“Ivan, this is nothing. We’re just getting started.” I pushed him across the room until he fell to his knees. He lifted his hands but I tsked. “No begging, Ivan. Be a man and fucking take it.”
I didn’t bother gagging him. I’d killed off all his security on the property so it wasn’t like anyone would hear his death. Besides, I wanted to hear him scream. I wanted to hear his pain. Then he would know how much he really fucked up.
I went to work on his wrist first, taking the knife and cutting the tendon that allowed movement. I brought my boot heel down, blood squirting, bone crunching, his cries the perfect fucking background noise.
His tongue was next, a disappointment because he wouldn’t be able to plead for his life, but still something that needed done. He dared to even talk to my girl, to think he was worthy enough to speak to her.
I gripped that thick muscle between my thumb and forefinger, pulled it out as he flopped around on the ground like a fish out of water, and brought my knife down and across it like I was cutting into a steak.
He screamed and cried, blood pouring out of his mouth as I held up the severed piece of his body in front of his face. I let it drop to the ground, a disgusting squelching noise filling the room. And then I went for his eyes.
The fact he looked upon her infuriated me. The knowledge that he desired her had my blood boiling. So I took extra pleasure as I gouged out his eyeballs, popping them out as if they were grapes that I’d put in a bowl.
By this point, he was only semiconscious, the scent of his blood filling the bedroom, the viscous fluid covering my hands and clothing.
With his eyeballs laid next to his tongue, I took a step back and admired my work. He was barely moving, making almost infantile noises. I crouched beside him and hushed him. “Shhh. It’s almost over.” I used the tip of the blade and pressed it under his chin, tilting his head back slightly.
Although I knew he couldn’t see me, I knew he could feel me.
“This last part,” I said softly. “This last part is going to be my favorite, Ivan.” He whined and, with what little bit of strength he had left, thrashed around, but I hushed him as I plunged the knife into his chest.
I slid the knife up, opened Ivan up like I was gutting a fish, and ripped out his heart while it was still beating.
Chapter
Eleven
Anastasia
I didn’t know what woke me, but I felt this tightness on the back of my neck, the one I felt intensely over the last few days. I opened my eyes and stared at my ceiling, the lights from a passing car moving across the walls before fading away.
I pushed myself up and rested my upper body on my elbows as I looked around my bedroom. My bedside clock said it was just after two in the morning, and for some reason my heart was racing and I felt a heaviness all around me. I lifted my hand and placed it on my chest, feeling the organ beat rapidly.
I pushed the blankets off, suddenly overheated. I hung my legs over the edge of the bed, my toes brushing the cold wooden floor for a second as I stared out my window.
The curtains weren’t fully closed. I could see the city lights trying to make their way in. I hung my head and closed my eyes, exhausted, yet my body felt so wired for some reason, that tingling on the back of my neck still prevalent.
I lifted my hand and rubbed my palm over my nape before pushing up from the bed and heading to the bathroom. After I finished up and turned off the light, I stood in the doorway and just stared into my room, still feeling so… strange.
But I brushed it off just as I had in the situation with my father, then what happened with Ivan. Even now my wrist ached, and I could see bruises forming along my skin in nasty shades of purple and blue.
I absentmindedly rubbed the area, not sure what I was going to do or how I was going to figure this out.
Because right now it seemed pretty unsolvable.
A soft sound drew my attention to my bedroom door. I felt my brows draw down low, noticing it closed when I knew I left it open before I went to bed.
A shape in the corner of the room caught my peripheral vision. I turned my head and saw a massively large body step out from the shadows and move toward me.
A short but fierce scream spilled from my mouth, but it was cut off when the mystery man was on me, slamming me back, his huge form pressing me into the mattress, covering me from head to toe. He had a hand over my mouth, his lips right by my ear.