Page 111 of The Devil Baron

But right now, the air in this area held a sour, sickening note to it, like death and destruction was trying to claw upward from the bowels of the earth.

A scream.

Not a whisper of a sound—an agonized, gut-wrenching howl.

She ran toward the sound, descending down a short flight of stairs to the cooler storage chambers. The openings to the rooms only up to her mid-chest, she had to bend over, searching each one individually.

Just as she stepped in front of the last room on the left, she heard rapid breathing.

Another howl.

She ducked to move under the rounded archway, but her feet stilled to a stop the second she could fully see into the room.

Rafe chained to a wall.

Rafe naked except for tattered black trousers hanging loose over his hips.

Rafe bloody, from head to toe.

Her breath, her world stopped in that instant.

Her father with his arms clasped against his chest stood next to Reiner, who lifted a short whip, bringing it across Rafe’s side, slicing into already tattered skin. Rafe’s body jerked to the side with a wince instead of a scream.

Desmond leaned into Rafe’s face, his words cold fury. “I’m not going to let her go to some cutthroat wastrel.”

Rafe’s head lulled back and forth as he found her father’s face. Somehow, his voice stayed even, every word punctuated with determination. “I’m not giving her up.”

“It is the only way you stay alive.”

Rafe spit out a clump of blood, his lip sneering. “I’m not alive without her, so kill me now. If you don’t understand that, you don’t understand me, you don’t understand her. And you have no idea what she needs.”

Her father scoffed an acerbic laugh, one that sent ice into her veins. “And you do?”

Rafe lifted his chin, meeting Desmond’s stare. “I understand her in a way you never will.”

Control gone, Desmond’s right arm swung back and he sent the back of his knuckles across Rafe’s jaw.

She winced. But yes, he deserved that.

The last thing her father wanted was a reminder of how he’d failed her for so many years, and anything that threatened her father’s tenuous connection with her cut him deep.

Desmond moved in, the merest of inches between his face and Rafe’s, his voice barely contained rage. “I’m not going to let her go to some cutthroat that will…will…” He heaved a breath, unable to finish his words.

“That will what?” Rafe’s head rolled backward, his eyes going to the ceiling of the room. “Take her away from you? Love her?” His look dropped to Desmond. “Your time has passed. You don’t get it back.”

Her father lunged forward, his hands going for Rafe’s throat, clenching, lifting him up against the stones, pulling on the chains that bound him to the wall.

Why wasn’t Reiner stopping him?

Why?

Good God, they thought they wereprotecting her. Protecting her from him.

Of course, they hadn’t killed him.

But they were never going to let him get near her again.

“Des.” Reiner growled, the warning clear in his voice.

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