Chapter 89: In His Thick Embrace.

Chapter 89.

Bunny’s POV.

All four men lay there on the hard concrete floor, drowning in their own thick pools of deep red blood. Three of them were completely dead, their eyes staring blankly at the dark ceiling of the warehouse, while the last one was left all alone to suffer even more, groaning in sheer agony as his life slowly leaked out of him. It was an absolutely terrifying sight to behold, but that wasn’t even the most terrifying part of it all. What was truly the most terrifying thing in that entire room? It was the sight of Xavier Thorne standing over them with a smoking gun in his hand. He had just taken human lives right in front of me with absolutely no fucking remorse. There was no hesitation in his eyes, no regret on his face, and no pity in his soul. He had killed them as if he were simply stepping on insects.

As he turned his dark gaze away from the bodies and began to approach me, a fresh wave of panic hit my chest. I crawled backward gently across the gritty floor, my legs shaking in utter fear as I tried to put distance between us. My hands scraped against the dirt, but I didn’t care.

Who the hell was he? What was this dark, lethal side of him that I was seeing for the very first time? He looked so dangerous… so terrifyingly dangerous… that I could not bring myself to believe that this was the very same Xavier I had been sharing a bed with. This wasn’t the man who smiled at me or bought me books. This was a monster.

So this was the real reason those heavily armed men had dropped to their feet and trembled the exact moment they saw his shadow? They weren’t afraid of a normal man; they were afraid of a ruthless killer.

Xavier dropped heavily to his knees right before me on the concrete. The cold, murderous expression on his face began to crack, his dark eyes gradually softening into something filled with raw desperation the closer he got to my trembling body.

“Are you hurt? Did they hurt you, Bunny?” His voice was nothing but a trembling, frantic whisper, cracking under the weight of his anxiety. He didn’t even care that I was actively trying to run away from him. He didn’t care that I was treating him like an enemy.

I crawled backward even more, my palms slipping on the dust, but he didn’t stop. He just kept dragging his knees forward across the floor, tracking me down relentlessly until my lower back pressed hard into something solid. I froze. It was the leg of the heavy metallic chair I had been tied to earlier. I was completely trapped. There was nowhere left for me to run.

I exhaled softly now, my breath catching in my throat as I was forced to turn my face back to look at him.

Xavier immediately moved his large hand gently toward my cheek, trailing his knuckles softly against my skin. His fingers were warm, but they were trembling against my face.

“Tell me, Bunny… did they hurt you? Did they touch you anywhere? Let me see. Please, let me see,” he pleaded, his voice thick with deep pain and absolute fright.

He began checking my body frantically, his eyes scanning my thighs for any tears in the fabric, checking my chest, touching my waist, and inspecting every single inch of my arms and my bruised face. He was looking for any signs of violation, his hands moving with a desperate urgency that made him look completely unhinged.

I could not move. I could not do a single thing. I just sat there against the metal chair, completely paralyzed. My brain was screaming at me to do something. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, to ask him to leave me alone, to push his bloody hands away from my skin. But my muscles completely refused to cooperate. I could not even move a single part of my body. I just sat there completely limp under his touch, staring at him with wide, empty eyes.

Right now, I honestly didn’t know if I felt safe in his presence or if I was just too profoundly shocked by the violence to even speak a word. But there was one thing that I knew for sure: Xavier had never looked this scared or worried in his entire life. He didn’t look vulnerable like a weak man, but he looked completely undone and deeply shaken to his very core.

Or was he just putting on an act? Was this entire rescue mission just another sick ploy to win me back after I found out about the campus bet? Was he playing the hero so I would forget that he had used my feelings as a game? The doubt twisted inside my mind, making me sick.

My heart was thumping loudly, vibrating so hard it felt like it was beating right in my stomach now. Before I could process the thoughts, Xavier suddenly moved his large hands down my thighs, sliding his arms underneath my back and knees. With one swift, powerful motion, he scooped me cleanly into his massive arms, carrying me in a tight bridal style against his chest.

I didn’t have the strength to fight him off. My body instinctively reacted to the movement, and I moved my shaking hand, wrapping it firmly around his thick neck for support while he slowly walked me out of the dark, cavernous warehouse doors.

When we finally emerged into the dim evening air outside, one of his private men was standing near the vehicle. The man was dressed in dark clothes, his face completely unrecognizable to me, standing like a loyal soldier waiting for orders.

Xavier stopped for a brief second, his chest heaving against my cheek. He didn’t even spare his employee a single glance as he spoke, keeping his eyes locked straight ahead on the car.

“One man alive,” Xavier commanded, his voice dropping into a flat, deadly tone that chilled my blood. “Torture him until he spills out the entire truth. Do whatever you have to do, and make sure he spills out every single detail about who sent them.”

“As you will, Boss,” the unrecognizable man replied instantly, bowing his head in absolute submission.

“As for the other three,” Xavier added, his voice turning as cold as ice, a dark finality in his words that made my chest tighten in absolute horror. “Slice them all into tiny pieces and dispose of them. Leave absolutely nothing for their families to bury.”

