Page 65 of Wildest Desire

“That’s nice. The one around the corner?”

“Yeah, where else would I go?” I say with a smile.

“Okay, have fun.”

“I love you,” I say, kissing him. Taking my bag, I leave the apartment and get a cab to the address.

Looking at the building, I wipe the tears from my cheeks and take a deep breath, preparing myself for what I know will be a fight for my life.

As I walk into the old building, I feel a cold breeze rush over me. The walls are covered in spray-paint graffiti. I look around and see nothing on the bottom floor, but two men lying on the ground. They’re so high on whatever they’ve taken, they don't even see me walking past them.

As I make my way up the stairs, I look around again to make sure no one is close by. As I get to the top step, I see her tied up to a chair, and I hurry over to her in a panic.

“Tanya,” I say while pulling the tape from her lips. “Are you okay?”

“Lexi! Lexi, get out of here!” she yells at me.

“Her name is Teresa,” a cold, vicious voice says, and my heart races in terror. Standing up carefully, I turn around and see Sam walking closer to me.

“You said if I came you would let her go,” I tell him. I'm trying to keep a confident tone to make him think I’m not scared of him, but inside I want to run. I want to run so fast and so far because I know what he can do to me.

“No, I said I wouldn’t hurt her,” he shouts at me. Grabbing my arm, he pulls me closer to him, and I begin to tremble.

“You let go of her, you sick fuck!” Tanya shouts.

I hear scraping sounds behind me. When I hear it again, I realize it's the wood of chair legs against the floor. Tanya's trying to free herself. I scream as my side begins burning in excruciating pain. I grab where it hurts, hoping I can stop whatever is causing it. The sensation of warm liquid coating my palm has me pulling my hand away. A thick, red substance drips from my fingers when I hold my hand up to inspect it. Looking back up at Sam, I see he has the biggest smile on his face.

“I told you I would hurt you,” he whispers.

Trying hard to take a deep breath in, I feel my blood dripping down my waist.

Again, I feel the metal dragging across my body. The point of the knife slices through my skin with little effort, and digs right in. I cry out in agony. A searing burn flares up my side, consuming me in white-hot pain, making my mind go blank. Besides the onslaught of sharp attacks enveloping me, dread rises to the forefront of my senses.

I always knew this could happen. My pulse races and my heart pounds against my chest like a sledgehammer as I wonder if I’ll make it out alive.

Sam jerks the knife in further before yanking it out. Tears cloud my vision, then spill down my cheeks and drip off my chin like rain. I feel the cold, hard concrete underneath me as I drop, my legs giving way beneath me. Slamming into the ground, the only thing I'm capable of doing is lying there and shivering, my pain intensifying to levels I never knew existed.

I can barely turn my head, but it's enough that I can just make out Tanya moving in her chair. Then, Sam is standing above me and saying something. I see his lips moving, but the words don’t make it to my ears. He crouches close to me, and his hands reach out, his fingers wrapping around my upper arms. His nails press into my skin as he begins to pull on me. I look up toward the lights as the room begins to fade away. My eyes flutter closed, and I’m shrouded in darkness.

Chapter 28

Ethan

Was today a work day? No, but at least I have one less thing to worry about. After going back and forth with the lawyers all day, we finally got the contract ready to send to Edward and Angie. The sooner I can get them out of my life the better.

Lexi and Tanya aren’t back yet, so they must be having a good chat. I’m happy they’re getting along, because family is very important to me.

Heading to the shower, I stop when I hear a knock on the door. I open it to see Travis standing there.

He walks in and looks around the apartment. “Is Tanya here? She was supposed to meet me for drinks, but hasn’t shown up, so I thought she might is here with Lexi,” he says, then looks over at me.

Fuck! Getting my phone out of my pocket, I call Lexi. “Come on, Lexi, pick up the phone.” “She told me she was meeting Tanya for coffee.” I dial again. “Is Tanya not answering?” I look at him, and he doesn’t need to answer me. I’m sure all the color drained from my face as a cold rush of dread runs through me.

“Lexi where are—” I stop when I hear a man’s sadistic laughter.

“Took you a long enough,” a man says, and I know I must be speaking with Sam. I put the phone on speaker so Travis can hear and I won’t have to repeat everything.

“If you hurt her—”

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