Page 94 of Cruel Vows

They’ve tied me too tight to the chair, though. Each time I rock to the side, the chair shifts but it doesn’t move enough to even consider tipping over and allowing me to find some way to wriggle free.

We’re fucked.

Aiden grunts and shifts away from Jace as he draws closer with the knife. “Don’t.”

Noah leans against the counter, watching the show with an amused glint in his eyes as Jace takes Aiden by the hand.

Jace applies pressure to the back of Aiden’s hand before slamming it down on the arm of the metal chair. He holds his hand steady before slipping the knife against the edge of one of Aiden’s fingernails.

Aiden grinds his teeth together, the muscle in his jaw flexing as he tries not to scream while the fingernail is slowly cut away from his hand.

Ellie holds back tears, her eyes glistening as she glares daggers at Noah. “Stop this. You don’t have to do this.”

His head tilts to the side as he studies her. “You would think that after growing up in the mafia, you would understand how this works.”

“You don’t have to kill anyone.” Ellie’s tone is firm, ringing out above the sound of her brother’s groans as another fingernail is removed from his hand.

Jace laughs and takes out the taser, turning it on and pressing the button to deliver the shock. He presses it into Aiden’s side, his smile widening when Aiden groans and flails to the side, though the ropes hold him in place.

Noah pushes off the counter and comes to a stop in front of me. “I’m going to give you a choice. Either I kill your wife or you join me and fight against the Lyndes.”

Ellie scoffs and shakes her head. “That’s not going to happen.”

He turns to her and presses a finger over her lips. “Hush, Ellie, the adults are talking.”

I glare at him, thinking of all the ways I’m going to take my time torturing him before I kill him.

The finger he has pressed to her lips is going to be stripped to the bone.

And then I’m going to take my time carving my initials into every inch of his body. He’s going to wear a mark similar to the one he put on her. He’s going to know what it is to have to wear someone else’s brand before he dies.

Noah pulls a knife from his pocket and flips it open, moving to stand behind Ellie. “If you didn’t try to escape, I wouldn’t have to hurt you right now.”

I try to lunge against the ropes again. “Whatever you think you’re going to do to her, do to me instead.”

“Not going to happen.” Noah cuts away the back of her shirt and a deep pit opens in the bottom of my stomach.

Bile rises in my throat as the tip of the knife presses against her skin.

Ellie inhales a sharp breath, a determined set to her jaw.

I press my lips together, knowing that anything I could say now would make things worse for her.

In all the years I’ve been alive, I’ve never felt more helpless.

A small whimper fills the room as the tip of the knife sinks into her skin, drawing down the first stroke to form theN.

I clear my throat, drawing her attention to me. “Just keep looking at me, okay? We’re going to get through this and I’m never going to let it happen to you again.”

Noah laughs and finishes carving his initials over the ones that had just barely healed. “You can think that all you want, but the three of you aren’t getting out of here together.”

Aiden grumbles something unintelligible, his eyes rolling back as his head slumps.

Jace grins at Noah. “Looks like they’re not able to handle the pain.”

I press against the ropes again and they bite deeper into my skin. “You’re pathetic. Why don’t you pick on someone your own size instead of the unconscious man and a woman?”

Noah sneers at me. “Because I don’t want to.”

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