Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“Mr Collins?” I hollered. “Are ye havin’ trouble with the kettle, sir?”
No response.
I checked my aids. They were both on and working fine. My gut twisted as I hurried down the hallway. I paused just inside the kitchen, and a scream climbed up my throat when my eyes locked on Mr Collins’s unconscious body. I didn’t get a chance to let my scream loose before a large hand clamped over my face.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ina
* * *
Panic instantly consumed me.
I screamed into the heavy hand that not only covered my mouth but partially blocked my nostrils too. I reached up with both of my hands and gripped the forearm of the person holding, and I yanked on it as hard as I could. The hand slipped down, not enough to uncover my mouth, but enough that I could breathe through my nose.
“Ina, stop!”
His voice washed over me like red-hot pins and needles, and it stabbed me with blind fear. I whimpered against Finn’s hand, my gaze flickering down to an unmoving Mr Collins. My eyes scanned over his form rapidly, looking for signs of injury. I saw no blood or obvious wounds apart from a blue bruise forming at his temple.
“Now, here’s how things are gonna go, flower.” Finn’s hot, panting breath filled my ear. “We’re gonna walk out of this buildin’ just like old friends, and we’re gonna do that without drawin’ any attention to ourselves, aren’t we?”
I bobbed my head in instant agreement because I knew that if I didn’t, Mr Collins would pay the price.
“Good girl. Now, let’s go.”
I hesitated and spoke, but my words were muffled under Finn’s hand. He lowered his hand, careful to remain pressed against me, his warning clear: Make a sound, and I’m close enough to hurt you.
“Let me check that he’s breathin’,” I pleaded. “Please, Finn.”
He grunted in response, which I took as a green light, so I hurriedly dropped to my knees and lowered my face to Mr Collins’s. I nearly deflated with relief when I felt his steady breath on my cheek. He was alive, just unconscious. I hoped he would wake up with a headache, and that was it.
“Okay.” I clumsily got back to my feet. “He’s alive. Thank you for lettin’ me check.”
When I turned to face the man who was half the reason I fled from my old life, I felt physically sick. Finn looked the same as he always had; tall, slender with an attractive face stuck in a permanent scowl. It had always bothered me that a good-looking man like him could be so unassumingly cruel. I wished he looked as ugly on the outside as he was on the inside.
“Nice outfit.”
I looked down at my suit and shifted, feeling more than a little uncomfortable.
“It’s office attire. I have to dress professionally at work.”
“How is lookin’ like a hoor bein’ professional?”
I didn’t answer him. I knew from experience that it would just result in a berating. He was goading me into replying so he could lay into me with cruel, taunting words. I knew him and his tactics like the back of my hand.
“I can change if ye’d like me to.”
“No time for that. We have to leave.”
I felt myself begin to sweat. I had to let Dante know what was going on, but how? My phone was in my bag, and Finn wasn’t stupid enough to let me bring it with me. For a moment, sheer fear gripped me. Dante and I had a huge fight. If I was gone by the time he came back from work, would he think that I just up and left him? I glanced at Mr Collins and found that he was my saving grace. Once he awoke, he would contact Dante and tell him that he was attacked and I was gone. Dante would put two and two together. He would know that it was Finn. He would know I wouldn’t leave him.
Please God, let him know.
“Ina! Let’s. Go.”
“Please, Finn.” I looked up at him. “Don’t do this. Me life is here now. I have a job, a partner—”
I sucked in a sharp breath when Finn lunged for me, and his fist slammed into my face before I could blink. I felt one of Finn’s arms come around my waist when my knees collapsed from under me. I wasn’t sure how long it took, but the dizzy feeling I experienced eventually began to reside, and the black dots that spotted my vision cleared. My face felt like it was on fire when reality came crashing down on me. Finn had punched me. Whimpering, I lifted a hand to my face and held it against my throbbing cheek.
“Finn, please—”
His hand had snaked its way to my hair, and when he twisted my strands at the root, I screeched in pain.