I hesitated, and he pressed close to my side, so that the hard outline of his gun was imprinted on my ribs. I stopped breathing.
“You can die right now, or you can open the door. Your choice.”
I froze for the space of three rapid heartbeats. Maybe a quick death would be better than whatever they planned to do to me once we were inside, out of sight from passersby.
I squeezed my eyes shut to clear away the tears that blinded me, and Max’s dark eyes flashed across my mind, white hot flames of fury flickering in their depths.
No. I couldn’t just give up. I would find a way out of this. I just had to survive for long enough.
I managed to retrieve my keys from my purse, and my hand shook so badly that I scratched the paint on the door around the lock. After a few wild attempts, the key jammed into the lock, and the door swung open.
The one holding me shoved me over the threshold, and the other slammed the door shut behind us, locking us all in.
I tried to twist my way free the moment we were alone, but my captor’s grip tightened on my shoulders like a vise.
“What do you want from me?” My demand was ruined by the hitch in my voice.
The one with the gun chuckled, his cruel eyes on me as he addressed his twin. “Should we tell her, Paulie?”
Paulie replied, speaking to me rather than to the other monster—John. “What do you think we want, little bird?”
He shoved me against the wall, trapping me with his powerful frame against my much smaller body. His weight crushed the air from my lungs, preventing me from screaming as he roughly grabbed my breast.
“We’re going to have a lot of fun before we’re finished with you,” he crooned. “Then we’ll leave what’s left for our bastard cousin to find.”
A block of ice dropped in my stomach. Bringing them inside had been a terrible mistake. They would torture and rape me, and then they’d kill me anyway.
Max. Where was Max? He had to come. He had to.
“I already texted Max,” I said in a breathless rush. “He’ll come here looking for me.”
John bit out a curse, and Paulie squeezed my breasts hard enough to bruise as he growled in my face. “You’re ruining my fun, little bird.”
“We can’t kill the little shit,” John spat. “His old man will have our heads if we do.”
“I have an idea.” Paulie’s delighted grin flashed before my eyes just before his fist smashed into my jaw.
Pain exploded through my head, and my brain bounced against my skull. The world flickered black, and when it spun back into existence, I was staring at the black and white checked tiles that lined the floor of my foyer.
A heavy boot slammed into my stomach, driving all the air from my chest as my insides writhed in agony. I couldn’t draw breath to cry out when thick fingers tangled in my hair, hauling me up and dragging me through my house. Pain consumed my senses, blinding me as I was wrenched forward, unable to do more than gasp for breath that wouldn’t fill my lungs.
I barely had time to recognize my larger white kitchen tiles before I was shoved hard between my shoulder blades. My head smacked into my kitchen island, and the world went black again.
The tiles were cool against my cheek, but heat kissed my side. Something bright danced across my wavering vision just before one of the twins’ faces filled my world. The twisted smile and raw hatred in his eyes pierced my heart like an icy blade.
“The little chickenshit won’t come for you now,” he sneered.
Then he was gone, two sets of heavy boots quickly stomping away.
They were leaving. I would survive. Every inch of my body screamed with pain, but I would live.
A sharp crackle tore through my chest like a gunshot, and I blinked hard, willing the world to fall into place around me. I already knew the horror that I would see; I knew that sound, and the terror from my childhood seized my lungs.
No. It wasn’t fear that seared my chest. Smoke billowed around me, thickening above my head as flames began to consume my kitchen. I drew breath to release a primal scream, and I choked on ash.
Get out! I had to get out. My father wasn’t here to carry me to safety this time.
Max wasn’t here to save me.