Do I try to run to get help? Or do I stay?
“Here’s the deal,” he said. “There’s a fire escape just outside that window.” He gestured toward a large window at the other side of the room, the blackness of night making it seem like a hole in the wall. “You’re going to take the fire extinguisher and smash the glass. Then you’re going to jump onto the fire escape, and you’re going to run down those stairs like you have the devil himself on your heels. Once you’re out that window, I’ll let the little Valenti tramp go.”
“No!” Karina tried to shove the man off her, but he grabbed her throat and slammed her head against the wall, digging the knife deeper into her flesh.
“One more fucking sound out of you, and I’ll slice your face from ear to ear.”
“Please stop.” I took a hesitant step forward. “I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Yes, you will, if you want the Valenti bitch to keep her beautiful smile.”
I nodded frantically, the blade against Karina’s throat making me nervous. Scared. And I didn’t for one moment think about what would happen to me once I went down the fire escape. All I thought about was what would happen to Karina if I didn’t.
Karina tried to glance in my direction, but the knife against her throat kept her from moving. “Doe, don’t do it. He’s fucking bluffing.”
A shriek left her lips, and all I saw was a line of crimson pooling on her shoulder, the man’s knife stained with her blood.
He tilted his head, tightening his grip on her throat. “Does that feel like I’m fucking bluffing?”
“Stop. I’ll do it.” Tears stung my eyes, a single drop slipping down my cheek. “Just don’t hurt her.”
“Then get a fucking move on and do as I said.”
I was used to fear. But this was different—fearing for someone’s life other than your own. It was more intense. More extreme. There was no doubt in my mind that I would gladly give myself to the devil rather than see Karina get hurt because of me.
“I just…I just have one question. Is it him? Did he put you up to this?”
The guy shrugged. “If by him you mean Vadik, then, yes. Rich bastard sure as fuck wants you back badly. He’s put out a reward for whoever returns his pretty, broken girl to him.” The grin on his face was filled with greed. “There’s a fuck-load of people looking for you, which means you’ll be returned to him sooner or later. But that reward is mine, so I’ll prefer sooner.”
The man gestured toward the window. “Get a fucking move on. There’s a car waiting for you. Once you get to the bottom, you get your ass into that fucking car. Is that clear?”
“Crystal.”
I turned around, fear causing the blood to flow through my veins at a thousand beats per minute. I knew this would happen. I knew it was only a matter of time before he came for me. I knew it from the second I found out I had been stolen from him. And I had been a fool by letting myself believe I might have had a chance by escaping him. By being with Antonio.
Every step I took toward the window, my feet grew heavier, my body reluctant to move. From the shuffling behind me, I knew he was dragging Karina while he followed me.
“Doe, stop.” Karina’s voice was shaky, sounding desperate. “Don’t fucking do this. Don’t you dare do this.”
“Shut the fuck up before I shove my cock into that big fucking mouth of yours. Actually, don’t shut up. Say something else so I have a reason to force my dick down your throat.”
“Fuck you!” Karina sneered, then I heard a loud crack, what I assumed was him hitting her.
“For that, you’re getting it up the fucking ass, Valenti tramp.”
I stilled, my heart pounding like a jackhammer inside my chest. But his words. Those disgusting words that left his mouth, it morphed my fear into anger. The thought of him hurting Karina in a way I’d been hurt a hundred times, replaced the dread with rage. And while I stood there allowing the rage and anger to consume me, adrenaline rushing to every corner of my body, I closed my eyes and reached up, touching my necklace.
“Why the fuck are you stopping? Did I stutter? Or are you mentally fucked as well? I said get your fucking ass out that window and down that fire escape now, broken girl.”
My fingers wrapped around the necklace. “There’s only one problem,” I murmured.
“Yeah, the problem is you’re not fucking walking.”
I took a deep breath, steeled myself while I imagined Master V’s face, the victorious grin he would have once he managed to get his claws into me again.
“No,” I started. “The problem is, I’m no longer his pretty, broken girl.”
I turned, swung my arm, and then…blood. So much blood. A waterfall of crimson spilled from his throat, and in my hand was the blood-stained blade. He gurgled, choking on his own blood as he gasped for air. Falling to his knees, his hands reached up to the open wound around his throat, red seeping through between his fingers.