Page 61 of Sinful God

After stuffing myself with way too much pizza, the events of the evening caught up with me. I yawned several times. My eyelids grew heavy. Sleep sounded pretty good. A solid way to escape reality for a while.

I tidied up the pizza leftovers and went up to my old room. Dad never changed it. I appreciated that. After fetching some clean sheets from the hall closet, I got settled in and quickly fell asleep.

It was almost noon when I woke up. Thankful it was the weekend, I rolled out of bed and stretched. I dreaded Monday. How could I walk into class and face Gage? Maybe I’d get lucky and he’d sit far away from me.

Before hitting the shower, I checked my phone. There were a few messages from Clover asking what the hell happened after Havoc threw everyone out of the party. I had yet to fill her in. There was another message from my dad telling me that he’d be out for the day but would be home for dinner. He planned to bring Chinese from my favorite place. Nice.

After a hot shower that made my knife cuts sting like a bitch, I dressed in a loose fitting t-shirt, a baggy hoodie, and sweatpants. I planned to spend most of the day laying around. Taking it easy. I needed that right now.

Unfortunately, my dad was not the type to stay well stocked on certain hygiene items. After checking my bank account, I decided to take a quick trip to the store. Might as well get what I needed to stay here for a while. Since there wasn’t a whole lot in the way of proper groceries in the house, I needed to grab breakfast too.

Dad had quickly gone to the bachelor life after Nikki’s death. Although it hadn’t been that long, already the house was bare of necessities. We’d have to make a grocery run together.

I left the house, arming the security system on my way out. I got into the SUV I’d been driving and yawned. Maybe I should have stayed in bed a little longer. A coffee and bagel from a drive-thru took the edge off my hunger. Unfortunately, as soon as it hit my stomach, I started to feel not so great.

As I wandered the aisles of the store, my mind went over the events of last night. Gage’s smug confidence that there was no way he could lose. Jet’s sadistic glee when he revealed his deal with the Angels. Daire on top of me, cutting me with the knife before…no, I couldn’t go there. The very thought made me want to throw up my meager breakfast.

I forced a smile and small talk with the cashier as I checked out. Once I got home, I planned to sit on my ass and stuff my face. I didn’t give a shit about anything else. I couldn’t.

The second I stepped into the parking lot, a blacked out sedan screeched to a stop in front of me. My heart leapt into my throat. I froze as my mind screamed at me to run. To move.

Two men jumped out of the backseat and grabbed me. They knocked a few of my bags to the ground as they shoved me into the back of the car. They got in after me and the car sped away. It all happened in mere seconds.

I screamed and flailed, doing everything in my power to fight them off. One man held my arms. The other choked off my voice by grabbing my throat in a tight grip. In the front seat, turning to smirk at me, sat Maverick Alexander.

“Settle down, Raina,” he admonished with a shake of his head. “You’re only going to hurt yourself.”

Several questions formed, each of them racing to be the first that tumbled out of my mouth. I shook my head, unable to speak with a hand around my throat.

“I’ve been waiting for a chance to get my hands on you,” Maverick continued, answering one of my unspoken questions. “I’ve had my men watching for a chance to grab you. Leaving Christian’s house wasn’t the smartest move. Although it did give me the opportunity I needed.”

He nodded at the man holding my throat and he released me. “Why?” I gasped, sucking air into my lungs.

“Why?” Maverick repeated, looking at me like I was an idiot. “Because you’ve gotten inside my son’s head. You’ve poisoned him, and I won’t have that.”

Oh Jesus, I was so fucked. The malice in Maverick’s expression was more than a little unhinged. The bagel in my stomach felt like a rock.

“You clearly have no idea what’s been going on. Havoc forced me to be there. I didn’t choose that. I didn’t choose him. As soon as he saw me, he decided he wanted to own me. I can’t imagine where he got that kind of behavior from.” If I was going down, it wouldn’t be without a fight. Fuck Maverick and his assumptions.

The man who’d been holding my throat searched me, finding my phone in my hoodie pocket. He opened the window and tossed it out. I watched as it shattered on the road behind us.

“Well, Christian doesn’t always know what’s good for him. And you, Raina, are not good for him. The sooner we put an end to all this the better.” Maverick paused to speak to the driver, giving him instructions to take us out of town.

This fucker was going to kill me. He’d killed Jenna, although I had no idea why. He’d teamed up with Nikki to kill me and my father. Shit. Dad would come home to find me missing and immediately blame the Gods.

“You know that my father will blame Havoc and the others if I go missing,” I said, wincing at the tight hold on my arms. “Don’t you care about that?”

Maverick chuckled, slowly turning back to face me. “I’m counting on that. He’ll waste a lot of time looking for you in all the wrong places. He’ll spend days stressing and searching. That’s when I’ll make my move. Your father will be dead in a matter of days. I want him to sweat first.”

Torture. That’s what he really meant. He wanted to torture me and then torture my father. Psychologically. The worst kind.

“What’s your big plan then?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from trembling. “Kill me and dump me in the woods?”

Maverick grinned. He reminded me a little of Havoc then. “Something like that.”

A chill crept down my spine. Pure evil shone in his eyes. I’d thought Jet had been evil or even Daire. They didn’t compare to this man.

“All right then. Can I ask a question?” I waited for his nod. “Were you and Nikki working together the entire time she was with my dad?”