“Shut your stupid fucking mouth, Thorne, and get the fuck up. You’ll be useful. You’re pretty enough, and he liked you enough to fuck your stupid brains out. I bet he talks, I bet Wilder likes to talk in bed and crow about his triumphs. You can tell me everything. Get up and come with me.”
I can’t let that happen. I’m not sure where the sudden bravery comes from, but it’s ripping from my mouth in a rush. “No! I’m staying with Nikolai.”
He laughs, and it’s the cruelest sound I’ve ever heard. “Look around you, Thorne. Do you see your ugly bastard of a lover? He got what he wanted from you, and now he’s done. He’s over it. He gave you to me. Lost the game over a stupid fucking maid he probably wants to bone. I don’t know, don’t care. She wasn’t that good, though some of my men enjoyed her. If you weren’t my bitch of a kid, I’d give you to them, too. Wise up. Your precious Nikolai lost, and I got you back. He’s not coming. Get up.”
What? Thorne? Who’s that? Maid? What is he talking about?
Suddenly, I realize I haven’t seen Sylvie recently. I open my mouth to retort, but he punches me so hard in the head, I see stars. He’s careful; though my eye starts to swell and my cheek blooms with the start of a bruise, he doesn’t spill blood.
This man likes to hurt, I think.
Think? I know.
They weren’t nightmares. They were memories.
My stomach lurches as he clicks his fingers and two big men grab me, hauling me up.
Their grips are cruel.
My father knows how to hurt and how to do it to get the most enjoyment.
I start to struggle as something pricks my skin and cold floods my veins.
Then everything wobbles.
Everything goes dark.
Chapter30
Nikolai
Something in me wrenches apart as I watch Finnegan take my Rose from my home.
Something breaks.
That fucker was in my house. He thinks he’s won. He thinks I’ve given up my Rose for a pathetic two million? Rose for that pittance and a maid?
I feel sick.
We’re sitting in the guardhouse where we can see the door. I’ve been watching the video feed from the house on my tablet, gripping it so tight, it’s a wonder it doesn’t break.
I want to take out Finnegan now, but I can’t. Mia is with an armed guard, taking care of Sylvie. The moment Derek’s pimped out car rolls through my gates, Mia and Sylvie are free.
Finnegan won’t harm them. I’ve lost and he’s won and he’s not going to risk his only offspring now by taking out someone as inconsequential as the maid.
Watching those men touch Rose, carry her unconscious body out, her bare ass flashing in their fucking arms as they do, my shirt buttoned, I want to rip their hearts out with my bare hands and force feed them their own hearts in the last seconds of their lives.
I want to take my Rose and murder her father, screw Sylvie and everyone else.
Fuck my fucking plan.
The urge is so strong to do it, and it’s only Rush’s hand gripping my shoulder that keeps me there, grounded. I feel like my insides are being ripped out through my nose, and I can do nothing but watch as they bundle Rose in and drive off.
As they pass through the gate, Tony meets my gaze. “Sylvie’s safe. Mia, too.”
“Good.” Rush breathes out a sigh of relief. “Things are going to plan.”
I don’t respond. I’m shaking inside with the need to go after Finnegan, guns blazing.