Page 78 of Unhinged Cravings
“If I’d known your tits were that nice, I would have fucked you in his kitchen.”
Anger, like boiling lava, bubbled in my veins. “When he finds me, I’ll make sure he takes your entire hand this time.”
“Oh, he won’t find you, Ava.” He stood and pulled a syringe from his pocket.
I bucked and struggled to get away from him, but he put his palm over my face, holding it into the mattress. Another sting of the needle and I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.
“It’s time to get you ready for your new owner.” His last words bounced through my consciousness until they faded with everything else.
Pitch enveloped me.Something pinned my body. My hands were to my side, my legs straight out. I could wiggle and pick my head up about an inch, but nothing more before I hit something solid. I turned my head back and forth but could see nothing. My chest seized, my breaths so shallow, my heart pounding so rapidly I thought I was dying.
I was trapped. In the dark. Terror crawled from my belly, its sharp claws leaving a trail until it scraped through my throat and out of my mouth with a screech I didn’t recognize. I turned my arms over and pressed my palms to the solidness, detecting wood grains.
A box. I was in some kind of wooden box. A compact, dark box. My mind raced in competition with my heart and all stability I had left whooshed from my body as horror replaced it. My screams were loud. My tears as wet as the blood from my nails that were splitting. With panic and terror encompassing me, I continued to scream until my throat was raw and my voice was hoarse. When the screams stopped, my hold on my body broke and panic swept through it, triggering my body’s preservation mode, and I blacked out.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
EMERSON
The drive to the warehouse seemed never ending. My thoughts raced, my nerves were on edge, and my muscles were so tight I could feel the strain of them in my neck and shoulders. I stored only a few cars at my safe house, but there were enough to fit us all. After a heated debate, Casey stayed back with Riley and Angie. Her brother and Mason went a few rounds with her before she gave in. One look from Greyson had Riley stopping her own attempt and Angie had already sprawled on my couch filing her nails and watching television with no desire to leave her spot.
Greyson tapped his fingers on his knees next to me. “Ava told you about her stepfather. That’s why you called that day.”
I kept my eyes trained on the passing scenery. “Yes. I’d like to drain the lake he’s in and kill him a few more times.”
“Trust me, Den made him pay. There wasn’t much left of his face when Den brought the head to Bridgeville. I didn’t ask where he put the eyes and tongue.” He flicked a speck of dirt from his pants.
“Good.” It offered me some relief to know the man had suffered.
“When did you fall for her?” he asked.
It was a valid question. One I wasn’t certain I could quantify. “I don’t really know. The minute she opened her mouth?”
“Figures. Of all the women to tame you, Ava, with her constant chattering would be the one.”
“I like the chattering.”
“You would.” He tipped his head back. “You always liked mouthy women.”
“And Riley’s not?”
His laugh was deep. “No. Don’t get me wrong, she’s tougher than she looks, but she’s more like me.”
“It’s you silent types who are always the ones to watch,” I joked.
A truck rumbled by, its lights blinding. Pack looked at me through the rearview mirror. Den sat next to him, his neck thick with strain. He hadn’t sat still since Greyson introduced him, but the menacing glares he’d given me let me know his opinion of me. Not that I hadn’t returned them with my own.
“We’re five minutes out, boss.”
The light mood disappeared, the anticipation and adrenaline returning. My phone buzzed, and I looked down to see Rudy’s message that he and his men had cleared out. I had warned him we were on our way, not wanting them in the crossfire. This was my fight, not his.
A second text covered his before I could finish reading it. This one was from the team who had guarded my safe house. They were in place, ready to clear the workers out. The road crested and the town of Ludburough appeared. It was a small, industrial town that sat in the open hills of Kingsport. A few factories, one stoplight, and a handful of residents.
“If they’re hiding the girls in the tables, then the workers aren’t as oblivious as we assumed,” Greyson said.
“Unless they only ship them at certain times.”
“After the key staff has left.” He pulled hisphone up and I watched over his shoulder as he searched the company Henley was using as his front. “Working hours are seven to six.” He scrolled further, tapping to a new screen. “I think it’s safe to assume anyone on that factory floor is armed and dangerous.”
