Page 55 of Dangerous Silence
Was he trying to warn me that he didn’t care about me? “Then why haven’t you?”
I didn’t need to finish the sentence. We both knew what I meant. He blinked, then curled his fingers into my spine, digging in between the plates, the pain kicking against me. Finally, I cried out.
“The only thing that’s saving you from that end is my promise to your father. He saved my life. And I’ll save yours. But once that debt is repaid,” he put a hand around my throat, tightening his grip. “You’re just like them.”
I don’t care who you are. If I have to kill you, I will.
But I knew in my heart that it was a lie. He was trying to convince himself of these words. He didn’t believe it either.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I said, gritting my teeth. I had just killed a man. Goody-two-shoes me, the daughter of an overly strict father, the child of an ex-mafia enforcer, had killed a man. And like Axe could threaten to kill me, I knew, given the opportunity, I could do the same thing to him.
His cock stretched against me. “What a stupid girl,” he said.
He scooped me up, tossing me over his shoulder, knocking the breath out of my chest, then he slammed me back down, my body thudding into something hard. Fluid warmed my ear and I screamed in terror, getting off of the body as quickly as I could.
I yelled in fright, in sadness, in complete disgust. Axe unbuttoned his pants, taking out his cock, and by some strange will buried inside of me, I spread my legs for him and screamed.
I understood why he never spoke. He was full of hatred, of nothingness that swallowed him whole, and never let him feel anything.I don’t care who you are.These were words he was forcing onto me, to punish me, to protect himself, to show me that I wasn’t supposed to be there. That everything I thought was right. That there wasn’t any good in anyone. And Axe’s heart was pure darkness.
He stroked his cock and I pulled down my pants and underwear, then clung to his body, wrapping around him, begging him to do it already. But he pushed me down, making me lie on the bed, then flicked the head of his cock along my pussy lips, wet for him. Teasing me.Just do it already. Make me pay.But he pulled back, replacing his cock with two fingers, stabbing them inside of me like a knife. Like he could break me in two with those fingers alone, pounding into my cervix, making me cringe in pain, and shake in pleasure.
“You’re turned on by death,” I said, my voice full of accusation. Because I wanted, and desperately needed, for him to tell me I was wrong. “You’re turned on by murder!”
“Yes,” he growled, “It does turn me on.”
There was power in death for him, the flood of adrenaline that rushed through his face each time he killed someone. Axe might have thought that meant it turned him on. But I didn’t believe it. Wouldn’t let myself.
He flicked a finger over my ass, then pressed inside, my insides tightening, and I squealed. He pressed his hand on my throat, cutting off my air, staring into my eyes as he pumped inside of me. Using my holes.
I don’t care who you are.
Why was he trying to convince me that he only had darkness inside of him?
Why was he punishing me?
Then the air wasn’t enough and my vision went blurry, my face filling with pressure, and I choked, thrashed, tried hard to get out from under his grasp, but he fucked me harder with his hand, harder, and harder, until finally, he let go. I coughed to the side, holding myself up by my hands. Once I was finished, he rubbed his cock against my pussy lips, never penetrating me. Like he couldn’t resist it. Then with his free hand, he pressed a gun to my temple.
Adrenaline surged through me in a white hot rush, making sweat bead on my entire body. A tear slipped out of my eye. He could have killed me right then. He wouldn’t have cared. My dad was the only thing keeping me alive. He wanted me to understand that completely.
I don’t care who you are.
But he did care. I had seen it. Felt it.
Dad’s words echoed in my mind:You can’t be afraid to see someone at their worst, Demi,he had said.Nothing can change the worst, because it’s real.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up as Axe pressed the cold barrel into my skin. Was this his worst?
“When are you going to learn?” he asked. “When? Tell me. When will you be afraid? All it takes is one pull.” He pulled back the hammer, holding it to my head. “One pull, Demi. One flick of my finger. And you’re gone. Do you really think I care about that promise to your father? Do you think I care about you?”
I stared at him, fighting him with all I had. “You must think I care too,” I hissed through my teeth.
And for the slightest second, he stopped, staring down at me.
“Stupid girl,” he said.
CHAPTER 18
Axe