Hearing those words made my stomach twist into a tight, painful knot. How heartless could he truly be? How could a human being order something so barbaric without even blinking an eye? It was pure, unadulterated cruelty.

Oh goodness… fuck. My heart was completely terrified of him, but my body wasn’t cooperating with my fear. Because amidst all of this shocking violence, I could not even find the strength to pull away from his grip. I just lay there helplessly in his arms, with my cheek resting flat against his broad chest, unable to move a single muscle, unable to speak, and unable to think clearly. I was just a passenger in his dark world.

He finally reached the luxury car, opened the door, and placed me down onto the leather seat with extreme gentleness, as if I were a piece of fragile glass that would shatter if he handled me too roughly. He closed the door, walked around to the driver’s side, and got in.

The drive back to my supposed luxury apartment took a little over forty minutes. The entire ride was filled with a heavy, suffocating silence. Xavier kept his eyes glued to the New York roads, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, while I just stared blankly out the window, watching the city lights blur together through my tears. By the time the car finally pulled into the private driveway of the estate, I was completely and utterly exhausted. The adrenaline had completely left my system, leaving me hollow.

Xavier carried me up in his arms once again, lifting my limp body out of the seat and walking briskly toward the entrance. He climbed the grand staircase, his steps heavy and steady, until we finally reached the privacy of the master bedroom. He walked over to the large bed and placed me gently on the mattress before immediately moving his hands to cup my pale cheeks.

He leaned over me, his dark eyes searching my face with a terrifying intensity. “Tell me, Kitten. Please, you have to talk to me. Did they touch you? Did those bastards touch you inappropriately before I got there?”

I could not talk. I could not speak a single syllable. The moment he asked the question, the horrific images of their rough hands tearing at my cardigan and clawing at my waist filled my mind all over again. I could still feel the stinging pain of the slaps across my face, and the memory of their disgusting laughter echoed in my ears.

Fresh tears filled my eyes, spilling over my lashes and tracking down my bruised cheeks. I just sat there on the edge of the bed, my mind completely fractured, not knowing who to even believe anymore.

Clara had not called me up until this very moment. I knew my phone had completely lost service at some point during the chaotic kidnapping, but now that I was back in the city, there was still nothing. I still had expectations of my best friend, and the biggest one was her worry. If she had come out of that restroom and found the restaurant destroyed and me missing, she should have been frantically trying to reach me. But there was only silence from her end. I still could not bring myself to believe that she would actively hurt me or plan my demise. But wasn’t it incredibly weird? Wasn’t it suspicious that those armed men had arrived the exact minute she stepped away to the bathroom? The dots were connecting, and it was driving me insane.

And then there was Xavier. The terrifying way he had walked into that warehouse. The heavy gun in his hand. The cold, mechanical way he had executed those people without an ounce of human remorse. All of that terrified me to my very soul and made me even more scared to speak to him. He was a savior, but he was also a monster.

Xavier moved his large hand to touch my face again, his thumb reaching out to gently soothe the dark bruise on my cheek. But before his fingers could even make contact with my damaged skin, a sudden spark of raw anger flared up inside my chest. I moved my hand quickly and slapped his hand away with a loud smack.

At this exact point, I wanted absolutely nothing and no one close to me. I wanted him away from me.

Xavier’s hand froze in midair, a flash of deep hurt crossing his dark features before he lowered it. “Bunny… please. Are you okay? Just talk to me. Tell me you are fine.”

“Don’t fucking talk to me!” I groaned angrily, my voice cracking as I used the last of my strength to slap his hand away again when he tried to reach out. “Just stay the fuck away from me!”

“Why? What is happening in your head right now?” Xavier asked, his voice rising in deep frustration and desperation as he stepped closer to the bed. “Talk to me, Bunny! Let me help you!”

Before he could say another single word to me, I forced my shaky legs to stand up. I scrambled off the mattress and walked quickly away from the bed, heading straight toward the bedroom door. I just wanted to escape this house, escape his presence, and escape the nightmare my life had become.

But before I could even reach the handle to try the door, Xavier stormed across the room from behind. His large, heavy arms wrapped firmly around my torso, capturing my body completely and pulling me backward into a deep, suffocating hug.

“Let me go! Let me fucking go!” I groaned out, my voice raw as I began slapping his forearms roughly, trying to pry his thick fingers off my waist.

But he didn’t budge. He tightened his grip firmly around my ribs, lifting me slightly off my feet and dragging my back flush against his broad, solid chest.

“I don’t want you! Stay away from me, you fucking monster!” I groaned, wiggling my body violently from side to side, kicking my feet against the floor to break free.

Xavier didn’t pull away. Instead, he tightened his hold even more, burying his face directly against the nape of my neck, his hot breath hitting my skin.

“I won’t fucking let go, Bunny,” he said, his voice firm, unyielding, and laced with an absolute authority that left no room for argument. “I am not letting go of you until you fucking speak to me. I won’t.”

He held me completely captive, swallowing my small frame entirely into his massive body, burying his face deeper and deeper into my nape until the sheer weight of his embrace made it feel like I could barely breathe.