Page 13 of Assassin's Mark
I refused to care. Levi didn’t give a shit about me; that much was obvious. Why should I care about him and his family? He wasn’t the small boy in that picture anymore.
I weighed the frame in my hand a moment longer. It was old enough that the front was glass, not plastic like most frames now. I turned the picture over and removed the backing, the photo, and finally the glass, replacing everything else and carefully tucking the frame back where it had been hidden. The pants went into the drawer, but I couldn’t stop glancing at that glass lying on the rug. A weapon.A way to protect myself. Now I just had to use it.
By the time I heard the lock click on the door Levi had left through, I was ready. A shard of the glass I’d found, one end wrapped with a thigh-high, was clutched in my fist. I’d hidden the other in the water tank of the toilet, praying Levi wouldn’t look there if I failed the first time. Of course, if I failed, there might not be a second time,but I had to try. I couldn’t trust that my father would get me out of this; it was up to me, just like always. So I huddled behind the door, barely breathing, and waited as the doorknob turned and the door opened.
The scuffed sound of Levi’s boot on the concrete sounded like a gunshot in the quiet. I tightened the muscles in my belly, forcing myself to be still, to wait. To think like the predatorinstead of the prey.
Levi stepped into the room, allowing the door to slide closed behind him. I grabbed it before the latch could connect.
He must’ve heard me moving, caught something from the corner of his eye, maybe, because I didn’t make it around the door and out. A solid arm blocked my path, effectively clotheslining me before I’d even gone three steps. Choking, sputtering, I raised theglass shard.
Levi cursed. He grabbed my arm and twisted me around, sending a sharp stab of pain through my shoulder, and then I was hauled hard against him, my back to his stomach. “What the fuck?”
One arm jammed against my ribs, squeezing every ounce of air from my lungs. His free hand gripped my wrist tight and twisted, forcing my hand to bend backward until I cried out and leaned in thatdirection, trying desperately to give myself some relief from the pain.
“Now where did you find that, little bird?”
I was disarmed just that quickly. After a too thorough search of my body for any other hidden weapons, Levi picked me up off the floor and carried me into the living area. I kicked and hit, struggling for release—and, okay, maybe going a little bit crazy with panic. This guy couldkill me, after all. I no longer had doubts about that.
He didn’t, though. He didn’t even seem bothered; instead he chuckled like I was some child trying to entertain him. Which only made me want to hurt him even more.
When I turned my head and bit down, teeth cutting into the bicep of the arm crushing my ribs, Levi stopped laughing.
