Page 106 of The King of Hearts

“Whatever you want. Saw off his fingers. Remove his eyes. Slice his skin into tiny ribbons. Cut out his organs. He deserves whatever you decide to deliver.”

Her eyes widen the more suggestions I give her. “I couldn’t…” She shakes her head. “I can’t do those things.”

I run my hand up her back and grab the knot of hair she has twisted up on the back of her head. I tug her head back and peer down at her. “We both know you’re capable of it.”

“I…” Her eyes dart away, looking at a spot over my shoulder. It takes her a moment, but she pulls her gaze back to me. “You’re wrong. I can’t do any of those things.”

“Savina,” I growl her name. Her eyes flicker back and forth between mine. “You forget. I knowallof your secrets. Even the darkest ones. I gave you the name Vicious for a reason.”

She licks her lips, and for a moment, my attention moves to her mouth. Her peach-colored lips glisten from the moisture.

“Let me go.”

I release her and take a step back.

“I need a change of clothes. I refuse to ruin this dress.”

I stuff my hands in my pockets and rock back on my heels. “I’ll buy you another one just like it.”

She gives me an incredulous look. “That’s not possible. Adele Bastien makes one-of-a-kind dresses, and it takes years to get on her schedule.”

“Adele is a distant cousin, so it won’t be a problem.”

Her mouth drops and it’s cute as fuck.

“What?” she says loudly. “You’re lying.”

“I assure you, it’s true. How do you think you and Emersyn managed to get a showing with her several weeks ago? The dress you’re wearing? I had her make it a year ago.”

“A year ago?” She nearly chokes on the words.

“Yes, Vicious. A year ago.” I jerk my chin to Joseph, who’s watching our exchange with frightened eyes. I took him off the drugs that kept him unconscious a couple of days ago. I want him fully awake and aware for what Savina has in store for him. “Now show me just how vicious you can be.”

She’s silent and doesn’t move for a moment, as if she’s having an internal debate in her head. But then she drops her dress and spins away. Her steps are slow as she approaches the low table. The light from overhead is in the perfect position to shine down on her. In her white dress, she glows like an avenging angel as she stands beside the table and stares down at Joseph.

When she speaks, her words are so low that I barely hear them.

“Joseph is your name, right?” She doesn’t wait for his reply, not that he can give it anyway. “Did you know what Henry was going to do when you took me to him? I was thirteen years old. Still a child. And you delivered me to a man who made me strip in front of him so he could inspect my body. He wanted to make sure I was a good fit and would match his ideal wife. Had the right child-bearing hips to carry his children, the right mannerisms a good wife should have.”

The more she talks, the angrier her expression gets, and the darker my mood grows. I already knew what Henry did to her, but hearing it from Savina’s lips is different from seeing the words on the report I gathered on her.

“He kept me in his freezing cold basement, no clothes or even a blanket to cover myself. I had a toilet and sink and a mattress as thin as paper. Every day I woke up thinking it was only a nightmare, but then the coldness would seep into my bones, reminding me that I was actually living a nightmare.”

Joseph stares up at Savina as she tells him the story of her ordeal, of the situation he put her in. His eyes are wide with fright, and his body shakes, pure instinct giving him an idea ofhow his own ordeal will end. He knows it’s not going to be pretty, but he has no clue just how fucking messy it’s going to get.

“I guess it could have been worse.” Her eyes blaze as she glares down at him. “Henry never touched me. He left me in the basement alone and only visited long enough to deliver food twice a day. But the thing is, it was the anticipation, thewaitingfor it to happen, that was more terrifying. I knew one of the times he came to see me, his hands-off approach would change. Fortunately, my family found me before that could happen.”

Her hands ball into fists where she’s resting them on the table beside Joseph’s hip. “You’ve gotten away with what you did long enough. No one deserves to die more than you. And I hope you’re just as scared as I was when I was alone in that basement.”

Alexander used every resource available to him when he searched every corner of the world for the man who took his daughter all of those years ago, and he never managed to find him. He wasn’t even able to get a name. It took me six weeks to locate the bastard.

The whole time Savina spoke, Joseph has kept quiet and hasn’t moved a muscle. But when she turns and goes to the table filled with torture tools, that’s when he comes alive. He jerks against the ropes holding him in place and screams behind the ball gag.

She ignores him and me as she gazes down at the array of tools, picking and choosing which to use. Most are old and rusty, and a few of them still have blood speckled across the surfaces. It’s not like you need to worry about infection because the people who enter this room don’t leave it breathing.

She grabs a pair of vise grips and tests them by squeezing and releasing the handle. Seeming satisfied with the functionality, she takes it with her back to the table. The train of herdress drags across the floor, the white material already getting smudged with dirt and grime.

If I were the one in her place, ready to deliver whatever torture method she’s chosen, I would have removed the ball gag so I could hear him scream, but my Vicious leaves it in place. It’s probably best anyway. Repetitious begging becomes wearisome after a while.

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