Page 101 of Cruel Vows

“Nothing that my father hasn’t done to me a thousand times over.” He gives me a wry smile, but I can still see the anger burning in his eyes. “I’m going to kill him. I was serious about that. I don’t care how hurt I am.”

“You’re not going to do anything when you’re as beat up and bruised as you are.” I stand up and look around the room, searching for something I could use to knock the guard out.

Unless I can rip out the sink or one of the cabinets, everything is gone from when Noah and his men removed it earlier.

There’s no way to attack him either. He would see me coming.

Sean taps my thigh. “Offer him whatever the hell it takes to get out of here. Aiden or I will pay it.”

I lean closer to him, pretending to take a better look at one of the cuts on his cheek. “I doubt that’s going to help anything. I’m sure Noah pays his men well.”

“Yeah, but I can pay them better. As soon as Dad dies, I’m the head of the Andino family.”

Swallowing hard, I nod.

The last thing I want is to put Sean in a position where he’s going to have to kill his own father, but it looks like there’s no way to avoid that now.

Sean’s eyes narrow, dragging up and down my body. “How are you really doing, El? You’ve taken more than your fair share of hits today and you had that damn mark on your back carved open again.”

“The pain’s manageable.” I shrug, though that only makes the carving on my back ache more. “It’s not great, but I’ve got other things to focus on right now.”

“You could spend a couple minutes to focus on yourself. You’ve got several cuts that are still bleeding.”

I turn my arms over, looking at the small scrapes that have opened themselves back up in the process of caring for Sean and Aiden. “It’s fine. Now, you’re going to be quiet, and I’m going to go talk to the guard.”

“If he does anything to you?—”

“I know, you’ll kill him.” I smile and press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, and though it feels different to be casually affectionate with him, there’s a large part of me that likes it.

Takes a psychopath to make me realize that my husband is a man I really like spending time with.

I plaster on a bright smile—which probably looks a little crazed to the guard. “Hey, I’m Ellie, but you probably know that. I figure if the four of us are going to be trapped together, we should probably know your name instead of calling youthat guy over there.”

The corner of his mouth twitches, his eyes crinkling. “Oscar.”

“Well, Oscar, it’s nice to meet you.” I hold out my hand, smile widening when he doesn’t shake it. “Not a man who likes to make friends?”

“Noah would be upset if he knew I was talking to you,” Oscar says through pursed lips, barely moving them with each word.

“I’m sure he would be.” I lean against the wall beside him, careful not to press my carved-up shoulder against the plastic sheets covering them. “Do you like working for him?”

“It’s alright.”

The tone he uses suggests that working for Noah is anything but alright, which doesn’t surprise me at all.

There are men like Sean, who have men under their control but don’t abuse it, and then there are men like Noah who know nothing but abuse.

I jerk my chin in Sean’s direction. “You know, there are other ways to live. My husband believes in his employees. They work for him in several senses of the word, and they’re paid a lot for it.”

Oscar glances at me from the corner of his eye. ‘What about benefits? My little girl is sick.”

I might have a chance at getting him on our side.

“You’d be employed at one of the legitimate businesses and benefits would be instated right away. Full benefits, including an extensive healthcare plan.”

“What do you want?”

“All I want you to do is tell Royce Lynde where we are.”

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