Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 64835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Without warning, he lunges forward and grips my face in his hands, leaning in close. His fingers tighten around my jaw, and it takes everything for me not to gasp in pain as the pressure builds. “I would advise you keep your fucking mouth shut. I’m not here to argue with you. I have a plan, and my plan will work. Push me again and you won’t like how it ends for you. You’re nothing more than a bargaining chip.”
He lets go of my face with a shove, and I fall backward. I land on my back with a thump and struggle in my binds but I can’t get free; I’ve tried, there is no use. He pulls a knife from the back of his jeans and walks over. With one swift movement he flips me onto my stomach and crushes my head into the pillow with one hand. I curse and squirm, but he’s too strong. Heart racing, I brace for whatever it is he’s about to do. He tugs, and then I feel him cut the binds before releasing me. I don’t dare move. It’s a trick, it has to be.
“You can’t get out of this room, so don’t try,” his voice trails in, rough and angry. “We can make this easy or difficult. Do as you’re told, and it will hurt a whole lot less. Don’t do as you’re told, and things will get very fuckin’ messy. I don’t want to have to go for your sister, but believe me, I’ll do whatever I have to do to get what I want.”
I don’t roll, I just push up on my elbows and stare down at the comforter on the bed.
“My father would do nothing for my sister, she isn’t his child,” I grind out.
Jenny is a child only a touch younger than me that my mother had when she cheated on my dad. I’ll never forget the fights, the anguish, the pain when he found out. But he stuck around, he made it work, he held on because he loved me, he loved her even though she wasn’t his. My mother, even during her worst times, had this hold on him. Like he could never let her go.
“No, but you would.”
I clamp my eyes shut. Don’t cry, be strong. He wants weakness. I refuse to give it to him. If he thinks my father is alive, then time will surely tell. If not, then he’ll let me go and I can get the hell out of here. But, one thing is for certain, I will not show a single moment of fear to this man.
I vow it.
“Just leave her out of this,” I whisper, angrily.
“Then do as I say and this will run smoothly.”
“I don’t deserve this,” I snap, finding my strength as I roll over and finally face him. “Are you so pathetic that you have to steal an innocent girl just to get some information? Big man.”
He leans forward and takes hold of my shoulder with one big hand, jerking me forward. I take the opportunity to kick my leg out, connecting with his hip as hard as I possibly can. Bellowing, he leaps backward, and I roll off the bed and start crawling toward the door. He snarls a curse and spins around, gripping my ankle and pulling me back. I land hard on my stomach but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to give up my fight. I kick him again, hitting something I can’t see, maybe a shin. He leaps on top of me, his hard weight pinning me to the floor.
“Get off me,” I bellow, thrashing my body. “Get the fuck off me.”
“You can make this easy or hard on yourself,” he says, his breath against my ear, his voice like steel. “I will hurt you. Do not doubt me.”
“I’ll never give in to you,” I seethe. “Mark my words, I will get out of here. You’re pathetic.”
“Enough,” he roars, getting up and hauling me off the ground as he does. He spins me around, and in one, swift movement he has the knife pressed to my throat.
It takes a long moment for me to really grasp the situation, but as the cold steel presses against my neck and I look into the stone cold eyes of the man in front of me, I know he’s not lying. He’ll do anything to get what he wants, and if that means he has to hurt me, he will. I stare in horror, eyes wide, as the realization sinks in.
He stares at me for a long, long moment before lowering the knife and turning, leaving the room and locking the door behind him. Frustration bubbles in my chest, and I scream, slamming my fists against the door and hurling curses at him, but it’s too late, he’s gone. I smash my fists into anything I can find, and soon I’m on the ground heaving and crying.