yanked it out.

He arched a brow as I stood up, pushing him back. Yeah, he still thought he had the upper hand. He was taller. Bigger. Stronger. But I was pissed—and he was definitely underestimating the level of feminine rage contained in my much smaller body.

Anyone could be a killer if you gave them the right incentive, and right now, incentive was all I fucking had.

I took a step towards him and stopped as a loud shattering noise erupted. Glass breaking. Masculine screams echoed through the closed doors. Both Blade and I turned towards it.

Well,I thought,looks like I was wrong. Gaven really was here.

28

GAVEN

Jacquelina made a mistake when she booted me from the Price Estate. If she really had been smart, she would’ve killed me then and there. Instead, she thought herself invincible. She might have been cunning enough to betray her father, cutthroat and heartless enough to frame her sister, but she wouldn’t last in this world. I would make sure of it.

In the darkness of the country road, a small light appeared in the darkness, bobbing up and down as the holder grew closer to where Matteo and I were stationed in the woods directly behind the Price Mansion. Matteo disappeared from my side and a familiar voice called out a moment later.

“Fucking hell!” Hadrian sounded irritated. “Call your man off, Belmonte, or I swear to God I’ll put a bullet in his brain myself.”

“Not before I do,” a feminine voice replied.

I whipped around and snarled. “Who the fuck did you bring?” I demanded.

Hadrian grasped the barrel of Matteo’s gun as it was aimed at his chest and shoved it to the side before side-stepping him and lifting his free hand to curl two fingers into the darkness. A moment later, a tall, slender, dark-haired woman appeared, holding her own weapon. She had it aimed at Matteo, who blinked back at her, undisturbed.

“Put it down, Scar,” Hadrian said as he shut off his flashlight and stowed it in his back pocket. The lack of new light cast the rest of us in shadow once more, with only the moon hanging above us as a means of seeing. Thankfully for me, I’d been in many situations like this one, and my eyes adjusted quickly.

She glared at Matteo but followed the man’s command, lowering her weapon before tossing the long rope of braided dark hair over her shoulder. Hadrian sighed and continued forward, moving until he was at my side at the mouth of two large oaks where I’d been sitting for the last hour, watching the estate.

“Scarlett’s my wife,” Hadrian answered my earlier question, side-eyeing me. I tamped down my surprise. I knew very few men in our positions that ever married—unless they were required to like I had been. Hearing that he was not only married but had brought his wife to such a dangerous mission shocked me. “And,” he hedged, “she’s your girl’s friend.”

“Friend?” I repeated the word and turned, looking over the new woman once more with a keener gaze.So this was the infamous Scarlett Thief.

“Eyes on the face, fucker,” Hadrian snapped, practically snarling at me.

“I’m not interested in your woman,” I replied coolly. No, the only woman I wanted was rather slippery. My attention went back to the mansion. The back door opened, and several guards poured out—one limping as he did so. They exchanged places with the men stationed on the back grounds.

“No, I suppose you aren’t,” Hadrian conceded. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stop your wife from being taken. We weren’t exactly equipped to handle a large force ourselves.”

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