Page 138 of Sardonic Burn

My fingers move over the digital lock, and I type in the password. The lock turns green, and the door slides to the left, the small room fully in our view. Noelle takes a deep breath and steps inside first.

The two men who kept Dylan in check leave as soon as I nod at them, and the door remains open. He’s alive and in good shape. It’s not perfect. I couldn’t contain myself from beating the shit out of him over time. He is kept fed, given water often, and even his wounds are tended to.

I couldn’t risk him getting an infection and dying before Noelle decided it was time for him to die.

Noelle takes a seat on the carpeted floor, propping her elbow on her thigh and resting her head in her palm. She’s staring at him without speaking. He’s switching between looking at me and at her, the gag in his mouth preventing him from speaking.

I glance down at Noelle, and she nods. She’s not even looking at me, but she knows what I want to do. My hand grabsthe gag, and I pull it out of his mouth, not giving a shit that I break his front tooth in the process.

“Hi, Dylan.”

Noelle’s voice is dry, rough, and dark. He remains silent, his lips pulling into a thin line. Noelle’s lips purse, and she sighs.

“Ah, I see. You don’t want to speak to me. Why? Because you didn’t think I’d survive? Or because there’s nothing you can say that will get you out of what you know is waiting for you?”

Dylan remains silent, and Noelle snaps.

She stands up, and she’s in front of him in a second. Her hand grips his hair, and she pulls on it roughly until the bastard screams. She gets in his face, and I’m just watching from the sidelines.

“I’m speaking, motherfucker. It’s only polite to engage in a conversation with the woman you tortured for days.”

He turns his head as far to the side as he can, considering she has a tight grip on his hair. Noelle chuckles and nods. Then, she fists her hand and slams it right into his balls.

I wince.

This serves as a reminder never to piss her off.

Dylan screams out in pain, and he immediately turns to look at her. He’s trying to intimidate her with his harsh, cold stare, but he doesn’t even come close. The woman in front of him is a trained assassin, a soldier. He caught her by surprise once, and it will never happen again.

He cannot intimidate her.

He no longer scares her.

“Noelle,” he grits out, eyes wide with fury. “You’ll regret this.”

She cocks her head to the side. “Oh, I will? I don’t think so. The list of things I regret is very, very short. This whole thing doesn’t even make the cut. So, before I end this, I just have aquestion for you. Did you really think you’d be able to marry me and keep me?”

Dylan remains silent.

“Because from where I’m standing, I would’ve escaped, one way or the other. Even if it meant death. So what was the plan after that? It just doesn’t make any sense, Dylan. I trusted you. I loved you as a friend, and I was going to marry you regardless.”

“No, you weren’t,” he spits out.

Oh, he’s done for. I interrupted her once, and I have a scar on my cheek because of it. He’s about to die the most painful, brutal death he could possibly think of.

“Before this bastard appeared, maybe. But after? You were trying to do everything in your power to end it all.”

Noelle nods. “That’s true. Do you think there’s no reason for that? I mean, you were acting too suspicious. Why did your mask falter? Were you that impatient?”

“Yes,” he hisses, his eyes wide and a nasty grin on his face. “I wanted you all for myself. Is that so wrong?”

“Not at all. Many men want me.” She shrugs her shoulder and finally lets go of his hair. He’s tied to a chair with chains that weigh eight times his weight. There’s no room for him to even wiggle around, let alone escape. She knows it, too, so she’s not worried about looking away from him.

“Hudson, is this the knife?”

I nod.

Lyla was smart to keep the knife he had pressed against Noelle’s neck. I cleaned it, sharpened it, and made sure it’s in its best condition. Somehow, I had a gut feeling she’d want to use the same knife.

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