Page 54 of Cruel Vows

Eventually, Sean is going to have to come home. He might look for me when I don’t show up at breakfast in the morning.

Or Kara is going to wake up and check on me. Although, I don’t know if she’s going to do that. We both agreed that she was going to give me more space while I’m in the house.

I don’t know if our friendship is ever going to fully recover either.

The man hums and sits on my bed, running his hand over the sheets, leaving blood there. “Maybe I should kill you instead.”

“And risk pissing off your boss? We both know you’re not going to do that. Not when you won’t even take the money and a chance at a new life.”

Even though his boss doesn’t want him to kill me, there’s a glint in his eyes that makes me think he might do it regardless of the orders he has.

I don’t know what time it is. There isn’t a clock in here, and my phone is over on the nightstand charging.

All I can do is hope that someone will come around soon.

The man gets back up, stepping in front of me and holding out the knife. “I would tell you to relax, but I think this will be more fun if you don’t.”

I rock in the chair, considering throwing myself to the side and hoping that it breaks. The rope bites into my bare arms, the friction causing a dull ache. “You’re going to regret this.”

“I told you to shut up,” he says, his tone low and deadly as he drags the knife against the side of my cheek. “Now, I might have to stick to strict orders tonight, but one day my boss is going to stop caring about you, and when he does, I’m going to track you down and I’m going to take my time with you. I can already hear you screaming my name.”

I flinch away from the knife. “I’d rather die.”

His laugh is soft. “Well, lucky for you, it’s time for the fun to start and trust me, it’s going to hurt.”

15

ELLIE

“If you scream,I will kill you.” He smirks, tracing the tip of the knife down the side of my face and arm, skipping over the rope and coming to a stop on the back of my hand.

“What about your boss? He isn’t going to want you to kill me. You said so yourself.” I keep as still as I can, clutching the arms of the vanity chair.

He sighs, digging the tip in and leaving a little dot in the center of my skin. “I don’t give a damn anymore. I’m sure he’ll forgive me. One Lynde bitch dying isn’t enough to ruin the game. You have sisters.”

“You stay the hell away from my sisters.” I slam my head forward, catching his jaw.

My head already hurt from slamming it off the nightstand when the asshole threw me on the bed, but it’s pounding harder now. I groan and lean back, still glaring at him as his hand flies to his head.

He presses his palm against the black knit, and when he pulls it away, there is crimson staining the weathered lines of his hand. “I’m going to enjoy taking my time with them.”

I bite down on the inside of my cheek, the taste of blood filling my mouth again. It’s the only thing I can do to keep fromscreaming threats at him that could be heard from Long Island all the way to SoHo.

He’s a dead man when I get out of this damn rope.

I shift in the chair again, leaning forward and straining against the ropes. The rough fibers dig deeper into my skin, blood trickling down my arms.

He chuckles and wipes his bloody hand down the side of my face over the place he hit me earlier. “What is your pathetic husband going to think of my mark on you when he finds your dead body?”

“If I don’t kill you first, he will.”

Though I may not have a close relationship with Sean, I know that he is a man of the mafia at heart. He would never allow someone to kill his wife and get away with it. He would hunt them down to the ends of the earth and spend his time making them pay.

There’s comfort in the thought that even if I don’t get out of this, Sean will get to him long before he or his boss can try to hurt one of my sisters.

The man laughs and shakes his head. “It’s too bad that you’re going to have so many more brands on you before the night is through. Your husband isn’t going to be able to see you without the knowledge that you belong to another man.”

“If you’re done monologuing, do whatever the hell it is you came here to do.”

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