Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 121696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Sean intercepted him before he made it to the path. “Where’s Leona?”
Eric shifted his weight. “She’s gone.”
“What do you mean she’s gone? I need a fucking boat.”
“You and me both.” Eric looked over Sean’s shoulder toward the jetty. “Some idiot just took off in Juan’s speedboat.”
Eric tried to move around him, but Sean grabbed his arm. “What’s going on here?”
“Juan left.”
“Where are Tony and Garcia?”
Eric pulled free his arm. “Juan left with Asia.”
“Stop stating the obvious.”
“You don’t understand.” Eric’s lips thinned. “If you’re planning on helping her, you better hope you find them before they disappear.”
Sean’s body turned rigid. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Juan gets off on humiliating and hurting people, in case you haven’t noticed. Asia isn’t an exception.”
His blood ran cold. “Did he hurt her?”
“It doesn’t matter now, does it? What matters is finding her instead of wasting my time. Get out of my way.”
It mattered. A fucking lot. Because Juan would pay for each time he’d put a filthy hand on Asia.
Fisting Eric’s collar, he yanked him so close their noses were almost touching. “What did he do to her?”
Eric’s eyes flared. He stared up at Sean with a fearful expression. “He abused her.”
Sean’s world tilted, everything going off axis. Cold fury filled his veins. “How?”
“You don’t want to know the details.”
Lifting Eric off his feet, he shook him hard. “Tell. Me. How.”
Bending backward as far as he could, Eric put the small distance he could between them. “He strangled her and exposed her there.” He motioned at Sean’s crotch.
“Be specific,” Sean gritted out, tamping down his fury to get the answers he needed. He’d let that fury explode later. “What did he expose? Her underwear? Her body?”
“Her underwear.” Eric cowered. “Just her panties.”
Sean narrowed his eyes. “How do you know?”
“He—he made me watch.”
This was as much as he could take. Shaking the scrawny man so hard his teeth chattered, he said, “I’m going to kill you with my bare hands.”
“I didn’t want to,” Eric cried out. “Juan wanted to humiliate her for turning away when he tried to kiss her, or that’s what Tony said.”
He’d fucking break each one of Juan’s fingers, each one he’d had around her neck, before he killed him. There was more. He knew it. “What else?”
“Let me go and I’ll tell you.”
Cracking his neck, Sean gave him a calculated look. “Tell me, and I won’t hurt you too much before breaking your neck.”
Eric’s shirt clung to his skin, sweat darkening the fabric in patches. “He shocked her with the collar when she tried to run away. I saw it, from over there.” He motioned with his head in the direction of the restaurant. “She couldn’t move for some time. The guard had to carry her to Juan’s room. Juan told her he’d kill her brother if she ran away again. Then…” He trembled in Sean’s grip. “Then he tied her up and connected her to an e-stim.”
“And you know this how?” Sean asked, twisting Eric’s shirt around his fist and reeling him closer. “Because that sick son of a bitch made you watch again?”
“No,” he exclaimed. “I went there when Juan went fishing because I … I…”
“You what?”
“I wanted to switch it off or up, I—I don’t know.” Eric licked his lips and averted his gaze. “I just wanted to make it stop.”
Sean knew guilt when he saw it. “What did you do?”
“Nothing. I—”
“What the fuck did you do?”
Eric slouched in his hold, deflating like a punctured balloon. “I jerked off watching her.”
Sean’s vision frayed around the edges. The wanker had jacked himself off watching Asia suffer? While she was bound and helpless? He was going to make the fucker hurt. Balling his hand into a fist, he drew back his arm.
“No.” Eric covered his face. “Please, don’t hit me. It wasn’t my fault.”
Sean had heard enough. He brought his fist down on Eric’s jaw. Bone crunched. Eric staggered back, hitting the ground with a thump. A trickle of blood ran from the side of his mouth.
“I should crush your windpipe now,” Sean said, “but that would be too easy. I’ll kill you after you’ve apologized to Asia. She should’ve told Juan yes when he offered to kill you.”
Eric scurried backward on his elbows and heels. Sean couldn’t look at the snake any longer. He left him lying in the sand—Eric wasn’t going anywhere anyway, not as long as they didn’t find a boat—and walked to the office building with long strides. It was empty. Eric hadn’t lied. If Leona wasn’t with the guests or in the office, she had to have jumped ship. Had she left with Juan or with the supply boat?
Something about the scenario felt off. He didn’t like it. He made his way back to the guest units, but there was no sign of the guards, Juan, Tony, or Garcia. It seemed Juan had deserted his guests on the island. Sean did a quick walkaround, which confirmed his suspicion. The only people left were the invitees.