Page 336 of Coal Hearts

I had no idea what the fuck would happen out there.

But I had a horrible feeling one of us would end up bleeding.

“Now, sweetling.” Slowly, Victor pulled out his trusty gun from his waistband. “If you don’t start running in five seconds, I’m going to shoot you and be done with it. You’ve pissed me off with your little spectacle. And it’s made me very, very eager to remind you of your manners. So...” He smiled. “Five.”

Ily stiffened and eased her way around the table.

“Four.”

His countdown reminded me of a previous one where he got me drunk and held a gun to her head.

“Three.”

I’d snapped then.

Ily snapped now.

With a shaky breath, she bolted.

“Two.” Victor watched her go.

“One.” He fired a round into the storm, the bullet chasing after Ily as the wind swallowed her up and thunder boomed.

Chapter Thirteen

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Ily

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I RAN BLIND AND DEAF.

Water poured from the sky; thunder did its best to puncture my eardrums.

My ass ached from the bruises Henri decorated me with, and the cuts from a few days ago reached the itchy stage of healing, twinging as I galloped barefoot over soft, springy grass.

The lacy crystal-studded bra offered no support, and the G-string was as wet as the world around me, thanks to the orgasm still echoing in my blood.

I came.

He didn’t—

God, don’t think about it.

I balled my hands and ran harder, desperate to flee from what I’d done.

But I couldn’t outrun the truth, no matter how fast my feet flew.

The truth that every moment I spent with Henri, the deeper into infernal damnation I fell.

I’d hoped taking back what these men tried to claim would be self-empowering, enlightening.

And it was...

In an awful, horrible kind of way.

It showed me truths about myself I never wanted to face.