Page 65 of The Ritual

Page List


Font:  

I look down at it. The guy has jet-black hair, pale skin, and a face tattoo of a fucking Chinese star on his cheek. Hard to forget. “Got it,” I say.

“Don’t fucking play, boy!” He shoots up from his chair, knocking it over as his hand slaps me across the face so hard that if the chair I’m chained to wasn’t cemented down, I’d be on my ass.

Taking in a deep breath, I glare up at him. “I said, I fucking got it.”

“I want his head!” He stabs the photo with his finger. “I want his fucking balls! I want him in fucking pieces!” He slams his fisted hands on the table, making it rattle.

“Anything else?” Matt asks sarcastically.

Gregory bares his teeth at Matt. “If you two do not get it done, I will make sure you rot in a maximum-security prison for the rest of your goddamn lives,” he warns.

Matt chuckles. “I like anal. What about you, Ryat?”

“As long as I’m the pitcher,” I say, playing along with whatever game Matt is playing.

“Of course,” he adds. Then looks up at him. “I’m sure we can find someone who will willingly be our bitch.”

Gregory reaches across the table, grabbing his shirt, and tries to pull him toward him, but Matt doesn’t go far. When he realizes Matt’s cuffed to the damn chair, he slams the side of his face into the table instead. “I’ll have your fucking heads …”

The officer clears his throat, cutting him off. Gregory lets go and shoves him back. Matt very slowly rolls his neck around. Then leans over and spits some blood onto the concrete floor.

“Get it done!” With that, he turns and stomps over to the elevator, his two merry men once again on his ass.

The officer removes the keys to the cuffs from his pocket and undoes my wrists first, followed by my ankles. I stand and stretch as he goes to free Matt.

“Don’t get too comfortable.” The man finally speaks and adds, informing us, “They’re going right back on.”

BLAKELY

I WAKE UP and groan, rolling over. My body hurts so much. My pussy feels swollen and tender. I think it was from Ryat slapping it. But fuck, it felt amazing at the time.

Grabbing my phone, I see it’s a little after ten in the morning. I had gotten seven and a half more hours of sleep after he woke me up in my room and kidnapped me. I get out of bed and make my way to the bathroom. I never did clean myself up after we had sex last night. At that point, I just didn’t fucking care.

After using the restroom and taking a nice hot shower, I exit the bedroom to look for Ryat. “Hello?” I call out, walking down a long hallway. I gasp, throwing my arms around my naked body when I step out into an open room. It’s the living room.

Nothing but high ceilings with massive windows. The thought of someone seeing me makes me jump back, using the hallway to shield my body. But getting a better look outside, I see it’s nothing but woods.

“Ryat?” I ask, but only silence follows.

Going back into the bedroom, I grab the sheet that’s been shoved to the end of the bed and wrap it around me. I walk over to the dark gray curtains that hang from the ceiling and pull them back to showcase more woods on the other side of the floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s beautiful out here. It has two glass doors that open to a back porch. My hand wraps around the doorhandle but I stop myself, needing to go find him first.

Walking back down the hallway, I look over the bare walls. The furniture is black leather. No rugs, pictures, or artwork in the house whatsoever. If I didn’t know Ryat owned it, I’d say that it’s vacant.

The kitchen is what any chef would call a dream—all stainless-steel appliances, three ovens, two refrigerators, and one large walk-in freezer. The pantry alone is as big as my bedroom at my apartment.

I start to walk up the stairs but pause, realizing I don’t have my cell on me. Going back to the bedroom, I pick it up and call him.

“Hello?” he answers on the first ring.

“Where are you?” I ask, looking around the bedroom as if he’s going to appear.

“I had to run to Barrington. I didn’t want to wake you.”

Oh. “How far is that from here?”

“Thirty minutes. I should be back in a couple of hours.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.” We hang up, and I go into the kitchen and make myself some coffee. I’m going to need it. I could seriously go back to sleep right now.

Once it’s done, I open the sliding glass door and walk outside onto the back patio and sit down in a chair. Looking around, I see that it wraps around the whole back of the house. I bet it goes around the front too.


Tags: Shantel Tessier Dark