Page 36 of Vendetta

“You’re the worst! You know that? I hate you. I’ve never given you a reason to treat me like this. You just walked in that first day and decided to hate me for absolutely no reason at all. I’ve done nothing but try to be nice to you and keep things civil.But you can go to hell for all I care. Consider me done, because you suck and I’m done talking to you.”

“Promise?” He teased.

“Oh, you are such a dick! Get fucked, you asshat.”

Rage fueled me, all of the emotions that this man had put me through raising up inside of me. Who did he think he was?

“Careful princess, keep talking like that and I might just get hard. That, or maybe I’ll just muzzle you so that I don’t have to listen to your whining anymore.”

“Fuck. You.”

A beat passed without either of us speaking, the elevator reaching its destination as the ding sounded and I heard the doors slide open. I felt cool air hit my skin, realizing we must have reached the parking garage, the chill making my nipples harden underneath his oversized t-shirt. Cashton made no move to step out though, still feeling him at my side before I heard him finally speak, his voice now closer to my ear.

“What happened to your back?”

A shiver raced down my spine. Had I accidentally walked by the cameras while naked? I guess it wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, but still, the thought was slightly unsettling. Also slightly hot, but I chose not to acknowledge the part of me that thought that.

“Creep.” I muttered, my breath hot under the thick sack.

“Was it from Conner and Levi?” He pushed.

I debated answering, not wanting to make his life any easier. But I eventually relented, knowing that Cashton was too stubborn to let anything go.

“Yes.” I replied, my stomach twisting in knots as I remembered the fear that I had felt in that moment. “From when they dragged me out of the dog crate.”

Seconds passed before he tugged on my arm again, leading us out into the garage. I couldn’t see anything around me, relying on my other senses to try to figure out what was going on.

I was lifted into what I assumed was an SUV, hearing what I guessed were Jasmine and Natalia talking in the seat behind me. The car started under us, and I heard the faint breathing of someone taking the seat next to me.

I held my breath, realizing that it must be either Connor or Levi. I assumed that both of them had to be in here, considering that they were on the team. We wouldn’t be on our way to the finals unless the entire group was intact. Dread sank into my bones at the thought of them being so close to me, especially without me being able to see anything. The memory of the beer on their breath and the feel of their hands on my body had bile threatening to rise in my throat.

I forced myself to take in a deep breath, followed by another, and then another. Cashton was here, and he wouldn’t let them do anything to me, I was confident about that. He had smashed both of their hands with a hammer for touching me. He was a dick, but there were lines he wouldn’t cross.

I had no way of knowing how long we had driven for, but it felt like it had to be easily over an hour. The sounds of traffic had faded a while back, indicating that we must be far enough out from the city. The feel of the road eventually turned bumpy—proving my theory—as we made our way down what felt like a never-ending dirt path. Branches scraped the sides ofthe vehicle, my head banging into the window once or twice as the uneven terrain jerked us around.

The SUV finally came to a stop, car doors slamming as everybody got out before I was pulled out, my still bare feet hitting what felt like cool dirt.

“Sit.” I recognized Cashton’s voice coming from directly in front of me.

“Want me to lay down and roll over too? Maybe fetch?” I retorted, the task of lowering myself and trying to get my butt on the ground proving difficult without my hands.

I felt him grab my foot and I jerked, letting out an involuntary gasp before soft material slipped over it. He was putting socks on me, followed by what felt like sneakers.

Bringing me back to my feet, I realized that I must look quite ridiculous, dressed in nothing but the large t-shirt—still no bra by the way—with men’s boxers and tennis shoes. The fact that people could be staring at me and I had no idea made it even more uncomfortable.

His grip firm on my arm, we walked further into what I assumed to be a forest of sorts. I could hear the breeze move through the trees and the occasional tree roots under my feet.

“How do we want to play this?” I heard Jasmine ask, the group coming to a halt. I heard zippers as bags were riffled through.

“Let’s split up. Two of you can move left, the other two go right. You guys play defense and try to keep everyone off of me, I’ll take care of any stragglers as I get the hostage to the drop site.”

My eyes rolled. Of course he was the leader in their little team. He was cocky enough to believe he knew best. And ‘the hostage’? Really?

“Works for me!” I heard somebody respond.

“Jasmine, go with Connor. Natalia, you and Levi take the other direction. We’re already at a disadvantage since the guys are going to be shooting one-handed. If for any reason someone gets past all of you and I go down, send one of the girls from each group to come find the hostage and try to bring her to the end. We just need one of us alive to get her there. Keep in mind, there are five of us and only one hostage. Keeping her alive needs to be the top priority. If she gets hit, we lose the game.”

Shooting? I guess this must be some sort of big paintball or airsoft game. I vaguely remember Olivia mentioning something about that, but I suddenly wished I had paid more attention.

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