Page 17 of Vow to Protect
“Strip.” The brisk command ricochets off the grey walls. There’s zero emotion in his flat tone. His observation stays on me, expecting me to obey.
I instantly detest him.
The pricey gems around my neck grow heavier by the second. An uncontrollable shiver chatters my teeth, but none of them offers me a jacket or a hot drink. He wants to humiliate me. This new hellion doesn’t care for finery or luxury. He demands a pound of naked flesh.
“Strip.” His clipped annoyance makes me jerk.
“I’ll do it for her.” One onlooker, all too keen, lurches forward.
“Wait!” The word shoots from my mouth in a strangled plea. Reaching behind my neck, I fumble with the clasp, struggling to unclip the cumbersome diamond web necklace splaying my chest, hiding Blaine’s mark. “I’ll do it myself.” I don’t want his wretched hands anywhere near me.
The man with chilling blue eyes lifts his palm in a warning. “I asked her to do it. Get the light.” He clicks his fingers.
A single beam of light spills down on me, blinding and intense. He steps back into the shadows as if he doesn’t want me to see him. Fucking coward.
I quake under the spotlight, yanking the necklace free from around my neck. The diamonds sink to the floor, magnificent and grotesque. Crusty scarlet gashes form a cross over my heart, pulsating with a fiery throb. This is his true mark of ownership. Not jewels and collars—lesions etched by a blade. He cut into my skin while my sister’s corpse grew cold.
Blue eyes narrow. Focused and intrigued. Yet he doesn’t say another word.
My palms skate to my stomach when I worry that I might vomit. That flash of hesitation opens the door and welcomes unwanted assistance. The guy hovering close by is all over me. He grapples with the straps at my shoulders, scooping my hair away from my nape to yank at the zipper. I flinch when a loud click stalls my attacker’s eagerness. I’ve heard that sound before. The man swears under his breath and freezes. His head snaps around to meet glacial blue eyes and the barrel of a revolver.
Filthy fingers splay, and he raises his palms outward like an outlaw.
“Back the fuck off,” Mr. Blue Eyes growls. My bottom lip trembles, and I swallow hard. “You’re pissing me the fuck off tonight, Leon.”
Leon’s head bows. “C’mon on, Law. I was trying to help.”
He called him Law. Blaine ordered me to get information on him. Maybe they’re enemies. Suddenly those foreboding eyes flare. Small black holes eclipse wintry blue.
Law lowers his gun. “Turn. The. Fuck. Around,” he bites out each word. Slowly, cautiously, Leon twists around, hands still held outwards.
Before he gets the chance to look his ally square in the eye, a hard thwack rattles his brain. The barrel thrusts into the side of his head. Hard and unyielding. Leon grunts, teetering sideways. Law immediately falls back into obscurity, standing deathly still.
“I’m waiting, Raen,” Law calls my name. I suck in a waft of coppery blood.How does he know my name?
With the zip already lowered, I unpeel the dress and let it puddle at my ankles. I swallow down the burn of stomach acid, trying to breathe without sobbing. Subconsciously, my palm slides over my bare breasts and the other drifts to my panties. It’s a pointless act of self-preservation. The pitiful hug won’t shield me from danger.
“Turn around,” Law orders. Tentatively, I turn my back to him, wiping away a hot tear that helplessly tumbled free. “Who the fuck thought this was a good idea?” Silence settles after he hisses out his displeasure. “Why would I wantthis?” Law’s voice changes tone, like I’m utterly disgusting. “With that fucking mess carved into her chest.”
I rotate to face him again, glad to not have my back to the enemy. He rescues a phone from tight slacks and taps the screen. The phone glows to life, and he raises it to his ear. “Blaine.” My heart stills. “Apparently a few of the lads thought it was appropriate to take something that clearly belongs to you. It’s not to my liking. You can have it back. The compound is open for retrieval.” Law lowers the phone and scowls. “Put her in a cell until he gets here.”
What the fuck is happening?
Law skirts the room, stopping beside Leon who’s pressing the side of his head with the heel of his palm, blood trickling down his temple. “What asshole thought I wanted this shit?” he hisses. “Unless I’m disposing of her, I don’t want her anywhere near me. Understood?”
“He owes you, Law. The order was explicit. We can take whatever the fuck we want, anytime. He’s a rat. Now he knows not to fuck with you.”
Law hums out a dark laugh. “Blaine already knew that.” He stabs Leon in the forehead with his forefinger. “She’s going back to him, tonight. If you don’t want to hand her over in person, then I suggest you fuck off out of my sight before I blow a hole in your head.”
There’s no second glance in my direction as Law disappears behind a metal door.
“Fuck!” Leon grits out, falling to his knees in either pain or relief to be alive.
The third man, still hidden behind his mask, latches on to my elbow and shunts me forward. I’m pushed out of the room and along a corridor with doors—so many doors, as far as I can see. A prison, with secrets and whimpers and locks.
I count the doors—one, two, three, four, then we stop outside the fifth. It's a waste of time keeping track, but it stops my mind from spiralling out of control.
“Get inside.” He shoves me into a cell, no bigger than a cupboard. My ankles wobble, and I crash to a cold cemented surface. “You’re nothing but trouble. And trouble gets what trouble deserves.”
