Her eyes widen. “No, no,” she stutters. “There’s no one.”

“Good,” I say, tightening my grip.

“Okay, I’d appreciate it if you would let me go now.”

I smile viciously, already tasting the fear drifting through the air. “Not a chance in hell.”

I drag her into the house and slam the door shut, revealing my gun to her.

She screams, but I silence her by placing my hand over her mouth. “You’re coming with me.”

I direct her upstairs, pushing her with the gun to her back. I’m curious to see Vanessa’s reaction. As I slam the door open, she jolts up from the floor; her look changes from scared shitless to raging mad immediately. Priceless.

“Missed me?” I say, sticking my head through the door first, while I hold onto my victim’s wrists.

“Not a chance. What the hell are you doing down there?” she says. “I swear, I could hear you talking.”

“Destroying everything you love,” I muse with a big smile on my face. “Love what you did with the place. Oh, by the way, here’s your assistant.”

When I haul her into the room, Vanessa’s pupils dilate and her jaw drops. “Paige!”

I load the gun and point it at her head. “Say good-bye to your friend!”

CHAPTER 12

VANESSA

I hold my breath as I watch him bring in my assistant, holding a gun to her head.

“No!” I scream. “Don’t do it!”

I can’t believe she’s here. Shit. I totally forgot we had an appointment today. Oh, why couldn’t she stay home? And how the hell did he manage to talk her into coming inside?

Paige screams, tears running down her cheeks as she stands there motionless, not even daring to look at me.

“Why wouldn’t I? Give me one good reason,” he growls.

“She has nothing to do with your vendetta against me. Nothing. So leave her out of this,” I shout.

He jerks her arm, tightening his grip on her. The rage almost spills from his eyes. He’s taking it all out on her instead of me.

“I’m your enemy, Phoenix. Paige is innocent.”

“No one is innocent if they involve themselves with you,” he growls.

“I didn’t do anything. Please, let me go,” Paige whimpers.

“Shut up!” Phoenix snaps.

“Phoenix!” I yell, making him focus on me. “I’m here. You want me. Not her.”

He licks his lips. “You’re afraid, aren’t you? You don’t want me to hurt her.”

“Of course, not!” I yell.

“But, you see, your pain is my pleasure,” he says, pushing the gun against the back of her head. “And now that she’s here, she knows that I’ve captured you. I can’t let her go now, can I?”

“Yes, you can. She won’t tell,” I say, looking explicitly at Paige. “You won’t say anything, right Paige?”

“I won’t, I promise,” she says, shaking to the bone.

“I don’t believe that,” he hisses. “If you didn’t want to get hurt, you shouldn’t have come here.”

“Don’t. Hurt. Her,” I say. “There are other ways. Please, Phoenix, you’ll regret this.”

“I’ve never felt regret or remorse for killing.”

“But she’s innocent. Just because she’s involved with me doesn’t mean she’s done something wrong,” I say, sighing. “They don’t realize what I can do. Who I am.”

Phoenix narrows his eyes.

“Please …” Paige murmurs, crying.

“Please, leave her alone. I’ll give you anything you want,” I say. “Whatever you need. I’ll do it.”

“Without protest,” he says, not as a question but more as a demand.

“Yes,” I say, nodding.

For a moment, everything is quiet. He’s still pointing the gun at her head, and I’m praying that he won’t shoot. I don’t want her death on my hands. I’d feel guilty, even though I’m not the one pulling the trigger. And I know that Phoenix will make me feel guilty, regardless of whether she lives or dies. But maybe I can still save her, even if I’m not savable.

A whimper comes from her mouth, and then he jerks her backward and shoves her back through the door.

“What are you doing?” I shout. “Where are you going? Don’t you dare hurt her!”

“Please! Stop!” I hear Paige scream.

He slams the door shut. Now all I can do is listen to the ordeal. My heart thrums in my throat as I hear him haul her across the hallway. Another door creaks, and then her screams turn into muffles. It sounds like he covered her mouth. A hard slam follows, and then it’s quiet.

I wonder if he threw her down the stairs. If he’s choking her in another room. If he hit her so hard that she fell on a table, hit her head, and died. I think of many things, but not one is conclusive.

When he comes stomping back, I take a deep breath. He enters the room just as angry as before, his eyes almost scorching with heat.

“What did you do to her?” I ask.

“Yeah, you’d like to know that, wouldn’t you?”

“Did you kill her?” I growl. “Because I swear to god, if you did, I’ll—”

“You’ll what? Try something?” He smirks. “Because, by all means, do it. It’ll only give me more excuses to punish you.”

I swallow back my disgust. “Tell me, is she still alive or not?”

He walks into the room and places the gun on the table. “Maybe.”

“If you don’t tell me, our agreement is off.”

“What agreement?” he muses.

“I’m not going to be an easy victim if you killed her.”

He comes close to my prison and taps on the metal. “You forgot the part where you’re in a cage, and I can do anything I want to you.”

I want to rip the smirk off his face. “Then why don’t you just say she’s dead? Why even bother waiting? If you think it doesn’t matter anyway?”

“Because I love to see the anger in your eyes,” he says, leaning in while smiling. “It reminds me of myself. It means you’re going through some emotions that I’ve experienced plenty of times.” He takes a deep breath through his nose, almost as if he can smell my rage. “Feel it, Vanessa. Feel the anger boil and know that it was me who caused it … and then realize there’s nothing in the world you can do about it.” He smiles. “And you know what the worst part of it all is? That I’ll still get my way. You wanna know why? Because this is my revenge, not yours. Mine. And everything in this place is now mine … including you. And I will use and abuse you how I see fit until I’m sated.”

“You’re sick …” I spit.

“Hmm … The question you should be asking is what will I do once I’m finished with you?”

“Let me guess … I’m probably dead.”

“Bingo!” he says, grinning as he gets up.

Bile rises in my throat as I find it hard to comprehend just how cruel he’s become. What happened to him? Did he really become this way because of me? How?

The problem is that I already know the answer. I just wish I could change the past.

However, wishing won’t change the fact that I’m in this prison. Now I have to face the consequences of my actions; each step of my past contributes to the horrible things I’m experiencing now. I just hope I can change his mind before it’s too late. Before I lose my mind. Before I say things that I’ll regret. Before he hurts me to the point of no return. Before I die.

***

Age 14

With a bright red lipstick, my mother paints my lips, making sure each stroke is as perfect as the next. She does it with her mouth open, which is weird, because I’m the one wearing the make-up. She focuses so intently on the job that she doesn’t even hear the housekeeper knocking on the door.

“Ma’am, the guests have arrived.”

My mother ignores her and picks up some mascara so she can bathe my eyelashes in them. I try to stay as still as possible while taking the occasional peek at the mirror to see what I look like. My cheeks are as rosy as when my mother slaps me, except it’s the make-up doing all the work this time.

“Ma’am?” the housekeeper says.

“We’ll be there in a minute,” my mother finally answers.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll tell them that you’ll be there in a second. I’ll take their coats and bring them some coffee or tea.”