I gagged and then puked all over the classroom floor.
Cavelli’s abattoir.
That’s where they had my El.
Chapter 44
ELLISON
My tears had gone dry and there’s no good reason to cry anyway. These monsters were sick and my sobs only heightened their pleasure.
So I swallowed down the fear and held my head high, while the sleazeball lackey who answered to Cavelli bound my arms behind me while I sat on a crate. He put a gag in my mouth and I fought the claustrophobia with all of my will. When he blindfolded me, he yanked my head back into his crotch while he tied the knot. I could feel his erection through his slacks as it pressed into my neck and I tried not to vomit so as not to choke.
“Your pretty boy should be along soon, we left him some breadcrumbs,” Max said.
I hated this man and his rotted teeth, his foul breath mixed with the stench of the rotted meat and I focused so hard and tried not to succumb to nausea.
My breasts jutted forward in this position and my nipples were erect from the cold, and Max helped himself to a feel. The asshole squeezed my breasts and pinched my nipples.
“Ohh, you like that. Get you wet before I take you on the slaughter table,” he said close to my ear. Then he giggled like the fool he was and lowered his hand between my legs. I snapped my knees shut and whimpered at his stolen touch.
I wanted to tell him off, kick and bite, claw his stupid face off. But I was bound and helpless and all I could do was remain strong. I had faith in Calvin even though I’d been pushing him away. I knew he wouldn’t back down. I knew he’s stronger, better. I knew he loved me and would show up to save me no matter what.
I realized what a stupid, stubborn, pain I’d been. I loved him. He loved me. Nothing could come between us.
I prayed to God and told him that if he gave me another chance, I wouldn’t mess it up. I’d love Calvin like I was supposed to, like I yearned to. I would love him for the rest of my life and allow nothing to come between us again.
I tried to tell my jack-rabbiting heart that it was Calvin’s hand slipping down my thigh.
Then the sharp sweet bite of a razor sliced through my arm. He’s trying to hurt me, to mark me and make me pay. But little did he know, the quickest way to bring me relief, was the lick of a razor as it caressed my skin.
Warm blood trickled and then flowed down my arm, releasing endorphins that covered me like a warm blanket, like a hug, like the sun rising in my heart and mind.
Calvin, come before this razor slices out my existence and my ability to love you.
Chapter 45
CALVIN
A few lowlights illuminated the inside of the abattoir. No stealth entrance existed, and no way to hide the low rumble of my father’s hog as I pulled into the old parking lot. They knew I was coming anyway, and now they knew I’d arrived
I swore to myself never to come back to this place, to smell the air laced with blood and death or be a fucking puppet for Cavelli. Turned out, I was wrong and the mafioso knew exactly how to make me betray my own word.
If El was hurt, if they’d touched a hair on her head, I’d make them pay with their lives even if I never saw the light of day again in my life—the Cavellis would pay and I’d sacrifice my life.
I pulled out my Glock as I charged through the front entrance, the window panes so grimy and yellowed, they no longer served as windows.
They’d best not doubt my ability to kill in cold blood. I took out my own father when he wronged those I love.
I kicked away bleached bones and the swaths of ceiling fibers hanging low to the floor. The place was being reclaimed by nature and returning to the earth as weeds reached up through the cracks in the cement and a small sapling grew through a rut in the floor.
I heard her cry out before I saw her and my blood hit a boil. I followed the sound of her cries to the left and came into a dimly lit room where meat hooks extended from the ceiling.
“Ellison!” I shouted and my voice echoed through the empty space.
She whimpered again and I smashed through a door hanging crooked on its hinges.
Then she’s before me, bound and blindfolded on a stool with four of Cavelli’s henchmen flanking her.
Chapter 46
ELLISON
I could tell Calvin had entered the room without seeing him or hearing him, just by how the energy had changed. Like a live wire was near me, prickling my skin.