Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Ash Blackthorne. Stone’s younger brother.
The man behind those familiar eyes was kind. He cared for me my whole life, held my hand, and kept me safe. But not anymore. This man before me . . . he’s wretched. Vile. Sick. He wants something I’m not willing to give, something that’s not meant for him.
Ash gets to the bottom of the stairs, and I shake my head. “No. Don’t do this,” I beg. My gaze darts back to the top of the stairs, where more men are filing in like fucked-up little toy soldiers. Each of them looks at me as though I owe them something, and they’ve come to collect.
As they march down the stairs, Ash reaches the edge of the dirty mattress, and I shakily get to my feet, my bound hands making it difficult. “He’ll kill you for this,” I tell him. He and I both know exactly how far Stone would go to protect me, to keep me safe, and if anything were to happen . . . shit.
How could he even risk it? How could he dare lay a hand on me, knowing what will come of this? Does he foolishly believe that Stone will spare him because they’re brothers? Because not even that kind of bond could save him now. “You’re a dead man walking.”
Ash laughs and smirks at me like I’m just a toy for him to mess with. “So what? He’s gonna kill me anyway. I might as well enjoy what’s always been mine first.”
I shake my head, backing up as the other men reach the bottom of the stairs, fanning out to surround me like vultures. Ash chuckles—a pitying sound that makes me feel worthless. “Menace? Not so fucking menacing anymore, are ya, Riley?”
“Don’t,” I beg with a strained whisper, tears streaking down my face. “Please, don’t. It’s not too late. We can still go back.”
He laughs at me, the coldness in his tone telling me that this is no longer the boy I grew up with, no longer the brother I’ve always trusted. He’s a stranger now, just a man wearing the face of someone I thought I loved. “There’s no going back.”
The betrayal cuts like a knife. He’s been my brother for the better part of thirteen years. He’s had my back, kept me safe, given me a life worth fighting for, and while I know these past few years have been strained after he fell in with these guys, I didn’t think he could fall this far.
Ash steps around the mattress, tracking me like a wolf preparing to strike, while his friends surround me completely.
There’s nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
I know Stone is coming for me, but he’s too late. There’s no saving me now.
I look around at the men, staring each of them in the eyes, committing their faces to memory, and vowing that no matter how hard, how vile, or how twisted I need to become, I will hunt these men down, and I will slaughter them for what they’re about to do to me.
I will end their lives. I will burn every inch of their bodies, cut their tongues from their mouths, and gut them like fish. They won’t get away with this, and when Stone comes for me—and I know he will—he’ll be right there at my back, teaching me exactly how to hold the blade.
My tears dry up, and I raise my chin in defiance. If they’re going to steal my innocence, then they’ll get exactly what’s coming for them, and I won’t hold back.
Ash steps up onto the mattress, right into my personal space, and in an instant, his hand whips up, curling around the back of my hair and yanking my head back until my feral stare collides with his. “I’m gonna enjoy this,” he snarls before throwing me down hard on the mattress, his friends cheering as my bound wrists make it impossible to catch myself.
Ash smirks as he reaches for the front of his pants and pops the button, preparing to take everything from me. Terror grips me in a chokehold, but nothing is more vile than the look in his eyes, and as I stare back at him, that look sears itself into my mind.
He reaches for my legs, but I’m not going down without a fight, and I rip my knee back, tearing my ankle from his firm grasp just long enough to kick it back with everything I’ve got, slamming the heel of my boot directly into his face, shattering his nose under the force.
Blood spurts across the dirty mattress, but I don’t stop kicking as feral screams tear from the back of my throat. “DON’T TOUCH ME. DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!”
“FUCKING BITCH!”
His friends drop down, each of them grabbing at my body, desperately trying to hold me down as Ash comes for me again, but I keep fighting, keep thrashing. “NO!”