Jesus, I need so much therapy.
“Don’t worry, little one,” he coos at me once he has removed the last needle. “I’ll make you feel better.”
I am so out of it that my mind barely registers the feeling of his fingertips brushing along the seam of my cunt. He won’t findanything down there. It is as dry as sandpaper. The only pain I crave is the pain Matthias gives me. Erotic. Steamy. Consensual.
This fucker doesn’t know the meaning of the word.
I wince when he digs his fingers inside me. He has spit on them first. Racked with pain, my body hardly acknowledges the intrusion.
But my mind does.
And it doesn’t like what he is doing.
“Stop,” I whimper, tears leaking from my eyes. Who knows if I have any of those left. “Stop.”
He shushes me, his eyes roaming over my bruised and battered body. I am once again struck by how loving his gaze is. Does he honestly believe I am his? Is he that delusional, or is this part of a game to trick me into falling for his scheme?
“It’s all right, Ava,” he soothes. “Soon?—”
An explosion from above rocks the room. Kellan pulls his fingers from inside me and jumps to his feet.
“We’ve got a problem, boss.” The guard outside the door is frantic. “They’re calling for you upstairs. We need to go.”
“Dammit,” he curses. “Stay outside this door. Kill anyone you don’t recognize and make sure she doesn’t leave.” The guard nods and takes up his post. Kellan turns to me and smirks. “Don’t think this is over, little one. I’m going to enjoy fucking you like a bitch in heat while your husband watches. Then I’ll slit his fucking throat, and you can watch him bleed out while I make you orgasm.”
I snicker, suddenly feeling oddly renewed. “As if you could make me orgasm.”
Kellan growls but says nothing, choosing instead to stride from the room, slamming the door harshly behind him.
Matthias has come for me, and God help anyone who gets in his way.
They are going to need it.
twenty-nine
It is quiet at first as we make our approach.
A few of my men, along with the twins and Liam, cover me from the ground. We inch along the outer perimeter like shadows skulking in the night. One by one, each guard on the outer stretch falls to our blades without a sound. No one will know they are missing until it is too late, and then all hellfire will rain down from above.
Through the unsupported section of fence, we make our way into a garden that spans the back of the mansion. It is covered in large bushy hedges that provide the perfect cover. Not that we need much with our snipers having set up in the forest surrounding us, their rifles ready.
The layout of the mansion suggests there is a basement beneath the main floor. No doubt that is where Ava is being held. The tracker hasn’t lit back up again. That is all the confirmation we need. The plan is meticulously drawn to prevent unnecessary casualties on our end.
I could give two fucks about anyone else, but there are a few people I am looking at keeping alive.
Whoever holds Seamus McDonough’s face and whoever the woman is who took my wife.
I will add more as necessary.
“You’ve got four bogies just inside the back door,” Mark informs us over the comm line. “Two inside the front. Huh…” He pauses dramatically.
“What is wrong?” I ask. “Why the pause?”
“There should be more people,” he says. “The heat signatures inside the house are all roaming. They’re obviously guards, but no one is just sitting still or doing normal activities. No staff. Nothing.”
“Are you saying Ava might not be here?” I snarl.
“No,” Bridget speaks up, her husky voice calm and weirdly soothing. “It just means that whoever took Ava might not be there. But she still could be.”