Page 78 of Zain

“So then kill me.” She shrugged. Antagonizing him probably wasn’t smart, but there was a reason he’d paused their little interrogation, and the more knowledge she gained, the better off she’d be.

“I want nothing more.” He worked his jaw. “It’s not my call, though. Not yet anyway.”

She tilted her head an inch. “Who do you work for?”

His smile spread. “Powerful people, baby.” He reached into his pocket.

A gasp lodged itself at the base of her tongue, and she lifted her arms in front of her face, anticipating the dreaded knife.

“Put your fucking hands down before I chop off a finger.”

Vomit inched up her esophagus but she dropped her hands. This wasn’t a man who didn’t follow through.

Instead of meeting the blade of his knife, she found herself staring at the lens of his phone camera. “Say cheese.”

He snapped a picture, glanced down, and tapped the screen.

“Who’d you send that to?”

He smirked. “None of your business. But guess what? That was the before picture.”

Before Dana could grapple with his meaning, his knuckles slammed across her cheekbone. The blow sent her reeling to the floor. A low buzz filled her ears, drowning out the abusive words he spat.

She blinked away the crushing pain and lifted herself onto her arms. Slowly, her hearing returned, but vomit threatened to meet the pile of it staring at her.

“Got a present for ya.” He opened his fist.

Her fingernail sat in his palm. He dropped it in front of her, and Dana threw up violently on the cement.

He shook his head and spat. “Nasty.”

She cringed and lifted her hands, anticipating another blow, but only the sounds of the door slamming shut and the lock turning reached her ears.

They might as well have been dirt on her coffin.

CHAPTER 24

Zain picked uphis phone. Time slowed to the rhythm of his barely there pulse. The atmosphere in the room crackled with tension. The device sat in his hand like a grenade. Lighter but more lethal.

Only a few minutes had passed since he hung up on Maxine. He’d either have an unpleasant, threatening message waiting for him, or proof they had Dana. He wasn’t ready for either.

Even Rami seemed to hold his breath while Zain opened the message.

He swiped to see the text. A small image had been sent from an undisclosed phone number. But he’d recognize the face anywhere. Dana’s drilling blue eyes struck him.

He enlarged the picture, and Rami leaned in. “Shit. Holy shit. They have her.”

Believing they had her was one thing—seeing the proof was an entirely different ball game. Scalding pain spread through his chest, cinchingaround his heart. Dana’s eyes were puffy and red, as if she’d been crying, and her skin was sallow and almost fucking translucent—she was so pale. Even her lips lacked color. Her wide, terrified blues screamed that she’d already endured too much.

The constriction in his chest intensified. He dropped his phone on the desk and tunneled his hand through his hair. “Fuck!” He paced, his mind whirring faster than an engine.

Rami’s pained gaze followed Zain. “I know it’s scary seeing her like that, but she’s alive, man.”

“I won’t believe that until I hear her voice.”

“Fair. But let’s work with the information we have.”

The shrill ring of his phone ripped through the air. Unknown caller. Without hesitation, he snatched the device and answered. “Yeah,” he demanded.

---