The memory left my mind, and I was no longer in my father's office. Instead, I was kneeling on the ground with the carnage of my anger surrounding me.
The accounting books were all over the floor. Two bookshelves, overturned. Spilled booze seeped into my rug while I sat on the hardwood floor with my head in my hands. I realized somebody was knocking on the door a couple seconds later, making me wonder how long the visitor had been at it. I'd been lost in my own mind for too damn long.
"What?" I demanded, and the door opened. Once again, Jasper was standing there, but this time, his posture was straighter. He did not comment on the state of the room, just allowed his eyes to wander the mess I'd made before going back to me. "Fuck, tell me you have good news."
"I might." It was barely anything, yet it still sparked hope that I'd find Violet.
"Tell me." I picked myself up, smoothing my blazer and awaiting Jasper's news.
"She made a call before she left," Jasper went on. "I checked her phone records."
"Who did she call?"
"Her sister."
"Her sister?" I repeated, and instantly, the puzzle pieces clicked into place.
Fuck. That bastard Connor stole her from me. I refused to sell my most prized possession to him, and this is how the old jackass decided to enact his revenge.
My hands formed fists at my sides and I had to stop myself from snarling out loud. I'm going to fucking kill Connor for this, and nobody can fucking stop me. I'd like to see the person who tries.
Connor Peterson is a dead man fucking walking.TwoVioletI thought Devlin introduced me to pain.
I was wrong.
Connor hit me so hard he knocked me out. Time passed. I had no idea how long. It felt like days. I woke up with a blindfold over my eyes and suspended by what I assumed were ropes based on the way they burned my wrists. When I came to terms with the agony, I realized I was completely naked--exposed in every way.
Pain. Mental and physical pain.
My mind broke down in Devlin’s cage. I accepted the bottom of that despair, because I believed it was as low as I could possibly go.
I was wrong. True despair was absolute darkness with no way to know what was going to happen to me. The only thing I knew for sure was that Connor hadn’t taken what he truly wanted--not yet. I assumed he would, and waiting for that damnation was worse than the pain I was forced to endure.
Connor lured me into a trap. Did my sister know what he planned to do? Was she complacent in his plan? Did she help him? I didn’t want to believe she would betray me like that, but she didn’t believe me when I told her the truth about what he tried to do to me when I was sixteen. She took his side and pushed me away. Was I a fool to believe that she was my savior?
Was I wrong about Devlin? I ran because of what Georgia told me about him. Did I believe a lie? Everything she said sounded so real. I overheard Devlin talking to someone about a deal to sell me to the highest bidder. That’s exactly what Georgia said he was trying to do. How would she know if it wasn’t true? What about my father? Did Devlin really set him up?
All I can do is ask myself questions I can’t answer and assume the worst, because the worst may be yet to come…It was impossible for my body to rest, but the darkness consumed my mind until I passed out several times. I didn’t know if it was minutes--hours--days. I just knew that my body ached more every time my eyes tried to open against the blindfold and I regained what resembled consciousness.
Something was different. There was a breeze and I hadn’t felt that since I woke up suspended from the ropes. The musty smell that had festered in my nostrils since I took my first conscious breath had a hint of freshness in it. There was a shimmer of light around the edge of my blindfold.
“Is…” My throat was so dry that it was almost impossible to speak, but I forced the raspy words out. “Is someone there?”
“Yes, dear Violet.” It was Connor’s voice, and it made every hair stand on end. “I’m here.”
I pulled on my ropes. I had done that so many times that my wrists had scabs where they had bled. It was no use. I didn’t have that much strength when I had all of it.
“Please…” I hated to beg him. I had no choice. “Please let me go.”
“Is that what you want?” I could hear him take a step closer, and then he put a hand on my hip. “Do you want me to cut these ropes off your wrists?”