“I’ve heard that before.”
“I mean it this time.”
I look at her, really look at her, and the tears that drip over the rims of her eyes, roll off her lashes, and drip onto her cheeks are heavy blows to my gut. They hurt me more than any blade ever could…because she loves me…and I let her down. I’m the only person she’s ever accepted into her life and I’ve ruined it in such a short amount of time. I wish I’d never bumped into her on the train.
“Well, you’ve convinced me,” Skull says with a boisterous laugh. “What about you, Jai? You know her better than anyone else. Is she telling the truth?”
I wince as he twists the blade a little more. “Yes.”
I hate that I believe it’s the truth and I hate that the look on her face is one of defeat.
Skull pulls the knife out of my flesh and saunters his way over to Emily, who remains dead still, her arms now hanging lifelessly at her sides. He swipes his blade against her cheek, smearing my blood into her skin to collect her tears. Smiling, he flicks his tongue along the blade, and smacks his lips together.
“Your tears taste genuine.” He taps the knife against his lip. “Take off your shirt.”
Across the aisle, Joel spits and curses, dropping himself onto his cot and turning his back.
Without argument, Emily reaches for the buttons of the white shirt and pops them one by one, exposing her beautiful bare breasts. I notice immediately that whatever black garment she was wearing prior to the shirt has been ripped and tugged down to sit underneath her generous swells of flesh. I look at them.
Outright stare.
I’ve missed everything about them.
Their shape…their shade…their feel.
I hate that Skull’s hands linger so close to them, while my own remain chained to the ceiling.
“Aren’t those a sight to behold?” Skull sighs, leaning back to get a better look. “What do you think? Good enough to eat, or what?”
He glances over his shoulder at me with a look so smug and self-righteous it makes my blood boil. I can hear it in my ears as pressure builds in my head. I’ll kill him.
A light rose blush blooms in Emily’s cheeks and she averts her gaze to the floor.
“You don’t deserve to look at her,” I say, my voice surprisingly calm.
Shooting me a wry grin, Skull circles Emily, stopping only when he’s directly behind her.
“You’re probably right,” he says, his inked arms circling her body. “But I just can’t resist.”
With his free hand, he smooths his palm up her clothed stomach—a stomach I’ve kissed with nothing but loving lips—and cups her breast. The look of his tainted skin on hers—the cobwebs, the bones, the insects, and words—it’s sickening. Against him, she looks untouched, a perfect picture of unscathed innocence, despite her rough upbringing.
What’s more sickening is the niggling little thought in the back of my head and the swell of my stomach…I want to fuck her.
Out of love.
Out of hate.
Out of happiness and anger.
Mostly, I just want to wrap her in my arms and never let go.
Without another word, without a tease or a taunt, he presses the tip of the bloody blade against the underside of her breast.
“Do you take me for a liar, Stone?”
My jaw ticks, but I can’t bring myself to utter a single word. In retaliation, he applies more pressure and her breath hitches, making me flinch.
“No.”
“No?” He tilts his head, holding Emily tight against him. “I’m not convinced.”
I pull on my chains. They slide together, they groan and creak, but otherwise remain strong. I’m in love with Emily, but I’m also a proud, stubborn fool. “If you’re expecting me to cry and beg you to leave her alone, I wouldn’t hold your breath.”
Skull continues to grin at me. This is a game to him. All of it. If it wasn’t, we’d be dead already. I stopped thinking this was about revenge as the second week here flew by. He wants something else from us. Entertainment? Maybe. Now that his tunnels are flushed and the money is gone, he’s got nothing better to do than to torture those responsible.
“Because of you, two of my men are dead.”
“You killed them yourself,” I shoot back.
“He who casts the first stone sets off the ripple effect.”
That’s not the correct saying, but it’s not important. He can’t pin these deaths on my conscience, I won’t let him. He knows it too. It’s the look in his eyes that gives it away. He’s daring me not to take the blame so he has a reason to hurt Emily. If admitting to killing his two men is what it takes for him to put the damn knife away, then fine, I can pretend.
