Page 10 of Descent
Because he would never give up as long as he was breathing.
“After lunch, I have to take off for a while,” Zach said. “Maybe a day. But since you were such a good girl, I’ll go easy on the thermostat while I’m gone.” As he rose to his feet, his words were a preamble, an omen I wished I could stow back in the box, because something about his demeanor had my senses going haywire. The tilt to his mouth was too sure, the leisurely fall of his footsteps too unworried.
A warning simmered my blood.
He was too calm.
Too confident.
Too satisfied, even for having just blown his load down my throat. I knew him too well, and this was more. Zach was up to something.
“Where are you going?”
He smiled. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
6. Failure
Rafe
Like the last two evenings, Military Dude smirked at me from the doorway, only this time, the tray of food was missing from his hands. I rose to my feet, sensing the guy’s changed demeanor.
“Has Shelton decided to use starvation to kill me, instead of creating a circus show?” My tone dripped with sarcasm. No way in hell would Shelton waste such a lucrative opportunity by withholding dinner. The bastard wanted me at the top of my game.
“Sorry to disappoint,” he said, shutting the door behind him. “Your supper will be ready after your visitor leaves.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Visitor?”
“Yep.” He gestured toward the shackles hanging over my head. “Raise your arms.”
“No way in hell.”
Military Dude shrugged. “Guess you don’t want to find out how your woman is handling her new owner.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ll find out as soon as you cooperate.” He pulled a gun from the waistband of his jeans. “Or do I need to take a trip down the hall to the kid’s room?”
“That’s not necessary,” I snapped through gritted teeth, lifting my arms.
A wave of self-loathing crashed over me as he strung me up on my toes. It was like being in those tunnels all over again, only Alex wasn’t here this time for them to use against me.
Now they had my son.
And Alex…God, I couldn’t stand to think of her at Zach’s non-existent mercy, bound by his evil will. I’d go mad and do something that would get us all killed.
“That should do it,” Military Dude said, testing the chains anchoring me to the beam in the ceiling. He returned to the door and yanked it open, and I settled my gaze on the asshole waiting on the other side with his usual smug smile. His hazel eyes zeroed in on me, sparking in amusement at the sight of my downfall.
“Just hanging around, huh buddy?”
“I’m not your fucking buddy,” I spat as Zach waltzed into the room, not a care in the world going by his expression and sickeningly sweet tone.
“That, we can agree on.” Zach remained just out of reach of my feet while Military Dude stood sentry near the door. I almost snorted at the uselessness of it all, because Zach sure as hell didn’t need a fucking guard while I was shackled to the ceiling like this.
“You are most definitely not my friend,” Zach said. “A buddy wouldn’t steal their best friend’s woman.”
“She was never yours to take, asshole.”
“Oh, she was mine. Her cunt wept for me, just like it’ll fucking weep for me again as soon as I get this over with.”
Pressure built between my ears, rage pounding at my temples, thrashing to explode. “Don’t you fucking touch her.” Vehemence shook my words, even though the threat was too little too late. She’d been at Zach’s mercy for two days.
Zach’s eyes darkened as he took a step toward me. Ten more inches, and he’d come within striking distance of my feet.
“Here’s the problem. I can’t touch her until I get her out of that goddamn prison you built in the cellar.”
I blinked, mind hitting a brick wall at his words. Why the hell would he lock her up on the island? It didn’t make any sense. “You put her in there?”
He scoffed. “Would I be here if I had?”
My heart soared. If he hadn’t locked Alex in the cellar, then she must have enclosed herself behind those bars, and I was damn proud of her for outsmarting the bastard. She was a survivor.
“That’s my girl. Fucking genius, isn’t she?”
“She’s fucking mine.” His face reddened to the wrathful hue of a demon, and that’s when it sank in.
He needed the key.
I clenched my jaw. “Sounds like you’ve got a problem then.”
“Tell me where the key is.”
“It’s hanging on the keyring of go fuck yourself.”
“If you don’t tell me where the goddamn key is, I’ll starve her. Do you understand me?”
I fought the chains holding me. “You would make her suffer like that?”
“No, you will make her suffer like that if you don’t cooperate, and don’t get me started on what will happen to the kid. Now tell me where you hid it!”
