Page 61 of Between Regrets and Promises (Between Us Trilogy #2)
The thought of him being anywhere near Maddie makes my heart race, and I’m internally panicking because he knows where she lives now.
All I’ve ever wanted was to protect my sisters and not bring people like Dalton into their lives.
I become more frantic and uneasy, knowing he could’ve easily taken her too.
Take me, hurt me, even kill me, but leave my sisters out of it.
“What do you want from me?”
“I’ve got what I want for now—you. You’re what’s gonna bring Mason to me, and then I’ll be able to make him feel the same way I felt when I learned my brother was shot.
After I knock out his teeth and tie him up, I’m gonna make him watch me strangle the life from you.
Maybe I’ll fuck your ass first. He can witness it all before he takes his last breath. ”
His words are terrifying, and what’s worse is that he’s convinced he’s capable of doing this. Mason won’t go down without a fight, and most likely, he won’t come alone. I twist my arms, seeing if I can loosen the tape enough to wiggle free.
“Ooh, speaking of the motherfucking devil.” He turns the phone around to show me that Mason’s calling. “Should I answer?”
He presses the button before I reply, then puts the phone up to my ear.
“I’m looking for you, Dalton, and when I find you…”
“Mason,” I breathe out, tears falling.
His tone instantly changes, and he speaks softly. “Sophie. Oh my God. Are you okay?”
Before I can respond, he rips the phone away and laughs.
“Hurt her? Nah, she’s fine. She’s tough. Can take a kick to the gut like a man. Right?” He winks, which has me swallowing bile.
My heart races as he nonchalantly walks around the kitchen listening to Mason. “You don’t want to threaten me. You’ll be sorry if you do. Trust me. Just ask your little sweet Sophie.” He chuckles darkly.
To anyone else, it would seem he’s chatting with an old friend. Dalton is hot one minute and cold the next. Laughing, then shouting. He’s unstable and the most frightening part of it all—unpredictable.
“Touch her, you say?” His eyes bore into me.
“Actually, I was thinking of fucking her first. I’d like to know what my brother had and find out what’s so special about her that made you kill him.
” He pauses to listen to Mason, then laughs again.
“Oh, foul language, Mason. No, no. Don’t worry…
I saw the way she looked at me the first day we met…
” He continues talking shit, but I tune him out, unable to hear any more as Mason yells on the other end.
I remember the day we met like yesterday because I thought he was hitting on me. Instead of listening to my gut, I chalked it up to being jaded because of Weston. He invaded my personal space and acted too friendly. However, thinking about it now, I should’ve recognized the signs.
Dalton ends the call and lets out a cackle as he comes toward me.
Placing his hand tightly around my throat, he digs his fingers into my skin.
I gasp, struggling to breathe as he closes my airway.
I try shifting my body, fighting against the duct tape and his strength, but it’s no use.
I’m in so much pain that I’m weak and exhausted.
His smile never leaves his face as everything else fades away.
“Sophie.” I hear Weston’s voice. No . Not possible. “I warned you. I meant it when I said you were mine forever.”
I shake my head, looking at him standing in front of me wearing the clothes he had on the first time we met for brunch. “You’re dead.”
He grins and cocks an eyebrow. “No, you’re dead.”
I’m unable to focus on anything. Insufferable pain creeps over me, and my stomach starts to hurt. None of this is real. I know it’s not, but it seems real. In a blink, Weston is in front of me with both of his hands around my throat, choking the life out of my body.
“Weston,” I barely get out the word before fighting against him. “Weston, stop.”
It’s as if someone turns on the lights, and I’m brought back to my reality as Dalton towers over me. I’m so damn disoriented that Weston is haunting me from the grave. My hallucinations are merging memories of the past with my present.
“You called me Weston, you little bitch.” The back of his hand smacks across my cheek.
My head pounds so hard, and I wonder why he doesn’t just finish the damn job and end me.
Why continue with this charade? I have no more tears.
They’ve dried up. My broken body won’t be able to take much more before it shuts down and the darkness returns.
Blinking, I see his fuzzy figure in front of me, and when my eyes finally focus, I see the devil is still taunting me.
“You’re such a little cock tease.” I hear the smile in his voice.
He’s giddy as fuck knowing he holds all the power over me and can easily strangle me until I lose consciousness.
I don’t know how long I was out before, but my dress is ripped, and my bra is exposed.
All I want to do is hide from him, but he’s determined to steal every last shred of my dignity.
“Smile for the camera, sweetheart,” he purrs, snapping photos of me. “Oh, speaking of, I never showed you the pictures my brother sent me of you.”
Just when I think it can’t get any worse, it does.
Dalton grabs my hair and jerks my head back, forcing me to look.
After scrolling through his photos, he turns the screen around for me to see.
What I see on his phone are intimate pictures I took for Weston.
Along with pictures Weston took of me when I didn’t know. I’m disgusted.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t jerk off to your picture a handful of times. That ass, Sophie. I might need to have a little taste before I end you,” he says, adjusting his noticeable erection.
“You might as well kill me now then,” I say, holding back the urge to vomit all over him. “You fucking disgust me!”
Dalton shakes his head. “Oh no…I’ve got a list of things to do to you first. Cut off your fingers, one by one.
Shave your head so I can have that gorgeous dark hair as a keepsake.
Can’t forget knocking your teeth out. Can’t risk anyone identifying you.
No ID means no way to link it back to me.
But I’ve decided to add fucking you to my list too.
My dick is fucking hard and needs relief, Sophie darling.
You’re probably wet for me, aren’t you? My cock will ruin that cunt in no time, and then I’ll jerk my cum all over those perky tits. ”
I dry heave when his hand slips into his pants and he touches himself. My head pounds so fucking hard, and each time I gasp for air, pain radiates through me.
“Fuck you.” I spit out blood.
I’m done with begging. It does no good with him anyway.
“Keep it up, and I’ll cut your goddamn tongue out too.” He inches closer and slides the knife down my cheek, then puts the cool blade against my lips. “After I make you suck me off, of course. Should we start now? Send your boy toy a video?”
While I’m more afraid than I’ve ever been in my life, I can’t show it.
Mentally, I begin building a wall between reality and where I wish I was right now—with Mason.
I picture us on the couch, watching our Netflix shows, and laughing together.
I take myself out of the nightmare I’m currently living and force myself inside my fantasy.
My eyes flutter closed as he continues rattling off the horrible things he’ll do to me all the while pulling at me, touching my chest, and sliding his fingers down my stomach. I remain still, feeling numb, no longer giving him the power to control my emotions.
I think about Mason. He’s already had to find one girlfriend dead.
It destroys me to know what this will do to him, and I can only hope he’ll be okay and can move on one day.
Maddie and Lennon come to mind and Allie Cat.
I’ll miss my niece growing up, miss Lennon getting married and holding their new baby.
The realization that I won’t be around is almost too much to handle, but the quicker I come to terms with it, the quicker I will be at peace before he ends it all for good.
Dalton won’t make it easy. He wants revenge for his brother’s death and sending Mason pictures is only the start. He won’t let me out of here alive, that much is obvious.