Skull shifts and Emily whimpers, a single bead of blood rolling an inch down her torso before it’s absorbed by the black fabric of her dress.
“All right,” I snap. “All right. They’re dead because of me, just don’t…” God. I hate this. “…just don’t hurt her.”
Releasing her, he pushes her aside with a gentle shove and she stumbles in a rush to pinch the shirt together to cover her breasts. With broad, predatory steps, Skull closes the distance between us once again.
“Tell me you’re not going to fuck around anymore, Stone. Tell me you’re going to sit quietly in this damn cell until I say otherwise.”
I rub my teeth together, hating the way the grooves grind and slip.
“Fine,” I say and it’s a damn lie. “I won’t bother you…or her.”
He snaps forward and kisses me then, catching me completely off guard. I purse my lips with a disgusted groan and try to pull back, but he plants a hand on the back of my head, forcing me forward while slipping his tongue into my mouth. It lasts a brief moment, his taste, before I’m able to wrench my head away, screwing up my face. He smirks at me, his lips wet with our saliva, and I spit on the floor.
“Savor it,” he utters in a quiet tone. “Because that’s the last time you’ll taste her pussy on your tongue.”
My heart stills, the blood in my veins freezing in time. Amusement flashes in his eyes and my eyelid twitches. Is that…is that what he was doing when I interrupted? Out of the corner of my eye, Emily’s silhouette changes, her body slumping, her hair falling into her face. I want to be mad at her. I want to hate her for being here, for making me fall madly in love with her, and for following me off that damn train. From the moment I met her, from the moment I threw her over my shoulder and marched her perky little ass into the underground, I’ve claimed her as mine.
She is mine—all of her—and Skull thinks he can just touch her? Without consequence?
“I’m going to kill you,” I murmur, quiet enough not to let Emily hear me. “It’s going to be slow and painful.”
Skull simpers, his almond eyes curving with delight. “How, Stone? I’ve got you right where I want you.”
“For now.” I lean closer to him. “But not forever.”
Pursing his lips, he flicks his tongue over his teeth with a gentle click. If his head were transparent, I’m certain I’d see cogwheels turning as he contemplates his next retort. Surprisingly, he doesn’t say a word. I pull back, straightening my spine as he turns on his heels, takes Emily by the elbow and tugs her away. A strangled groan leaves her body as they step over the dead guard on the outside of the cell.
“I’ll send someone down to clean the mess,” he calls over his shoulder, grabbing the handle to the exit. “Until then, hang tight.”
Skull snickers and pushes Emily through the door first before following behind her. The door closes with a heavy clank and silence washes over the room.
Exhaling, I hang my head.
“I told you not to provoke him,” Joel grumbles, his cot creaking, but I ignore him.
I have to find a way to get out of here. I know I’ve carefully probed through every thought, and exhausted every option, but I need to think harder.
I need to try harder.
I want this p
lace to be nothing but rubble by the end of the week.
Nothing but a mess of guts and glass.
THREE
Emily
Slim To None
Skull left Jai hanging from the ceiling, his cell unlocked. I’ll be the first to admit that I was filled with hope that day. I was certain Jai would find a way out of his chains and save me…
…he didn’t.
Two days have passed and the dead guards have been cleaned out of his cell and new ones appointed. It’d be a lie if I said disappointment wasn’t sitting heavy in my chest. Guilt is there too. It’s wrong of me to put so much responsibility on his shoulders. It’s wrong to depend on him to save my life. After all, he’s locked away and I’m not. Maybe it’s me who should be looking for ways to save him?
“You don’t sleep much, Kitty-Cat.”
Skull’s whisper forces me to grit my teeth. I keep my eyes closed, not wanting to make eye contact with him, and I remain perfectly still, feigning sleep.
