Page 266 of Blackwood

She doesn’t move. So, he does it himself. Grabs the fabric. Yanks it hard up and over her head in one swift, violent pull. He tosses it to the floor like garbage.

Still, she doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t blink. Just sits there, exposed and silent.

Laing stares at her. Waiting.

CRACK.

He slaps her across the face. The sound echoes like a gunshot. Her head whips sideways. A red mark blooms across her cheek.

But still, nothing.

I see Lex snap, Khoza and Rez slam into him again.

“Let me go,” Lex seethes. “I’ll kill him.”

Laing leans in again, breath thick with power. “C’mon, Iz. I know you’re in there. You wanna hurt me? Do it. You wanna scream, break, fight? Fucking do it. Give me the fire. Show them you’re still a queen.”

Bella just sits there, a portrait of exposure in her black bra and leggings, her pale skin an unnerving contrast to the blankness of her stare. From behind me, a low, deadly sound tears from Lex’s throat. It’s the kind of sound meant to kill. Rez stiffens, his entire body going taut and rigid in anticipation.

Beside me, Tex shifts, his weight poised, his eyes on me, ready to act if my own rage breaks loose.

Laing doesn’t even look back. He leans in. Trails his fingers down her collarbone. Over her ribs. Then down her arms, slow and sickening. “You remember how to feel, Iz?” he whispers. “Or did they bury that with your old man’s head?”

Lex is shaking. His fists are clasped so tight his knuckles have gone bloodless. “Touch her again,” he growls, “and I swear to God—”

Rez gets in his face before he can lunge. “Cool it,” Rez snaps. “Or you’re gonna go join Briggs upstairs.”

Laing’s hand drifts back up. Slides over the swell of her chest—just enough to spark a reaction. Just enough to make all of us want to kill him.

But she breathes. Not a gasp. Not a sob. But a sharp, deliberate inhale. The first real movement in two days. We all freeze.

“There she is.” Laing’s voice drips with something between mockery and obsession.

He crouches closer, fingers trailing the waistband of her leggings like he owns her. Like she’s just a shell to peel open. “Sitting there like a pretty little corpse. Still breathing, but barely.”

He brushes her hair behind her ear, taunting like he’s petting a doll right before snapping its head off. “You’re warm. That’s something, I guess. Can’t say how long it’ll last.”

“Enough!” Roman barks from the corner.

But Bella doesn’t move. Not even a flicker.

Laing straightens. Rolls his neck like he’s warming up for a fight.

“Fuck it.”

He grabs her. One hand clamped around her arm, the other locking tight at her waist. He rips her off the couch like dead weight and drags her across the apartment. Slams her face-first against the wall before anyone can move.

“GET OFF HER!” Lex lunges.

Rez and Khoza slam into him from both sides, locking him down. Nate rushes in behind them, arms braced against Lex’s chest as he thrashes like a wild animal.

Laing doesn’t even glance back. His body pins Bella to the wall. One arm cages her wrists. The other slides up, fingers wrapping around her throat.

“No daddy. No brother. No fucking Russian guard dogs. Just me now, Iz.”

He leans in, lips brushing her ear. “I’ll ruin you so thoroughly, they won’t recognize what’s left.”

Bella doesn’t respond. So, he presses closer.