Saving You (Love in June Springs Book 1)

Saving You -24-

           

Chapter 24

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Ian pressed a napkin over Katelyn's arm, sending sharp stings of pain through her body. She'd lost count of how many paper cut-like wounds he'd inflicted on her arm before he'd stopped.

"Why do you always have to make me so mad? I already told you, you don't have to test me anymore. I know that cop is just another one of your indiscretions, but do you have to bring him up when I'm baring my soul to you?"

Katelyn hoped he could see the hatred in her eyes. Had she really once thought she could fall in love with this guy? The guy who used, hurt, assaulted anyone and anything who got in his way?

"Please don't shut me out again," Ian begged. "It's not my fault the thought of what he's done to you makes me jealous. I know you only kept him around longer because you work with his brother, but it hurt me, Katie. You had to have known it would be horrible for me to deal with. It was such a well thought-out final test, I'm just sorry it took me so long to get you away from him."

Katelyn shook her head, clenching her teeth together. "You're insane. Certifiably insane. There's no test! All I wanted was you out of my life forever, and you couldn't even do that."

He was just studying her, almost pitying her. "He's brainwashed you, hasn't he? Made you doubt our future. That's okay. I know how to fix that."

He picked up the knife again. "I learned this from you. Punishment. When you made me hurt you, and almost got yourself killed for your efforts," he sighed. "It saved me. The pain of being abandoned by you helped me realize the truth you expected of me."

Katelyn watched as he twisted and played with the knife. "I had to go to therapy, did you know that? They asked me why I did what I did, and how I would learn from it to be a better contributor to society. I remember one therapist, a man who truly understood, told me, "you will never learn through anger, but by acknowledging what hurts you and pushing through it to find your answer.""

Katelyn sucked in a breath as the blade pressed against her stomach. Ian just smiled. "I'm going to ask you a question now. And remember, you will be rewarded when you are truthful."

She couldn't breathe. Was the room spinning?

"Katie, do you care for the cop?"

There was too much, the world was caving in on her and there was a very good chance that if she said the wrong word, she wouldn't make it out of this alive.

She should have lied, said Declan meant nothing to her if only for the reprieve it would offer. But again, she remembered no one would be coming for her.

If I'd let Declan come with me, if I'd set up the tracker on my phone like he'd suggested, if I'd waited just one more day to go see Hannah for him to organize a surveillance schedule, if I'd just fucking let him do his job...

The knowledge that she was where she was because of her fears would be something she'd carry with her until she died. The least she could do for Declan was admit what he was to her in her final moments. She owed him that much.

Meeting Ian's eyes, she sealed her fate. "Declan is the love of my life. And you? You're just a sick piece of shit I wish I'd never met."

His expression darkened. There was a hard edge to the look he gave her. "Now, now, Katie. I asked you to be truthful. Are you sure that's your answer?" He pushed a little harder and she knew the knife was leaving an uncomfortable indent beside her belly button.

For a moment, time stopped. The scene took shape in her mind. Everything heightened, the way Ian looked as he threatened her life, the smell of a dark basement, dusty from misuse. There was no sound. Her clothes were scratchy against her skin, the cuts from earlier stingy every so subtly. Her hands and feet had long since lost feeling from being tied. Her back ached from the forced sitting position she'd been in. The agony in her head, though faded, was still very much a part of her.