Chapter 236 The Benefactor [2]

Jacob cursed as he forced me up by my hair.

Caleb grinned, tilting his head as he slowly waved his fingers at me until he disappeared from view.

Jacob hurled me toward the elevator, cursing when it refused to come no matter how many times he pressed the button.

Seeing he was distracted, I elbowed him right in the jaw and limped away.

"Anastasia!"

Bang!

I gripped my hair, eyeing the hole in the wall beside me.

"Don’t tempt me, Anastasia," he said. "As much as I really wanna kill you right now, I want you to suffer. I want you to feel the same pain you caused Annabeth. The same pain you made me feel!"

"Screw you!" I hissed, straggling away.

I couldn’t make it to the other end of the lobby; a wall of men blocked my path.

"You’re not going anywhere, Anastasia, because I’m not done with you yet."

I heaved uncontrollably, darting my bloodshot eyes to Jacob.

"J-Jake..." I quivered.

"You took Annabeth from me."

"S-She tried to kill me," I voiced. "She lured me to that stable to shoot me because she couldn’t accept the fact that I took something from her. She had done nothing but make me feel less about myself. She hated me so much that she smiled to my face every single day for years. She made me depend on her and isolated me. Then she used that against me. She used you too."

"You’re wrong..." he stated.

"Am I? You had her diary all this time, didn’t you? You read it so you know..." I sobbed. "You know the only reason she wanted you was because I wanted you first."

"Shut. Up."

"Deny it all you want. That’s the fucking truth!"

Suddenly, shots rang in the air, walls punctured, and glasses shattered. Jacob’s men got hit, and then Zade came into view.

He halted for a moment, but then Jacob grabbed me from behind and pointed his gun at my head.

"Not so fast, Serpent. You’re not the only one who got this place surrounded."

More of Jacob’s men swarmed in and pointed their guns.

"No!" I panicked.

"What’s it gonna be, Serpent? It’s you against them."

Despite everything, Zade didn’t once lower his gun; his eyes were stone cold as he pinned them on Jacob.

"Drop your gun!" Jacob barked. "Now!"

"Z-Zade, please..." I appealed because I knew that was the only way for him to survive.

I had just lost Dante. I can’t lose him too.

"Everything’s gonna be alright, kitten." He pulled out another gun, ready to charge in against the impossible.

"NO!"

They opened fire. Everything happened so fast that I barely had time to process what happened before Jacob spun me around and dragged me away.

We reached another elevator, but it wouldn’t budge. Jacob cursed under his breath, then dragged me along as we made turn after turn through the corridors.

I tripped and fell flat on the floor with a grunt.

"Get up!" He reached to grab me, but I bit his hand.

He growled and pushed me away, and I crawled into a nearby room. It was dark, with only the corridor lights coming through.

"You were never such a wild cat."

I heard Jacob’s voice as well as footsteps.

"You have really changed, Anastasia."

I quietly crept under a table, chewing the inside of my mouth to keep from crying out in discomfort; my leg was hurting so badly.

"I have changed too." His voice was closer, and I pulled a hand over my mouth to keep from breathing too loudly.

"Do you have any idea how torturous it was for me for the last two years? Pretending to be by your side. Comforting you? Sleeping next to you to keep you away from the nightmares, smiling so that you have nothing to worry about. I may be the greatest actor alive!"

I flinched when he kicked something, and it made a loud crash noise.

"Even when Zade grabbed me on your wedding day to teach me a lesson. When his brothers beat me and let me go, even when you came to me at the cafe looking all worried... I still had to act like some pathetic, clueless guy who has been caught up in your new marriage."

He pushed against something, and a long, grating creak scraped across the floor. The mere sound made my heart lurch, sending another wave of terror through me.

"But that wasn’t enough, was it? You wanted me so bad that you were probably thinking about me while you fucked Zade. You were so obsessed with me, remember?"

I crawled out from where I hid and frantically navigated my way somewhere else. I pressed my back against a surface, my breath shaking as I tilted my head to observe his silhouette.

"So I was invited to your little date while he belittled me. You know Zade can be a really petty bastard. He knew you couldn’t remember him and knew your feelings for me resurfaced, so he sat you down on his lap just to prove a point."

My heart smashed tightly in my chest when his silhouette drew closer and closer.

"I wanted Julius to have you, Anastasia. That creepy uncle of yours has always watched you when you were little. I wanted you to have a taste of hell, and after he was done, I was gonna put you out of your misery. But you’re like a goddamn cockroach. You never give the fuck up."

I moved in a heartbeat, quick as I pushed myself to my feet and desperately limped to the door, but I got tackled before I even had the chance.

"There you are."

I panicked, trying to move, but he snatched my leg and pulled me back into the dark.

I yelped when he plunged me to the floor and held me down. I saw the crazed look in his eyes when the faulty bulb flickered on.

"You’ve always wanted me, haven’t you, Anastasia. I’m sorry it took so long for me to see it."

"Get off me!"

Slap!

My head turned the other way before he gripped my chin and tilted it so that I faced him.

"How about I make your childhood dreams come true?"

Horror seized my lungs when he ripped my shirt open.