“You fucking BASTARD!” I yanked at the cuff against the headboard, driving my foot against the pillows. But the steel refused to budge, grinding against my wrist until I had to stop. Agony ripped through my hand. I collapsed and grabbed my hand, massaging the bone under the cuff. “Motherfucker,” I moaned as I sucked in hard breaths and searched the room for something I could destroy.
But there was nothing.
There was nothing.
I unleashed a roar and kicked a pillow, sending it flying across the room.
I was going to kill him.
No.
I should have killed him when I’d had the chance. I clenched my teeth, turning my gaze to the doorway. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. Sisters or no sisters, this motherfucker was going down.
The soft click of a lock froze me. I held my breath as the sound of footsteps moved in…only they weren’t his. I shook my head. They’re not heavy enough.
Some soft humming came. A woman?
“Hello?” I called out, and the humming stopped. “Hello, can you hear me?”
The steps came closer along the hallway. I scrambled over the covers, straining as she stepped into the doorway. She was a small, older woman carrying a bag full of groceries.
“Hi there.” I smiled, forced a chuckle, and lifted my cuffed wrist. “So, funny story.”
She was nervous, looking over her shoulder.
“My name’s Helene and I was playing around with Riven’s handcuffs and accidentally handcuffed myself to the bed. The only thing is, I left my cell in his car. So, I was hoping I might use yours?”
She gave a small shake of her head, as though the mere sight of this was terrifying.
“It’s my fault,” I said carefully. “And I know Riven will be upset when he sees what I did. But I’m sure he’ll be relieved to know you helped me.”
She scowled.
“What’s your name?” I urged, my heart thundering.
“Maria.”
“It’s just a call, Maria,” I urged desperately. “I’m sure Mr. Cruz will be so very grateful you helped me out.”
Please…come on…PLEASE.
She took a slow step, reaching into her pocket to pull out a scuffed Nokia.
“Thank you.” I tried not to stare at the cell as she came closer.
She carefully handed it over. I smiled at her. “I’m so grateful for this.” I glanced at the groceries in her arms. “I won’t be long.”
She gave a nod and stepped backwards without saying a word. The moment she turned, I opened the flip phone, closed my eyes, and drew up the number I’d committed to memory in the hopes we might one day have a connection.
I stared at the worn keypad and entered the number.
It rang once, twice.
Come on…answer.
“Hello?”
“Viv.”
Silence, then a hiss. “Helene?”
“It’s me,” I whispered as relief hit hard.
“Where the hell have you been? We’ve been looking for you!”
She was pissed…really pissed. I smiled. That only meant one thing. She cared. “I need you to listen to me, V, okay?”
Silence. “Okayyy.”
“You know that Plan B? Yeah, well, that went sideways.” I glanced at the doorway, listening to Riven’s housekeeper putting away groceries. “So I’m now making it up as I go along. But I need you to take this number down, okay? If you don’t hear from me or if…” I turn up dead. “Anything else happens, I’ll need you to follow it.”
I pressed the button to access Maria’s contacts, then her messages, finding Riven’s caller ID. It wasn’t the Unknown number I wanted, but it was something. But there was something about the message…it looked like a damn grocery list. Made sense. Still…what he’d asked for nagged at me. I closed the message down and read her back the number.
“Now, repeat it back to me.”
She did, reciting it perfectly. I exhaled hard.
“Helene?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you safe?”
I opened my eyes, listening to the movement in the distance. If I told her the truth, what then? I knew Vivienne, maybe a little more than she wanted me to. She was stronger now. Protective. Even if it was me. “I am for now. I just need you to take care of yourself, okay? Stay with London and the sons. Tell Ryth…tell Ryth I’ll be back as soon as I can.” And with Hale’s head on a fucking spike.
“Okay, but if you need me to come and get you, all you have to do is tell me and I’ll be there.”
Pride swelled in my heart. There might be hope for us yet. “I will.”
“Be safe, Helene.” Her voice deepened. “Don’t piss me off.”
My smile widened. “I’ll try not to do that,” I finished, ended the call, and quickly deleted the number I’d called from the list of calls made.
But it was the message that stopped me from calling out to Riven’s housekeeper. I opened it back up and found Riven’s text, scrolling down the list he’d sent her:
Vegan butter.
Nut butter.
Is Nutella vegan? If so, get that as well.
Vegan crisps.
Oat milk.
Fresh vegetables…a lot of them, and fruits as well. Everything in season from that fresh fruit market on Maddison.
