Page 102 of Cruel Vows

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.” I smile and push off the wall, stepping away from him and heading back over to Aiden as he groans and shifts, his face contorting into a mask of pain. “You get the message to Royce, and you’ll work for either my husband or my brother. Full benefits. A legitimate job. Paid under the table for another. Extensive healthcare for your daughter.”

The door swings open just as I kneel back down beside Aiden.

I glance at Oscar, but he freezes as Noah comes through the door and looks down at me. His eyebrows are pulled close together and with his mouth set in the thin line, I’m sure that he’s somehow found out that I was trying to bribe his guard.

Noah strides over to me, stopping less than a couple feet away. “What the hell were you just talking to him about?”

“I was telling him that if you don’t give me something to help my brother soon, I’m going to gouge out your eyes,” I say, tone sweet even though I know it’s stupid to provoke him.

However, if I sit here and provoke him, he’s going to stop thinking about what me and Oscar were talking about.

All I need is his anger directed at me.

Noah spins and turns to Oscar. “Go get Jace. It’s time to move the bitch to her new home.”

My heart comes to a screeching halt. “You can’t take me away from them. Aiden could die without me to keep him stable.”

He chuckles, making every hair on my body stand at attention. “I can do whatever I want, Ellie. You should know that by now.”

Jace comes into the cell with rope and a gag hanging from his hand. “You can either make this easy and I won’t knock you out to tie you up, or you can make it difficult.”

I stand stiff as a board, not bothering to answer him. Jace makes quick work of tying my hands behind my back and stuffing the rag into my mouth.

His hand clamps around my bicep, fingers digging into my flesh as he guides me out of the room and back down the hall where the cells are. Noah follows behind us, humming to himself as if this is nothing more than a leisurely stroll.

Noah steps in front of us and holds open the door to one of the cells.

I’m shoved inside and the gag is ripped from my mouth.

Noah follows me into the cell and unties the ropes binding my hands together. “If you want to kill me, this is the only chance you’re going to get.”

He says it with a smugness that has me wishing I had something to kill him with.

If I wasn’t exhausted and in pain, I might be able to attack him, but there’s no way I would be able to kill him before Jace pulled me away.

Noah smirks, tossing the rope over his shoulder. “That’s what I thought.”

“I’m going to kill you one day,” I say, though the words have no power.

Right now, with the state I’m in, I wouldn’t be intimidated by me either.

He leans against the wall, looking at me in a way that makes me feel like prey. I don’t like the way his gaze rakes up and down my body or the way he gives a little approving nod.

“When I targeted you, I was told that you were the difficult sister. The one who didn’t want to be in the mafia and was doing everything she could to fight it, but look at you now. You flourish in it.”

“I don’t know what the hell you think you want from me, but this is enough.”

“I’ll be the one who tells you when it’s enough.” He strides toward me, hooking a finger under my chin and tilting my head back. “You are pretty. I could use a woman like you. If you’re willing to be a good girl, you could spend the rest of your life as my little pet.”

The urge to gag surges through my body. “I’d rather die than be anything to you.”

His smile stretches, eyes shining with amusement as his finger drops from beneath my chin. “That can be arranged.”

I stay still, even though I want to hit him. I want to scream and claw at him, using whatever strength and energy I have left to kill him for what he’s done to my family.

What he’s going to continue doing to my family.

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