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Bella stared at Marcus, who glared at her as blood dripped off his face, splattering on his leg, sliding down to the floor. She shifted her eyes up to Alice, who was waiting for her permission to keep going. She nodded softly, causing Alice to smile and yank his head back again, digging the tip of the knife into his other cheek.
"Fucking cunt!" Marcus snarled. "Did you hear what I said? I have Charlotte."
"No, no you don't," she muttered. Bella walked over to Marcus, digging her finger into the cut on his left cheek, causing him to cry out again. "You killed her. You fucking killed her, you sick, twisted, motherfucking asshole!"
"Did I?" he challenged, raising an eyebrow as his chest heaved. "Did I really? How can you be so sure, sweetheart? Hmm? She's beautiful little thing, isn't she? She has your eyes, your big, pouty, soulful eyes. I really like them when they are swimming in tears. She's a crier, too."
Rage filled Bella, who brought her knee up at the same time she yanked his head down. He groaned, but she grabbed the knife from Alice, pressing it against his throat and yanked his head back again. Blood poured out of his nose. "Where is she?"
He smiled, blood seeping through his perfect teeth. "You thought you could run from me? Take my daughter from me? Oh, sweetheart, you didn't think you could take what's mine and get away with it, did you?"
"Oh, Marcus," she sighed, before placing the tip of the knife in the middle of his chest, putting just enough pressure that it pierced his skin. "She isn't yours. You may have provided the genetic material to make her, but you are not, and never will be her father. Her father is Edward. He's her daddy, not you."
Enraged, Marcus snarled, which just spurred her on more. Bella dragged the knife down his chest, cutting him shallowly before stepping backward and looking at Garrett, Edward, and Jasper.
"She'll be close. He doesn't let anyone get too far from him," she said, giving Garrett a look. He nodded and fled the room. Bella took a deep breath before shifting her eyes to Edward and Jasper. "Release him," she said, tossing the knife on the table.
"What?" Edward asked, looking at Marcus before turning back to Bella. "B."
"I know what I'm doing," she assured him. "Untie him from the chair. Place him on the hook."
Edward nodded before gesturing for Jasper to help. Alice was quick to move away from Marcus, whose eyes were wide, full of fear, and excitement. There was no denying that he was enjoying their little game. And make no mistake: he knew he was going to die inside that room, yet it was still a game to him. The man was truly evil.
Jasper and Edward removed the binds around his wrists and ankles, and moved him over to there the hook they'd attached to the ceiling hung. The hook had been one of Marcus's favorite ways of torturing her. She felt obliged to return the favor.
"You do this whore, and she's dead," Marcus snarled, trying to kick her, but the moment he lifted his foot, the pressure of his weight on his arms, was too much, and he put his leg back down.
"You already killed her," Bella said, walking over to the table and picked up a branding iron and a handheld torch gun. As she started heating the iron, she shared a look with Alice before turning her attention to Marcus, who was watching her every step with an intensity that scared her. Even now, even with him being under her control, the man still harbored feelings of love for her. In his sick, twisted mind, she was the love of his life.
"Do you remember the first time you hung me from the hook?" Bella asked, walking around him. "You and your . . . your brothers had taken us just a few weeks before. I cried and begged every fucking day for you to let us go, to free us, but you wouldn't. Because we belonged to you. I belonged to you, remember?"
Marcus didn't reply, which just amused her.
"You hung me by my wrists," she continued, her voice betraying the strength she was desperately trying to draw on. "You cut my clothes off, and you used an iron just like this on me."
Bella placed the torch gun on the floor in front of him before lifting her eyes to his, and pressing the tip of the branding iron against his abdomen. Marcus screamed, his body flailing, the smell of his burning skin filling the air.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" she asked, picking up the torch gun and heating the tip of the iron again. "Doesn't it?"
"Yes," he admitted through gritted teeth.
"If you put one filthy hand on her," Bella snarled, pressing the branding iron against his chest, right under his right breast, "I'll make sure they are finding pieces of your body for years to come."
"You'll never find her," he taunted. "Unless you let me go, of course."
Bella shook her head, before pressing the branding iron against his skin once more, this time on his thigh, just inches from his penis.
"Son of a bitch!" he wailed.
"Tell me where she is and I'll make it quick."
"Liar," he panted, his chest heaving.
"You're right," she said, shrugging her shoulders as she began to heat the iron once more. "Because even if we don't find . . . find Charlotte," she whimpered, trying to keep from weeping as she walked behind him, "You killed my mother and my father, and some other poor, innocent child. And why? To hurt me. So, yeah, you're not leaving this room alive, Marcus, and I plan on taking my time, making sure you never get the chance to hurt anyone ever again."
And without giving him a chance to take a breath, she shoved the red hot branding iron, up his ass. The sound of his screams echoing like music to her ears.
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