Page 8 of Deadly Sweet

As we drive more, I scoot across the seat to look out the other window and see the fucking ocean! “Woah,” I say in awe. I can’t see much because it’s nighttime, but I can see enough.

“I’m sure you're wondering what's going on,” Jerry says, yet again interrupting my tiny, peaceful moment of joy.

I laugh, looking his way. “You think? I’ve been held captive by Corbin for god knows how many years, living in my own personal hell on earth, and all of a sudden, I’m being taken from my cell and put into a car. I don’t think your intentions are for us to go for a leisurely ride around town to relax me before bed.”

“Five,” he says, and I frown.

“What?”

He looks up at me in the rearview mirror. “You’ve been there for five years.”

“W-what?” I lean back into the seat.

“Your name is Savannah Banks. At the age of twenty-five, you were taken from your Upper East Side, New York home and have been in the possession of Corbin Miller ever since.”

Shock has me staying silent for once.Savannah Banks.That's my name? I’ve only ever known my first name.Twenty-five? That would make me, what? Thirty?

Devastation fills me as so many more questions start rushing to the forefront of my mind, causing my brain to freeze.

“Do you know everything?” I ask in a whisper. Does he know more about my life? Why am I even here in the first place? What Corbin’s reason was for keeping me other than the obvious fact that he got sick pleasure out of being cruel to me.

“I do,” he answers.

“Will you tell me?” I ask, nausea hitting me.Do I want to know? Yes. No. Fuck. I don’t know.

He’s quiet for a moment before finally speaking again. “No. We don’t have time to get into everything. But I promise all your questions will be answered.”What the hell does that mean?“What I can tell you is, to the world, Corbin is a well-known businessman who’s made a large impact on the world.” He growls. “But to the people who really know him, he’s worse than the devil himself.”He has no fucking idea.“He took you captive to get back at your father.”My father? I have one? Is he still alive?

I don’t ask him any of that. “Then why are you taking me somewhere else?”

“Because.” He quickly looks at me in the rearview mirror. “In layman's terms, he got what he wanted. He destroyed your father in every way, apart from ending his life. And because Corbin is a businessman, rather than kill you and be done with it, he sold you.”

“What?” I blink. “Sold me? Like I’m some fucking animal?”Seeing how you lived in a cell, pretty much caged up like one for years, are you really all that surprised?

“And before you think that this is your chance at a better life, don’t. Corbin kept you locked up, only using you every once in a while. The monster he sold you to is the leader of the Russian mafia. His favorite pastime is to break Omegas. He buys them from Omega trafficking rings and treats them like animals every day. What Corbin did to you once a month, he will do to you every day. All day. And when he’s done with you, you will be locked up in a literal dog cage.”

My breathing starts to come out in heavy pants, bile rising in the back of my throat. “No.” I shake my head. “No. Please!” I hate sounding so vulnerable, for begging, but fuck! I’d rather live the rest of my life the way I have been for the past five years than with whoever Corbin sold me to.

“Don’t worry,” he says, pulling the car off onto the side of the road. “I won’t let that happen to you.”

My brows furrow. “W-what?” I stammer, more confused than ever by this stranger. “You won’t?”

“No.” He shakes his head.

“What’s going to happen then?”Does this man hold more power than Corbin? Can he get me free?“How do we get me out of this?”

He turns around in his seat, eyes locking onto mine. “You die.”

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