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Anissa
I’m a heartbeat away from hysteria. The delirium looms close, ramping up my pulse as I wait for either side to crumple.
Cole and his father stare each other down. And Luther’s men are just as hostile with their unshakable glares.
Tension crackles in every direction and all I can do is wait for a spark to ignite the situation into a raging inferno.
“The keys,” Cole demands.
Luther raises his chin, his nostrils flaring with a deep inhale until finally, he inclines his head. “Chris, hand them over.”
Hope builds wings inside my chest, lessening the craziness and smothering my internal screams for revenge.
I want them to pay for what they’ve done. Someone needs to answer for my injuries. For my humiliation and potent fear.
“Chris,” Luther warns. “The keys.”
The henchman bares his teeth. “If I hand them over, they’ll have access to their guns.”
What? A sob thickens in my throat. Cole is unarmed? He a
“It’s not hard to see where the rumors are coming from.” Luca shakes his head. “These assholes would make anyone paranoid.”
“These assholes are the ones betraying my father,” Cole adds. “Not me.”
“This has gotten out of hand.” Luther attempts to placate the room by raising his hands in surrender. “Walking away on bad terms won’t do either of us any good.”
“Then it’s up to you to make this right. Fix it.”
“How?” Luther grates. “What do you expect me to do?”
Cole laughs, the low grumble vibrating through my chest. His gorgeousness is lost under brutality. The harshness of his features resembles those of the devil. He’s a menacing, furious predator.
“I expect you to do what’s necessary. What he deserves. What you would insist if the situation was reversed.”
Nobody breeches the void of silence. Not for long seconds as concerned glances are shared between Chris and Robert.
“Your men don’t know their place,” Cole continues. “Either show them the error of their ways or consider this the dissolution of our relationship.”
Again, Luther remains quiet. He doesn’t even change his expression.
It’s Luca who breaks the gridlock by stalking to Chris. “Keys. Now.”
The unfamiliar man complies, slapping the car fob into Luca’s palm. “Safe travels, motherfucker.”
“Until we meet again, asshole.” Luca turns and stalks for Cole. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s get the fuck out of here.” My protector focuses on his father, his mouth breaking into a sardonic smile. “Make your decision, old man. But realize if Robert is left standing, you’re as good as dead to me.”
He walks for the hall, dragging me along with him, my feet fumbling as if they’re painted on.
“Son—”
“Don’t fucking ‘son’ me.” Cole doesn’t stop our progression across the room. “Make your choice. I won’t wait forever.”
Each step we take adds a layer of vulnerability to my precarious position. I don’t appreciate having my back to the enemy—not when there’s no protection other than the threats of the vigilant defender at my side.
We’re all out of our depth. None more so than me.
“Keep moving,” he mutters. “Hurry up.”
We reach the shadowed hall and I glance over my shoulder to see Luca following right behind.
His focus is intense. Pained.
He pities me. The emotion is potent enough to make my skin crawl.
Fuck those monsters. Fuck them and the ease with which they broke me.
I didn’t stand a chance.
Not when I was stranded on an island without a weapon or a chance of escape. I was an easy target, and it’s all Cole’s fault.
I yank my hand from his grip, earning another dose of pity, this time from the man himself. Those dark eyes hit me even harder than Luca’s did, smothering me with their guilt.
“Robert…” Luther’s ominous tone carries toward us. “You were out of line.”
“Quick.” Cole places a hand on my lower back, providing gentle pressure. “We need to get out of here.”
The panic returns. The fear and lack of control collide with enough force to have me ru
“You can’t be serious.” Robert’s words are filled with incredulity. “The bitch put up a fight.”
The bitch.
Me.
He continues to argue how I deserved what I got, his voice growing animated, his fury escalating.
My own volatile emotions build. Rage curdles among the self-pity and panic. I want to hurt him like he hurt me. To see the horror in his eyes and the shake in his limbs.
“Luther, what the hell are you doing?” Robert raises his voice. “What the fu—”
A bang bursts around me, the noise attacking my ears and reverberating off the walls.
I scream.
And scream.
And scream.
The mania I’ve been fighting finally takes over.
I lose all grasp on reality. I can’t see. Can’t hear. Can’t think.
A hand clasps over my mouth. An arm is wrapped around my waist.
I’m lifted off the ground and dragged outside into the sunlight while Luca storms ahead, leading the way to a black SUV parked on the pebbled drive.
Cole murmurs in my ear. He says words I don’t understand. Soothes me with things that don’t make sense until Luca pulls open the back door of the vehicle and I’m guided inside.
The moment Cole releases me, I crumple. I miss his protection as soon as it’s gone. I’m exposed and weak without him.
The seconds he takes to climb into the front passenger seat seem like a lifetime spent on the frontlines of a world war.
“What’s the plan?” Luca sinks behind the wheel. “What are we doing?”
“You’re going to start the fucking car and get us out of here.” Cole opens the glove compartment and retrieves two guns, handing one to Luca before placing his own beneath his jacket.
“There’s only two of them now. We could take them. We could end—”
“No.” Cole slams the glove compartment shut. “Not with her here. I won’t risk it.”
I want to sob at his conviction. But I won’t. I refuse to remain in this weakened state. I’m not a spineless damsel.
What I need to do is tell them I’m okay. I have to side with Luca and make it clear this has to end now. But the words won’t form.
“Drive,” Cole demands. “Now.”
My heart lurches as the engine ticks over. Relief tingles its way through my belly with the slow inch of the car creeping forward. The acceleration increases. Going, going.
Then stops.
Luca taps the brakes, his muttered expletive filling the car interior.
I’m hit with another dose of sickening adrenaline, my gaze darting everywhere to seek answers until my focus finds the mini bus pulling into the drive, each window filled with a new nightmare.
Pained eyes stare down at us, the pale faces of female passengers filling me with an emotion far beyond description. There have to be more than twenty women on that bus. Twenty sex slaves, their haunted features tattooing my mind.
They pass slowly as I stare into the dull blue eyes of a woman who can’t be older than eighteen. There’s concern in her features—concern for me—when I’m the one leaving hell as she’s about to enter.
“Move,” Cole growls. “Get us to the port.”
I shake my head, needing to deny the instruction, but my voice is lost in a deep and consuming void. There’s nothing inside me. No conviction. No determination.
I close my eyes as the car rolls forward and all I see is that woman. That girl.
She’s going to go through far more than the trauma I endured. The things they will do to her… The horrors…