Page 104 of Mayhem

“Hello, princess. I told you we would meet again.”

My body begins to shake as my heart pounds in my ears.

“Do you need anything else?” the man behind me asks.

“No, you can leave.”

Once they leave, he moves toward me. I wince as he reaches out to me. He brushes a piece of hair from my face.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun.”

“I highly doubt that,” I spit out, attempting to hide my fear behind my sass.

“I’ll show you just how much. You just wait.”

He reaches out, grabbing my arms to help me to my feet. I go completely limp, not willing to help him even a little bit.

“Go ahead. Pull all your tricks. I like the fight.”

He walks over to the table, grabs an item before returning me.

He holds out a rope, wrapping it around my wrists in an intricate pattern before knotting it. He pulls on it twice before cutting the zip ties away.

“I knew from the moment I met you, you would look beautiful bound,” he says as he runs his finger from the rope up my arm.

He grabs me, hauling me up over his shoulder. I remain limp, knowing any fight would give him satisfaction and get me nowhere.

Once at the hook, he grabs my hands, looping the rope to the hook. Then he lets my body go.

My wrists stretch painfully as my body weight pulls against them. The right one that I fell on earlier shoots a searing pain through my body. Refusing to show him any weakness, I bite my tongue.

He walks over, pressing a button to pull me higher so that my feet do not touch the ground.

Then he moves back to the table. He takes his time surveying the items before selecting a knife. He walks back over to me, cutting my shirt down the middle, leaving my body bare except for my bra.

I shiver as the cold sets in.

The door slams open, startling me, but it doesn’t affect the man in front of me.

“Stop,” the man demands.

“Boss, you promised her to me.”

“I did, but it seems she still holds a purpose. Rocky called and agreed to meet. He’s on his way. I need her alive and relatively unharmed.”

My heart races. Chase is coming? Did he figure out where I was? Is he coming for me?

“Don’t get too excited, princess. You were promised to me and I’ll have you.” He turns, walking over to his boss. “Fine, but she’s mine.”

“Leave us. I want to have a little chat with her before he gets here.”

The butcher throws me one last look before leaving me alone with the boss.

The boss walks over to me. “Let’s see how much your precious boyfriend cares about you, yeah? I think we need to show him exactly what will happen if he doesn’t comply.”

He slams a fist into my gut. This time, I do puke. He jumps back.

“Disgusting,” he mutters before backhanding me across the face.

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