Page 11 of Violent Reign (Violent Kingdom)

“You can close your mouth,” Nathan says gently. “Nothing bad’s going to happen to you. Not ever again.” If I could kill him right now, I would. I’d take one of those scalpels they’re cutting me with and sink it into Nathan’s neck until that smug look faded from his face and his lifeblood spilled all over the both of us.

“That’s right,” says one of those other men. His voice sounds so warm and comforting. Does he have any idea what he’s doing to me right now? He thinks he’s helping me, but all he’s doing is ensuring my doom.

“Okay. We’re going to flip you over, Avery.” All I can feel is the pressure of hands, and then I’m facedown on the sofa. Somebody turns my head to the side so I can breathe. Why the fuck does Nathan want me flipped over? What the fuck is he doing? I can’t muster the energy to kick my feet. To do anything.

“Most people do this on the shoulder,” a Khaki Man says. “You sure you don’t want that? Accessible location.”

“No. Her wedding dress is strapless.”

My fucking wedding dress? There’s no pain like the pain of not being able to claw Nathan’s eyes out right now. I limply kick one foot against the couch.

“Do it down lower. We’re getting married in a week, so she can’t have anything showing. She’d hate that. For the pictures, you know.”

“I get that. My wife worked out for months before our wedding. She wanted a picture-perfect day. We’re going to place this tracker near your hip, Avery. I just need to move your shirt up a little. How long have you two known each other? Incision.”

Incision. Nathan is telling the man that we’ve known each other all our lives. That we’re childhood best friends. That one day we looked at each other across a crowded room and just...knew. That I’ve always leaned on him in hard times, and I’ve been having the hardest time lately, what with the kidnapping. He gets so realistically angry when he talks about the men who took me and hurt me that one of the guys pats him on the shoulder. But all I can hear isincisionringing in my ears over and over again. They’re cutting me. Nathan will never stop cutting me, will he? This is going to be the rest of my life. I’ll always be waiting for the edge of his blade to pierce my flesh.

“Are you sure she can’t feel anything?” Nathan strokes my hair. “She’s crying.” His fingers dip down into my tears and brush them away. My skin crawls from his touch. But of course I can’t move. Of course he’s chosen to do it this way instead of letting me have any control.

“Sometimes it can be a stress response to the medication,” one of the men says. “But we’re all done. You can take the bandage off in a few days, Avery. The tracker will be live by tomorrow morning.”

“It had better be,” Nathan says. “I’d never forgive myself if I lost her again.”

The three of them turn me over again, rearranging me against the pillows. Feeling comes back to my tongue first. I test it out, drawing circles on the roof of my mouth. Otherwise I’m still trapped in my own skin. Nathan lets a blanket flutter over me and turns on the TV, then ushers the guys back out. He’s all handshakes and hefty tips and that creepy, uncanny valley smile.

The other side of the sofa dips and my eyes come back into focus. “See? That wasn’t so bad.” Nathan puts his hands on my face, probably because he knows I can’t turn my head to bite him. “And you’re going to look so beautiful in your wedding dress. And remember, Aves. All you have to do is be a good girl. Do what I say. And Rome stays alive.”

Chapter Six

AVERY

I have been kidnapped.I have been raped. I have been tortured. I am currently under lock and key, held by my own demented cousin, who expects me to stand at the altar with him and smile at him and pretend that I am so very in love with him… in front ofhundredsof wedding guests.

But the chocolate drizzle on top of this fucked-up sundae?

Is attending Enzo’s funeral.

Enzo is dead. He didn’t make it out of the second surgery he was rushed into. The stab wound to his neck was, quote, catastrophic. His artery was so damaged they couldn’t repair it. The last thing that fucker saw was my face as his own son stabbed him from behind. I should be relieved, right? One evil motherfucker gone. But I’m not relieved. Because I’m still trapped with his son. With Nathan.I am still fucking trapped with Nathan.

Of course I go to the funeral. It would be weird if I didn’t, now that Enzo is dead, now that Daddy is indisposed and I’m the Queen of the castle, so to speak. Not only that, but my presence is required by my new prison warden. Everything I do comes down to one single question—do I want Rome to live or die? I want Rome to live more than I want anything else.And then there is Jennifer. My best friend. No wonder she was so distant in the months after Rome and I escaped the basement. She was being held captive in plain sight by Nathan. The same way he holds me captive now. Jennifer is out of hospital, being cared for by a round-the-clock medical team at Eliza and Enzo’s mansion. From the outside, it might seem like a kindness, the way she’s being cared for. If only people knew it was Nathan himself who almost killed her. He’s promised me that if I attend the funeral and don’t make a fuss, he’ll let me see Jennifer. It’s the only thing keeping me together. He’s still refusing to talk about letting me see Rome, but one thing at a time. I want to see that my best friend is alive and well with my own eyes, and then I can jump the next hurdle of getting to Rome.

I want to scream when we get out of the black limo that’s been directed to take us to the bullshit, media attention grabbing, funeral that Eliza’s arranged.

“Tell me again why I’m wearing this?” I stare down at the giant engagement ring on my left hand, so heavy I can feel it dragging me down. It’s a metaphorical weight more than physical, but it aches just the same.

“Because we’re engaged,” Nathan says, rolling his eyes. He doesn’t even look away from his phone screen. “I’ve already gone through this with you.”

“Right.” He did, but I was kind of glazed over after feeling returned to my body and the site of my GPS chip insertion started screaming in pain. I barely took in what he said, to be honest. “Can you go over it again? I don’t want to mess up my lines.”

He stops what he’s doing, clicking the lock button on his phone as he smirks up at me. His gold-flecked brown eyes are insidious, his jaw arranged in a look of amusement as he finally makes eye contact with me. “Well, aren’t you an obedient little thing?”

Eliza makes a small sound in her throat across the limo, staring at Nathan through the black lace veil she’s draped over her face. “This isn’t a daytime soap opera,” I hear myself saying. “You sure a black veil is the right fashion choice?”

Eliza’s face twists into a cruel smile as she rakes her eyes over my black dress. “You sure that little Givenchy number covers all of your bruises and scrapes, sweetheart?”

I narrow my eyes at her. “I liked you better when you sat in the corner and looked pretty.”

She smiles wider, looking fucking insane under that lace. “I could say the same about you.”

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