Guarded Hearts by S. Lexi

Author:S. Lexi [Lexi, S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-11-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Broken

Presley

Everything was too much. When Cruz entered the room earlier, I had never seen him look so angry. A vein pulsed in his neck, looking ready to explode, and his fists were clenched so hard at his side that his knuckles were white. He had never shown me that side before, but it was just another reminder that a good manipulator could hide the monster within.

Erika tried to talk to me, but I didn't want to hear any more lies. I felt mostly betrayed by her since I thought she was my friend. I trusted her, and that was the only reason I lowered my guard with Cruz in the first place. I figured he couldn't be that bad if she was friends with him. Look where that got me—locked in a room like a prisoner. Again.

A cold chill ran down my spine. It might not be a small box like the one Conrad locked me in, but I was still trapped, and it felt like the walls were closing in on me.

**Flashback**

Three years ago

My face throbbed and burned like it was on fire. My head was pounding from the worst headache I had ever felt, and I was utterly frozen to the bone.

I lay on something hard and cold.

I scrunched up my nose at the awful scent that assaulted my senses. It smelt like sewage or maybe something decomposing. I couldn't tell, but it made me gag.

I tried blinking my eyes open, but it was a struggle since something crusty kept them closed. That same crusty feeling was all over my face.

"She's waking up," a familiar voice said.

"I can't wait to officially meet my sister," an unfamiliar voice replied mockingly.

I stiffened as memories of what happened returned to me all at once.

Conrad was the reason I had no friends, job, or money. He made me feel like a disappointment when it was all his doing. He wanted me to be utterly dependent on him and I was. Then, when I threatened to leave him, he slammed my face into the doorframe until I blacked out.

Where had he taken me?

Who was the second person in the room?

"Open your eyes, wife," Conrad demanded cruelly.

I tried to move my arms and legs, but something restrained them.

I blinked harder and finally opened my eyes a little, only to close them again when a fluorescent light blinded me.

Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the bright light above me, and I took in two figures looming over my body.

The one on my left was Conrad. He was staring down at me with a cruel smirk on his face.

The other man I didn't recognize, but he looked like a younger version of Conrad, just rougher. A scar on his cheek started just below his eye and ended at the corner of his mouth. He had tattoos crawling up his neck and a mean look on his face. I realized he must have been Conrad’s brother, Owen.

"Hey, sis. So, we finally meet," the unfamiliar man said before adding with a sadistic smile, "I'm Owen, your worst nightmare.

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