Page 52 of Cruel Vows

The grip he has on my ankle loosens just enough for me to wiggle free and throw myself off the bed.

The man moves around the foot of the bed faster than I can get to my feet and reach for the door. I yelp as he grabs me around the waist and throws me back into the bed.

My head smashes into the nightstand beside the bed, stars dancing across my vision as I struggle to sit up again.

The hit to my head was hard, though, and I can’t quite seem to lift myself fully off the bed.

“You’re going to need to behave, Ellie,” he says, shaking his head as he looks down at me. “I didn’t want to have to do that, but you’re not giving me much of a choice, are you?”

He picks up what looks like a book from the floor and sets it on the nightstand.

I open my mouth to scream, but he clamps his hand over my mouth, forcing me back down on the bed.

Beady eyes peer at me through the small holes in the mask. “If you make a noise, I’m going to kill you right here and now.”

My heart races in my chest, saliva filling my mouth. I claw at his hand, trying to sink my nails through the thick black glove.

His low chuckle sends a shiver down my spine as he rips my hands away and holds them high above my head. “You can try to fight back, but there’s no way that you’re going to get free. Not until I’m done here.”

I thrash, kicking off the blankets.

He sighs. “I don’t know why we have to do this the hard way, Ellie, but if that’s the way you want it, then that’s the way it’s going to be.”

The man reaches into a pocket, pulling out a knife with a curved edge that catches the moonlight streaming in the window.

I go still for a moment before striking out again, kicking the knife from his hand and sending it flying across the room.

His heavy sigh makes my stomach twist and turn. “I didn’t think you were going to cooperate, but I thought that you had placed a little more value on your life than this.”

With a chuckle, he rears back and slams his fist into my stomach, grinning when I curl around it, gasping for air, though it’s impossible to get any with his hand covering my mouth.

“Now, what you’re going to do is act like a good girl and keep your mouth shut. I know your useless husband isn’t here right now and none of the security guards are in the house. You think he would have people watching you closely, especially after the stunt you pulled last week.”

My eyes widen as I take another ragged breath, pain in my stomach as I go still.

This is only going to end bad for me if I keep struggling.

I don’t know what he wants, but I don’t think he wants to kill me. If he did, he would have done it already.

There’s another reason he’s here.

“I’m going to let go of you for a moment, and you’re going to keep your mouth shut. The guards outside won’t hear you even if you do scream.”

He takes his hand off my mouth, staying between me and the door.

The man strides over to the vanity and pulls the chair across the floor, putting it in the middle of the room.

When he walks back to me, his hand wraps around my bicep and he hauls me from the bed. He drags me over to the chair, hand moving to my shoulder as he forces me down into the chair.

“Now, here’s how this is going to go. You’re going to sit here and we’re going to have a little chat. After that, maybe you’ll get to be free, but I haven’t decided yet. It’s been a long time since I killed anyone as pretty as you.”

My chest tightens and the room seems impossibly big, the distance between me and either of the doors out of the room bigger than ever.

He squeezes his hand into my shoulder harder before letting go. “And if you keep talking, I’ll sever your tongue.”

Though I could probably get to one of them before he caught me, he’s tall. One of his strides would likely equal two of mine.

And when he leans over to pick up what looks like a length of rope from the floor, his shirt rises enough for me to see the shiny handgun tucked into his waistband.

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