My eyes snap up to find Mr. Thanos gripping the handle of a blade. Crimson liquid spurts from his body as his wide eyes glare at the man who’s dropped the smoke he was just enjoying on the body of my owner.
A grip on my arm is harsh, but I’m on my feet in seconds.
“Take this.” He hands me a smaller knife, which I grip, but stare at him in shock, not knowing what he wants me to do with it. “He’s all yours.”
My head turns to see the man who’s hurt me all these years I’ve been here watch me. The blade that’s already inside him isn’t there to kill him. It’s to slow him down. I realize what Drake means. Stepping closer to the man on his knees, I smirk. The satisfaction in my expression must alarm him because that’s when he pleads with me.
“Think about this. You don’t know what you’re doing,” he tells me. The man who bought me, violated me, and broke me in ways I’d rather not think about, is now pleading for his life.
Lifting the knife, I press it to his mouth, trailing the tip of the blade over his lower lip. My eyes meet his, and I finally say everything I wanted to tell him all this time.
“You’re a sick fuck. This is mercy,” I bite out. Spitting in his face, I smile. Blood trickles from his mouth where I slice into his bottom lip, causing him to cry out, and I revel in the agony I’m causing him.
Two men dressed in black grip his wrists behind his back as I push the sleek silver onto his tongue. “Time for you to learn how to swallow this,” I spit his words back to him with venom lacing every syllable. Pushing the long silver blade into his mouth, I feel flesh squelch as the blood seeps from him. My whole hand is in his mouth as I watch his eyes roll back, and the scarlet fluid rushes like a waterfall down his chin as I throat-fuck him with the weapon I’ve been gifted.
I feel Drake’s eyes on me as I pull my arm back and shove it back in, again and again. I’ve never felt such intense satisfaction as I do in this moment when I watch the life drain from his eyes. When I finally rip my arm away, there’s no longer silver or black on the weapon; it’s red, shimmering in the low light like a beacon.
Vengeance feels good.
Turning to my savior, I see the smile on his face, and for the first time in a long time, I grin back. He’s handsome in a dark, dangerous way, but I find myself magnetized to him. I don’t know what his plan for me is, but for now, I’m happy.
CHAPTER NINE
CAIA
His blue eyes leave mine, and he gestures with his head to the other man who just walked in. “River,” he says to the male I recognize instantly. “Take her to the car. We’ll get her cleaned up and head to the house.”
“I can speak for myself,” I say confidently, causing his stare to snap to mine. “Why did you let me do that?” I ask.
“Because you needed revenge. Now let’s go. I want to learn all there is to know about you.” He winks, the corner of his mouth tipping up into a smirk so sinful I know I’ve just met the devil himself. He hands me a lit cigarette. “Smoke that. It’ll calm you,” he orders, and I place the smoke between my lips, pulling the nerve-calming drug into my system.
My lungs fill with nicotine, and my eyes flutter closed in satisfaction. When I look at Drake again, there’s a storm in his eyes. It dances like a hurricane ready to wipe out a town, a city, or even the world, and I wonder just how dangerous my knight in shining armor is.
“Let’s go,” he tells me.
“Why should I trust you?” My question feels pointless. He’s just given me a weapon, which I used to kill a man. He watched, smiled, and waited until I was ready before touching me. And even so, his touch was as gentle as it was commanding.
“I don’t expect you to trust me, or forgive me for what happened in the past,” he tells me with a shrug. “But we need to get out of this house before the police pull up. River and his men will clean the mess, and we’ll be safe at the house before dawn.”
“And . . .?”
“And you’ll be able to shower, sleep, and decide what it is you want to do next. But you don’t have to decide right now. All I want to do is get you out of here safely.” There’s a glimmer of affection in his eyes as he regards me warily. He doesn’t trust me, and I don’t trust him. We’re at an impasse.