Page 97 of Riot's Thorn
“Wouldn’t he?”
After everything I’ve learned about my family over the past couple of months, I don’t doubt he would, but I’m not going tosay it out loud, not to him. “Just finish this story time, please. You’re boring me.”
His hand moves higher, and this time, I’ve had enough. I shove him away, but he’s expecting it, and we wrestle for control. He may be older, but he’s always put time and energy into fitness, so he quickly overpowers me. Flipping me onto my stomach, he shoves me into the mattress and pins my hands behind my back.
“Once your mother was gone, we again proposed a marriage for an alliance. In return, he’d get access to all the fun your grandpa and I had been having for years. He said no, but we convinced him just to come to a party once and see what the money and power of the alliance would give him. That one taste was all it took. After that, he was hooked, and you were engaged.”
“I was a little girl.”
“Exactly. That’s what I’m telling you. These plans have been in place for so long.” He yanks my dress up and caresses my butt cheek, making me struggle, but with one sharp bend of my wrist that sends searing pain up my arm, I stop, at his mercy. “Then, your grandpa went and died, which almost had your dad pulling out of the arrangement. If he didn’t marry you off, I’d lose a lot of money. I’d already invested in the merger, knowing my shares in your dad’s company would more than double. So, I had a talk with him and made sure he understood I was going to make money off you one way or another. If I had to sell you with the other girls I trafficked in and out, I’d do it. That threat secured all our futures.”
“Until Dad was murdered.”
“Exactly.” He pushes his legs between mine, forcing them to part. He makes a sound of disgust, and I know what he sees: Riot’s dried cum between my thighs. “You disappeared, and everyone thought you were dead. It wasn’t the best-casescenario, but I had my lawyers working on how to take over your dad’s company when the only heir was dead. Then, like a gnat, you reappeared and, in just a couple of weeks, ruined everything. Companies your grandfather started from the ground up are now gone, scrapped for parts and sold off.”
“Knowing I made you lose money makes all that work worth it.”
“Except I had one last play: selling a young, rich, beautiful virgin. Not only would your new husband have rights to your wealth, but they’d have you to do with as they pleased. You have no family, no one to tell or run off to. It was perfect.”
“Until you found out I wasn’t a virgin.”
He yanks the blindfold off and uses it to tie my hands together. Then, he rolls me over and roughly yanks my thong down my legs. Pushing back on my knees, he spreads me wide, gazing down between my legs with a sneer. “Fucking useless whore, just like your mother.” He moves to my side and holds my knees to my chest with an arm on the back of my legs. His other hand comes down on my vagina with a loudsmack. The sting makes me hiss. Over and over again, he slaps me there until I’m screaming, tears from the pain wetting the comforter underneath me.
“Stop!” I yell as he calls me awful names. They’re the same names Riot calls me, but when he says it, I feel owned and desired. Hearing the words from Bart makes me feel dirty and used.
“This disgusting pussy will make me money one way or another.”Slap. “Which is why you’ll be spreading these legs for a group of my richest friends tonight, and after this”—Slap—“you’ll think of me each time one of them fucks you and it hurts even more than they intended.”
“You won’t get away with this.” It’s such a cliché line, but Riot won’t rest until I’m found. I know that for a fact.
He flips me over again and looms over me. “For a smart girl, you’re very stupid. Why do you think I haven’t been caught? Because men with the kind of money I have rule the fucking world. We’re above the law and can’t be touched, not even when we buy and sell obnoxious cunts like you.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“I’m a realist.”
“Riot and the Sons are probably looking for me right now.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’m not worried about some filthy bikers.”
“Then you’re underestimating your opponent.”
“They’re not my opponents. They’re a mild inconvenience at most.” He strides to the door. “Someone will be by soon to get you ready.”
The door shuts with asnickright before the lock engages. It takes me only a minute to get my hands free, leaving me to think of a plan. I can’t stay here, especially knowing what they do to the girls at those parties. I wouldn’t survive it. Riot wouldn’t survive it. Knowing I had those things done to me would fracture his brain in a way he wouldn’t come back from.
Standing, I grip my hair at the base of my skull and tug, hoping to stimulate some blood flow and make this headache go away. First things first, I need a weapon. Quickly, I search the room from top to bottom, looking for anything that might help me escape, but I come up short. The best I can do is use the heavy lamp on the nightstand. I’m in the process of unplugging it when the door opens.
“Anadell?” I croak, seeing Bart’s wife walk in, not looking surprised at finding me here.
“Hello, Parker. Good to see you again.” The tall, willowy woman has always been poised and beautiful. With high cheekbones, full lips, and chocolate brown hair that’s curled into long waves, she reminds me of what a retired supermodel would look like.
“You have to help me get out of here.” I swallow hard. “Your husband, he wants to hurt me.”
It’s then I notice a garment bag over her arm and a makeup bag in her hand. She holds them up, and for the first time, I notice how dead her brown eyes are. “I’m here to prepare you. Please, don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.”
“What?” I scoff. “You’re joking, right?”
She sets the items on the vanity and chair. “I don’t want to ask the guard to come in and restrain you. It makes this all an unpleasant experience.”
