Tempted Heir (The Heirs 7)

My survival instincts rear to life, but in one swift movement, he kicks me in the stomach. My body falls to the side as intense pain sears through my insides, robbing me of my ability to breathe and making me cry out in pain.

“Shut up!” I flinch at the hollow sound in his voice, and then he whispers to me. “Shh… not a sound.”

Shit, he’s insane. I haven’t seen him in five years. What the hell is going on?

I glance up at him, but before I can see his face, he kicks me again. So hard, it lifts my body from the floor before I slump down in a heap of heaving pain.

I can’t make a sound, even if I wanted to. I’m still battling to get some air into my lungs when another kick is delivered to my side.

I want to beg him to stop, but I can’t get any words out. I try to roll away from him, but he follows me and delivers another hard kick to my back. With the last kick, a sharp pain shoots through my torso, and I cry out, “Stop. Please!”

Josh hunches down in front of me and swipes one of my tears from my cheek. In horror, I watch him lick it from his finger. Then he hisses, “You fucking betrayed me.”

I gasp for air, my body an aching, trembling mess.

He leans in closer, his eyes lifeless and harsh. “Did you really think I’d let you go?”

I manage to get enough air into my lungs that I’m able to say, “It’s been five years. God, what are you talking about?”

He tilts his head, his mouth set in a grim line. “The only reason I allowed you to live your life was because you stayed loyal to me. How dare you cheat on me, with Christopher of all people?”

What the actual fuck?

Josh lifts his arm, and I let out a shriek right before his fist connects with my cheek, and then everything blacks out.

Waking up in an empty room, the air around me has a thick, musty smell to it. I can’t hear anything. No traffic. No bustling of city life. There’s only dead silence. Glancing around me, I notice I’m in a cabin of some sort.

Oh, God.

I have no idea where I am. I could be in the middle of nowhere for all I know.

If that’s the case, Christopher will never be able to find me.

Fear and hopelessness begin to war in my chest, making my heartbeat speed up until it’s hammering against my ribs.

I start to get up, but the ache in my stomach has me moving slower. Standing on trembling legs, I wrap my arm around my waist and try to breathe through the pain.

Knowing it’s up to me to save myself, I begin to search for anything I can use as a weapon for when that insane bastard returns. When I see my blouse ripped to pieces on the floor, I realize I’m only standing in my skirt and bra.

“Shit. Oh, God. This is bad.” My voice trembles with the absolute horror I feel rising in my chest. I stumble to the door, but when I try to open it, it doesn’t budge.

No. No. No.

I hear a car. Tires crunching over gravel.

God. No.

Lifting a trembling hand to my mouth, I gasp for air as absolute terror engulfs me. Stupidly, I glance around me, looking for a place to hide. There’s only a simple-looking kitchen, an empty living room, a door leading to what looks like a bathroom, and another room, which is probably the bedroom. I quickly look for a window I can crawl through, but they’ve all been boarded up.

There’s no other exit.

I hear a car door slam, and silence follows in which I can only hear my own rapid breaths. I glance around wildly again while I backtrack to a corner, my heart racing in my chest.

I have no idea what Josh plans on doing to me.

Kill me? Rape me?

The thoughts alone are enough to make me nauseous and paralyzed with horror.

The knob on the door rattles, and then Josh comes in. Just seeing him makes my stomach churn painfully.

“What are you doing, Josh? This is kidnapping. Assault. You can’t possibly think you’ll get away with it. Let me go,” I say, trying to sound sure of myself – brave even – but my voice comes out raspy and quivering. I hate that he can hear I’m scared.

He locks the door behind him and pockets the key, then his dark eyes settle on mine. “I’ll give the orders.”

Lunging at me, he slams the full weight of his body into me, along with his fist to my stomach, knocking the air from my lungs. He shoves me hard against the wall as pain vibrates through me. I can only manage to wheeze while my vision blurs from the attack.