Page 119 of Hot for Hostage

My laughter abruptly cut off. “Your father was a drunk who gambled away anything he could get his hands on. My old man helped him out by buying the properties off him instead of taking them. What makes you think I’ll ever give them back?”

He grabbed Sadie’s shoulder and brought the blade he’d been flashing closer to her—earning a squeak from her. “If you want your little girlfriend to live, you will.”

My eyes narrowed at his hand touching her. From behind the laptop screen, Vince was giving me hand signals to stay calm, but he didn’t need to remind me.

I knew what was at stake.

…My mouth just didn’t seem to get the memo.

“I’ll give you a chance to do yourself a favor here, Ali,” I said flatly, ignoring Vince’s pantomiming. “Take your hand off her.”

“Davian,” Vince hissed, but I was too focused on Zain’s hand to listen to him.

Unfortunately, the older Ali brother wasn’t feeling very smart today. Instead of listening, he tightened his fingers on Sadie’s shoulder—making Sadie wince. He was just lucky the blanket separated his grubby paw from her. “You don’t get to make any demands here?—”

But I was done playing around. “Unless you want me to remove your head from your body, get your goddamn hand off her.Now.”

Vince sighed, but the order spooked Zain into letting go of Sadie—knocking the blanket off her front so it dropped to her lap.

It felt like I’d been punched in the gut.

Underneath the blanket, Sadie’s wrists were tied to the chair’s armrests. But it wasn’t the ropes that made me see red.It was her torn shirt gaping open and showing the tops of her breasts popping out of the silly cartoon bra I’d picked up for her.

Nobody moved for a long moment.

“What happened to your shirt, Sadie?” I asked, not recognizing the chill in my own voice.

Sadie glanced down and chuckled a little hysterically. “Oh, that? Um, there was a little scuffle earlier. My shirt got ripped. You know how these things go. Not a big deal.”

She was lying. The tear was too clean-cut to be a rip.

And Zain was holding a blade in his left hand.

“You cut her shirt?” I asked evenly, but my voice no longer sounded like it belonged to me.

“I’ll do a lot more than that,” he threatened, raising his voice and grabbing her again. “You don’t have any leverage here, Reed. Either agree to our terms, or—or I’ll cut her nipples off!”

Sadie sucked in a breath and stared up at him in betrayal. “Seriously, Zain? That’s theonething you promised not to do!”

My mind shut down. I must’ve misheard him, because I could swear he’d just threatened her nipples.

“The hell did you just say?” I bit out. Any last traces of my façade shattered, and my chair legs screeched against the hardwood floor as I stood and loomed over the laptop.

I wanted nothing more than to reach through the screen and wrap my fingers around the little bastard’s scrawny neck.

Vince waved his hands at me, but I focused on Zain jabbing his blade toward the camera. “You heard me. I’ll chop them?—”

“Let’s get one thing straight, Ali. I’m going to kill you. That’s a done deal.” The words left me in a growl, and I didn’t even try to cover it up. “But if you dare lay a single dirty finger on what’s mine, I’ll fuck you up in ways you can’t even fathom. There won’t be anything quick about it. I’ll take my time—probably even enjoy it a little—and when I’m finally through with you, your own mother won’t recognize what’s left. Understand me?”

Vince face-palmed in my peripheral vision before stepping away, but it didn’t matter I’d shown my hand. I was done playing games with kids who didn’t even belong at the table.

When Zain turned pale as a ghost, satisfaction filled my chest.

He wouldn’t be a problem.

Instead of waiting for him to get ahold of himself, I looked at Sadie—who stared wide-eyed at the screen.

Forcing myself to sound calm, I asked her what I’d been wanting to know since before the call started. “Are you hurt?”

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