Why would he do that?

Why would he send photos of me to everyone to stay clear?

Have I hurt him, and I wasn’t aware of it?

I’m so confused my head hurts.

“Saskia,” Cane says my name.

Ryken steps forward and stops suddenly. Something sharp hits my neck, and it’s ice cold. Ryken’s eyes go wild, his eyebrows draw together, and he’s so tense I can see his muscles vibrating with absolute rage.

Everyone’s standing, not one person has stayed sitting.

Ryken doesn’t say a word, he just steps forward, and each time he does the knife is pressed harder into my skin, and I feel the warmth of blood trickling down my neck.

Is this how I will leave this Earth?

I mean, I could have been killed several times around these people. I should have been killed. Ryken saved me, but in the end, it only seems to have doomed me. It’s a funny way of looking at it. Because Ryken’s doom is something I would choose even if it gave me the same outcome—him.

I choose him, and that’s a big step for me personally. Because I’ve never really had to choose anyone.

I go to move, but his head shakes. I see the worry etched on his face. Ryken’s worried about me, and that scares me most.

If he’s worried, in reality, what are my chances?

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ryken

It’s always the person you least expect, isn’t it? I sure as shit didn’t expect it to be Cane. Not one inkling, or for one damn iota of time did I expect this from Cane.

How or why? I’m yet to find out.

But first I have to restrain myself from shooting him straight between the eyes as he holds a very sharp knife to Saskia’s throat. She doesn’t move, stays where she is watching me, waiting for me to do something to save her.

Quinn pulls Sabrina away. Cane stands with Saskia walking backward, so no one is standing behind him. He’s smart, he knows Quinn will maneuver himself into a position where he will take him out from behind with one hit.

“Cane,” Quinn says snidely, his lip curling up in disgust.

I shake my head at him and take a step forward. He hisses at me, and I can tell precisely the moment he pushes the knife deeper into her neck because a tear drops from her eye, but she doesn’t move or scream out in pain. Everyone’s standing, and all eyes are on him. I can tell that all have braced themselves because their hands are on their weapons. I need them to leave. If they speak to him even the slightest way that he can interpret as incorrect, he could cut her, and I can’t have that.

Cane speaks before I have the chance to look back at him. “Tell them to leave, Ryken. Tell them now to get in their cars and drive off.”

I look around and they all do so without me having to say the words. They all start walking. Quinn pushes Sabrina into Michael’s hands, and even though she’s scared of him, she’ll go because Quinn tells her to.

Cane shakes his head. “You too, Quinn. Don’t think for a second you’re staying.”

Quinn looks to me, waiting for me to answer. He takes his orders directly from me, and I understand his hesitance.

“This is between Ryken and me.”

Quinn looks to Cane like he’s thinking about killing him right there and then, and not listening to me, but Sabrina grabs hold of Quinn’s hand and pulls him to the door. The only people left standing in the room are Cane, Saskia, and myself.

“They’re gone. Loose the damn knife.”

He nicks at her throat again, and I see more blood. She doesn’t move, but he lessens the hold on her. She breathes a bit deeper, her eyes pinned to mine.

It’s the most helpless feeling in the world watching her and not being able to protect her.

Hasn’t she been through enough?

“You never really see, do you?” Cane questions me.

His hold on her stays, he won’t let her go. He knows it’s the only thing keeping him alive right now. Because despite our friendship, I will kill him in an instant if it means protecting her.

“That night she came out to see you collecting those girls, I threw a rock at her window to wake her. It worked, and she followed you.” He kisses her cheek. “You were set up from the beginning, sweetheart. A pawn to break him so I could take you.”

She shivers as his lips leave her skin. Her eyes fall to the floor.

“And Amy? Amy knew where to find you because I told her. I told her everything. That’s why she hated you.” He laughs and touches Saskia’s shoulder, his hand skimming down the front of her shirt, while the other holds the knife. He stares at me as his hand touches her breast and squeezes. “I wanted you broken, so badly that only I can put you back together.” He shakes his head then looks back to me. “Now you aren’t so blind to it.”

Tags: T.L. Smith Dark Intentions Duet Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net