Page 32 of Snapped
Chapter 20 | Is That It?
The repulsive giant became restless, and Rian knew his captor would wake soon. His attempt to let his husband and family know where he was had failed. He was so confident and elated when he’d first realized he had a way to reach out to them. But as the minutes became hours Rian was painfully reminded of his circumstance. Cillian lay stretched out on a large table, snoring and scratching himself in his sleep. He’d taken the one thing Rian had shared with only his husband. What else was left?
Oh God…Cirian, My Love, I’m so sorry.
He wept and prayed for an answer, some morsel of sanity that would get him through this ordeal if he were to make it out alive. An odd noise penetrated his haze of self-pity, and Rian tried to focus on what it was, what it could be. His mind could very well be playing tricks on him, but what if? Three soft, short taps had him sitting up straight, at least, as straight as he could while handcuffed to a beam. Checking to ensure Cillian was still snoring, he laid his hand flush against the beam…tap, tap, tap.
Almost immediately, there was a response. Three taps with a three- or four-second delay between each one and Rian tamped down the urge to shout out,I’M HERE!Instead, he repeated the sounds using his wedding ring. His attention focused on the task at hand, he didn’t realize the ticking noise had woken his captor.
“I told you I’d shove that ring up your ass,” Cillian barked, climbing off the table and stomping over to where Rian sat. He braced himself as a big, meaty hand twisted in his hair. If he were lucky, perhaps this blow would knock him out for good. A soft laugh growing louder, footfalls coming closer jerked Cillian’s attention to the doorway. He released Rian, but not before smacking him upside the head, hard. He stood as a tall woman whose skin blended into the darkness came into the room, a dagger at her side.
“Tsk, tsk.” She waved one finger in front of her, side to side. Rian had done the exact same thing to his children many, many times over the years. If he had the strength left, he’d laugh. “You shouldn’t go playing with things that don’t belong to you.” The Spanish lilt underlying her tone was raspy, one side of her mouth twisting into something resembling a smile.
It took Rian a minute to place the voice. “Alessandra?”
Her eyes darted over to him, the look of worry betraying the words she spoke and the tone of confidence she carried. Before she could respond, Cillian doubled over, hands on his knees as he laughed—long, loud, and menacing. “Really? This is what my brother sends after what is supposed to be the most important person in his life? A woman.” Cillian included visual air quotes when he said the wordimportant,adding a definitive dash of venom to the wordwoman.
“Well, when you want the job done right,” Alessandra retorted, her grin almost as menacing as Cillian’s. Rian’s eyes darted from her to the doorway, back to her. Was Cillian right? Did they really send only one person? No, that couldn’t be right; there had to be more at play here. Perhaps she was meant to be a distraction? Chancing a cursory look at his captor, Rian saw he was now leaning against the beam, staring down at Rian with a predatory gleam in his eyes.
He winked,actuallywinked, at Rian and it made Rian’s stomach turn. “Well, it seems my brother doesn’t value his precious piece of ass as much as we thought. That’s okay though, lover. Maybe I’ll keep you around a little while longer, if you get my meaning.”
Rian blanched, curling in on himself as best as he could in his current position. Now Alessandra knew what Cillian had done to him, and Rian couldn’t bear the shame. Out of the corner of his eye, Rian thought he saw movement to their left. He searched the darkness for any clue there might be someone else there to save him. Eyes darting around, he saw nothing, no one, his mind obviously playing tricks on him. The room started to spin, or was that his head? Black spots littered his vision, growing larger until darkness overtook everything.
“Rian, you okay there? I need you to stay with me.” Alessandra called out to him, but he no longer had the minuscule amount of strength within him to so much as raise his head. He could hear a flurry of noise and movement, shouting and cursing, but his body was no longer under his control. Everything started to fade away, and oddly, Rian felt comfortable with the brief knowledge that he would never have to tell his husband what had happened. He’d never have to see the pain and anguish in the eyes of the man he’d loved since the day he’d realized what the word meant.
