She whimpers, her eyes falling shut, and I allow her to fall to the floor onto her side in the middle of the kitchen.
I hear the faint sound of the front door opening and closing, making me smile.
“Hey, I’m next.” Marcus whines like a fucking child, pushing off the wall.
“You’re right.” I stand and turn to face him. “You are next.” Then I throw the knife, enjoying the shrill scream that follows.
ELLINGTON
I OPEN MY heavy eyes and groan. I’ve got a pounding headache. Sitting up, I rub my eyes with the palm of my hands. I press a little too hard, causing stars to dance across my vision.
Opening them, I blink rapidly before they focus. My breath hitches when I see Sin sitting across from me on a couch. He’s got his right ankle propped up on his knee. His arms fanned along the back cushions. His blue eyes on me.
Unblinking. He doesn’t look mad or satisfied. Just blank.
That’s not what has my heart racing. It’s the fact that I’m not restrained. No duct tape, no rope, no handcuffs.
He looks too calm for what he did to me earlier.
I swallow nervously and look away from him. My eyes scanning the living room for Marcus but it’s just me and Sin. I know we’re still at the same house. Why are we here?
My eyes drop to my chest, and I see I’ve got dried blood on it. I’m still naked. Reaching out, I grab the blanket that was draped over me and hide myself.
“You do not want to play this game with me, little demon.” He finally speaks. His voice sounding as calm as he looks. “I will win every single time. No one can beat the devil.”
My eyes lift to look at him through my lashes, and he cocks his head to the side. My tongue is throbbing where he cut it, but I no longer taste blood.
He stands and walks over to me. His movements force me to sit up straighter and lift my head in order to watch him. Coming to a stop in front of me, he reaches out his hand
I take it.
He lifts me to my shaking knees and removes the blanket. He opens it up and wraps it around my shoulders. Lifting his hand, he runs his finger over my trembling lips. His eyes stay on mine, anchoring me in place. I’ve always known Sin would have power over me. We just never got close enough to see how much.
Now that I do, I’m terrified. Not of him. But what I’d do for him.
He slips his thumb into my mouth, and I stick my tongue out. He gently runs it over the cut, and I whimper. “Say you’re sorry.”
I blink at his command. Sorry? Am I sorry that I made him jealous last night? Am I sorry that I left with a man I intended to let fuck me? Am I sorry that I put myself in a position that could have potentially gotten me raped by multiple men and left in a ditch to rot? No.
I might have been drunk and fucked up, but my mind was clear and made up. Fuck Sin, his lies, and his cheating ass. Lifting my chin, I narrow my eyes on him. “I won’t.”
I expect him to be mad at my refusal, but instead he gives me a breathtaking smile. One that shows off his dazzling white teeth. Then he leans in and whispers in my ear, “We’ll see.”
He grabs my arm and pulls me into the kitchen. I gasp, yanking to a stop when I see Marcus sitting in a chair. His wrists tied to the armrest. Each ankle tied to a front leg. Jayce and Corbin stand behind him. There’s a vertical cut in his white T-shirt and a blood stain around it.
“What the fuck, Sin?” Marcus snaps when he sees us.
“Go ahead, tell him.” Sin gestures toward Marcus.
I step back but Sin grabs my arm, yanks me forward, and stands behind me where I’m right in front of Marcus’s chair, staring down at him.
“Tell him, little demon,” Sin says, pulling my tangled hair, that at some point fell out of my ponytail, off my chest to rest down my back.
“Let me out of this chair,” Marcus yells up at me. “Right now, Elli. Get me the fuck out of—”
“Enough,” Sin barks at him. “Let the woman speak.” He wraps a hand around my throat from behind, forcing me to look up. “Who do you belong to?”
“You,” I whisper, unable to deny it.
“Who fucks you?” Sin goes on.
I swallow the knot in my throat. “You do.”
Sin yanks the blanket free of my shoulders and I stand naked in front of them. His free hand drops to my inner thigh, and my breath catches when his fingers run over the brand he gave me. “And who owns you?”
“You…” My breath hitches. “You do.”
“You guys set me up,” Marcus screams, making me jump. “You sick fucks.” The chair rattles as he yanks on the rope that ties him down. “Let me go.”
“Not until my girl tells me she’s sorry.”
There’s that damn word again. “I already told you,” I say through gritted teeth. “I’m not.”
He whispers in my ear, “You will be.” He shoves me into Jayce who I hadn’t seen move to stand on my right. I try to push him away, but he spins me around, pinning my hips into the edge of the large island. He manages to slide his arm between the crook of both of mine, pinning them in place behind my back. While his free hand goes over my mouth.
“Corbin.” Sin nods to his friend. He takes a chain and holds it out to Sin. He picks up a small handheld blue tank off the counter and I start thrashing against the island and Jayce, knowing what it is. Sin turns on the blowtorch and starts heating up a small area of the chain that Corbin holds between his fists.
“What the fuck, man?” Marcus shouts.
Once Sin is happy with it, he nods to Corbin again. He returns to his spot behind Marcus who is trying to watch him by looking over his shoulder. “Open wide,” Sin orders, and Corbin lowers the heated chain over Marcus’s head from behind and pries his mouth open with it, successfully placing it between his teeth.
I begin to cry, yelling I’m sorry but no one can hear. Not between Marcus’s screams and Jayce’s hand over my mouth.
Sin walks over to the table and grabs another chair. He picks it up and sets it down in front of Marcus, backward. He straddles the seat and places his arms over the top of the chair. “You touched my girl and that’s unacceptable.”
Marcus still thrashes around in the chair, drool already leaking out of the corner of his mouth.
Sin places the blowtorch to Marcus’s right hand that hangs off the armrest of the chair.
I’m yelling into Jayce’s hand that I’m sorry, but no one can hear me since it’s still over my mouth. Marcus is spitting through the chain. The smell of burning flesh makes me start to gag.
Sin pulls it away and Marcus slumps in his chair, his jeans turn darker as he pisses himself. Sin inspects his mouth. “Broke a few teeth biting down on that metal, huh? That’s a bitch.” I see blood mixed with the drool now running onto his already blood-stained shirt.
“Look at her.” Sin points over to me. When Marcus makes no attempt to do so, Sin jumps up from the chair, grips Marcus’s face and shoves it to the right to get a look at me. “See her. She’s not a nobody.”
Sin watches the tears fall from my eyes with a proud smile on his face, and a sob racks my body. “She’s mine. And that makes her the most important person in the world. Understand?”