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HADLEY

He stands over me, belt in his hand, greasy blonde hair and an equally slimy grin, but it’s his words that drench me in fear.

“Carlo says hi. He wishes he could be here for this, but you made that impossible.”

Lying on the cold, hard ground, I glare at him with more confidence than I probably should have.

“Psycho is going to kill you.”

He shrugs like he’s not worried, before shattering my world.

“He’s dead.”

Tapping on his head, like he thought everything through, he grins at me, showing his disgusting teeth.

“I knew he’d come for you. That’s why I set the fire. I knew he’d go into a burning house to save you, but unfortunately for you, he didn’t make it out alive.”

Swinging the belt down, he hits me on the side of my face, and the pain is immediate, so I do what Carlo taught me to do, go somewhere else.

The lashes continue, but I force myself to disassociate in memories of Massimo. When he was a boy, we fought because he was possessive, even back then.

“You don’t own me, Massimo.”

He steps forward, closing the gap between us, and places his hands against the refrigerator behind me, caging me in. His proximity, too close, his stare too intense, and his scent, too intoxicating. Running his tongue over his bottom lip, he looks at me like he wants to eat me, devour me, and it’s unsettling.

“I don’t own you, Hadley, but I will. Until then, I’ll still protect you from everyone, including yourself.”

My mind snaps to more recent times.

Us sitting under the blanket watching a movie, me in his arms, his warmth spreading through me, and fingers on my skin. The way he kissed me, and I knew he was lying, when he said he didn’t feel anything for me.

I try to stay in the memory, but the lashes become too intense.

Blinding pain.

My heart cracks wide open at the loss of him, and the end of my life, because I know it’s coming. That’s the entire point of this. The pain is a prelude to what’s coming. My mother flashes in front of my eyes, as I succumb to the physical and emotional anguish, causing everything to go black.

I wake to more lashes of the belt. He’s relentless, as I cry out in pain.

“Why are you doing this?”

He chuckles sadistically.

“Carlo hired me, but I couldn’t find you. Psycho called me, and said he had a woman he wanted to sell and, when I saw the picture, I knew who you were. I finally found you, with his help. This isn’t just a job, though. Psycho changing his mind, and refusing me what had been promised, only made me obsess over you. And now, you’ll pay for being so hard to find.”