Also, wine. The usual.
Spare no expense.
Spare no expense?
My pulse was booming as I reread the instructions. This wasn’t just any list, this was…
You’ll eat what I give you. Do I make myself clear? You’ll eat, shower…do everything I tell you to do. You call me a monster now, but you haven’t seen the things I’m capable of. You don’t want that, Helene Montgomery. Trust me.
He’d been a monster at that moment. Terrifying me. But that…
That message wasn’t from someone who liked to be cruel.
My hand went to my belly and I was remembering the way he’d yanked the shirt from my hold, exposing my belly, when Maria’s footsteps came in the hallway. She stepped into the doorway, forcing me to give her a lie of a smile. “Thank you.” I held out her cell. “He didn’t answer.”
She took the cell, scowling as she looked at it.
Then she turned and almost ran out of the room.
But it didn’t matter. I’d called the person I needed to call. My sister.
The housekeeper left, and in the silence…fear moved in.
I couldn’t trust Riven and I sure as hell couldn’t feel anything for him. He was The Principal, the sick bastard who’d not only hurt my sisters, but so many women. The memory of that cellar pushed in. Bodies piled on top of bodies. I’d never trust a man who’d done that. Not even if my life was on the line.
He could shove his fucking nut butter.
The deep snarl of an engine rose before it suddenly ended. Not the purr of the Audi…someone else.
I shifted on the bed, one hand tethered by steel, and looked for something I could use as a weapon.
Heavy steps approached in the hallway.
My pulse kicked.
They came closer.
Closer.
A shadow spilled along the hallway…
Before Riven stepped in.
I exhaled hard. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Really?” He held my stare. “Why?”
Why?
WHY?
Because that’s not the sound of the Audi…and because your housekeeper was just here. If it wasn’t you, then it could’ve been…it could’ve been worse. So much fucking worse. I needed to get it together. I needed to keep my cool.
I shook my head. “Because your housekeeper was just here and I…and I…”
He scowled at that, turning with his hands full of bags, and snarled. “Shit. I forgot, I…” He stiffened, then swung back to me. “You could’ve screamed. You could’ve had the cops here in ten minutes. But you didn’t.” He dropped the bags and came closer to the crumpled bed. “Why?”
My eyes widened.
I shook my head.
“I…I don’t know.”
It wasn’t the truth. But it wasn’t a lie either.
He came close and reached into his pocket, pulled out the handcuff key, and released my wrist. “Take a shower, Helene. I brought you clothes.”
He stared down at me, those dark eyes watching my every reaction. Did he think I was turning soft? Did he think he scared me? I ground my teeth and held that stare, letting him know exactly the fight he’d get if he tried anything.
He didn’t, but neither did he move as I slid from the bed and hurried into the bathroom. Only this time, I closed the door and shut him out. Boom…boom…boom. My pulse filled my ears as I waited for him to barge in. But he didn’t. Instead, the heavy thud of his steps moved around before the rustle of the bags came.
I yanked off the boxers and t-shirt, then used the toilet before stepping into the shower. There’d been a change between us, a blurring of the lines. I didn’t like it. He wanted control, and I wanted information. The moment I got what I needed, I was done…and so was he.
Really?
The word rose.
Are you really going to end him? I just can’t see you doing it, can you?
Fantasy mingled with reality. Him kneeling in front of me, my gun pressed against his head, finger on the trigger. Could I squeeze it? Could I blow his brains out over the wall? But it wasn’t the violence that pulled my focus. It was him…on his damn knees.
The sound of his deep voice slipped under the door to reach me. I closed my eyes, my breaths deepening as I fixed on that sound. The water pummeled my body. All I needed to do was angle the showerhead to hit my nipples…Oh God. That urgent longing hit me right between my thighs. Desperation forced my eyes open, to find the bathroom door still closed.
I closed my eyes again and turned away from the door, curled my shoulders to hide my body, and let my hand trail down. It was nothing, right? Just release. Just a sick, desperate release. Then I could get my head back in the game. And I needed that. I pushed my finger in.
Just a nobody.
I squeezed my eyes closed. Shame and humiliation burned in my cheeks.
A nobody who likes to come all over my fucking sofa.
My finger slipped out, then joined with another before I pushed both inside.
Go on, nobody.
I braced one hand against the tiles, curling my fingers as I stroked.
Make a mess all over me.
A tremor raced, making me catch my breath.
“Go on.”
My body clenched.
“Fucking come.”
