LOGINJADEI don't know how many days have passed since Zayn rescued me. I don’t remember. I’ve been unable to sleep and I figure that Zayn is lacing my system with pills to help me rest. When I’m awake, I relive the horror of almost dying again by the hands of the very people who murdered me in my past life.Dragged right back into that rusted cage. I can still feel the chains cutting into the raw flesh of my wrists, pinning me down while Daniel stands over me with a look of longing and an expression that resembles guilt. But when I’m fast asleep and I’m not worrying about what I’ve been through, I dream of him—my fake husband, the only man who’s been haunting my sleep and consciousness. I think I’m in love. I’m in love with Zayn Hemsworth.I stir in bed. The sheets feel too soft, the room too quiet. I wake up and find the space beside me is empty. Zayn isn't in the room. I pull the duvet away and sit up right at the edge of the bed. I feel cold. I pull his heavy robe over my shoulders,
“You’ve always known how to land a good punch,” Damon says.I step around the desk, towering over him like the shadow of death itself. I reach down, grabbing him by his shirt and hauling him to his feet with one hand. I wrap my hand around his neck and slam his back against the wooden desk. My grip is so tight his airway is completely restricted, his face turning a mottled purple beneath the blood. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t paint this room with your brains right now.”Damon doesn't look afraid. That is his sickness. He spits blood onto the front of my shirt, a wet, rattling laugh bubbling up from his throat.“There he is, the real Zayn Hemsworth. Look at you... acting like a savage over a girl. You always were weak, Zayn.”I tighten my grip, my fingers burying into his throat until his windpipe groans under the pressure. “I froze your offshore accounts. By tomorrow morning, you won't even have enough money to buy a meal, let alone a helicopter out of this country.”“You do
I don’t speak. I simply watch the way Daniel’s chest heaves, savoring the gasp of his failing lungs. He might die of infection if not starvation and dehydration—yet all he cares about is his mother. What a good son he is. Barbara's bloodshot eyes stare wildly around, settling on the CCTV at the corner of the ceiling. “Psycho! Just send us to the police! We’ll confess! We’ll sign whatever you want! Just put us in a cell instead of keeping us here... give us water... please...” I lean into the microphone. “The police, Barbara? Now why would I outsource a personal matter to the state?” Daniel weeps, his hands pressing against the glass he can’t see through. “Zayn, I beg you! I didn't let Damon have her! I hesitated! I told her I loved her! Jade knows... Jade knows I didn't want to hurt her! I care about her.” “You put your filthy hands on my wife. You made her cry, Daniel. You made her believe, even for a second, that help wasn't coming.” “We’re sorry!” Natasha shrieks from the
I run out of the warehouse. I realize it’s night. The cold air is cutting into my lungs. I try to take in steady breaths as I sprint, but breathing is just too hard. It begins to rain. The storm is blinding, driving needles of freezing precipitation straight into my eyes as I stumble across the muddy gravel of the yard. I can’t see what’s ahead of me. I can only hear what is behind—the terrifying thud of heavy boots tearing through the puddles.“She went toward the perimeter! Split up and find her!”Damon’s men. They are right on my heels. My foot catches on a rusted piece of rebar hidden in the mud. I gasp, throwing my hands out as I go crashing into the wet gravel. Pain flares in my knees, but the adrenaline overrides it. I must escape. I need to survive. I scramble back up to my feet, my breath hitching in my throat, sobbing from exhaustion. I can’t go back into that cage. I can’t let them hand me over to Damon. I don’t want to die in his hands.I round the corner of a rusted meta
“Jade—” “No,” I say, shifting back as Daniel stretches his hand to reach out to me. “What happens to me?”He slides to the very edge of the mattress, dragging his split plaster cast with a low hiss of agonizing pain. He reaches out again, his trembling hand hovering over mine, desperately wishing he could touch me, but stopping just short when he sees the dead look in my eyes.“Please, Jade,” he begs, his voice cracking into a heartbreaking sob. “Just tell me you understand. Tell me you see why I have to do this.”“I don’t understand.”“I don't want you to die. I still love you.”I scoff. “Do you really?”“God help me, I love you so much it’s killing me. Everything I did... taking you from St. Jude’s, bringing you here... I just wanted a chance for us to be what we used to be. But if I don't give you to Damon, Zayn is going to kill us within the hour. I’m trying to save my family.”“You’re not saving anyone,” I say, my voice steady, refusing to give him the comfort he’s begging for.
JADEI don’t know why my mind chooses this exact moment to remind me of the time I could taste freedom like honey and breathe it in like air. It was sweet, I can’t even lie. Freedom is something you don't know how much you cherish until it’s stripped from you.And love… genuine love is one of the good things that make one feel truly free. Because tell me why every image that’s pulsing through my mind is of Zayn? Why do I think of only him? The metal on my wrists bites deeper into my skin every time I draw a fresh breath. But memories of Zayn cut deeper than anything else. I wish I’d looked at him far longer than I did before he left.I wish I’d memorized the ink on his skin and asked him what they meant. I wish I… I wish I’d said ‘I love you’ even if I wasn't sure if he’d say it back. A stray tear escapes my eye. The concrete floor beneath me is freezing, bleeding a numbing chill straight through my clothes and into my bones.I use the back of my hand to wipe away my tears. I should
“Damon!” Grandmother’s voice is a whisper of pure horror. “Put that away! Have you lost your mind? That’s your brother you’re aiming at.” But Damon doesn't care. A thin sheen of sweat breaks across my brow. I’m unable to move. My heart is a ferocious beast in my chest. A beast that is scraping at
Barbara pulls me into the pantry and shuts the door. She crosses her arms, eyes blazing. “What is wrong with you? You seem different. VERY different.” She sounds concerned. In my past life, I’d have believed every word that came out of her lying mouth. I would've cried about work and how diffic
“You,” Daniel sneers. “The gigolo. How dare you take my Jade?”Zayn doesn’t reply.“That’s my wife in there. You gotta give her back, man. She’s just confused.”The hallway suddenly falls quiet again. Daniel’s voice dies in his throat. I can’t see what’s happening from where I stand, but I hear the
“I agree this was a mistake. I’m sorry I made you lie. I’m sorry I—” “Stop that,” he growls. “Stop apologizing for everything.” My heart is hammering. The vibration from the elevator feels like it’s coming from my chest. The ride feels too long. I wonder when the doors will open. No one is getting







