Page 120 of In My Heart
“I’m here,” I assured him quickly. “I’m right here. You’re okay.”
He tried to straighten and failed. The guards tightened their grip again and Dante groaned in agony.
“….r-run…go…” he gasped weakly, his whole body rigid with the pain he was so obviously in.
That was the moment something in me stopped being careful. Dante was barely alive, and if I couldn’t save him. I didn’t care about saving myself either. I turned back to Daniel.
“What did you do to him, you fucking monsters?!” I yelled through my emotion.
Daniel didn’t even look at Dante. He looked at me with a shrug, like he truly didn’t give a shit about the man dying before him. He didn’t, I realised. He truly was a monster.
“He’s still alive.”
“Barely. At least help him!”
“That depends on your next choices.”
Something cold settled in my chest. Utter determination and knowledge that I couldn’t win. I wasn’t dealing with a human. I was dealing with a psycho. A liar. Possibly the biggest monster I had ever faced.
“I’m not doing what you want.”
“I’m not asking you,” he said calmly.
And that was when I saw it clearly. He wasn’t emotional about this. He wasn’t angry. He wasmanaging outcomes. Like I was one variable in a system he already understood better than I did. This marriage was a means to an end for him. A business transaction that would lead to the position he felt he had earned. He didn’t care about me or Dante. He cared about power. About his outcome. That realization made my skin go cold.
But it didn’t stop me. He was likely to kill me and Dante the second the marriage was settled anyway. At least if he did it now, he lost as well. No marriage, no promotion. No successful outcome.
I moved again. Faster this time. My rage fuelled me. I shoved past the guard holding Dante, hard enough to break his balance. Dante lurched to the side with him, creating just enough space. My hand hit the guard’s holster. My wrist was likely broken. I needed a gun to fight now. I pulled it free and this time, I didn’t hesitate. I turned immediately, raising it where I knew one of the other guards had been standing and I pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through him centre mass, just as Arran had taught me, when he took me to an illegal shooting range to practice weeks before. I took aim again. But Daniel was quicker. He reached from behind me, already in position like he had pre-empted my moves. His hand closed around my wrist mid-raise and redirected the barrel upward in one controlled motion. I hadalready pulled the trigger and the shot went through the ceiling above us, plaster scattering down before me as Daniel twisted my hand and forced me to release the gun again.
“Sonofabitch!” I yelled angrily as I slipped my hand free of his grip and tried to evade him completely. He caught me at the waist, holding me there with enough control to stop my mounting fight and escalation.
In one last savage act of rebellion and fight, I leaned over and bit Daniel’s hand as hard as I could. He barely made a sound, but the fact he released me and flinched back, assured me it had hurt. I would have smiled, but as I turned to glare at him, he lashed out fast, landing a hard hit to the side of my face that had me reeling. I fought not to give him the pleasure of hearing my cry of pain, biting my lip as I slammed my hand over my cheek and glared at him hard.
“Big man,” I sneered. “Did Daddy teach you to hit women half your size?”
He reached for me, grabbing me again and pressing my back hard against his front as he seemed to loose just a little of that calm and composed manner he had been holding onto so tightly. He squeezed his iron like arm around my waist until I could barely breathe.
“Last warning. One more fight and he’s dead. I’ll send him back to your brother in pieces,” he warned quietly near my ear. I shook against him, fighting to get free.
“You’re going to kill us both anyway,” I spat back.
“Probably, but not yet. Behave or his death will not be the only consequence.”
He released me finally, and strolled away like he didn’t have a single concern I might dive for him behind his back. He knew he was stronger than me. He didn’t need to be worried.
“Take him,” Daniel spoke.
I watched on, tears flooding down my face, my body shaking as Dante was pulled away. The only mercy was that he seemed to be unconscious again.
“Stop!” I tried to run after him, but Daniel stepped just enough into my space that I couldn’t reach him. Not blocking like a wall, but more like positioning me exactly where I could see everything I needed to see, and nothing I could act on. Another threat.
The guards dragged Dante toward the exit, and all I could do was stand there shaking, swiping at my tears, realizing I had lost again.
But I hadn’t given up. I refused to, and that had to matter, didn’t it? I was still fighting, and I would until my last breath.
Daniel glanced at me once, just watching, like he was sizing me up. I thought part of him was shocked that I was capable of even trying to fight, and I found some satisfaction in that.
“You’ll cooperate now,” he said.
