Chapter 47
The car door slams behind me. Zain takes the steps two at a time to catch up.
His tall, dark presence threatens to pull me under again.
He’s beguiling and alluring in his sable suit.
I’ve fallen deep into his labyrinth of darkness.
He’s malignantly handsome, like a cancer.
He’s drawn me in, suffocating my soul, but I keep coming back for more, letting him take and take.
At what point will I have nothing left to give?
He stops beside me. His gray eyes peering into my soul, breaking the spell. “Vesper?”
I purse my lips and shake my head. “Sorry,” I mutter.
I rap the iron knocker, and it echoes off the stone walls. The door creaks open and Suzanne stands before us with a wide-eyed smile. She wipes her hands on her stained apron and pulls me into a hug.
“Miss Santi, you look stunning! Your father is in the study. I’ll ring him.” She steps out of the way, letting us inside the roomy foyer.
“Come, come!” her soft honeyed voice purrs as she motions us inside. Her eyes connect with Zain, and I see the exact moment her smile falters. He looms next to me like a guard dog. A tall, menacing guard dog.
“Sir.” She curtsies before stepping away with urgency.
He says nothing, then I notice where his gaze has gone. My family photo. The one that takes up the entire wall space in the foyer. His eye twitches. His body remains stiff, as if that picture personally offends him.
“Zain?” I clasp his shoulder, then instantly pull back as he recoils.
He blinks slowly and turns his head towards me. “You stole everything from me.” His voice sounds detached and vitreous. His eyes for once, carry a hint of sadness.
“What?” I whisper, brow furrowing. I take a step away cautiously. I can’t let him have an episode here, not with my father present. He thinks I don’t notice when he disassociates. When his insides eat him alive.
“What do you mean? I returned your switchblade, Zain. I would never…” Confused, I stop myself.
His eyes fill with something unexpected. Pain. Regret. He’s grappling internally, and it’s seeping out in a wave of emotion. Something I wasn’t sure he was capable of.
“A life for a life, songbird,” he says lithically.
Before I can ask for clarification or get inside his head, my father’s footsteps slap against the floor, growing louder with each passing second. He rounds the corner and stops in his tracks when he sees Zain glued to my side. His face pales to a stark white.
“Father?” I approach him cautiously.
“You—” He’s cut off by Zain lunging at him, a syringe gripped in his fist. In the blink of an eye, he overpowers my father.
A strangled gasp leaves my throat. I inch back, pressing against the wallpapered wall. My father grabs Zain’s wrist and twists. Zain yowls but doesn’t relent.
“Zain!” I shout, doubling over, powerless. I’m thrown into a muddled haze.
They scuffle until both men slam against the entryway table, knocking over a lamp. It crashes to the floor where it shatters, porcelain shards littering the marble floor. Veins bulge in Zain’s arm with each forceful push.
“Zain! Stop!” I shout louder. I cower helplessly in the corner, paralyzed in disbelief. I should do something, anything.
Zain easily dismantles my father’s futile attempt at freedom. He’s bigger, stronger, and determined, and not to mention he was ready. Zain plunges the syringe into my father’s neck. I let out a harrowed scream.
My father clutches his neck and topples to his knees. Slurred words leave his throat. “Vesper…run…dangerous.” His beady eyes turn hazy before he collapses onto the floor.
A million things rush through my mind. Pain. Deceit. Affection. Confusion. Fear.
Doubt.
Zain’s stance widens. He heaves like a madman before his gaze settles on me.
The syringe is still half full in his shaky hand.
His eyes darken to something I’ve never seen before.
Sinister, psychotic, a deep manic intensity I’ve never witnessed.
Not to this degree. For the first time, I don’t know what he will do to me.
It differs from his usual dead, void gray eyes.
I’m frozen, unable to move as he stalks forward. I squeeze my eyes closed, gripping the wall behind me as if it will somehow keep me grounded and safe.
“Shh, it’ll be over soon.” He reaches out to stroke my hair tenderly. His hot, smoky breath hits my cheeks. His delicate touch is the complete opposite of how he looks right now.
My eyes fly open just in time to feel the pinch along my neck. I suck in a breath. The room starts to blur and spin before me. His hands cradle my waist in a tender fashion.“My songbird.”
The last thing I see are his gray muted eyes. The room goes black as my body goes limp.
***
It hurts. My head. My body. All of it. I groan and take a deep breath, trying to recall what happened. Did I take drugs with Zain? Did we have sex? Oh, God. Did Jax rape me?!
No, Jax is dead…
Panic sets in. I thrash and buck only to realize I’m restrained at the ankles and wrists by a tight nylon rope.
My eyes burst open. I cough until I dry heave.
The contents of my stomach threaten to erupt from my insides.
I’m in my room. Crimson curtains surround my soft, plush bed. Sweat soaks my silk sheets.
“You’re gonna feel drowsy. Probably a bit disoriented. It’ll wear off, songbird, I promise.”
My head twists the best I can towards the dimly lit fireplace. Zain leans back against the leather upholstery with a cigarette dangling from his lips. At his feet lays my father. He’s bound and gagged. Bruises pepper his blotched skin.
“What the fuck!?” A strangled cry leaves my throat. It comes out scratchy from the dryness. I swallow hard, hoping to loosen the lump that’s nestled in my chest.
He cocks his head and looks at me with a dark reverence.
“Wasn’t supposed to be this way, you know.
Was supposed to be simple. Get close to you.
Destroy you. Let your father watch your downfall while I get answers.
” He jumps to his feet as if he’s angry.
At himself? At me? My father? I don’t understand.
I fist the silk sheets because it’s all I can do.
“Suzanne and Bella will find me,” I hiss. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but this isn’t right!” Each word leaves me louder and more frantic. Truthfully, I have no idea if they’re alive.
He approaches me slowly. My eyes drift down to my father.
He’s not awake. Zain undoes the top set of buttons on his shirt, showcasing the top of his chest. He follows my gaze to my father on the floor.
He takes in a heavy measured breath. “He’s gonna wake up shortly.
Don’t worry, Vesper, your cook and maid will not be botherin’ us.
” The sinister edge to his words makes my eyes bulge. Did he hurt them too?
“Relax, they’re safe. Did that for you. Otherwise, I’d slit their throats and toss ’em over the edge of the cliffside,” he says casually, as if he isn’t talking about murdering innocents.
“Why are you doing this?” I rasp. Tears spring to my eyes, soaking into small blots on my silk sheets.
He sits, sinking into the mattress next to me. He leans over and licks my tears from my cheek.
“Delicious.”
I whimper harder, hating how my body reacts to him.
The glint in his eye tells me he’s completely lost to the darkness.
It’s overtaken him like cancer. It occurs to me that everything I thought I knew about Zain is a lie.
I feel used. My body has been defiled for the sake of some sick mind game.
It seems vengeful, but I’ve done nothing to earn his wrath.
“Earlier…you said I stole from you. What did you mean?” I sniffle.
My tear-stricken eyes meet his. Maybe I can talk my way out of this.
He caresses my cheek in the same way he always has.
Shame fills me for craving his touch. “You stole my life. Mine,” his voice is laced with tainted distrust and aggrievement.
“When your father wakes up, you’ll understand.
Brace yourself. You’re gonna hate me,” he says with a venomous vindictive hiss.