Page 22

Saul

I stood by the window with my binoculars, following her every step in the garden.

When she stopped at the giant oak tree, she touched the rough bark, staring up at the branches.

Her lips moved, and she patted the trunk before moving on.

Her days of reprieve since that morning were up.

The way she reacted to spilling her tea left me in a murderous rage.

I saw the moment she left me—her eyes gone, her hands clawing at ghosts.

The wound I couldn’t stitch. There was no word back from Grayson. The useless cu—

She bent down to pick something up.

I zoomed into her hand to see the tiny ladybird.

I read all her medical files until they were memorised.

She hadn't been outside in years. When I got my hands on that sick bastard—

My hands began to crush the binoculars, but I took a deep breath and focused on my nameless girl.

She placed the ladybird on a leaf, waving to it and saying goodbye.

Goddammit. I wanted to hear her melodic voice, too. I bet she talked to the bear when I wasn’t in the room.

Her head moved from side to side, looking for something.

She swivelled around, and I hit the floor.

I needed to get a grip on reality.

I pulled my phone out to speak to Grayson. If he couldn’t get me an update soon, I would drive myself crazy. He answered as I peered through the binoculars again.

**

He got what he wanted.

Stuffed between us with the permanently stitched smirk on his face.

His evil black button eyes taunted me as I climbed into bed.

I gave her a generous week to adjust, but her time ran out tomorrow morning.

She smiled at me and put the bear on the other side of her pillow to snuggle up to me.

I wrapped my hand around her waist, moving it to stroke her hair while giving the bear my middle finger before sneaking my hand back to her waist.

She might have been conditioned to obey, but I wanted to claw every part of his power away from her.

After spending the last week with her, the only thing that changed was the level of my obsession.

We both loved sex.

Rough, soft, inside or outside.

All she needed was to give me the look, and I was on top of her.

I rested my hand on her ass.

Tomorrow, her time was up.

It was time to show her what I was capable of.

Interrogation would never be the same again.

**

I woke with a predator's smile curling my lips.

Today, the gloves came off.

Seven days of patience had cost me every ounce of restraint, but dawn painted my room in the pale light, and my golden-haired captive slept on, oblivious.

My grin faltered when I spotted that damned bear smugly propped against her pillow.

One flick of my wrist sent it tumbling to the floor.

The action should've woken her, but she only sighed, fingers twitching against my chest where she'd claimed me in her sleep.

I lifted her hand, pressing kisses to each fingertip like a man savouring his last meal.

The covers rustled as I drew them down, revealing the roadmap of her suffering—pale scars crisscrossing her forearms.

My thumb traced the worst one, a jagged line near her wrist.

Beautiful,”

I murmured, though the word tasted like ash when I thought of the man we suspected.

She stirred as I rolled her onto her back, vest top riding up to expose the evidence of starvation now softened by weeks of my forced feeding.

The dip of her waist filled my palm differently now.

Her lips parted on a sleepy exhale.

I watched the flutter of her lashes, the healthy pink in those once-sallow cheeks.

The body healed, but the mind was still broken—the mind that hid away her secrets.

Today, I'd crack her open—not to break her but to remake her.

I slowly opened the nightstand drawer and gathered my arsenal of weapons to use against her.

There was no corner in the world that I wouldn't burn down to hunt the bastard that did this to her.

Grayson procured a name, but I needed her verification before I took him.

My hand tightened on the handle of the tasselled whip, wishing it was the bastard’s throat.

I took a deep breath because he was the first of many.

My hypocrisy knew no boundaries.

The men who abused her knew what they were doing, just as I knew how to manipulate my broken angel.

I secured her wrists after gently prying her hand away from her face.

My knife sliced through her black vest and silken knickers, gently pulling them out from under her.

I paused to inhale the soft, damp gusset.

It wasn't enough. I inhaled deeper. My eyes opened, and I stared at my sleeping angel.

She was mine.

So were the secrets she hid inside her brain.

I leaned down and breathed the words against her ear.

“It’s time to wake up, sugar,”

I said, smiling because by breakfast time, I would know her name.

Her eyelashes flickered, soft blue eyes stared back at me and pink lips that briefly donned a smile. She tugged at her wrists while I watched her. There was no fear. I pressed my fingers on her neck to check her pulse.

“It’s time to speak, sugar. It’s time to use your words,”

I said, feeling her pulse race.

“I want your name, but first, I will share a name with you.”

A visible shiver made her arms jerk on the pillow. I dug my fingers into her neck.

“Jacob Athill,”

I said quietly.

Recognition flared in her eyes, and she yanked her wrists from the bed, writhing beneath me. The metal handcuffs clinked together. I released her neck because I got the confirmation I required, but I moved my body on top of her as she began to hyperventilate.

“Deep breaths, sugar, deep breaths,”

I said, staring into her frantic eyes. I took deep breaths and exhaled them until she struggled to mimic me.

If she could, she would try to run away. From me. From us. From him.

“That’s it. In and out. Keep going,”

I said, moving the stray strands of hair away from her hair and uncovering the scar on her forehead.

“No one is ever going to take you away from me. Ever.”

She continued to breathe heavily. Her mouth opened and closed, but there was no sound.

“You're safe. He can’t get to us. You know I have perimeter intrusion detectors and cameras. I showed you. Do you remember?”

I said, nodding at her until she mirrored my action.

“Good girl.”

I released her neck but leaned back to trail my fingertips down her body. Tracing one scar to the next until I reached her nipple. I paused to circle my finger around the perfect pink bud.

“I never thought I would kill again, sugar, but for you, I’m going to hunt every single one of them down. Enjoy their terrified screams of pain. Their suffering will become my masterpiece. Push them over the edge until there is nothing left but an empty shell,”

I said, pinching her hardened nipple with a smile.

“It looks like you enjoy the sound of that.”

The fear on her face was her realisation that she wanted them all dead too, or it could be knowing her captor was alive. I snaked my hand down to her pussy.

Wet.

Slippery.

Mine.

“Give me your name, darling,”

I said, bathing my fingers in her sticky dew and gliding them through her folds until her eyes dilated and her breathing became erratic.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly, but the fear was gone. I smiled at her and trailed my fingers downward, resting them between her fleshy cheeks and teasing the rough skin with my fingertips. Her mouth fell open, and she started to pant.

“Give me your name, and I will give you what you need. Here,”

I said, increasing the pressure against her backdoor.

She parted her legs for me, but her tactics wouldn’t work on me. Not this morning. I reached for the whip, watching her eyes light up as I flicked the soft leather before trailing them from her neck to her pussy until she groaned.

I could wait.

She couldn’t.

Her silence was her final defiance, and right now, I merely existed for one purpose. To break her.

Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind.