Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
SAVANNAH
I hurry from the library toward my dorm, wanting to get home and hide behind my own four walls. Senior year started two weeks ago, and I already feel like I’m being buried by schoolwork, but that’s a good thing. Especially since I need a distraction after finding Harley in the alley last week.
Anything to keep me busy and take my mind off everything else is a good thing.
I can still hear my father’s voice in my ears, telling me I’m no good, telling me what he’s going to do to me…
“You’re fucking worthless. Jesus Christ, what was the point of us even having you when you won’t do what you’re told?!” My father’s voice booms, echoing against the walls of the dining room.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this angry before, but I push past the fear and tilt my chin.
“I won’t do it,” I rasp, clenching my hands into fists so he doesn’t see the way I’m trembling.
“You don’t have a choice. If you don’t want to end up in bed for a week, healing from what I’ll do to you, then you’ll do as I’ve asked and do it well.”
My breath hitches, and the air coming and going from my lungs feels like ice as my brain whizzes through the possibilities.
Get beaten within an inch of my life or get close to another guy just to steal his family’s secrets… this time, I’d be getting close to them knowing what I was going to do. Hell. He wants me to marry the man, for goodness’ sake.
No. No, I won’t do it.
“I don’t care,” I say, the hitch in my voice giving away my fear, but that’s nothing new.
He’s used to seeing me scared of him. Of me being terrified.
“You can refuse, but I’ll get what I want eventually, Savannah.
I don’t care how long it takes for me to…
convince you to follow through on my demands, but you’ll do it in the end.
I have no qualms about breaking you just to get what I want.
I’ll shatter you into a million fucking pieces and mold you into what I want you to be, just you watch. ”
His eyes are dark and fierce as they stare into mine, his anger turning into steely determination. He takes a step toward me, then another, and another until he’s only inches away from me before a sharp sting reverberates across my face as his palm meets my cheek.
“Soft little bitch,” he mutters, a sneer marring his face. He turns on his heel and calls out to the man who’s been standing in the doorway the entire time, making sure I have no way to escape.
“Morris,” he barks, striding toward him. “Take her to her room and make sure she regrets denying my request. Make it hurt. You know the rules.”
And then he’s gone, leaving me with his sadistic second in command, and my fear multiples.
No, no, no.
Not him.
Anyone but him.
Liam Morris has worked for my father for years, and he scares me almost as much as my father does, because where my father’s talents lie in manipulation, Morris’ talents lie in inflicting pain.
And once again, I’m going to feel that pain down to my bones.
But I won't fight it, and I won’t give in.
For once in my life, I’ve denied my father, but I won’t back down and do what he asks.
There’s no way I’m letting him get away with it again.
Even if I know this won’t be the end of it.
This is only the beginning.
Shaking my head, I push the memory away. There’s no point dwelling on everything now, not when I can’t do anything about it.
I take my usual route, heading down the alleyway that holds so many memories.
The place where Harley and I first—nope, not thinking of him.
If I dwell on him right now, I fear I might never come back from it.
There’s so much going on already, and there’s only so much I can take before I break, so I need to focus on everything else and push him to the back of my mind.
Harley and I are done.
We’ve been done for the last three years, I was just too stubborn and too na?ve to see it. I was doing so well… but then I found him having a panic attack, and he hasn’t left my mind since.
Whenever I come from the library, it’s easier to take the alley rather than the street because it gets me home faster, even though it can be creepy as fuck when I’m walking alone at night. Thankfully, it’s a different alleyway than the one I found Harley in, instead the one where we first—
Stop, Savannah. No thinking about that.
I breathe a sigh of relief when my building comes into view, knowing I’m only minutes away from being safe in my own space with nothing and no one to tell me what to do or to watch me be someone I’m not.
But that sigh soon turns into a gasp as arms grab me around the waist from behind just as I reach the mouth of the alley.
Fuck.
