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My father turned to walk out of the room. I knew as soon as he went I’d be at the mercy of those three other men with the dead eyes, and I couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Stop! Wait!” I cried out.
But he kept walking.
My mind spun, trying to think of something to buy me some time. “Why did you kill that other girl?” I blurted.
That made him pause, and he slowly turned back. “What other girl?”
“The nineteen-year-old. It’s all over the news that you killed her. The moment you were free, you decided to kill again.”
A flicker of confusion crossed his features. “I haven’t killed anyone else, Jolie.”
Why was he even bothering to lie? It wasn’t as though I was ever going to think any differently about him. Besides, I figured I’d be dead soon. My opinion certainly wouldn’t matter then.
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit. Why would I lie? I was more concerned with keeping my head down and making sure I found you. I wouldn’t put myself at risk just for a quick thrill. Not when I had so much at stake.”
Killing a girl was nothing more than a quick thrill to him. “You make me sick,” I spat. “More than anything in the world, I wish you were never my father.”
He waggled a finger in the air. “Now, now, Jolie. You can’t change who you are—you know that. Though I have to say that my family was something of a letdown to me. Unlike my friends, who are patiently waiting outside, none of you ever came to see me while I was in prison. It was as though you were more than happy to forget about me.”
I arched my eyebrows in disbelief. “Is that surprising? After what you did?”
His face pinched in consideration. “There were others out there who understood me better than my own flesh and blood. They were the ones who helped me while away my time in prison. I owe them for their support.”
I wanted to keep him talking. “It’s your own fault you were in prison. If you hadn’t hurt anyone, you’d never have been locked up.”
“I didn’t have any choice in that. It’s my calling, Jolie, the thing I was born to do. It’s in my blood. The only thing I regret about all those years ago was being stupid enough to get caught.”
He had no remorse—not even a flicker of bad feeling about what he’d done.
I still felt dazed from the bang I’d taken to my head, but that didn’t stop me from trying to figure a way out of this. I was outnumbered, four to one, and I had no idea what kind of place I was in. From what I’d seen of it—which wasn’t much—it appeared to be some kind of processing factory, but on a small scale. Boxes were stacked up against industrial metal shelves, and a strange smell hung in the air—something I recognized but couldn’t quite place.
“Anyway,” he said, “I’m glad we had this little chance to catch up. I’m leaving you in the company of my friends now. I’m sure you understand why I wouldn’t want to be present for this. I’m a killer, Jolie, but I’m not a total monster.”
My mind boggled at the idea that he still considered himself to have some kind of morality after everything he’d done, and what he was about to let happen.
“No, please. Don’t do this.”
“You brought it on yourself, Jolie.”
The unfairness of that statement broke me inside. I hadn’t asked for any of this. I’d only been trying to get on with my life, and then everyone else felt the need to drag me into their messed-up worlds. I caught hold of that spark of anger and fanned it to a flame. Anger made me stronger than fear, and I clutched to it, allow the injustice to build tension in my muscles. I dug down into the very depths of my strength and grabbed it with both hands.
With a shriek of fear and fury, I staggered to my feet and rushed for the door. But he was ready for me. He caught me by the arm and threw me back down again. I flew through the air and hit the ground, bones jarring, fresh pain snapping through my skull. The room spun around me, and I choked back a sob of helplessness.
That had been the last bit of strength I’d had to give.
I was done.
“She’s ready for you,” he called out to the waiting men. Then he leaned in and spoke in a lower tone. “Since you’re my daughter, I’ll give you a little tip. The more you fight them, the more they’ll enjoy it. If you want this to be quick and painless, just let them do whatever they want.”
It was the ultimate betrayal.
He turned and walked from the room, and passing back through in the opposite direction came the three men he’d given me to.
From my position on the floor, I cowered as I was surrounded by the bastards who planned to kill me. I wasn’t naïve—they’d probably rape me first. This would be the last thing I’d experience in my final moments on this earth, and sorrow filled me for all the things I would never get to do. I’d never get married or have children. I’d have given anything for one more night in bed with Hayden, my face pressed to his chest, and his arms wrapped around me.
I knew what my father had told me, but I still planned to fight. I couldn’t just let them take me. I wanted to curl into a ball and cower in the corner of the room, but I fought against my instincts. I wasn’t going to make this easy on them, even if it did mean making it harder on myself.
