A Promise of Torment (A Violent Agenda)

I know the answer. I know what I should say. But fuck him if I’m playing ball. “I’m done with this,” I hiss, getting to my feet. I shoot Dante a look of pure disgust. He played me and I hate him even more for it. I should have known that I couldn’t trust him. Test my goddamn ass.

“Sit down or I’ll make you,” Adrien warns.

“Fuck you,” I retort.

My father sighs. “Dante, make the bitch sit.”

I get as far as the door when I feel Dante’s arm around my neck, and a hand through my hair, jerking me backward. Fucking hell, I didn’t even hear him move. I try to headbutt him, but he tightens his grip, dragging me back into the room by my roots. I struggle in silence as he does, the feeling of my hair being yanked out making my eyes water. “Play along, V, he has Rebecca,” Dante says softly in my ear.

I stop moving at that.

Rebecca. My mother.

“Are you done?” Dante says louder. I nod and he lets me go.

I spin around, hair wild about my face where the fuckwit half pulled it out. I stare at Dante, but his face is devoid of emotion. Un-fucking-readable. What the fuck…where is she? I want to demand it of both of them. But I don’t. If my father doesn’t want me to know about my mother, then me knowing that means I have something over him. It does explain why Dante is being an obedient dog, though I’m still pissed at him.

“I grow tired of your outbursts,” Adrien says. “Sit the fuck down or I’ll lose my patience.” He gestures to the chairs again.

I suck in a breath, soothing my beast. My vision is red, but my mind is all black. Finally, I sit and so does Dante.

“Now, let’s start again, shall we. It’s time for you to take your place as my heir.”

I’m not listening. I’m concentrating on what I’m going to do to him once I find Rebecca. His lips move but I hear none of the words that come out. It’s only when Dante grabs my hand and leads me out of my father’s office do I snap out of it.

I should kill him. Dante.

He betrayed me and fucked me off for the last time. Rage has slowly been corroding my veins until all I can do is not explode.

“Don’t,” Dante hisses at me, hauling me down the corridor, prizing the gun from my frozen hands. “Not here. He’s watching. Play nice.”

Play nice?You fucking bastard. Dante was the only one who could find her and deliver her to my father. While I was playing fucking house with Lorcan, Jude, and Dino…Dante was burying me and my mother alive.

He leads me into a room further down the hall. I recognize it as soon as we’re inside. It’s Dante’s room when he stays here. He grabs my face, making me look at him, but all I can do is let the monster stare back. Fuck keeping it under wraps. We’re alone now.

I know I need Dante. That he can be the perfect ally.But right now, I also want him dead. I want him hurting like I am.

The monster in me wins and I scream as I launch myself at him, trying to bite a hole in his fucking chest, trying to carve his heart out with my damn teeth.

Pain explodes in my skull dropping me to the floor in an instant.

“You mother fucker,” I say in a low voice as I struggle to get to my feet. The last thing I see is Dante holding his gun by the barrel before he crashes me over the head with the butt of it, again.

Voices.Male voices.

They sound familiar. A deep lull that brings me back to life like a moth to a flame. I flutter my eyes open to take in my surroundings. Where the fuck am I?

Someone reaches over to brush my hair—a loving touch. Don’t fucking touch me. I jerk my hand up to hit away whoever just invaded my personal space and come up short. My hands are tied in front of me and attached to the bed—my bed.

I’m in my bedroom, and I’m not alone.

The adrenaline screams through my body as I throw myself against my bonds, turning my head to half sit up and see who the fuck is touching me without my permission.

Forest green eyes, filled with judgment, regard me from above—Lorcan.

My nostrils flare as I shift my gaze left to see Dino behind him, peering at me with concern etched all over his face. What the hell are they doing here? Breathing hard,I throw myself into a sitting position. Well as much as I can with my hands tied the way they are. My head throbs and the inside of my mouth feels like sandpaper. The last thing I need is the two of them here and now.

“What are you doing here?” I say, clearing my throat and licking my lips to moisten them. I can taste blood on them. My neck feels stiff as I try to adjust my legs. “Can you fucking untie me?”