I yanked my eyes open as a cruel hand clasped around my throat. I was yanked backwards and slammed hard against the wall.
Stars, that’s all I saw…then there was him.
Those dark, hateful eyes were narrowed in on me. “You want to fuck, Helene?”
Water fell into my eyes, blurring him. Still, he was there…and so was my desire.
“Well?” He pushed closer.
I shook my head. “No!”
“Liar!” he spat the word.
Water stuck his shirt to his chest, that expanded with every consuming breath.
“Tell me.” Those words were a warning. “Tell me you weren’t thinking about him.”
Him?
My mind was slow to catch up, still captured by the fading white bursts behind my eyes.
“Michael DiAngelo,” he forced through clenched teeth.
I shook my head, but my mind was racing as I was shoved out of the stall.
“Get dried,” he commanded, switching off the water.
I just stood there, frozen. What the fuck happened? What the fuck was I supposed to do?
I’m just making it up as I go along…those same words I’d said to Vivienne came back to me now. Make it up, right? He stepped out of the stall, his clothes stuck hard against his chest.
“You want to think about riding another man’s cock in my presence?” Riven snarled, tearing his sodden shirt over his head. “I know you called someone. It was him, wasn’t it? Well?”
My knees trembled as I stumbled forward and grasped the vanity. It wasn’t another man. That was the most terrifying thing. It’d be easy if it was. If my stupid, sick mind would learn to cooperate.
Movement came from the corner of my eye. His bruising fingers gripped the back of my neck, pulling me hard against his chest as he growled in my ear. “Did you give him my name? Did he promise to track me down? Hurt me, kill me, even? That’s who you were thinking of, right? Your white fucking knight, DiAngelo, driving into your wet cunt. Tell me, Helene, does he at least have a big cock?”
I thrashed, fighting him. “Let me go!”
“I bet he does.” That low, reverberating tone hit between my legs. “I bet you fucking rode it well, didn’t you? I bet you bounced on that fucking thing all day, then climbed onto his face. Or does he not like that? Is that it, Helene? Does your school teacher not like to eat cunt?”
My scream bounced off the walls. He was fucking crazy. A sick, degrading bastard I wanted dead. Still, that hunger wouldn’t go away. Revulsion filled me as I met his stare and he searched my eyes.
He saw.
I don’t know how much.
But it was enough…
“From now on, you shower in front of me.” His voice was husky. “You do everything in front of me…and the next time you decide to make your one rescue call, Helene…make sure it’s to someone who’ll be alive long enough to save you.”
“What?”
Those beautiful lips were chilling as he smiled. “I have his address and his phone number. Believe me, he won’t last the day.”
Terror slammed into me. No, this wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be…
“Now.” He strode forward, snatched a towel from the counter, and shoved it against my chest. “Now move.”
I couldn’t move…and I couldn’t think. There was no Michael DiAngelo…
I stumbled forward, still dripping.
“Hand.”
I shook my head. “No…” He lunged forward, grabbed it himself and yanked me closer to the bed. “No!” I pulled away. “You don’t understand!”
He descended like an avalanche, driving me backwards until I hit the bed…and fell.
“I don’t understand?” he snarled, lunging to slam his hands on either side of me on the bed. “Let me tell you what I do understand, Helene. While I was out, you tricked my housekeeper into giving you her cell phone. You told her you were calling me, which you didn’t. Then I find you fingering your wet cunt and panting like a dog in heat. So, the only reasonable explanation is that you’re thinking about him, waiting for him…craving him.”
His body pressed against mine, his muscular thighs forcing mine apart.
I couldn’t speak, couldn’t say a word.
Because the truth was far too terrifying.
“There is no Michael DiAngelo,” I finally whispered bleakly. “There never was.”
He was beautiful when he smiled.
Chilling and breathtaking.
One slow nod and he rose. Reaching up, he clasped the cuff around my wrist, then the headboard once more. “When I come back, you’ll be punished.” He turned his head and met my gaze. “But don’t worry, I won’t hurt you…not this time at least.”
He lifted his hand, his fingers outstretched as though he wanted to touch me. But then he curled his fingers and pulled away.
“Wait!” I called as he stepped away from the bed and turned toward the doorway. “WAIT!”
He was gone from the room in an instant, only the thud of his sneakers left behind.
“He’s not real!” I screamed. “He’s NOT REAL!”
But my pleas were useless. The deep snarl of an engine came seconds later. He was gone…and I was still naked trying to understand…who the fuck was he going to kill?
