Page 200 of Come Back To Me

He hums closing his eyes as his words stroke my anger. I have no time to react though as he strikes his fist through my face.

I spin, hitting the ground, fearing I’m not walking away from this. This is it. My eyes lock with Travis’. He senses it too. We’re surrounded. Unarmed. Dealing with a psycho. It’s me this guy wants before anyone else. I’ll hold on as long as I can. Whatever I can do; buy time, stall, I don’t fucking know, but I’ll do it.

Pushing myself up, I accept my fate along with another hit to my face. I spit blood, sniffing in through my now blocked nose. “What about Costa?” I point out, and again I see movement, a figure loitering in the shadows. “Vincent? You shot them bothlike a coward.”

“They deserved it!” he fires back furiously. “This ismyoperation. These aremymen. Costa was a good front, but—”

“Let me guess, you wanted the glory.” Travis earns himself a whack on the back of his head as he joins in. He drops his palms flat to the ground. Dazed.

“Ibuilt this from ruin,” Cain spits loudly, looking at his man behind me. I’m struck on the temple without warning. My hearing fades, my vision swimming before me. “Iwas the one who really started the war! It wasmewho should have risen to power! Not him or the men back home.” I catch the last part of his speech as he jerks his head to Vincent’s body.

Fuck, my eyes won’t stop spiralling. I rest my hands on my knees to steady myself, knowing someone is close by, edging their way closer. “Shame they never patched you in,” I say cooly. If I keep this nut job talking, maybe, just maybe, whoever is closing in will have enough time to take him out.

Like a prayer being answered, one of the armed men stood by the boat is dropped to the floor carefully. I can’t see the man who took him out, but I know. I can fucking feel it.

Cain turns to me, his smile wide, no life behind his eyes. Blank. The soles of his shoes crunch against the ground. Standing in front of me, he slips his hands in his pockets no longer shouting and fired up. “Does it hurt to know you were only a few seconds too late?”

I stand straight but my face drops.

He steps closer, lifting his gaze to meet mine. “Does it make you feel responsible, knowing she was under my body when I squeezed the life from her.”

I swing my head, crunching my skull to his nose. I fall, and he staggers as he laughs. He’s enjoying this.

On my knees, my leg soaked in blood, Cain steps closer, pushing my head back, his blood dripping on my face. “Best partabout killing that bitch?” His lips curl up. “When I thought I’d killed her too soon, I let go. She took a few moments to come around, but when she did, I liked the lifeless way she looked at me.”

He stares through me, his words about my aunt burning every part of my body. I grit my teeth, my jaw aching from how hard I bite down.

“I did it again and again and again, taking her to the edge then bringing her back. Just when I thought I’d do it one more time, the idea came to me.” He pulls out my knife they took off me, turning it in his hands, the tip spinning on the end of his finger.

Behind him, two more men drop, and the figure hunts closer. I ignore Cain stalking around me, keeping my eyes trained to the dark; willing them to find the person I want to see.

Cain laughs by my ear. “She watched me cutting through her throat. Even after I knew she’d gone, my hands kept going.” My knife is held to my throat from behind, the pressure harsh, directly across my Adam’s apple. “Her eyes stayed open the entire time I sliced through her bones. You should have seen her… she was sofuckingbeautiful.” His breath stammers.

“I’m going tofuckingkill you.”

“You know what?” He jams the blade in from behind above my right hip, his other arm wrapped around my throat, holding me in place. “I just don’t think you'll get the chance.”

Searing pain blazes through me, ripping through every muscle and bone in my body. I grit my teeth again, biting through my tongue. Fucking hell, it’s like nothing I’ve felt before.

My cry out has Travis shouting and cursing at the wind.

“Now you get to watch everything you built, every one of your men, die under my hands.”

I have nowhere to go. No moves to make. Fixing my mind on Mads, my eyes fill as I realise I won’t get the ending I want, then asmile creeps on my face when I think of my girls.

“Iwin,” he says pulling the knife from my back.

I’m dizzy from the gripping pain, but manage to look up, seeing a commotion by the boat. The man I knew was coming raises a gun. “No,” I cough.

Cain leans closer still unaware that help is here.

“You lose.”

Jack’s gun is fired, taking down the last man by the boat.

Travis jumps to his feet, shrugging off the man behind him, knocking his gun away. They fight, and guns are fired to my right.

No. I turn my gaze to my men. I can’t make out who’s who, my vision’s beginning to blur. I need to get up whilst there’s still a slither of hope that my brothers can get out of here. They’re fighting back. I need to help them.

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