Page 118 of The Forbidden Villain
Wincing and hissing, I raise my hand to touch my forehead, wondering if maybe I have a fever, but something heavy pulls my arm back. “What in the world?” I mutter, finally forcing myself to snap my eyes open again and sigh at the single lightbulb flashing directly on my face and blurring my vision a little bit.
I must have slept with my lights on again, which explains why I feel this shitty.
Gathering all my strength, I sit up and freeze when the environment around me comes into focus as horror fills every bone in my body, replacing confusion with fear so strong I can almost taste it.
Because I’m sitting in the cage, the cuff wrapped around my ankle with a long chain attached and trailing to the bars. It’s long enough to let me move in the cage, but short enough not to escape. I have another one on my right wrist of similar length.
Oh my God.
Memories like the most horrific movie start to play in my head, one after another, as a deep and husky yet amused tone speaks up, coating the energy around us, proving to me this is not a nightmare.
It’s my reality.
“You’re finally awake,moy cvetochek.”
My eyes crash with Levi’s, who flips a lighter through his fingers, periodically lighting it up while he studies me.
The sound, along with water dripping from the sink several steps away, causes a different kind of flashback to pop in my head.
“You’ll learn to obey me.” Jade fists my head and drags it to the sink, my cry echoing in the space because it hurts my already burned skin. “How could you have done this to me?”
I push him away and rush back into the living room, searching for a phone to call for help while my entire being hurts so much I barely resist the urge to scream.
“Come back here. You’re almost eighteen. We should have dinner, and you can accept my proposal.” I cannot fathom his delusions, but should I be surprised?
He killed my parents and still thinks I’m my mom. She never loved him, and that was enough for him to sign her death warrant.
Obsessive men like this…they are a danger to society, and no sane woman should ever end up in their twisted web, for the outcome is always the same.
Inevitable death.
He lunges at me, and I dart toward the dining table, knocking a few things over in my rush, and that’s when several candles fall on the floor, scattering to the curtains and igniting them right away.
“What did you do?” he screams, advancing on me, and I step back, back, back until the fire touches me, and it’s a relief.
Maybe if it destroys me, it will free me from his obsession.
“Lavender.” Levi’s voice pulls me back from the past and into the awful present. That’s when I realize my labored breathing fills the air, and I’m gripping the chains hard. “Stop. Focus on me.”
Despite the situation, a hollow laugh escapes me when I sit up straight and plaster myself against the cage as if trying to put more distance between us.
I reach deep into my soul, to the part of me I thought I put behind when Jade died, and pull strength from it. If anyone can win against the obsessive madman…it’s the Lavender who rose to protect me twelve years ago. “It’s hard to focus on anyone else. Since I’m your prisoner.” Lifting my hand, I shake the chain while more anger glides through my veins, and I welcome it.
Anger is better than the feeling of absolute betrayal.
To my astonishment and annoyance, the man clicks his tongue and flips that damn lighter once again. “Let’s cut the dramatics,moy cvetochek. It doesn’t suit you, and I find it tiresome. It’s never original either.”
“You’re a serial killer who’s been stalking me.” I point at the boards that are visible from here. “You’ve been keeping tabs on my brothers as well. Is it because of Rush? You decided to punish him by getting me?” I hate how my voice shakes on the last part because, how could I have been so stupid?
Men like Levi don’t chase scarred old virgins unless they need something from them. I’m a classic case, vulnerable and easy prey for the likes of psychopaths like him.
Even my life experience was not enough to recognize the signs as I was blinded by my own desires.
He takes out a cigarette from his back pocket and lights it up before taking a pull from it and sending the smoke flying all around us. “The idea of your brother losing his shit once he finds out about us is amusing. I’ll enjoy his frustration and anger from the inability to do anything about it. It’s a rather poetic justice, wouldn’t you say?”
“You think you will live long enough to enjoy it?” I swallow past the bile in my throat as he smokes his cigarette and comes closer to the cage, and that’s when I notice a golden key in his hand. He inserts it into the lock, and trepidation rushes down my back, only increasing my nausea. “Rush, Rafael, and Orion will kill you once they know what you did to me.”
He laughs.
