Forbidden (Blood Ties #7)

“YOU GODDAMN BASTARD!”I roared, hurling the bottle of water across the room.“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU! I’LL…FUCKING KILL YOUUU.”

I stilled, sucking in hard breaths, and came back into myself…to lower my gaze to hers.

“You’ll eat what I give you. Do I make myself clear? You’ll eat, shower…doeverythingI tell you to do,” I warned, my rage simmering under the surface. “You call me a monster now, but you haven’t seen the things I’m capable of. You don’t want that, Helene Montgomery. Trust me.”

SEVEN

Helene

Fear movedthrough me as he turned and strode from the room. Real fear, not the fleeting feeling I’d had while I’d fought for my life. No, this was…deeper than that. This wasdangerous.

I’LL FUCKING KILL YOUU!

Those words still lingered in the air.

But who had he been talking to?

I tried to piece it all together.

Yes, I’m a team player.

But whose team was he playing on? Hale’s, that I knew. But this wasn’t him, was it? So, was there someone else in charge? I tried to think. Not Macoy Daniels, thanks to London, or Ophelia, thanks to his damn son. So, who then? Who was taking over and forcing Riven Cruz to his damn knees…I tried to think, but there was no answer.

Not yet, at least.

His heavy steps resounded over and over. He was out there pacing, thinking…and planning. That made him vulnerable…and me. I jerked my gaze toward the doorway as those steps grew louder. When he stepped back into the room, he didn’t look at me, not at first.

“Shower,” he snarled, lifting those unflinching eyes to mine. “And don’t fight me.”

I pushed my hands against the floor and slowly rose.My sisters. Remember my sisters.I clung to the memory of their faces as I lifted my hands. “The cuffs,” I said carefully. “I can’t very well wash with them on, can I?”

The twitch came from the corner of his eye.

He didn’t trust me. If I was going to survive this, I needed to change that. “Please.” The word was a whisper, but he heard.

His eyes widened. His chest rose. Maybe a little harder than I’d seen before.He likes it when I beg.That aching tension surged inside me at the thought.

He stepped forward, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a set of keys, finding the small cuff key.

“Cruz.” I watched his face as he pushed the key into the locks one at a time. “That’s your last name, right? May as well tell me your first. We’re already in this deep, aren’t we? What’s a little deeper?”

I tried to make him a little more comfortable, playing to his needs as the cuffs fell free and he tossed them to the bed.

“Riven,” he answered, meeting my stare.

“Riven,” I repeated, praying to God I sounded like I didn’t know a damn thing about this man already…and his two brothers.

He watched me carefully, then gave a jerk of his head toward the bathroom. I moved without so much as a whisper, limping a little as I headed inside. He was going to watch me. I knew that. Still, I couldn’t seem to push that out of my head as I fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. The weight of his stare sent a shiver through me as I shrugged out of the sleeves and let the damn thing fall.

I didn’t look back, just stepped into the shower and reached for the faucet, switched on the spray, and waited for the hot water. A shiver took hold, pebbling my skin and my damn nipples. I crossed my arms, relieved when the faint steam rose before I stepped in.

Turn around. Make him look at you. You need him, remember?

That nagging voice again, and I wanted to strangle it.

But it was right. No matter how terrified I was.

I needed him.