Page 119

“Oh. I was going to go after you, so I pulled out my IV,” I said, like it was no big deal. Which it wasn’t because he would have done the same thing.

“You were going to do what?” he asked, staring down at me like I had two heads.

I rolled my eyes, moving higher up the bed. “I was going to go after you and stop you from doing something stupid, but then Sammy reassured me that he would be there with you and that nothing would happen. But again, you aren’t God, and neither is he. So you need to stop thisI am man, I take care of woman,bullshit.”

His eyes moved back and forth over my face. “It’s my job to take care of you.”

“It’s our job to take care of each other but to also realize that we can take care of ourselves too.” I grabbed his jacket when he went to pull away. “I need you. I need you here with me. Not out there trying to fight the bad guys. Please, Cyrus. I need you. Here.”

“I need to make a call.” He kissed my forehead and pulled away from me before I could stop him.

“Cyrus.”

He stopped, looking at me over his shoulder.

“I love you,” I told him, wishing he would stay with me.

“I loveyou.” His eyes darkened. “More than you will ever fucking know.”

Ainsley

It had been acouple of days since I was stabbed, and something was wrong. I hadn’t seen Cyrus since a few hours ago. Hell, I hadn’t even seen his brother. I called out for Cheesy and whoever else was standing guard at the door, but I was being ignored. The only people I saw were the medical staff. The nurses and doctors had been nothing but nice to me. They made sure I was comfortable, and one of the doctors assured me that I would be leaving soon as I was healing nicely. But I had to take it easy, of course. I didn’t want to take it easy. I wanted Cyrus to take me out of here and for us to move on with our lives. I wanted him. Every inch. In every way.

He had been calling me pet since the very beginning and I wanted to know exactly what that term meant to him and just how deep it went. I read and read a lot, not just the classics, so I knew things from books and also from personal experience. Although, I knew with Cyrus, it would be all consensual and he wouldn’t have me doing things I didn’t want to do. I wanted to find out if it was him playing or if it was a lifestyle he actually wanted to live.

Wanting to find out where he was and why it had been hours since I’d last seen him, I slowly pushed my way out of bed. I grabbed the IV stand, wheeled it along with me, and very slowly and carefully, made my way to the door when a man dressed in green scrubs came into the room.

“Ah, Ainsley, you shouldn’t be out of bed.” He rushed to me and gently pushed me back.

I tried pulling out of his grip. I didn’t like his hands on me. Add to the fact I had never seen him before, he made me nervous. He wasn’t one of the regular staff who came in to check on me.

I couldn’t ask him who he was because the words were stuck. It was like they were glued to my tongue.

The guy shoved me back onto the bed, a little too roughly if you asked me.

“Let’s get you checked out and sorted.” He wore scrubs and looked the part but there was something about him I didn’t like. There was also something about him that seemed familiar, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

When his back was turned to me, I looked around me to see if there was anything I could use to defend myself with. The thought came on suddenly, sending a ripple of fear down my spine. I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to defend myself but there was this feeling nagging at me, warning me about this man, and it made me uneasy. I had seen him before. I just couldn’t remember where.

My eyes landed on a pen. I didn’t know if it would actually work but I had to try.

I ripped out the IV and bounded from the bed when I was suddenly grabbed from behind and thrown down on top of it.

“Listen you little bitch,” the man seethed, his hot breath fanning over the side of my head. “I lost a lot of money because of you.”

My eyes widened.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” His mouth brushed the shell of my ear, making my stomach churn.

I tried struggling out of his grip. I tried kicking. I even tried screaming but no sound left me. It was like my voice just...vanished.

“I missed your silence.” He chuckled. “You were so easy to break.”

I glared up at him. His hair was dark and short, almost black but had a brown tinge in the fluorescent lighting of the room. His eyes were green but held so much damn evil in them, it took everything I was made of not to look away. He was younger. Maybe around Cyrus’s age.

“When the brothel was raided, I searched for you. I wanted to take you and keep you for myself.” He lowered his mouth down to my ear. “Still don’t remember me, Ainsley? That’s fine. You will. When my cock rips through every single hole you have to offer me, you’ll remember.”

He lifted his head, a slight smirk pulling at his lips.