Page 107 of Ruthless Protector

I felt like some kind of sacrifice, ready to have my heart cut out. And that’s probably what was about to happen.

“Now,” he said.

“No.” I stumbled back.

His expression hardened. “You want your little niece to see morning, get the fuck over here.”

“Tilly? You have Tilly? You have my niece? She’s here?”

He didn’t answer, just waited for me to do what I was told. They had Tilly. Trent was somehow caught up with a serial killer.

I didn’t believe for a moment that they’d let me see Tilly, but if me being chained in the middle of this room meant they wouldn’t hurt her, I had to believe that. I’d do whatever they wanted to keep her safe.

I moved toward him on shaky legs. I had to believe that Jude would get here in time to save Tilly, that whatever was about to happen in this room, would buy her enough time.

I chanted Jude’s name in my head over and over again, like somehow, he’d hear me. That he’d find us before it was too late.

He tugged my hands over my head. There was a rattle of chains and then he clamped old style manacles around my wrists.

He stood back and looked at me. “Perfect.”

The door opened, and one of the guys who brought me here walked over with a glass and handed it to Donny. He grabbed my jaw, and held it to my mouth. “Drink.”

I jerked my head away, pressing my lips tightly together.

He squeezed my jaw harder. “Either you drink it, or your niece will.”

Tears filled my eyes. I had no choice. I opened my mouth and swallowed down the bitter liquid.

Then the pair of them walked out, leaving me to face what happened next alone.

I don’t know how long I waited, listening for the sound of someone coming. It felt like moments, but it could have been hours. I was shaking and sweating, my arms aching, losing feeling, so filled with terror, I didn’t know how my heart was still beating. My head spun; whatever they’d made me drink made me groggy, and it was a struggle to keep my feet under me.

Then I heard it. Slow footsteps, distant at first, each step getting louder, closer.

The door swung open and a tall figure filled the doorway. He was wearing all black, pants and a jacket, black leather gloves. But what was most terrifying, was the black leather mask that covered his whole head and face, holes cut for his eyes and mouth.

I yanked on the cuffs around my wrists, my fear so visceral, I thought it might choke me.

His eyes looked black behind that mask, glittering in the lamp light. He stepped inside and quietly shut the door behind him, walked over to the chair in the corner that had been brought in during my bath, and sat down.

He was in shadow now, concealed in one of the dark corners.

I waited, eyes straining to see him, each breath exploding in and out of me, so wild and unmeasured, my throat stung.

He didn’t move, didn’t speak, he just sat there.

Watching me.

I whimpered and tugged on the cuffs again. The drug they’d given me was taking hold, and no matter how hard I fought it, I couldn’t hold my heavy eyelids open. My mind felt like there was a strobe light going off inside my head, flashes of the room, then darkness.

I jerked, my eyes snapping open. I scrambled, trying to hold myself up, to stop the strain on my arms.

The room was spinning and when I managed to focus, he was somehow closer, his seat moved forward, just a little. His shiny pointed shoes and black trousers were now in the lamplight. I shook my head, trying to fight the fog, the weight of my lids.

Everything went black again.

When I jerked awake for the second time, oh God. He was closer again, his face now in light as well, casting terrifying shadows across that mask.