Page 130 of Lilies from Hell

“Poker?” I repeat, holding back a smile. Those tears come back to my eyelashes. I’m not thinking about him, not much at least, and yet, I have a terrible urge to cry. Just when I thought I had no more tears left.

“I’m sorry, did I say something?” I shake my head and rest my head on her legs again. Despite my sore eyes and head I can’t stop. Why does it hurt so much?

“I hate him,” I whisper in a small voice.

“It’ll pass. Besides, if it makes you feel any better, he wasn’t that handsome.” I glance at her. “Well. Actually, he was, but he’s a lying traitor who deserves to die. I still have my hitman’s contact info if you need it.”

I let out a stifled laugh as I wipe the water dripping from my nose with my hand. Disgusting, I know.

“It seems hard now, but I know you’ll get through it. You’re much stronger than you think. I trust you and I love you…” Her voice trails off when she hears a noise behind the door.

Then she gets up and walks over there. I see her face change to a more worried one when she closes the door.

“The demonic Dracula is here.” My pupils dilate when I hear the nickname that my brother took upon himself to spread. My stomach twists again, almost making me writhe in pain. “I’ll tell him you’re not here. In the meantime, hide.” I nod in dismay, unable to think clearly.

Maybe he came to my house to look for me and found out that I know. What did he want? If he was planning to come with the usual thousand stupid excuses or ask me to take him back, the only thing he would get would be a kick in the balls.

I run to the wine cellar they have in the house, being as stealthy as possible. The good thing about this place is that it’s connected to the garage, and if anything happens, I could just escape through here. I wait sitting in a dark corner.

I don’t need to close my eyes for a million memories of him to flood my mind. I still can’t believe that it was all a lie, that he only used me to get to my father and destroy him. Was our previous relationship also fake, or were his feelings sincere at the time? I bit my tongue hard, wanting to punish myself for being stupid enough to believe his words. The marriage certificate he showed me… He had a lot of power, so it was more than possible that he had faked it. My other thoughts are interrupted when I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. It’s not Grace. She wears panda slippers.

I curse inwardly as I look at the button that opens the garage door. It makes a lot of noise and wouldn’t give me enough time. I would have to hide somewhere else while I figure out how to distract whoever came downstairs and escape. I move my legs silently and lean my back against one of the many barrels, holding my breath as long as I can.

He doesn’t turn on the lights. Instead, he starts walking until the beginning of the barrel aisle where I’m at the very end. My heart is beating so loudly that I can barely hear the boots thumping on the floor, taunting me.

“Stop playing with my patience.” His hoarse voice echoes in the room. The hairs on the back of my neck stands on end as I sense the threat in his words.

I gasp when a bullet whizzes past me, piercing the wood of the barrel. Wine begins to pour out of the hole, forming a puddle on the floor. What a waste.

“Come the fuck out, Lena.”

I bring my hands to my mouth when I feel him closer. Then he moves away and I wait a couple of minutes to make sure he’s really gone. That’s when I slowly crawl out on the floor. My hands end up touching something with a hard texture. I lift my head and see the blue of his eyes looking at me amused, but without hiding his annoyance. He kneels down until he’s level with me. He lifts my face holding my chin. My body begins to tremble slightly with rage when I have his annoyed eyes this close to mine.

“Since when do you go out without your phone, huh? I’ve been calling you all afternoon.” I turn my face away, freeing myself from his grip, and get up without bothering to hide my anger.

“From the day you committed to someone else and hid it from me.” He tenses his jaw but doesn’t flinch. I guess he already knows that I know and doesn’t care in the least.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t talk to you about that now. We don’t have time.” My teeth are grinding together as I give him an incredulous look.

He just admitted to me that he got engaged to someone else behind my back and apologized as if it were nothing. I want to slap him, but I don’t even have the strength to stand up. My knees start to buckle and my eyelids burn with the warning of new tears that I avoid. I back away when he reaches for my hand.

“Let’s go.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. In fact, from now on, you can forget I exist. I never want to hear from you again.” I hiss with clenched teeth. He just smiles, making me clench my fingers into fists.

“You’re coming with me whether you like it or not. You don’t have any fucking choice anymore, your damn thinking time is over.” His eyes give me a creepy look as he spoke. He would almost intimidate me, if it weren’t for my anger being greater than any intimidation he could make me feel right now.

“Fuck you,” I reply before walking past him. He grabs my arm and turns me around. “Let go of me.” His grip isn’t strong enough to hurt, but it wouldn’t let me move.

When he tries to drag me with him, I move, almost desperate to free myself. That desperation leads me to knee him in the balls. I expect him to fall to the floor and start writhing in pain, like Jason does when I hit him during our fights over the last piece of cake left, but that never happens. He just grimaces and closes his mouth again, clenching his teeth.

His arms clamp around my body, lifting me into the air and slinging me over his shoulder like a sack. I scream as loud as I can for someone to come and help me, but mostly because I want to piss him off and, if possible, break his eardrum.

“Shut up,” he mutters through clenched teeth as he settles me over his shoulder.

My breathing becomes heavier as I move nonstop on his shoulder, realizing that I cannot escape. I spot something shiny tucked into his back pocket. I stretch a little further and fish it out of his pocket. It’s a gun. I point it at his arse, pressing the barrel against his trousers. He stops dead and glances sideways at me.

“What are you doing?” He doesn’t seem scared, in fact, I’d say he’s pretty much enjoying himself. I take the safety off and continue to point it at him.