57. Elyse
CHAPTER 57
Elyse
WORSE THAN DEATH
PRESENT
T he room is dark, the only light coming from a single, flickering bulb suspended from the ceiling. It swings lazily, casting shadows that crawl up the walls and stretch long across the floor like they’re reaching for me.
My hands are tied behind my back. The rope digs roughly, deep into my skin. My heart pounds so hard it feels like it might crack through my ribs. I try to focus, to breathe, but the fear is coiled tight in my throat, consuming me.
The only thought that brings me back, over and over again, is Dominic will find me. He has to.
Footsteps echo across the floorboards—slow and deliberate. My pulse spikes, and I hold my breath.
Ryker steps into view with a calm, unnerving smile.
“Comfortable?” he asks casually.
I glare at him. I won’t give him the satisfaction of my fear, even if it’s clawing at my insides.
He chuckles low in his throat and the sound slithers down my spine .
“Still feisty. I’ve always liked that about you, Elyse. Always thought it was so sexy.”
“Where are we?”
Smiling, his gaze roams the space. “Somewhere no one will find you, and that’s all you need to know.”
I grit my teeth. “What do you want?”
He crouches, dragging a finger down my cheek. My stomach lurches, and I fight the urge to throw up.
“I want you.”
The words land like ice water on my skin.
My body shakes—trembling, twitching, completely out of my control. I can’t breathe. The thought of him touching me, of him doing everything he’s hinting at, makes me want to tear my own skin off just to escape it.
There are things worse than death. And right now, I know exactly what they are.
A tear slips down my cheek before I can stop it. He catches it with his thumb, and I flinch away, repulsed.
He grins. “It kind of turns me on, seeing you cry. Not so tough now, huh?”
He stands, and for a second, my body loosens just enough to breathe.
“Don’t you want to be fucked by a real man?” he adds with a twisted smile.
I don’t answer. I can’t. One wrong word, one twitch, and I don’t know what he’ll do. He’s not stable—he’s a match already lit, ready to burn.
His fingertip traces my collarbone, causing bile to rise in my throat, before wrapping around my necklace. He yanks at it, hard, and I scream from the pain. “You won’t be needing that anymore.” He tosses it aside, and it lands somewhere in the darkness.
The back of my neck burns, and my body is throbbing from the fear and tension coursing through it. Every second that passes, my hope dies a little more.
I just need to keep him talking. If he’s talking, maybe it’ll stall him. Maybe it’ll stall him long enough so he doesn’t?—
No. I cut the thought off before it finishes.
“Why me?” I ask, voice trembling. “You could have anyone. Why me?”
His smile falters, just barely.
“Because you were the one I couldn’t have. You were always out of reach. You never saw me—really saw me.” His voice rises, his pacing turning erratic. “I watched you, protected you. Scared off the string of losers you tried to date. And I waited. I waited so long for you to realize I was the one who could give you everything you needed.”
“You’re married,” I whisper. “We’ve been friends. Why now?”
He crouches again, hands on my thighs. My entire body goes cold.
“I thought I could let you go,” he murmurs. “But I can’t. I lost Victoria. Then Claire. I wasn’t going to lose you, too.”
I can barely hear over the sound of blood rushing in my ears.
“What about the note? The flower? All the other weird shit?” My voice breaks. “Why?”
He stands again, and I suck in a breath the second his hands are gone.
“Dom,” he says simply. “I needed him distracted. The man has impeccable timing, moving back just as my life crumbles to pieces. I put him on Victoria’s case because I wanted him busy. And once I started messing with you, I knew he’d spiral. He couldn’t help himself. When people are overworked, emotional, desperate, they make mistakes.”
He steps closer again, and I press myself back against the chair, wishing it could swallow me whole .
He leans down until he’s close enough that I can smell his cologne—my stomach sours.
“With Victoria and Claire out of the picture, it was finally time for me to have you. The plan was perfect. If he hadn’t moved back, we’d finally be together. He ruined everything.”
He’s delusional. There isn’t any scenario in which I’d ever be with him.
“You know what the best part is?” he whispers. “He’s never going to touch you again. I bet he’ll kill himself knowing he lost you for good. He’s weak like that.”
“He’s not weak,” I grit out, before I realize the mistake I’ve made.
