Page 85 of Beautiful Ruins
“I thought I’d come pay a visit to my little criminal princess,” he said, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation. His cologne was sickly-sweet, a poison filling my lungs. “I heard Daddy got you off with a little warning.” The words were soaked in mockery, and my heart sank as he shut the door behind him, his presence closing off myescape. “Speaking of who . . .” He tilted his head. “It was nice to finally meet him after all these years.”
My hands balled into fists at my sides, nails biting into my skin. My fear was a wild, palpable thing. It vibrated my insides and burned over my skin in a violent rush. When did he meet my father?
“What the hell are you talking about?” The question came out ragged, desperation leaking into every syllable.
Marcus shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “Oh, you didn’t know?” He swiped his wrist under his nose, sniffing, as he glanced around at the small living room. “Your friend Snake needed a little help with a police matter. I was only too happy to help after he called me—explained that he was a friend of yours.” He leaned in closer, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Your father was more than willing to cooperate, considering we’re practically family.”
I shook my head violently, refusing to let his words sink in. “You’re lying. My father wouldn’t . . .” My throat closed, the lie dying on the tip of my tongue. I was grasping for any semblance of certainty, clinging to the belief that my father hadn’t betrayed me—no matter how flimsy it felt. “What do you want?”
Marcus stalked towards me. His approach was deliberate, slow, my body stiffening in anticipation of what was coming. I couldn’t breathe.
“What?” he said, pinning me between the unforgiving plaster and his hard body. “I couldn’t come see you before I left town? It felt like such a waste, you know. I thought we could talk about what happened. Maybe give you a chance to apologise for stabbing me.” His hot breath fanned across my face, every word a reminder that there was no outrunning him.
Every inch of his presence choked the air from my lungs,dragging me back to the years I’d spent afraid of him, of the life I thought I’d escaped.
He grabbed hold of my cheeks, his fingers digging in, squeezing until the sharp bite of my blood filled my mouth. My breaths came out ragged through my nose, and I turned my head as much as Marcus’s grip allowed, tears stinging my eyes.
Groaning, he ran his nose up the side of my neck and rubbed a hand over his crotch. “Fuck, you still make me hard, Sadie.”
Every part of me screamed to fight back, but my hands were tied by my history with him. I would never be free until this monster was dead. My freedom was as chained to his blood as my past was to his cruelty.
But would he kill me first? I had to control my terror if I was going to see Rowan again.
“Okay,” I said, placing a trembling hand on his chest. “We can talk.” I forced a smile through the grip he still had on my cheeks. It was all I could to make him believe I was willing to cooperate.
Jaw clenched, he raised a fist. I flinched, terror freezing me in place as I braced for the brutal power I knew was behind his punch. But, instead of my face, he slammed his knuckles into the plaster beside my head. The wall cracked with a sickening crunch beside my ear. Dust snowed around us, catching in my lashes like ash.
A sob burst free—the first sign I was losing this game.
“Shut the fuck up,” he spat, his voice a low simmering growl. “I’m not about to fall for your lies anymore, Sadie. Do you have any idea what it’s been like for me?” His words dripped with betrayal, each one a barb piercing through to my core. “I’ve been going crazy without you, and you’re here doing what? Playing happy families with a fucking biker?”
I shook my head furiously, desperation churning in my gut. “No.” The word broke on my lips, a pathetic whisper. “No, that’s not true. I—I just . . .” My mind scrambled. “I’ve missed you.” A shudder ran through me as I spoke the words, and my bottom lip trembled with the extent of the lie.
I was lying through my teeth, and every cell in my body screamed at the betrayal. But it was the only way out—if I didn’t lie, I was leaving this house in a body bag.
He pulled back, narrowing his eyes—a test. He was daring me to crack. “Do you really mean that?” he said, tilting his head. “You expect me to believe you, after what you’ve done?”
I knew he was trying to decide if I was telling the truth. But with him, lies were always the default, and my words were all I had at that moment.
Marcus had at least thirty kilos on me, and there was no way I’d have been able to fight my way out. I was like a rabbit trapped in a snare. My panic threatened to swallow me whole, but I had to get him to back off somehow. Just enough to give me the space to run. If I could get upstairs, I could lock myself in my bedroom until Rowan . . .
Rowan. Just his name in my head was a flare in the dark. He had to be coming. I just had to hold on until then.
I nodded, a single hot tear slipping down my cheek. “Of course I mean it, silly.” My mouth flooded with saliva, the taste of fear thick on my tongue. Still, I forced a smile, even as my heart slogged through the lie.
He grinned, the expression sickeningly familiar. It was the face I had once swooned over, when I was stupid enough to think he was handsome. Now, the same face I’d once kissed blurred beneath the bruises he’d left me with. Nothing about him was handsome anymore—just hollow, rage-filled rot in human skin.
“Well, okay then.” He finally released my face and stepped back.
I staggered, blinking through the tears, forcing my body not to collapse with the weight of relief. A rush of air filled my lungs, but the feeling was fleeting. I was still alone with him, still trapped.
Would Rowan even make it in time?
Marcus turned his back to me and skulked around the room, ducking his head around the archway to the kitchen. My focus darted to the front door. If I was quick, didn’t hesitate, I could make it.
“I don’t know how you live like this, Sadie,” he said, his face twisting, lip curling into a sneer. He disappeared into the kitchen. “You know I always gave you the best?—”
Fuck it. I darted towards the door, abandoning my careful plan and tossing my caution to the wind. So much for being strategic. It was my only hope.
