Chapter 378/The Hunting Hawk’s Prey
Chapter 378
Julie’s point of view
She advanced on my position with blind, stubborn determination, aggressively shaking the provocative dress right in front of my face. "Yes, your ass is absolutely wearing it, regardless of your trash attitude! You are going to look like a literal bomb tonight!"
I bolted to my feet, pure rage surging through my veins as I pointed a sharp, final finger toward the door. "Stella... I told you very fucking clearly that I am not wearing that thing at any price! Gather your goddamn things and stop this garbage nonsense right now!"
Stella crossed her arms over her chest, throwing her chin up with a stubborn, childish defiance that was as irritating as it was fiercely determined. She delivered a playful yet utterly uncompromising threat.
"Either you take this dress and put it on smoothly by yourself inside that bedroom right now... or I swear to God I will personally pin your arms behind your back and force your ass into it myself! Make your choice!"
I stared at her rigid, unyielding expression, a wave of pure helplessness washing over me against her relentless nagging. Letting out a sharp, furious breath, I threw my hands up in complete defeat.
"Fine! Fine, damn your stubborn ass to hell! I’ll wear the goddamn thing just to get out of this nightmare!"
I snatched the crimson silk dress from her hands with pure venom, marching with heavy steps into my bedroom and slamming the door shut behind me. The smooth, freezing fabric slid effortlessly over the contours of my slender body. The second I stood flat in front of the full-length mirror, staring at the dangerously high hemline and the thin straps that exposed an immense amount of my chest and bare skin, a pitch-black, brutal memory violently exploded inside my skull.
I remembered with agonizing precision the day I had dressed like a naive fool in a short skirt, innocently trying to capture Robert’s attention and please him. Instead, he had brutally scolded me, completely crushing my spirit into the dirt as his terrifying, dictatorial voice barked an order to change immediately because it disgusted him warning me to never dare wear anything short like that ever again.
I violently shook my head, aggressively purging the memory of that tyrannical monster from my brain. Taking a deep breath to force my freezing composure back to the surface, I opened the door and walked back out into the living room with a hollow mask of confidence. Stopping in front of Stella, I curled my lip in deep discomfort.
"Don’t you honestly think this dress is a bit much?"
Her eyes dilated in absolute shock and unbridled lust, a loud, ecstatic squeal erupting from her throat that echoed through the entire house. "Are you kidding me?! Absolutely the fuck not! You look jaw-dropping, stunning, and completely lethal! My brother is going to lose his goddamn mind!"
At that exact microsecond, the sharp, violent sound of a key aggressively twisting in the exterior lock ripped through the house. The heavy front door was thrown open with immense force, and Jake strode inside with his usual heavy, dominant steps. The moment he crossed into the living room and his burning blue eyes locked dead onto my body in that provocative, screaming crimson dress, his massive frame froze completely in place turning into a literal statue of solid iron and fire.
He stood entirely paralyzed, the breath completely knocked out of his lungs as his scalding gaze swept over every inch of my exposed skin. A sudden, violent fury dilated his pupils, which were practically spitting live sparks of pure rage.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Stella staring intently at Jake’s rigid, flushed, and hostile expression with a deep, creeping confusion. Desperate to shatter the dangerous, suffocating silence before she could connect any dots, I twisted my lips into a dry, mocking sneer.
"And here comes the idiot, right on cue to ruin the entire vibe with his garbage presence," I mocked, my tone flat.
The muscles along his jaw violently flexed, an audible click echoing through the room as he ground his teeth together. He fired a lethal, scorching glare at me that dripped with pure venom, his voice dropping into a rough, razor-sharp hiss.
"You’re the fucking idiot!"
He aggressively stormed past our bodies, his wide, rapid strides moving like a literal hurricane toward his bedroom. He slammed the heavy wooden door behind his frame with a violent, earth-shattering force that made the concrete walls of the entire house rattle.
Stella knitted her brows together in deep, suspicious confusion, turning toward me with a low, calculating whisper. "I am seriously wondering... what the hell caused that massive, savage wave of rage to twist his face the exact second he saw you in that dress? That is incredibly weird."
I gave a careless, unbothered shrug of my shoulders to completely throw her off the scent. "I don’t have a single clue what goes on inside his broken, psychotic brain. Just ignore his ass he’s always a miserable prick."
Stella twisted her lips in a blatant show of disbelief, completely unconvinced by my words. She delivered another dark murmur. "He has a massive goddamn reason to be that furious, Julie. Trust me."
Only a few heavy, agonizing minutes ticked by before his bedroom door was violently thrown open again. Jake strode out, dressed in an impeccably sharp, tailored formal black suit. Moving with massive, rigid, and hostile strides, he marched directly toward the front door and exited the house without uttering a single syllable or casting a single glance back at our faces.
Stella glanced at her wristwatch in a sudden rush, turning to me with a quick smile as she frantically grabbed her bag. "Alright, sweetie, I have to run... It’s strictly thirty minutes until seven, and Mike is going to pull his car up any second to pick your ass up. Have an amazing time and don’t forget to enjoy yourself!"
She bolted out the door, the latch clicking shut behind her frame, leaving me entirely alone and scattered in the dead silence of the house. I drew a deep breath, sinking onto the fabric of the sofa as my eyes locked onto the ticking hands of the clock, my anxiety rising with every second as I waited for Mike to arrive.
After about ten minutes of agonizing waiting, a loud, aggressive, and continuous car horn violently shattered the silence from the driveway. My brows knitted together in sudden confusion and suspicion it wasn’t even seven o’clock yet, and whoever it was was incredibly early.
Pushing myself up from the cushions, I walked steadily toward the front door and threw it open.
A sudden, chilling shock paralyzed my veins. Resting right in front of the porch was a massive, pitch-black SUV with heavily tinted, completely blacked-out windows that gave off a terrifying, faceless energy. The rear door was swung wide open, hanging motionless like the gaping jaws of a monster waiting to swallow its prey whole.
I took slow, highly guarded steps toward the vehicle, my anxiety skyrocketing as I prepared to question the driver and verify if Mike had sent them. Then, out of nowhere, without a single microsecond of warning, a massive, terrifying shadow violently erupted from behind my back with the blinding speed of a hunting hawk.
Before I could even attempt to spin around, a dominant, iron arm wrapped around my waist like a set of heavy shackles, violently lifting my slender body off the ground and completely paralyzing my movement as it dragged me backward with brutal, overwhelming force.
Before I could draw enough oxygen into my lungs to unleash a single scream for help, a thick, massive palm aggressively slammed over my face. A white cloth, dripping wet and freezing cold, was violently crushed against my nose and mouth, cutting off my airway entirely.
Forced to breathe, I involuntarily inhaled a sharp, pungent, and chemically toxic stench that flooded my senses with pure terror and disgust. I began to fight like an absolute lunatic, kicking my legs and desperately digging my fingers into the kidnapper’s solid chest to break his hold but within a split second, my limbs turned entirely to lead, my strength evaporating like water as my muscles went completely limp. The entire world violently spun, and a heavy, pitch-black darkness completely swallowed my vision.