The Ritual
“I’m fine, Blake.” He pats my thigh. “I just want to clean up and go to bed.”
Letting out a deep breath, I nod. “Okay.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
RYAT
SOMETHING HARD HITS me in the back, knocking the wind out of me. I’m shoved to my knees, and my face is held down to the wet shower floor. My head to the side, I stare into a dead set of brown eyes. The Chinese star tattoo on his face.
Erik Bates.
Gotcha!
I killed the motherfucker! Took me a several days in solitary confinement, but I only needed one shot, and I just took it. I’m not stupid. Someone set this up and made sure that I was in here at the same time as him. I didn’t even have a chance to get undressed. The moment I saw him, I took the opportunity.
I’m jerked to my feet and dragged out of the showers, down the hallway, and back to my cell. The shackle around my waist is unlocked, but they leave my hands cuffed in front of me. My door is opened, and I’m pushed into it. The door shuts behind me and locks. Looking up, I see a man sitting on my bed who I don’t recognize.
Arching a brow, I ask, “Since when do they assign roommates in solitary confinement?”
He reaches up under my pillow and pulls out a short knife that wasn’t there before. “It’s amazing what they allow us to do when they need us to take care of something.”
I don’t miss the fact that the guards threw me in here still cuffed. This is a setup. Just like the one where I killed fuckface! “Who sent you?” I ask. It wasn’t Gregory. I did what I signed up for. If he turned on me, he would be terminated.
The man smirks, showing off his ugly brown teeth. He’s been in jail for a while. Probably a lifer. “Let’s just say a friend wants me to send you a message.”
“Friend?”
He stands, and I take a step back, but there’s nowhere for me to go in this concrete box. “I don’t know what you did, but he wants you to suffer.”
Fucking Matt! It has to be him. I beat him up and left him in our cell. He’s obviously been making friends while I’ve been in here alone. Good for him. The corner of my lips pulls back into a smirk when I confess. “I fucked his girl.”
His chuckles softly. “That’ll do it.” Lifting the knife, he looks over it. Pretty sure if he cuts me with it, I’ll need a tetanus shot afterward due to how discolored it is. I’m definitely not the first person it’s going to be used on. “Was the pussy worth it?” His eyes meet mine.
“Absolutely!”
He charges me, knocking my back into the steel door. He lowers the knife to my side, and I manage to dodge it, but his free hand lands a hit to my ribs, taking my breath away. He takes a step back from me, and I double over.
“Sounds like I should try it out.” He laughs while I cough. “He did offer me a piece of it once I finish with you.” I glare up at him. “Brunette? Blue eyes? I didn’t catch her name. That’s not important anyway. She’ll be my bitch …”
I run at him, hunched over, and my shoulder hits his abdomen, shoving his back into the opposite wall. The small space didn’t allow me that much momentum, but it’s all I got. The knife clanks to the ground, and I go to hit him, but the handcuffs make it hard. I’m going to have to get him to the floor.
His fist connects with my chest, and my knees buckle, knocking me to the floor. Trying to regain my strength, I hear him laughing as he stands above me. “He said that she’s got some nice tits too.”
I catch sight of the knife next to me. Grabbing it, I shove it into the top of his foot. “She does.”
He throws his head back, screaming, and I stand, kneeing him in the stomach. He doubles over, and I shove him to the floor. Face down. I straddle his back and wrap my cuffed hands around his neck, pulling back, cutting off his air.
The sounds of him gurgling while struggling with me fill my cell. But I don’t let up. Not until this son of a bitch is dead because I sure as shit am not letting anyone near her. She’s mine. I’ll have to remind Matt of that.
His body grows weak, and it doesn’t take long for it to sag against the floor. I’m still hanging on for dear life, the tight cuffs pinching my skin, when I hear the door creak open.
Looking up, I see Gregory enter my cell. “What the fuck?” he asks, his wide eyes on the guy I’m sitting on top of.