I don’t even fucking care anymore. I’m a zombie. A shell. A fucking notch on Dornan’s list of wins.
But you killed four of his sons. You still fought your war pretty fucking well.
That thought makes me smile, despite the fact that I can’t breathe and I’m against the wall, naked, and being strangled by the man who I once thought I’d be able to destroy.
“What the fuck are you smiling at?”
I think of Chad’s face when he realized who I was. Of Maxi, struggling violently as I rocked on his lap, a pile of poisonous powder rammed underneath his nose. Of the carnage that greeted me in the emergency room in Tijuana, when I managed to wipe out two more sons. And I can understand how Dornan feels right now. He must be so fucking pleased to get his vengeance on the girl who took his sons.
He loosens his grip on my neck. “Answer me. What the fuck are you smiling at?”
I hack up a lung, coughing as oxygen once again enters my body. The room stops spinning after a few seconds, and I lean against the wall for support.
“Tell me what you were fucking smiling at or I’ll shove that Taser up your pussy and set it to max.”
I feel my smile shrink a little. “I was thinking about how your sons looked when they realized karma had come back to punish their asses.”
“Huh.” He licks his lips, and that infuriating goddamn smile is back again. Not the reaction I expected.
“What are you smiling at?” Fuck! I can’t resist. I’ve played right into his pathetic game. Admitting that I’m dying to know what he’s planning to do.
He takes a step back, letting his gaze rake up over my naked body. And when he finally speaks, his words are so chilling, so devastating, they’re worse than anything I could have imagined.
“I’ve decided how you’re going to pay me back for taking four of my sons, baby girl. Killing you and bringing you back to life is fun, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not nearly enough payment for the things you took from me.”
He pauses, letting me digest that before he continues. He licks his lips again, like he’s about to fucking devour me, and his grin is so wide, it’s as if his face might break.
“You’re going to give me back my sons, baby girl. All of them.”
I frown, confused. “What?”
He chuckles. “I’m gonna breed you like a fucking brood mare. I’m gonna keep you down here, in this room, for as many years as it takes for you to give me four fucking sons. Until you repay what you took from me. You understand? Get comfortable, bitch. You’re going to be down here getting fucked and tortured and popping out babies until our debt is cleared. I’m going to be inside you here,” he jabs a finger into my forehead, “and here,” another jab, this time to my stomach, “and here.” I gasp as he rams the same finger up inside me without warning. “I don’t want you dead. I just want you to wish you were dead. And I want my fucking money.”
I snort. “You’re delusional. I’m almost dead, you motherfucker! Do you really think this body would even sustain a pregnancy after you’ve starved me, drugged me, poisoned me, and fucked me within an inch of my life?”
Stark satisfaction dances in his eyes. “Aren’t I lucky then, that I already got inside you a long time ago?” He presses something hard and thin into my palm and steps back, giving me the space to look at what he’s handed me.
I stare down at the plastic stick, two lines intersecting in a circle. A plus sign. Positive. I laugh, but it’s an empty noise, as inside I’m filled with panic.
“Good try, Dornan. I don’t buy it for one second. This is a fake.” I continue staring at the plastic pregnancy test, turning it over in my hand, thinking how pathetic his attempt to scare me is. It’s a fake. Of course it’s a fake. You can order these off eBay for five bucks, for fuck’s sake, and scare your boyfriend—or your hostage—on April Fool’s Day.
“Have I ever lied to you, baby girl?”
I stare at the test, my heart hammering in my chest.
“I should’ve known something was up when you kept accusing me of poisoning your food.” He continues. “I didn’t poison shit. I didn’t need to. I was already poisoning you from the inside with my kid.”
I look back up at his face and my heart sinks. Because as I see the excitement and the satisfaction in his eyes, I know he’s telling me the truth.
I choke, dropping the pregnancy test at my feet and scurrying toward the bucket in the corner. I drop to my knees, barely making it before every bit of food and bile inside me comes up, hitting the sides of the bucket with a sloppy splash.