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Noah stands and pulls me to my feet as I grab my jacket and force a smile to my face.

“Thank you so much,” I tell Julio, slipping him a twenty-dollar bill and he nods.

“Have a good evening, folks.”

Oliver grins and winks as Noah and I step away from the table, pointing a finger gun in our direction that feels far more threatening than it ever has before. “See y’all around.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kady

“Oliver, please,” I beg, tears streaming down my face as I struggle against his grip. He drags me from the bedroom, through the living room, and into the kitchen. My eyes lock onto the rope looped around each leg of the table and I whimper as I shake my head. My heart thunders in my chest and when I start to fight him harder, he smacks me across my face.

“Do as you’re told, sweetheart,” he growls, the last of his patience slipping away as he meets my eyes and I wince. God, I hate when he calls me “sweetheart”. His nostrils flare and he wraps his fingers around my throat before wrestling me onto the top of the dining room table. Two loops of rope are quickly secured around my ankles before he moves to my hands and ties them down, too. My heart pounds and sweat trickles down the side of my face as he double checks the knots before turning away from me and lighting one of the burners on the stove.

A chill sweeps through me as my stomach churns violently. I start shaking my head and pulling at my ropes as tears streak down the sides of my face.

“Oliver, whatever you’re thinking of doing. Please don’t.”

He pulls a long metal rod with a “B” on the end out of his bag on the counter before turning back to me as he twirls it between his fingers. “What do you remember about last night, Kady?”

“You came home from work,” I whisper, my mind racing over the events of last night. “And we had dinner before watching some TV…”

And then you raped me again.

“And then?” he asks, arching a brow.

“We had sex.”

He shakes his head as he moves the end of the rod over the flame. “No, Kady. After that.”

“We went to sleep?”

“Yes, and do you know what happened after we went to sleep?”

I stare at him as he twirls the rod over the flame, searching for the answer he wants but I’m coming up empty. Shaking my head, I look back at the ceiling.

“I don’t know.”

His lip curls in disgust as he looks over his shoulder at me. “You were crying in your sleep again last night. You called out his name.. again and again and again.” He turns back to the stove. “So now I have to do something to always remind you who you belong to.”

“It didn’t mean anything, Oliver,” I mutter, the lie painful to even say as an image of Noah pops into my mind. It’s been three months since he abandoned me but it still hurts just as much today as it did the first night I cried myself to sleep in this apartment. Oliver turns so he can glare at me.

“It didn’t mean anything? You were laying in my bed, crying over a man that left you months ago. Did you really think that wouldn’t hurt me, Kady? So, like I said, I have to do something to make sure you never forget who you belong to now.”

“I know who I belong to,” I force out through the bile rising in my throat as I fight back a sob. “You don’t have to do this.”

He flashes me a sympathetic look as he pulls the metal away from the flame. After inspecting it, he turns to me with a smile, a sadistic gleam in his eyes. “I think this is ready. Here we go.”

“Oliver, no,” I whisper, struggling harder against the ropes as he steps up to the edge of the table and runs his hand over my hair before grabbing a chunk of it and pulling. I let out a squeak of pain.

“Be a good girl and hold still.” He positions the poker over my skin, making sure the “B” is facing the right way before he slowly lowers it and presses it into my skin. Pain rips through me as a sizzling sound fills the room and I throw my head back and scream as the scent of my own burning flesh fills my nose.

“Kady!”

I jerk forward in bed, screaming as I scratch at the scar on my hip and tears drip down my face. Noah grabs my hands and pulls me into his arms, holding me tightly to his chest until I calm down a little bit.

“Jesus Christ, baby. I don’t know what the hell you were dreaming about but I’m not sure I want to know. I’ve never heard a sound like that in my goddamn life.”