My heart beats uncontrollably in my chest, panic rising as I’m pulled backward, into the darkness.
I try to fight back, my fight or flight instincts kicking into high gear, but it’s no use, it’s as though everything Logan taught me went right out of the window, and I forget everything but the fear and terror running through my veins.
I try to scream, but a hand clamps over my mouth, and I’m slammed against a wall.
“Quiet, bitch,” a deep, unfamiliar voice grunts, and it’s only then I realize my eyes are squeezed tightly shut. I open them slowly and look at the giant of a man holding me in place.
A shudder rolls through me, and I squirm against his hold, trying and failing to get myself free.
“I like fighters,” he says approvingly before pulling a knife from his pocket. “In fact, fight harder, love. It only makes it more fun.”
At his words, I force my body to still.
Like fuck am I going to give him what he wants, no matter how much I want to free myself. I won’t give him the satisfaction.
I need to think. I need to calm myself and think about how the fuck I’m going to get myself out of this situation.
He chuckles. “So, that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?
Fair enough.” He brings the knife to the tip of my throat, and just when I think he’s going to plunge it into my carotid, he does something unexpected.
He uses it to slice across my chest, easily cutting through my sweater, though I don’t think getting to what’s underneath is his intention.
“You should know, I was sent here to give you a message. You need to behave, Savannah. Your daddy doesn’t like how rebellious you’ve been these last couple of years, so he sent me to give you a reminder of what will happen if you don’t comply. ”
He trails the knife up my abdomen, applying just enough pressure to lightly cut into my skin. A maniacal grin paints his lips, and there’s something cold in his eyes. They’re black, empty. Dead.
He's the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and I give up with not fighting.
Fuck this. Fuck him and fuck my dad.
If this is going to happen, then it’s going to happen with me fighting against this asshole.
“Stupid cunt,” he grunts as I try to kick him, but he makes three quick slashes over my chest and stomach, making me cry out in pain.
This can’t be happening. This isn’t real. Any moment now, I’ll wake up, and I’ll be—
His hands grab my shoulders, and he forces me down to my knees. The pain of them hitting the ground is nothing compared to the cuts oozing blood from my body.
He kicks me in the stomach, and my body acts instinctively, bowing forward as the wind is knocked out of me. I wheeze, curling up into a fetal position.
Something happens to me then, something I’ve never experienced before, but something I’m grateful for.
It’s like an out-of-body experience as I watch him continue to kick me while I lie there.
He doesn’t slow down, he just keeps kicking and kicking.
I can still feel his boot hitting me and the pain that follows, but it feels muted somehow.
He kneels down to look me in the eyes, as though he’s taking in every second of this moment so he doesn’t forget a moment of it and can relive it later, then his hands find my hair before he yanks me forward.
“I was hoping you’d put up more of a fuss since it’s so much more fun that way, but I guess Daddy was right. You do just lie there and take it. But there’s something in your eyes…” He tilts his head and gets even closer, so close I can almost taste the rancidity of his breath.
His knife is lying flat against the top of my head as his hand grips my hair, and I force my trembling arms to grab onto his. My hands find his, and I don’t know if I get lucky or if he’s distracted by the way he’s staring into my eyes, but I manage to take hold of the knife.
And that’s when I slam back into my body, coming to.
I know I need to end this, so I force myself to move, even though my body screams in protest. It hurts.
Fuck, it hurts so much, but I push the pain away and focus on survival.
I slam the knife into his gut, and he doubles over, almost landing on top of me, but I heave myself to the side just in time before stabbing him again.
He falls to the floor beside me, both of us dripping with blood as his pain-filled cries drift away slowly, until I’m left with nothing but the silence of night and the reality of what’s just happened.
My consciousness dips in and out, pain and terror filling my veins as I shift until I’m leaning against the wall, and it’s only then, when I’m sure his chest is no longer moving, that I let the darkness finally pull me under.