One true regret burned through my heart. I’d never told Hayden I loved him. I knew I did now. Now that I was about to lose everything, I could open up my heart, and give up arguing with myself about what I should or shouldn’t be feeling, and admit that I was in love with him. Maybe if I’d told him the truth—perhaps when we’d been on the boat, and the dolphins had been diving in the waves—it would have given him enough of a reason not to go through with this.
But it was too late now.
I looked between the faces of the men. They each appeared predatory—the younger man with the scribble of a moustache who’d pulled me from the van had an extra glint of anger in his blue eyes. I was pleased to see the swelling across the bridge of his nose and the dark bruises under his eyes from where I’d elbowed him. I’d like to think I’d hurt him, but a sick fuck like him probably enjoyed the pain. The man who was in his early thirties looked like any other businessman—clean shaven, and neatly cut hair—a perfect disguise for the monster that lurked beneath the façade. The oldest was larger than the other two. He looked like he hid a gut under his t-shirt, and his brown hair was curly and in need of a cut. I didn’t think these men were like my father. They weren’t clever enough or think enough of themselves to take on a murder spree like he had. No, these were the types of men who liked to hang out online and insult women while hiding behind a keyboard.
The younger one turned to the one with the gut. “Hold her down.”
It all happened fast. Automatically, I twisted to lunge and get away, even though I had nowhere else to go, but a heavy body slammed into me. Air burst from my lungs, and I couldn’t suck in another breath. Strained wheezing strangled from my throat, my eyes bulging as I fought for oxygen. My lungs burned, and I barely noticed the hands all over me as I struggled for air. I feared I might die this way, simply because I’d been unable to make my body do what it had done every second of every day, the whole of my life. But suddenly the iron bands around my chest unlocked, and I was able to suck in air.
Someone had yanked off my one remaining boot, and now hands were at the waistband of my jeans, and a second set of hands yanked up my shirt. I felt like the prey of a pack of hyenas. Now that I could breathe, I thrashed and struggled, but there were too many of them. Every time I knocked a hand away or managed to deliver a kick, the hand or body was replaced by another.
“Don’t fucking touch me, you bastards!”
Cold, hard fingers found one of my breasts, pinching my nipple. I yelped in pain, but to my horror, my nipple crinkled and tightened. A hand shoved down the front of my panties, and I let out a sob. A finger pushed inside me, and I went rigid, my eyes squeezed shut, desperately wanting to pretend this wasn’t happening to me.
“She’s wet.” The skinny one with the moustache grinned. “Little bitch is already wet for us.”
The guy who looked like he could be a businessman shoved him out of the way, dislodging skinny-guy’s fingers from my body. I experienced a moment of relief, but it quickly vanished when one set of fingers was replaced with another, painfully shoving up inside me. My back arched off the floor, and I cried out in shock and disgust.
“Yeah.” Businessman gave a snide smile. “She’s tight, too. Just how I like them.”
I wanted to throw up, my mind pulling away from the edges, trying to block out what was happening to me. My body went taut and my inner muscles tightened, as though trying to expel the invasion, but the guy only took it as a sign that I was enjoying what he was doing to me.
I kicked out and managed to catch him in the chest. The impact of my bare foot barely made him jerk back, and he quickly caught my ankle in one long-fingered hand—the hand that currently wasn’t jammed inside me—and pinned me down again.
The man with the curly hair unzipped his fly and pulled out his erection. His cock was short, but fat, just like he was. He pushed it toward my mouth, and I twisted my face in revulsion.
“You’re going to suck it, bitch, or we’ll fucking kill you.”
It was hard to be brave when I had a strange man’s fingers thrusting inside me. I wanted to withdraw inside myself, to keep my eyes squeezed shut, to remain utterly silent and pretend I wasn’t even there. Each jab of his fingers was like an iron rod stabbing inside my body, hurting in a way I’d never experienced before. But to my horror, my body had grown wet at the invasion, trying to protect itself, I knew, but I was still revolted by the fact.
I forced myself to respond. “You’re going to kill me anyway!” I balled up saliva in my mouth and spat in his face.
“Whore!”
He delivered a slap to my cheek, sending my already pounding head rocking. I blinked back tears of pain, the room whooshing in a circle around me. I needed to stay with it or I’d be done for.
“Come on, bitch.” Curly-hair pushed his stubby dick toward my mouth again. “Suck me.”
I clamped my jaw shut and spoke through gritted teeth. “You put that in my mouth and I’ll bite it off. I’d rather you killed me.”
For a moment, I thought he was going to hit me again, but then he leaned down and spoke softly. “Oh, don’t worry. We’re going to kill you, and we’ll make sure you’re conscious for every last second of what we do to you before you die.”