It’s early morning, so early the sun has barely risen above the horizon. No crickets or frogs make a sound, and no birds sing either. The old me wouldn’t read into it, but the new me reads into everything and the blanket of total silence doesn’t sit well in my stomach.
Skull rests his hand on my bare hip, but his body is not the body I rest against. Monique lies between us and I doubt she’s asleep either. When the door opened hours ago and Skull stumbled inside, I felt her tense against my back.
I swallow hard as Skull tosses the blankets off him and I’m jostled back and forth as Skull slips from the bed, making the mattress move. My muscles clench in fear as he circles the bed to join me on my side and I see his shadow out of the corner of my eye. Monique touches the small of my back and strokes me with her thumb, a comforting gesture I try to find ease in, but fail.
A cold chill clings to my body as he pulls the blankets up to slip in beside me and rests his head on the same pillow I do. He slides right up against me, hooking his long, muscular legs around mine. Although he was out of bed for only a split second, his skin feels like ice.
I part my lips to let out a slow, subtle exhale in an attempt to keep my nausea at bay and calm my racing heart.
“I allow you my large bed for comfort, thick blankets for warmth, and people to cuddle,” he whispers. “Still you find it so difficult to sleep?”
I scowl. Of course, I find it difficult to sleep. I’m a prisoner in a place where monsters no longer lie under the frame of the bed, but nestle under the sheets with me instead…
…and this monster is no figment of my imagination. He’s real. He beats me, abuses me, and touches me against my will, but he doesn’t disappear in the morning when the sun peeks over the horizon. All of this considered, still the monster asks me why I find it so difficult to sleep. Would a rabbit be comfortable sleeping with a snake in her burrow?
“I’d sooner find it easier to sleep on a cold concrete floor,” I respond, unable to help myself.
He brushes hair out of my face and I can feel it in his touch. He’s forcing me to remember the promise I made when he dug that knife into Jai’s ribs. No more trouble. I fight a shudder.
“Laura says you’ve finally tried on your dress for the celebration?”
I nod.
“The gold one with the silver bodice?”
I nod again.
“I like that one.”
I close my eyes. That one? He speaks as if I had a choice in what I’d wear. Laura made it clear that Skull wanted us all to match each other. I was given the option of gold or, well, gold.
Without complaint, I let her pinch me and pull me. I let her measure my bust and my waist and trim my hair. I even let her try on varying shades of shimmering eyeshadows. I felt like a pet, a tortured cat in the hands of a toddler. Once it was decided how I’d look, it was Monique’s turn and, judging by her facial expressions, she felt like I did.
I don’t move as Skull strokes my hair. It’s a soothing gesture that creates nothing but turbulence in my stomach. After a long while, I think I trick him into believing I’m asleep…until he kisses me with his firm lips. Grunting, I shove him away and he chuckles, deep and rough in his chest.
“Always so feisty.” I hear him flick his tongue over his lips. “I can have you anytime I want. You know that, don’t you?”
I swallow hard.
“The only reason I haven’t is because I’m still deciding on the perfect way to ruin you in front of Jai.”
“You’re sick,” I mutter, my heart tumbling into the tempestuous pit of my stomach.
I can’t imagine being defiled in front of Jai—in front of anyone who loves me. I’d hate for him to relive it every time he closes his eyes…me…and Skull. This time I gladly let the shudder roll through my body.
“Get some sleep. I want you looking your best for the celebration. You, Monique, and your petty little boyfriends are, after all, the main attraction.”
To my surprise, Skull leaves the bed. He fiddles around in the dark for a long time before finally leaving the room, allowing me to release a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I wait in the silence until I hear the door’s lock slip into place then roll over to face Monique.
“We have to get out of here,” she whispers before I get the chance.
I nod against the pillow. “You’ve spent a lot of time here. Is there anything you know about this place that can help me figure it out?”
