Like every cliché possible, I’m in a basement with a lone light above my head. I’d be scared if I wasn’t so busy being pissed and feeling betrayed.
As if he hears my thoughts, the door opens, and Ben—my once best friend—comes walking down the stairs with a grim look on his face.
“Sorry about all the theatrics, Eve, but you’ve proven resourceful, even managed to lay low for weeks without us figuring out where you were. And somehow you survived Drex and the Death Dealers even with your sweet face. I’m afraid we don’t trust you.”
I knew Benny was twisted, but I never thought that trait was passed down to Ben. He was the sweetest boy I’d ever known in my life. How did I miss this side of him and never notice it before?
I’d ask that, if there wasn’t a freaking gross rag of some sort tied in my mouth.
“I’d take that gag out and ask you a few questions, but you won’t answer. I know how stubborn you are. Right now you’re pissed. You’d be asking me questions like how can you do this and saying things like this isn’t you. We can just skip that part. Let’s say you were so busy loving your normal life that you never bothered to notice I was changing. And I was too busy trying to be the guy I thought you wanted, to let you see the man I was. Turns out you like the sick fucks of my world, considering you rode Drex’s dick for however long.”
Ben is wrong. I wouldn’t be asking any of those things. I’d be trying to draw him closer so I could head-butt him.
He sighs when I struggle, wishing I could get free enough to kick him in the face. But I’m tied up tight.
“I’m Benjamin Gerald Highland Jr., Eve. The son of Benjamin Gerald Highland Sr. The president of the Hell Breathers is my father. Did you really think I was that sweet, loving kid? I was just hung up on you, so I played a part. Not just for your sake, but also for my father’s. Best he thinks I’m the weak shit he can smack around. That way he’ll never see me coming, just like Mom didn’t see me coming.”
That has me stopping my struggle. Hismother? What does that mean? I thought she left them.
“I wish you were the type to just spill everything with a few questions. Tried that already. Turns out you got it bad for Drex, which means you’re loyal. See? I know you, Eve. I know you well,” Ben sighs as he squats in front of me and rests on his haunches.
“She’ll talk when I get done with her.” The gruff voice has my head snapping up, and my eyes narrow as a bald guy with a beard walks in. He’s big and has a nasty beard that curls into a devil’s point that touches his chest. I swear there is food caked in that thing.
“If you touch her, I’ll put a bullet in you myself,” Ben tells him casually, glancing behind him at the beast.
My blood chills at hearing Ben say those words. They sound foreign and awkward coming from him. I keep expecting him to tell me this is all a horrible joke, since he really does suck at jokes and pranks.
“How else are we going to get her to speak?” Baldy asks.
Ben grins as he turns back to face me, and he licks his lips as his eyes roam down my body in a way that leaves me wanting a shower just to wash away the slime trail. Never would I have thought he, of all people, could look at me in a way that left my skin crawling.
“I have a few ideas. But we’ll start with the easy stuff. Starvation. Thirst. And of course my favorite, sleep deprivation. I need her body intact. I’ve spent most of my life chasing her.”
The bastard had me and then agreed we were better as just friends.
“I see that look. You remember our very awkward time as lovers,” he says, grinning when he reads my face. He really does know me. Guess that was a one-sided friendship since I never lied about who I was.
“You fucked me a total of ten times, Eve. How many times did you fuck Drex? I saved myself for you, and you just couldn’t get into me as anything but a friend. How long did it take you to drop to your knees and suck his dick?” The bite at the end of his words holds years of resentment. “Then, of course, still playing the only card I had, I went along with friendship. It was supposed to be me you came to when you were hurting for cash. It was supposed to be me you came to when you needed money. It was me you were supposed to come to when you needed anything at all. It was me who was supposed to be the hero despite the corruption surrounding me. But fuck it all to hell with the timing. I just needed a little while longer, Eve. Your bastard father had to get himself killed just a little too early.