Page 13 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable (The Beautiful Scars Duet #2)

Chapter Twelve

Sunny

The phone clatters against the wall, pieces exploding across the floor.

Garrett's face transforms from disbelief into something darker. Something cold and black.

"You stupid—" He stops himself short, running a hand through his hair. When he speaks again, his voice drops to a deadly quiet I recognize. The one that means pain. "After everything I've done for you."

My body goes still, every muscle locking in place. My heart slams against my ribs and I can't get enough air.

The mattress shifts as he launches himself off the bed.

He circles the room, slow and deliberate now.

"All this time." His breathing is controlled, measured. "I've spent all this time keeping you safe. Protected. And this is how you repay me?"

I press my face into the pillow, fighting back the scream I feel stuck in my throat. I'm bracing myself for the punishment I know is coming. I know it's going to be bad. The copper taste of blood fills my mouth where I've bitten my cheek.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He grabs my face in his hands and squeezes. He forces my head up until our eyes meet. "You have no idea what you've done."

His eyes dart between me and the door. The panic I can feel rolling off of him is new. Different. For the first time, I see real fear on his face.

He knows they're coming.

"You think they care about you?" He releases my face with a shove. "You think they can protect you like I have?"

My bandaged fingers throb as I tuck them into the sheets.

Garrett pulls out another phone, punching numbers with shaky fingers. "Get everyone ready for transport. Now." His voice cracks. "And send that nurse down here. Tell her to bring the heavy stuff."

My stomach drops. Not the drugs. Please not that. The drugs leave me trapped inside my own head with nowhere to hide.

"You're going to regret this, Princess . By the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging for me to kill you."

He grabs my hair, yanking my head back until tears spring to my eyes. "But I won't let you die. That would be too easy." His breath is hot against my ear. "I'm going to break you so completely that you'll forget anyone else ever existed."

The door opens and the nurse enters, her face carefully blank as she prepares the needle.

"Hold her down," she tells Garrett, not meeting my eyes.

His weight pins me to the mattress. "This is what happens when you don't behave, sweetheart. When you forget who you belong to."

I want to fight, to scream, to do anything but lie here and take it. But I can't move. I'm frozen. Locked into place by the sight of the needle.

"Please," I whisper, hating how weak I sound. "Please don't."

"You did this to yourself, Princess. But don't worry—we'll have plenty of time to start over once I get you to your new home. I should've seen this coming. No more games though. No more waiting for them to find you so I can get my revenge. From here on out it’s just you and me. Somewhere special. Somewhere we’ll have all the time in the world together. "

The needle slides into my vein. Fire spreads up my arm turning my limbs into lead and stealing my voice. As darkness creeps in around the edges of my vision, I cling to one thought—they know where I am now. Zane answered the phone. He heard me.

Whether I survive what comes next or not, at least they know.

They know I never stopped fighting. Never lost faith in them.

They'll know what happened to me if they're too late. They won't be left to wonder.

Garrett's voice follows me into the darkness. "Get the vans ready. We're out of here in an hour."