Zoe's POV
The moment the loan shark lifted his hand, everything inside me shattered.
The men started toward me.
Slow and deliberate.
Like they weren't walking toward a living person.
Like they were excited about taking a life finally.
My pulse thundered in my ears.
No.
No.
No.
I pulled violently against the ropes binding my wrists behind the chair.
The rough fibers burned my skin. It was completely useless.
Nothing moved.
Panic clawed up my throat. This couldn't be happening. Was this how I was going to die. Not like this.
Not after everything.
I wasn't supposed to die in a dirty warehouse.
I wasn't supposed to die at all.
The first man was only a few steps away when a sharp metallic clang suddenly echoed through the warehouse.
The sound rang out violently, bouncing off the steel beams and concrete walls.
Everyone froze.
Including me.
The noise seemed unnaturally loud in the suffocating silence.
