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“That’s where you’re naive, Genesis. We don’t have the same choices.” She sneers at me. “Unlike you, I don’t have a line of men willing to pay a million dollars for me. In this world, there are the used and the users. I’ve always been the used, and nothing will ever change.”

Dima nods in agreement, stopping behind her to play with her hair. “Sage is right there.”

She smiles up at him.

“This is what happens when you’re the used.” He pulls out his gun, shooting her in the back of the head.

I scream bloody murder.

All the control I had over my emotions flies out the window.

I keep screaming and screaming and screaming, praying someone will hear me. Sage’s body slumps forward in her chair, and a tear slips down my cheek.

I turn my head, looking away from her, and scream, “Somebody help me!”

I cry out in pain when Dima slaps me across the face twice.

“You’re a monster,” I snarl at him. “A fucking monster.”

He kneels beside me, running his hand along my cheek. His ring is cold against my skin.

“Now, wife, that isn’t very nice.” He stretches out his leg to kick Sage’s chair over. “That bitch disrespected you. Seeing that hurt on your face was killing me. I didn’t like it. She was a threat to you, so I needed to get rid of it.” Leaning forward, he runs his nose over my hair and deeply inhales. “I will always kill for you, my wife. Now, let’s get you home.”

44

I hear Sage’s mom,Cindy’s, body roll in the trunk when Antonio takes a right turn.

No, she’s not dead.

I prefer not to kill women.

We only tied her up and stuffed her in the trunk with Antonio’s dirty gym clothes and the threat that if she didn’t cooperate, she’d never make it out of the trunk.

I’ve spent the ride scouring her phone.

I read the text thread between her and Carlisle, further proving what a piece of shit he was. Cindy’s hatred of Genesis are clear in the texts, like it was Genesis’s fault that Carlisle was a shitty dad to Sage. As far as I know, she didn’t even know about Sage.

Trust me, if she had, Genesis would have done anything to help her.

It’s what she did today, and it got her fucking kidnapped.

My blood boils when I open Cindy and Sage’s thread. Sage brags that everything is falling perfectly in plan at the shelter and that she hopes Dima kills Genesis. It was a setup, and they used Genesis’s kindness as a weakness.

You can’t kill people with kindness.

Kindness kills you.

When I’m finished, I call Denis.

“Look who finally got out of bed,” he answers, grunting into the phone.

“She got out of bed and found me in your home,” I say into the speaker.

“Who’s this?”

“Julian Bellini. I have your wife.”

“Hold on one sec.” He pauses for a second. “Yeah, let me get a double cheeseburger with extra cheese, a large fry, and a Diet Coke.” After finishing his order, he rejoins the conversation, as if this were a casual call. “Now, what were you saying?”