Page 114 of I Never Stopped Loving You

I grip his shirt, forcing him to stare into the face that will haunt his nightmares for as long as it takes to get her back. He won’t be able to shut his eyes without hearing my voice, seeing the glowing eyes of my mask, and being consumed by the fear I’m going to make sure he feels every fucking day until I have her back in my arms.

I take the knife and shred his remaining clothes, revealing the mutilated flesh underneath. Blood oozes from the wounds with each strangled breath he takes.

“You can’t die on me yet, Parker. Not with all the fun I have planned for us.”

I let the hose sputter, then spray him down with the icy cold stream. His breaths are rapid and stuttered as the water flows over him washing his blood and vomit down the drain.

The wounds still trickle blood as I turn the water off leaving him half-naked, shivering, and stuttering.

“Pl…Pl…Please. Stop.”

“Stop?”

I tilt my head to the side as I stare at him. I reach and grab the cautery iron and blowtorch off the table beside me without taking my eyes off him.

“Did you ever stop when Deb screamed, or when Willow cried?”

“I was…”

“I asked, did you ever fucking stop when they begged you?”

His head hangs in shame as his body continues to shiver from the cold.

“I didn’t think so,” I say calmly as I take another step toward him.

He doesn’t look up, hardly even moves other than the chattering of his teeth. The teeth that I’m going to enjoy ripping from his mouth each time he lies to me.

“I’m never going to stop, Parker. Not until I find what I’ve been searching for.”

His gaze slowly lifts, eyes widening as he sees the glowing, heated metal.

“What are you searching for?” he manages to ask through his shudders.

“Something you stole from me a long time ago. Now hold still…This might hurt a bit.”

CHAPTER 51

NOAH

NOVEMBER PRESENT DAY

While I’ve been waiting for her to come back, I remembered that part of my plan has been finalized. I figured out exactly what I’m going to do to help her remember who I am. I don’t want to just tell her because what if I am part of a locked-up memory and telling her outright could hurt her worse, as Jeremy said? I need her to see it. I need her to remember.

I’ve been talking with the owners of her parents’ old house ever since I saw her in that elevator. I’ve been emailing back and forth, negotiating a price to buy the house and property. In the end, he agreed to sell the house and barn and the acre and a half that it sits on, but the rest of the land he wanted to keep for farming. Fair enough.

He asked why I wanted that old house so badly, but I ignored his question and just added another twenty thousand dollars on top to shut him up. The money was transferred, and the documents were signed electronically last night. Anything can be finalized faster than it’s supposed to be if you know the correct people to incentivize.

The house is officially mine.

He said that since no one has been in that house for so long, he wasn’t even sure what needed to be cleaned out, but I assured him I would take care of everything. He wouldn’t have to lift a finger and never had to go there again.

“We’re ready to move you to the other room now, Mr. Anderson.”

“She’s not back yet. Can you have someone go get her?”

“Sir, we will get you moved, then someone will go and get her.”

The young nurse seems irritated, and it’s only causing my agitation to get worse from having to be stuck here all night. As she starts to wheel me out of the room, I finally see Willow walking down the hall. I can’t even hide the smile on my face from how happy I am, even from just the mere sight of this woman. And judging from the way her face blushes when she smiles looking at me, I think she might feel the same way.