Page 42 of Cruel Betrayal

“That’s fine.” I smirk, dragging the edge along her skin and drawing a thin river of blood. “I don’t need you to love me.”

I drop the vase piece, and she hurries over to a drawer in the kitchen, ripping it open and pulling out a towel to hold to her throat.

She glares at me. “Are you insane?”

“Yes.” I spin and go to her shelf, opening the little wooden box and pulling out a syringe.

I knew stashing these here was going to be beneficial. I didn’t know that it would be when I did it, but foresight is always a good thing.

“When the hell did you put those in there?” She tries to hurry to grab a knife, but I move faster.

Jade screams as I grab her, trying to fight me off, though it’s a half-hearted attempt. Maybe it’s the exhaustion that overtakes her, but it doesn’t take me long to get her hands pinned high above her head, my body pressed against every inch of hers to keep her still.

With my free hand, I pierce her skin with the tip of the needle, pushing down the plunger and watching the sedative drain into her.

She wakesup as I’m lifting her out of the car. Her body is still limp from the sedative and too weak to fight, but her mind is all there as she bites me hard.

I drop her on the ground, shaking my head at her muffled yell. “I don’t want to hurt you, love, but if you’re going to keep fighting me, then you’re giving me no choice but to do so.”

Jade spits at me. “If you think that you’re going to get away with this a second time, you’re an idiot.”

“Come on, now. We both know you didn’t call anyone when you escaped. You wouldn’t have been back in your own apartment if you had.” I grab her again, unlocking the padlock on the cabin before hauling open the door.

“What are you going to do to me?” Her voice wavers.

I shove her into the cabin. “I haven’t decided yet. You can think about what you’ve done until I decide to come back for you.”

She screams a string of curses as I slam the door shut. It rocks against the frame as something heavy hits the other side. I’m not sure what she’s throwing, and I don’t care enough to find out. She can keep screaming and crying all she wants.

Jade only has herself to thank for getting into this situation.

I’m done fucking around.

She’s either going to fall in line, or I’m going to have to take some drastic measures before she gets me into more trouble.

Chapter Thirteen

JADE

My stomach growls louderas I hack my way into a can of beef and cheese ravioli with a knife. If I could find a fucking can opener in this shithole of a cabin, I might be in a better position.

It’s either this or starve, though.

The boards are off the windows, and I’m not locked in a room. I have full range of the cabin and based on the food I’ve gone through and the shifting of the sunrises and sunsets outside, I’d guess that I’ve been alone in here for a week.

How much longer before he comes back?

I pry the lid off the top of the can, dumping it into the pot on the stove.At least I can heat my fucking food.

I bite the inside of my cheek, stirring it with a wooden spoon, trying to ignore the revolting stench that rises from it. I’ve already gone through all the fresh food.

Ezra doesn’t seem to care enough to think about bringing me more.

I can’t believe I was ever attracted to him. I can’t believe that I told him things I’ve never told anyone else. Sure, I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I don’t think that makes anything better. In fact, I think it makes it worse.

Allowing him to get close to me has locked me in an entirely new kind of captivity.

I should’ve called Aiden the moment I got out of those cuffs.