He’d given her a choice…

My mind skipped back to the private conversation I hadn’t meant to overhear. A week before the Final Debt with Emma, Cut had admitted to his Weaver prisoner he loved her too much to kill her. He wanted more from her. More time. More togetherness. He was willing to hold off the Final Debt indefinitely if she agreed to be his completely.

Marry him.

Submit to him whenever he desired.

His one condition for her life—she was forbidden from seeing Tex or her children ever again.

It was a testament of Emma’s love for her family and husband that she turned him down and chose death instead.

“For fuck’s sake, give me your bloody arm.” Cut lashed out; snatching Nila’s arms and breaking the hold she’d formed. She struggled but was no match for Cut’s strength.

Slamming her forearm on the table, he growled, “Did you listen to the part of the story about smuggling diamonds?”

Nila wriggled in Cut’s possession, doing her best to take her imprisoned arm back. “Yes. I listened.”

“In that case, you’ll understand what the rest of the Fourth Debt entails.”

She stopped breathing. “No…I don’t…”

He chuckled, fighting her tugging, keeping her arm against the table. “Yes, you do.” Holding her down with one hand, he reached to the side with the other. Plucking a narrow stick from its resting place, he pressed it against her mouth. “Open wide.”

Her face arched away from the offer. “What? No.”

Cut pinched her arm. The shock stole her attention, parting her lips. Taking advantage, he slipped the stick inside her mouth so the ends stuck out either side of her cheeks. She looked as if she’d been bridled.

Turning her head to spit it out, Cut held the stick in place. “Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Her eyes glared daggers.

“Bite down.” Cut slowly removed his hand, daring her to dispel it.

Nila paused, the stick remaining lodged in her teeth. Her eyebrow rose with questions as Cut slowly picked up a black rubber mallet. A type of mallet used for hitting unwilling pieces of timber or coaxing nails into holes. A hammer that would bring untold pain.

She sucked in air around the stick, her struggles renewing. “No!” Her voice wavered around the obstruction.

“I told you, bite down.” His fingers latched tighter around the mallet. “This will hurt.”

No!

My heart lurched as I twisted and bucked. “Stwrop!” I despised not being able to move, to talk, to shout, to help. “Nwoooo!”

Nila.

Fuck, I’m so sorry.

“What—what’s—” Nila couldn’t tear her eyes away from the mallet. Her entire body went on lockdown. “Cut…don’t.” The stick remained in her teeth, her tongue forming words with care.

His eyes glinted. “When William’s reputation of priceless diamonds made its way around the city, more and more people tried to rob him. Opportunists and pirates all wanted a piece of his good fortune even when he’d paid so much for it. Thieves. Cheapskates. They all deserved to hang.”

Nila whimpered, fighting his hold as Cut braced his legs, preparing to deliver the Fourth Debt.

My heart bucked, smashing against bruised ribs, leaping into the throbs inside my head. From my angle on the floor, the world tilted sideways, my mind straining to stay with her, to find a way free.

“William constantly had to come up with new ways to smuggle his cargo into the country. He started with the obvious: the orifices of his men. The switch and ruse. The fake packaging ploy. But after time, each one would fail as word got out of the latest scam.

“Even in the last few decades, we suffered our own setbacks. Our smuggling mules would swallow the diamonds or wrap small quantities around their stomach and legs, and fly in sweating guilt and terror—guaranteed to have the shipment ceased upon arrival. Or they’d shove them in arseholes and pussies but that’s become too widely used by drug traffickers and with tighter border security, not practical. So…we came up with a new plan.”

His voice thickened. “Know how we solved this problem?”

Nila shook her head, black hair sticking to sweaty cheeks, tears cascading in streams.

“Sewing into flesh.”

She sucked in a horrified breath, the air whistling around her stick.

Cut frowned. “The sewing was rather barbaric and didn’t have such satisfactory results. A doctor would cut a mule in the least invasive place, insert a few packets of diamonds, and sew them back up. Once the traveller arrived at their destination, the wound was reopened, diamonds removed, and their sum paid. However, the risk of infection and hospitalisation was too high.

“So…we came up with a better idea.”

He twisted his wrist, dragging Nila’s attention back to the black mallet in his fist. “We don’t cut anymore, we break. We offer legitimate disabilities while using the fracture as the perfect alibi.” He grinned. “Understand what I’m saying, Nila?”

Shit.

I gave everything I had left. My wrists soaked with blood as I fought the rope. My back splintered with every wriggle. I couldn’t watch. I couldn’t prevent what Cut would do. I couldn’t do a thing as he broke her and dressed her in diamonds.

I yelled profanity, choking on the gag. I wanted to talk to her. Comfort her. I didn’t want to fail her all over again.

Shock electrocuted her system. She spat out the stick even though she’d need it to ride the upcoming pain. “You can’t be serious.”