Page 102 of An Eye For Illusion

“What do you want from me?” Another question to keep him talking. We need more fucking time. Time to get to Colin and a way to stall this damn wedding.

“I need you to sign the contract, and maybe I’ll let your little boy toy live.”

The threat makes me speak before I think better of it. “Where is he? What have you done with Colin?” I immediately know I’ve fucked up when Vinny’s eyebrows raise clear to his hairline.

He looks at the two goons still guarding the door, silently signaling for one of them to come to him.

I try to recover, but it’s no use. “He doesn’t mean anything. I’ll marry Elliott, and all this can go away. You’ll have your deal. Just let him go; he doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

Vinny’s head snaps up, and his eyes bore into mine. “I’m not a stupid man, and it’s insulting that you think I would fall for that bullshit.

He looks at his goon. “Call the house and tell them to inform Colin I’ll be seeing him real soon!” The look in his eyes is murderous.

Oh, what have I done? My stomach drops, and my knees nearly buckle. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Bridgette comes back and forces her way into the room. “Who the hell are you? Jade, are you okay?” she asks as she rushes to my side. Whatever she sees in my expression must concern her.

“I was just leaving. It’s in your and Colin’s best interest for you to walk down that aisle. I’d hate for something to happen to him because you didn’t.” His tone is menacing and leaves no room to mistake the clear threat.

I swallow as he makes his way to the exit. Just before he leaves, he turns back, and the evil smirk on his face has me rushing forward.

“Don’t you fucking hurt him, or I’ll make you regret the day you learned my name,” I growl.

“You stupid, stupid girl. You’ve already made him suffer.” Although, I don’t know exactly what he means, his words cut me like a knife.

I drop to my knees after he exits. It feels like my heart has been torn in half, pulled out of my chest, and stomped on. Then, just for good fucking measure, someone sets it on fire.

I feel like I’m losing touch with reality as Bridgette calls my name.

“Jade! What the hell is happening? Where’s Colin?”

I stare brokenly at the now empty doorway as I finally let go the tears that have been begging to fall for days. They track down my cheeks in heavy drops as sorrow fills my chest.

“I don’t know…”

Chapter 35

Colin

The metallic taste of blood still lingers in my mouth. I’ve been here—wherever “here” is—for days. As much as my head pounds from the beatings I’ve endured, I’ve still tried to count the number of sunrises and sunsets I’ve spent sitting in this room.

I must be in a basement. It’s cold and damp, and the only window in the room is a small rectangle at the top of one wall. There’s just enough glass to let a small amount of light in, but there’s no chance of my large body fitting through it to get out.

Without very much food or water since I’ve been here, I don’t even have the strength to climb out if I could fit. Occasionally, some meathead busts through the door with a plastic cup of tap water and a slice of bread. I honestly don’t understand why they’ve kept me alive. The beatings have been brutal; sometimes two of them kick the shit out of me at a time.

Donovan was right. A lot can happen in five days. I wasn’t vigilant enough. My first mistake was getting spotted by Elliott while out suit shopping for the wedding. My next mistake was going for an evening run to clear my head. I should have worked out at home or hit a public gym where there are lots of cameras, not gone running alone at dusk. The details are blurry for me now, but I remember being grabbed, blind folded, and hit in the head just as I topped a hill at the park.

The sun rises through the small windows to illuminate the room again. “Three sunrises. It’s Saturday,” I mumble to myself. Today is Jade’s wedding day, and I won’t be there to stop it. I won’t be there to save her. Instead, I’m tied up, sitting on a concrete floor, and covered in my own blood.

The sun is completely up when the door swings open and two brutes stroll in. I don’t recognize either of them before my little vacation here. There’s been very little conversation with these two. They seem to be all beatings with nothing to say. All bite and no bark, so to speak. Mostly, they mutter things to each other which are unintelligible to me, but the two of them seem to understand just fine.

“What do you want from me?” I say through gritted teeth. I use what little strength I possess to push myself upright against the wall. They’re surely going to kick my ass again, but I won’t shy away from them like some little bitch.

“We don’t want shit from you. Vinny and Elliott, on the other hand…they want you dead.” The shorter of the two finishes his sentence with a sinister chuckle.

“Unfortunately for us, they don’t want you dead just yet,” the taller one adds before he kicks my legs out from under me.

I grit my teeth so I don’t yell out from the pain; I won’t give either of them the satisfaction. I force myself to a kneeling position, so I can push myself to standing. My hands are still bound behind my back.

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