Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
I’d stayed for Archie’s sake, and now I was leaving without him.
I hoped they hadn’t found him. If anyone hurt my brother, they’d have to contend with me. I was done playing nice. Being good never got me anywhere.
His men were brash enough to use the front door. Even with the long driveway, they could be seen by staff or even a gardener. Or maybe a crowd on a walking tour who’d stumbled upon this crime. I was shoved into the back of an SUV before I had time to call out for help.
I was angry with myself for wanting more. Wanting something else. I’d never even considered things could get worse.
This was a fucking nightmare.
The one they’d called Cassius tugged on his sleeves to neaten them. The way he wielded power over the men proved he was the one to watch out for. From the back seat, I watched him heading my way. He glanced back, sweeping his gaze across the windows.
Then he climbed in beside me.
He filled the space in the passenger seat with his threatening presence, sending an invisible wave that hit me like the shock of an electric eel. His charismatic power carried on his filthy glare, reaching my soul and shattering my sense of self. Because I was nothing to him. What I wanted or needed didn’t count.
Looking past him, I stared up at the windows for any sign of my family, praying my father would burst out of the door wielding his gun and come save me.
“I’m not going with you,” I chided.
Cassius raised his hand to quieten me as though annoyed to be this close.
I kicked him. “Are you listening?”
It happened quickly, him asking for rope from one of his men who sat in the front seat. Cassius snatched it from him. With his strong hands on my shoulders, he moved me, so my back was turned to him. Using the rope to bind my hands behind me, he tugged on the knot to send jarring discomfort into my wrists.
“You misunderstand, Anya. You no longer have a say in what happens to you.” His stare burned into me like a fire. Combustible and barely contained.
Struggling was useless. He was too strong. Overpowering. That show of aggression, a glimpse of what he was capable of. My wrists burned like fire from the rope. I slumped back into the seat, defeated.
“Drive,” he ordered.
The car navigated down the driveway and pulled out onto the road, picking up speed as we approached the end of Prytania Street.
My heart was thudding so hard I feared I’d pass out. Struggling with these binds, I was sure if I kept wriggling my wrists, I’d get free.
Cassius focused on his phone. His expression was calm. What kind of a man wasn’t fazed by kidnapping a girl?
A ruthless one.
One I needed to fear.
What had gone wrong with my father and him that would lead to him taking me?
A business dealing, maybe?
It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was my father failed to protect me from this monster.
The worst part was he would probably blame me.
The SUV picked up speed, and we weaved around other cars to make it out of the city. Familiar homes and stores and buildings flew by. How far were we going?
I inhaled sharply. “Who are you?”
He didn’t look up from his phone.
This man was abhorrent. Didn’t even try to make this easier. Didn’t try to reassure me. Which could only mean one thing. . .
He’s going to kill me.
“They’ll come for me,” I said.
“I hope they do.”
“You disgust me.”
“Divider up.” Cassius gestured for it to be done.
The glass glided upward and sealed us in the back.
He turned to face me, his voice formidable. “My men don’t like to hear others disrespecting me.” He shrugged. “They can be trigger happy.”
“Maybe it’s you they hate,” I said bitterly.
He looked right through me. He went to say something but changed his mind and leaned back to watch the world fly by.
Trembling, I fought against the binds burning my wrists. I refused to give up trying to escape them.
It sparked a curious reaction from him. “Bravo for trying. But what’s the plan for after? You going to kill me, little girl?”
I let out a long, drawn-out huff, well aware he was right. Even if I managed to get the rope off, what then? “What did I do wrong?”
“You’re a Glassman.”
“Please. Take me back. I won’t tell them anything.”
“No.”
“You can’t kidnap me.”
He looked amused. “And yet . . . I did.”
“Let me out!” I screamed it.
“By all means, make a scene but don’t expect to arrive alive.”
Tears stung my eyes when I glanced left and saw the freeway. I tried to keep my mouth shut and not have a panic attack.
Cassius snapped his phone to his ear. “We’re on our way. I have one of them. She’s—” He glanced my way. “—a handful, so strip the room of all sharp objects.”