I’ve been searching my brain for something—anything—to get us out of here. Since the arrival of Jai and Joel, Skull has only increased security around the mansion and they all carry rifles. I can’t even cough without someone flinching and reaching for their gun.
“The only thing I found while I stayed here was a wine cellar in the courtyard with a secret passage to the pool house, but it’s under surveillance.”
“How do you know that?”
“It’s how Joel and I got caught. I used the passage regularly to meet with him to…you know.”
Oh. I grimace at the thought. I don’t even want to think about Monique’s age when her affair with Joel started. I’m no lawyer, but I don’t have to be to know it’s borderline statutory rape, despite her eager participation. He did, however, provide comfort when she needed it the most. While some might read into that as grooming or manipulation during such a scary and confusing period of her life, I can sympathize.
“So, the wine cellar passage, that’s all you found?”
She nods. “That’s all.”
Damn. There has to be something, some kind of weakness, in these walls. The windows are bulletproof, the doors guarded by killers. The one time I did manage to break out, I almost fell to my death. Not to mention I was also shot as a result—a graze of my thigh. Skull has since sealed the window and I’ve yet to discover anything else.
“I’ll figure it out,” I whisper, shifting my head on the pillow. “We just need to keep our heads down until I do.”
You can’t break out of a fortress.
You’re going to die here.
You all are.
I swallow hard and try to think about something less depressing.
“Do you think your friend Huss is going to help us?”
Hearing his name sends a pang of anger through my chest. Huss wouldn’t help us. Huss helps himself. Besides, how long have we been here now? If someone was going to help, we’d be free already.
“Huss is the reason we’re here in the first place,” I snap, flicking an angry tongue over my bottom lip. “Even if he does manage a miraculous rescue for us, I’ll never forgive him for what I’ve gone through or for what I’ve had to do to survive.”
“And Ted?”
I tug on the heavy feather blanket and pull it up to my chin. The sound of Ted’s name doesn’t bring me anger. It brings me…I don’t know. Guilt, maybe.
“You were there,” I say, sadly. “What do you think?”
The day of Jai’s rescue, when we were hanging by our wrists across fr
om each other, he told me about Ted and what happened.
“He died a few times…” Monique whispers, the small tips of her fingers finding my forearm. “But Hannah was so skilled. She kept bringing him back.” She draws small, comforting circles against my sin. “Once she stabilized him, she told us never to speak to him again and sent us on our way.”
I clear my throat. “So, the chances of Ted coming for us are…”
“…slim to none.”
Just like Jai said.
Silence falls between us, the darkness in the room lightening just enough for me to make out the basic shapes of the furniture. Finally, my mind allows my eyelids to grow heavier. What will I dream about tonight?
“It wasn’t supposed to be only the three of us when we tried to rescue you, you know,” Monique mutters, pulling me back from the edge of sleep. “I don’t know why the Twisted Sons betrayed Jai like that…he did everything they wanted. He fought for his life. He was patient. He allowed them to put that hideous tattoo on his back. He even…” She sucks in a subtle gulp of air. “He even killed a man.”
I open my eyes. My heartbeat kicks up in tempo, flooding my veins with adrenaline, with disbelief. “Jai killed a man?”
He didn’t mention that part when he was filling me in.
“He wasn’t a good man, not by a long shot, but Jai did it and then they turned around and stabbed him in the back.”
I’m not surprised the Twisted Sons went back on whatever they promised Jai. They lost a lot of men the first time around and God knows how Skull is making their businesses suffer as revenge. They probably blame Jai and Joel for everything.
I want to be mad. I want to hate Jai for all that he’s done to himself, and to others. I want to hate him for his infatuation with this stupid mission to find his brother—a brother who chose to fuck his life up…
…but I can’t.
Jai Stone is the type of man who loves his family above all else. He made that clear the moment he told me why he was underground in the first place. He’s a man of his word and loyal to a fault. He’s always throwing himself directly into the path of danger just to save someone else.