Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 85183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
"Jude doesn't love me." My voice is strangled, barely audible.
He smiles. "Oh, but he does. You see, I've been watching, Tor."
I blanch.
"Oh, yes, sweetheart, I've known where you were this whole time. Trust me, Jude Pearson is very much in love with you, and you know what they say about love... it is the greatest of weaknesses. You just became the weapon I need to destroy him."
I feel like I'm going to throw up.
"I'm going to destroy him, by destroying you, and then, finally, when I allow him to find me, I'll put him down like the dog that he is." He rises to his feet. "So, we're going to make JP a little video."
Oh, my God. No! I start shaking immediately.
Joe snaps his fingers. A man I hadn't noticed before moves out of the shadows, grabbing me by the throat and hauling me to my feet. I try to fight him, but it’s pointless. He's enormous, and he throws my body around like a rag doll, slamming me onto the desk as Joe laughs behind me. My shoulder blades crunch against the hard wood, and I claw at his wrist as my lungs scream for oxygen.
"Don't kill her before we've even started," Joe says casually. His grip loosens slightly, and I heave in lungfuls of air. "Now, I want you to tell me everything you know about JP." He paces slowly in front of the desk. Another guy appears out of nowhere. He's holding a phone up in front of him, videoing.
"Fuck you," I choke, through my hoarse throat.
"I so hoped you would say that." He draws back his hand, and this time he punches me. Pain explodes across my cheekbone and my right eye. I lift my hand, holding my face. Joe grabs my wrist and yanks my hand away. "Oh, no, we want JP to see my handy work."
The guy takes the phone and shoves it in my face. Joe smiles and moves to the desk, pulling something out of a drawer. I can't see what it is.
"This is what happens to those who are loyal to you, JP," he snarls at the camera as he walks away from me. I can't see what he's doing, only that he's in front of the fire. My heart is pumping so hard it feels like it's going to explode through my rib cage. Fear and adrenaline course through me causing my body to shake violently.
"Turn her over," Joe orders over his shoulder.
I'm pulled up by my hair. The man twists me around, slamming me down on my front, so I'm bent over the desk. I cough as I'm winded again, and try to steady my breathing, but it's no use. I can't see him. I'm vulnerable and completely exposed, not that I could fight off three of them either way, but this feels worse somehow.
I feel the heat from Joe's body as he moves up beside me again. He grabs my head and crushes the side of my face into the desk. "I want to know everything, and one way or the other sweetheart, you will fucking tell me," he breathes in my face.
I say nothing. I will give him nothing. He sighs, as though this is such a hardship for him and brings the object in his hand into my line of sight. It's a type of steel rod, and the end is glowing a bright red. Oh, God, no! I squeeze my eyes shut, and tears trickle down my temple.
"Last chance," he prompts. My mind tries to block out my surroundings, but fear and survival instinct keep me rooted here. He rips the material of my dress away from my back, and I feel the cool air touch my skin.
"You see this Jude... I'm going to brand her, one a day, for every single day you don't save her." He laughs. "Not sure you'll want her by the time I'm done with her."
His knee digs into the centre of my back, pinning me down before he presses the brand to my skin. Burning is the worst kind of pain, the most intense. I can smell my flesh singing. I scream, my God, do I scream. I can't breathe. I can't see through the tears that blur my vision. He takes the brand away, but the pain doesn't stop, and I choke on my sobs.
"I'll start with an easy question. I want names. Tell me who some of his clients are, Victoria, and I will make this stop."
It won't though, it never will. I would rather die here than give this bastard what he wants, because no matter how many times I've told myself Jude's a monster, he's not. These men are the monsters, the monsters he tried to protect me from, and I owe him the same thing. As soon as I tell Joe what he wants, we both know he will kill me. I'm not telling him shit, and when Jude finds him because he will find him, I only hope he kills the bastard slowly. Even as I think this, my instinct to survive is screaming at me to just fucking tell him.