CHAPTER FORTY

AVERY

I WALK OVER AND SIT DOWN on the chair nailed to the floor and watch her with fascination. I wanted her to eat. I wanted her to have a couple of days before I showed her what I had to offer, afraid it may take days before she is back to herself. But she’s stronger than I give her credit for.

She walks over and stands before Vaughn. Reaching up, she yanks the black blindfold down his face to where it hangs around his neck. His eyes are narrowed on her and his nostrils flare. He hasn’t said much since we ambushed him at the warehouse in New York. Unlike Preston, can’t get that idiot to shut the fuck up. He always did talk too much.

“Since you like to watch so much,” Bunny says to Vaughn, “you can watch me torture my brother. See what you have to look forward to.”

“Presleigh!” Preston barks, still yanking on his restraints. “You can’t fucking do this.”

She walks over to him, lifts the blowtorch, and turns it on. He begins to cuss, spitting in the process. Instead of arguing with him, she takes the now hot iron rod and pushes it into his thigh. The same exact place hers was and holds it there while he screams out. When she pulls it away, he hisses in a deep breath, banging his head back into the wall.

“Fuck you!” he shouts. “Fuck you, Pres. You always were a fucking bitch who deserved what you got …”

She silences him pressing it against his stomach this time. When she pulls that one away, his body is pulled tight and veins bulge from his forehead and neck, but he doesn’t speak to her.

Turning on the blowtorch again, she makes her way back over to Vaughn. My brother glares down at her. She shuts it off and just stares at him for a few long seconds, and I wonder what she’s thinking. Is it anger? Does she finally feel at peace? Our father was the one who raped her, but Vaughn played a big part in it.

I get my answer when she finally speaks.

“Now you’re my bitch.” Then she presses the iron rod into the middle of his bare chest.

PRESLEIGH

I always steered clear of Vaughn growing up. He gave me the creeps and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up just entering a room. I hated when Avery left me. I begged him to stay. I remember it like it was yesterday.

I sit on the edge of his bed as he digs around for clothes in his closet.

“Please don’t go,” I beg for the hundredth time today.

“I have to.”

“No, you don’t. You’ve already taken a year off of school. What’s one more?” He’s supposed to wait for me. I’m still in my senior year.

He throws a pair of jeans in his bag along with a pair of Vans. Then he’s walking out of his closet and over to me. He kneels down to my level, cupping my face. “I’m doing this for us.” I open my mouth, but he continues. “I know you want out of this place.” His hand drops, and he places it on my stomach. “I want you both out of this place.”

I hang my head and sigh. “We are fine, babe. We need you here.”

He reaches up and runs his hand through my hair. “How have you been feeling today?” I hate when he answers my question with one of his own.

I’ve been exhausted and sick in the mornings. We had our first appointment yesterday, and we managed to go without getting caught. We have an estimated due date, and there’s no way I won’t be showing by the time I graduate. We’re gonna have to leave before then. “Let’s just run,” I offer. “I can go with you. We can leave now.” I push off his bed and stand, needing the movement.

He grabs my hand and pulls me to a stop. “I know you’re scared, but it’s gonna be okay.”

I just have this feeling. There’s a thought in the back of my head that we’re gonna get caught. I can only hide it for so long. We need to get the hell out of here. “The baby …”

“Our baby is fine,” he assures me, pulling my hips into his. “I just need you to trust me. I’m gonna take care of you. Both of you.”

My phone rings, and I pull it out of my back pocket. I look at it to see Mitch written across the front. I press ignore.

“What does he want?” Avery demands.

I roll my eyes. “Who knows?”

“Why is he even calling you?”

“The other night when you were down in the cellar with your dad, he came over. I walked into the game room to find him and Vaughn talking about you and my brother going on your trip.”

“What about it?” he snaps.

“I don’t know. They stopped the moment I entered. Mitch just winked at me and said he would see me soon,” I lie. If he knew Mitch kissed me, he’d flip. And I don’t want that kind of trouble for him.

“I want you to stay the hell away from him, Bunny.”

“I do.” I pull away from Avery. “But I can’t stay away when he comes over.”

My phone rings again, and I don’t even bother to look at it. “Who is it?” he demands.

“I don’t know …”

He yanks it from my hand and answers. “Why the fuck are you calling her?” Avery growls in answer. He pulls the phone away from his ear and tosses it onto the bed.

I blink and look up at Vaughn. His arms are stretched out before him, and his legs are just as wide. “You set me up.” I say in disbelief.

He doesn’t respond. His chest rises and falls quickly, and his eyes glare down into mine.

“You had Mitch call me, thinking that it would be more believable when your dad told Avery that I left with him.” I shake my head. “You set me up. You fucking bastard …”

He actually chuckles. “You set yourself up, Presleigh.”

I press the end of the rod to his stomach, and he bows his back, hands fisted. I hold it there as long as my arms can hold it up. When I pull it away, he sucks in a breath through his teeth.

“Presleigh.” My brother growls my name. “You don’t have to do this.” I turn to look at him. “You’re not like him.”

I tilt my head to the side. “Like who?”

“Avery …”

I laugh. “He saved me.”

He shakes his head quickly and pulls on his restraints. “He put you there. If you had just stayed away.” He swallows. “If you had just listened to me …”

“You were supposed to look after me!” I scream. “After Mom and Dad died, you were supposed to take care of me. But all you cared about was yourself. You knew what I went through. Fucking helped set it up and never once asked me if I was okay.” My heart pounds in my chest with anger.

I remember things he had said to me before Avery took me. Like when I laid on the bathroom floor drunk.

“Get your ass off this phone and on the jet. Now, Presleigh. If you don’t, he will make a move.” He growls. “And it’ll be too late.”

I look up at him. “This whole time, I thought you were talking about Avery.”

And the other time when he dragged me out of Seven Deadly Sins.

“Because you’re business, Pres.”

I shake my head. “It was always Victor. You were going to fucking hand me over to him! For money!”

“Presleigh, I’m sorry.”

He sounds sincere, but he always was a good liar. He got that from our father. “I believe you.” I walk back over to the table and grab the blowtorch. Turning it on, I hold it up to the iron.

He tenses when he hears it. “Presleigh …”

“But it’s not enough.” Then I shove it into his skin, enjoying the sound that it makes on contact.