Page 57 of Deeper

Unless he keeps her locked to this cross, she could have walked away at any moment. I shake my head, unable to really understand the mentality of a woman like her. She’s so unlike Rylan; Rylan would have saved herself.

“That ends tonight. You’ll be free tomorrow. You have to make me a deal, though.”

“Anything.” The woman breathes, as her whole body seems to tremble at the thought of being free.

“I need you to stay in here tonight. When they find you tomorrow, Sebastian will be out of your life, and you won’t have anything to worry about. All you have to do is remember that you have no idea what happened. There was never another man in this house. Can you do that?”

“What man? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Good.”

I turn to leave Sebastian’s playroom but then stop and turn back to the woman. “Let the world know who Sebastian really was, though.”

She wears a cautious expression but nods.

Sebastian is struggling to get free when I make it back downstairs, which makes me smile.

“The girl’s story doesn’t quite match yours,” I admit while pulling him up by the arms and throwing him onto the couch. “She doesn’t seem too grateful for your hospitality.” I pull the mask from my face and toss it to the floor.

He sneers but doesn’t reply.

“I’m really curious about this mess I’ve been hired to clean up. The news tells me you all are friends. What is your connecting factor? What did the five of you do to piss someone off enough to want you all butchered?”

“I don’t know who hired you.”

“But you know why, don’t you?”

No response from him.

“It doesn’t really matter. You probably deserve this. How many women have you hurt like that one up there? You think you can take whatever you want, don’t you?”

I leave him on the couch to go search the kitchen. There is a knife block on the counter, so I grab a large carving knife, and then I snag a roll of paper towels before returning to Sebastian.

“I’ve been hired to torture you and make you bleed and beg for mercy before I finally kill you. Cortland broke before I killed him out in the woods, and I wonder how quickly you’ll break. Let’s find out, shall we?”

I roll a wad of paper towels into a ball, and Number Three begins to scream. The noise is musical, and I enjoy it for a moment as I get the tape from my bag. I shove the towels into his mouth and then wrap the tape once, twice, three times around his head. The guy has balls enough to keep screaming, but I just smirk, amused that he thinks any amount of noise will get him out of this.

“I’ve always wondered about bleeding a person out. How long would it take before they passed out, and how long would it be before their heart stopped beating? Tonight seems like a good time to experiment.”

I hold the knife against his skin, and power runs through my veins. A sick part inside me comes alive. My gloved hands tremble with anticipation. I can’t wait to color the white couch beneath him with his own blood. I laugh as he stills when I press the knife deeper into the skin of his arm, and a tiny bead of blood bubbles up.

“Let’s get started then, shall we?”

I cut open his shirt and then drag the knife in little biting skips around his skin. He tries to keep still, so I don’t go deeper, but he can’t help but to cower back in pain.

“We’ll take this nice and slow. I want to enjoy every minute of the blood slowly dripping from your body.”

My enjoyment of Sebastian’s muffled scream is cut short when a flicker of movement catches my eyes.

“Wait here. I have a surprise for you.”

Like he has a choice.

I don’t have anything for him, but someone has a curveball for me. I walk slowly from the room. I’m very careful not to alarm my audience that I’m aware of their presence. I take off out a side door and begin to sprint toward the window that looks into the living room.

Someone was there. I caught a glimpse of their eyes through the window. My body count for tonight just doubled—two instead of one. My heavy footsteps give me away, and whoever was standing there takes off. I’m faster, and I catch up without a problem. Launching from the ground, I tackle the person running from me. The tiny frame beneath me is unexpected. My legs cage her in as my hands abruptly flip her over to face me. I stare down at wild blonde hair, expressive hazel eyes, and sexy pink lips.

Rylan Pierce is pinned beneath me, breathing heavy and looking flushed.

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