The veins at Ryker’s temples start to bulge, popping one by one. “Stop fucking defending him!”
His hand rises above me, casting a shadow across my cheek, before snapping down like a whip crack.
And then it all goes black.
When I come to, Ryker is pacing the perimeter ofthe room, his movements calculated as his eyes sweep over me.
Without windows, I can’t gauge how long I was out for.
I try to keep my breathing steady, but the painful sting on my cheek only makes me more panicked. My mind scrambles for an escape plan, anything to get me out of this nightmare. The more I move, the more the ropes around my wrists bite deeper.
He’s talking, mumbling so low I can barely understand him. I’m only catching pieces of his words because my ears are ringing with panic.
“…tried to be subtle,” he says, leaning against the wall with a casualness that makes my stomach churn. “But you were always so focused on him. It was frustrating, really. I gave you every chance to see me. To notice me.”
The Ryker I’m familiar with, the one I’ve known most of my life, is gone. The man before me is unrecognizable. He’s twitching and speaking in circles and moving his hands frantically. My mind is struggling to make sense of how we got here.
“Just let me go,” I plead. “I won’t tell anyone. We can pretend it never happened.”
He shakes his head erratically. “It’s too late for that.”
I need to get him to calm down—I need to pull him out of whatever this is.
“You’re getting divorced, right?”
He stills, his head turning to me slowly. “I already told you that. You never listen to me.”
“We can be together.” I try to smile, but I can’t. It’s as if my body is refusing to allow it. “Me and you. We can be happy.” My voice is shaking uncontrollably, and I’m praying to anyone listening that all he hears are my words and not the fear making them spill out.
I’ll say anything I need to—anything he needs to hear to survive this.
“You mean that?” He asks in a hushed whisper, so hopeful it makes me want to shudder.
“Yes! You’re right, I’ve been so blind.”
He bends down in front of me, a chilling smile splitting his face. “I’ve been watching you for so long.” His voice is distant, like he’s recalling a memory. “I used to watch you when you’d come home from work. You always looked so sad, and I just wanted to be there for you—to hold you. I shouldn’t have married Claire. It was a mistake—she was a mistake. Please tell me you forgive me.”
“If I forgive you, will you untie me?”
My heart pounds, waiting for his response .
“How do I know I can trust you?”
I rack my brain trying to come up with a response I think will satisfy him. I need to get loose. It’s one step closer.
“Because you know me. You know me better than anyone. You trust me, don’t you?”
The back of his hand travels over my injured cheek, and I flinch from the pain. His pupils are huge as he stares, without truly looking at me. “You’re right.” His voice is faint. “I do know you.”
He moves behind me and it takes everything I possess to stop shaking. I need him to think I’m not scared.
When I start to feel the rope unravel, an entirely different type of panic overcomes me. Once I’m loose, I’m not sure what comes next.
As he’s untying me, the faintest sound reaches my ears—a muffled thud, almost like a door being opened somewhere outside. My heart jumps, hope flaring in my chest.
Ryker doesn’t notice at first.
“I can’t wait to touch you,” I tell him, hoping it encourages him to continue.
He frees one wrist, but then he pauses.
Moving, he stalks toward the lone door, tilting his head slightly, his hand drifting toward his waistband where his service weapon is holstered.
“Looks like we have company,” Ryker murmurs with a smile. “If it’s who I think it is, I’ll get rid of him, and you’ll never have to worry about him again.”
I try to keep my face blank, but inside, I’m screaming.
Using my free hand, I try to work on the other wrist, but I can’t seem to reach the right angle.
Time stretches. Minutes or seconds pass, my vision fading in and out of darkness. It’s like I’m going into shock, drowning in fear.
Ryker has his gun drawn, waiting .
In an instant, the door bursts open, light bursting through. Dominic charges through first, his gun raised, with Morales right behind him. Seconds later, more uniforms enter the room. My breath catches, relief and terror colliding in my chest.
“Ryker!” Dominic shouts, his voice booming. “Drop the weapon. Now.”
For a split second, everything is still. The air is heavy, so thick I can’t see through it.
Everything happens so fast. Screams, commands, so many voices I can’t make sense of it all.
A shot sounds, piercing through the air, followed by my blood-curdling scream as I watch Dominic’s lifeless body fall to the ground.