Blind Date(69)

He swings the chain in Taylor's direction, causing her to take a little jump back and lose her footing, falling onto her back with a cry. She has no way to stop her fall, so she lands hard.

"Please!" I cry, shuffling forward. "Please stop. Don't hurt her. I'll do anything. Just don't."

It isn't hard for me to cry, and a month of pent-up fear flows out and I let it, not even attempting to hold it back. If he needs me to break to leave her be, then that's what he'll get. I won't let him hurt her. If I have to play this until I'm on the ground sobbing and begging for mercy, I will do it. I will do whatever it takes. I sob, staring at the masked man, praying this works. "Dammit. What more do you want from me? You've tormented me enough. Just do what you have to do with me, but leave her alone. I'm begging you."

He looks at me, and for a long moment, he just stares. I wonder if beneath that mask he has his eyes narrowed, studying me. Just when I think he's taking it all in, believing my act, he throws his head back and  …  laughs.

My body goes straight and my tears instantly stop flowing. When he looks back at me, I know his eyes are pinned to mine even though I can't see anything. "How stupid do you think I am? Honestly, Hartley. I've watched you for long enough to know you're not that weak-to think you actually believed I'd fall for that. Good plan, though. Trying to pretend for the sake of your friend. It isn't going to work."

He's onto me? Just like that. How?

"I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt her," I try again, desperately.

He laughs again.

"Please," I beg, lowering down onto my knees. Shame flooding my cheeks. Because deep down, I know he's right. I'm not this weak. But for Taylor, I'll do anything. I'll be anything. "Please, don't hurt her."

"Get off your knees!" he orders. "Your act won't fly with me. I don't need to hurt her to break you. That would be too easy, and too cliché. Don't you think?"

I look up at him, still on my knees. By the way he says the next words, I can almost hear him smiling beneath that mask. "I simply need to hurt you."

I'm confused, and for a moment, I just stare. Hurt me? Isn't that the plan all along? To hurt me? By using my husband, and now Taylor? I don't understand.


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"There is more than one way to skin a cat, Hartley. Of course you'd put on a show to protect your friend from getting hurt. And, granted, I could hurt her enough to break you, but you're anticipating that, and like I said before, cliché. I like to play by a different set of rules. No. If you think you're so tough, so unbreakable, then I'll let her watch you suffer. You see, I don't need to lay a finger on her to traumatize and ruin her for the rest of her life, in which case, ruining the person you hold dearest."

Taylor makes a pained sound on the ground beside me. She's stayed quiet. She's not stupid. But those words scare her. I know they do. Taylor is soft at heart. She might be full of sass, but she's a gentle person. Seeing someone get hurt  …  will destroy her. He's right about that.

My skin prickles. The smart bastard. "Just let her go. Please. She isn't part of this."

It's pathetic. I know it even as the words are coming out of my mouth, but I can't stop them. I have to try, once more. I can't let my best friend watch me get hurt, I know what it'll do to her. Vomit rises in my throat, and I look over at her. She's as pale as a ghost, staring at Black.

He laughs again. "Oh, but Hartley. She is."

Then he swings the chain. It hits me across the face so hard my head splits. Blood spurts out from a wound in my forehead. I can feel the skin split apart. Pain, unlike any I've ever felt, tears through my skull and I stumble, falling to the ground, screaming in agony. Not even the strongest person could handle that. Taylor's screams fill the small room and she begs, "Please, please stop. Please don't hurt her."

The chain swings again, like a whip, the clatter filling the space until the end connects with my shoulder. I tumble backwards and another pained scream rips from my throat. Tears pool in my eyes, mixing with the blood running down my face.

"Stop!" Taylor screams. "Stop!"

Hearing her agonized cries rips me in two. It tears into my very soul. He knows it-it's precisely why he's doing it. But he will not break me. I'll take every beating under the sun before I let him break me. But God, it hurts so bad. So damned bad. I have to fight with everything I am inside to stop myself from breaking.