I turned and ran through the master room again, thinking that maybe I had missed her in my hurry to get to the bathroom.
“Annabella!”
“Angel! Answer me!”
I tore through the room and closets, panic slowly beginning to set in. I ran back through the hall and down the stairs. Maybe she was in the kitchen, cooking up dinner like she said she would. I called her name as I stalked through the house, searching for her, every possible grim scenario flashing through my mind.
As I was running back through the main entrance of the house, I saw him. The man who had come to take my love from me. The man who has starred in every single one of my nightmares for years. The man who gave me my scars. I knew instantly why he had come for my beauty. And today was the day I would finally have my revenge.
I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him fully, allowing him to see me in all my rage.
“Where is she, Vincent?”
The motherfucker had the audacity to smile at me.
“Calm down, Griffin. Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
I growled low in my throat and took one slow step towards him. I knew what he did to my family. I knew he was the one who had tampered with my parents’ car the day we left to go on vacation. I knew it was him who caused the crash that had killed my parents and left me in a scarred heap on the side of the road. I saw him, that day, walking away from the wreck. Thinking I was dead and that he was going to inherit everything my family had. I was young, no one wanted to believe me. Everyone convinced me that it was all in my head. So I played along, even though I knew. I knew what that bastard had done to us.
My very own flesh and blood had left me to die. My father’s brother. My beloved uncle and godfather. The man who had helped raise me was blinded by greed and jealousy. And now, once more, he wanted what I had. What he couldn’t possess, he decided to take from me.
I took another slow step and spotted my Angel from out of the corner of my eye. One of Vincent’s men had an arm around her neck and a gun pointed to her head. She was thankfully dressed in one of my long button up shirts, but her legs and feet were bare. My sweet beauty was sobbing silently and I could see the terror written all over her face. “Let her go, Vincent. Let her go this instant and leave our home. Maybe I will let you live.”
“Our home?” He sneered. “Just a day with my bride-to-be and already, you are playing house.”
I looked over to Annabella and saw her eyes widened. The shock of his statement must have been clear on my face as well because a crooked smile crept onto his face.
He looked over at her smugly. “Oh, you didn’t know, did you, sweet child? You were meant to be my virgin bride last night. But by some odd coincidence, you were sent to my nephew instead. No worries though. He may have taken your innocence, but I still want my prize. You’ll make an excellent addition to my staff as the house whore. All the help are looking forward to it. I was going to be the first to fuck you, but now that you’ve been broken in, the guards can have their fun. They do enjoy group activities.”
I could see the panic in Annabella’s eyes and she started to cry harder. Reaching up, she clawed at the arm holding her neck, trying to break away but to no avail. The man merely smiled before pushing the gun closer to her head.
“Stay calm, Angel. I won’t let anything happen to you.” I tried to keep my voice even and calm, willing her some of my strength. Inside, I was a fury of wrath that was yearning to unleash my hate.
I caught a small movement out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was another one of Vincent’s men at first, but at a second glance, I realized it was Logan. He was slowly making his way around the perimeter of the house, trying to stealthily move into position behind the man holding Annabella hostage.
Logan signaled discreetly to me that he had his gun and intended to use it. I didn’t have mine on me so it looks like I get to kill Vincent with my bare hands instead. I was going to enjoy that. I made a motion with my hand to let him know that I understood his plan and was on board. Meanwhile, I kept my eyes on Vincent. The motherfucker was going to die, preferably today.
I needed a distraction to give Logan time to set up his plan. But I also needed to know the truth. “It seems like it’s quite a ‘coincidence’ that Annabella was meant for you but ended up here instead.”
“Ah. Perhaps I had a little something to do with your mix up. Your usual whore, Candy, was more than willing to divulge some personal information for a small fee. She was happy to pay me a visit and sell you out. Poor girl. She should have kept her mouth shut. Some whores just don’t know what their mouths are for.” He was smiling when he said that, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Candy was now a casualty of Vincent as well.
“I am giving you one last chance to end this and walk away with your life, Vincent. Let Bella go, and you will live. But try and take what is mine from me and you will die here today. I have waited a long time to get my revenge for what you did to my parents. Protecting my Bella will just be the icing on the cake.”
His smile slipped and I knew he was afraid. He should be.