Page 18 of Malicious Claim

“See you in hell,” she whispered. “I’ll be with you shortly, Travis... Kyle... Hunter...Lady Jenner, and you too, Father.”

Chapter Seven

A Caged Lioness

LEILA'S POV

When my eyes opened, I found myself in a room that I could hardly recognize, and then I looked down to see that my left hand had been bound up. I frowned, looking around and trying to recall where I was and what was happening. Then, suddenly, it all came rushing back.

The bodies of my family members slumped across the dining table. I was then abducted and forced to marry the man who murdered my family. Then traveled to Italy, where I almost got killed upon arrival, and then raped by my so called “husband,” which led to me sliting my wrist.

I knew Makros wouldn’t let me die, but still it was worth a try. I was desperate to escape this hell that has now become my life.

With the fog lifted, I rose from the bed, approaching the door.

I was determined to get out of the house by any means possible, but the moment I placed my hand on the doorknob, it was turned over, and the door was pushed open.

In came Makros, and in his eyes, I could see suppressed anger, probably because of what I did. He came inside and slammed the door shut behind him. He walked towards me slowly, like a predator stalking its prey.

I glared at him as I moved back, not wanting to be cornered.

“If you have something to say, you can say it from over there,” I told him, but of course that didn't stop him from closing the gap.

Finally, I found myself backed into a wall with Makros towering over me. I looked straight past him, avoiding any form of eye contact. He raised his hand and held onto my chin, forcing me to look him square in the eyes.

“I'll let this slide, but only because it amuses me. Cross me again, and I'll make your existence a living hell. You'll beg for death, but I'll deny you even that mercy. Your life is nothing but a plaything for me, a fragile toy to be crushed at my whim. You'd do well to remember that I own you Sunshine, every inch of you. Do you understand me?”

I glared at him, my breath heavy, not breaking eye contact so that I wouldn’t seem weak. I gave him no reply to his question but kept on glaring at him.

“I asked, do you understand?” he repeated, squeezing harder on my face, and I hissed.

“Yes. Yes, I do,” I finally said, pulling on his arm.

“Good,” he released my cheeks and moved away from me.

My gaze followed his every move with a vicious glare, watching as he sat down on one of the couches in the room.

“You must be having a lot of fun watching me go through all of this.”

One side of Makros's lips twitched and with more terrifying anger, he shook his head.

“I'm not having fun. You chose to put yourself in the situations and circumstances you found yourself, not me. If you behave and do as you're told, I can assure you that you'll live an even better life than you did with your family.”

“You're despicable. How do you expect me to live peacefully with the man who massacred my entire family?”

As I said that, Makros crossed his legs, and placed his hand under his chin watching me curiously.

“It's not an option for you, Leila. It's something you have to do to survive. Or don't you want to live long enough to be able to take revenge on the man that killed your family?”

The way he casually spoke about the fact that he killed my family like he was talking about taking a walk in the park, something that didn't mean anything. I didn't expect him to be remorseful but at least have some respect for me, the only surviving member.

“I can't even stand looking at you right now, so I'm going to leave before I try to kill you, for real this time,” I said, and without waiting for a reply, I started walking towards the door.

“Make sure you don't venture too far and don't make me come look for you,” he said without even looking at me. I pushed the door open.

“Also...” he started as he turned to me, making me stop in my tracks. “...don't even think about running away, 'cause you can't,” he finished with a sinister smile. I walked out and slammed the door behind me.

How can a human be so heartless? How could he ask so much of a person who had to live with the memory of her dead family, one that he killed? I couldn't fathom what kind of heart he had to be able to do such things.