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“Get up.” When she didn't move, he gestured to the guy next to him. “Go get her, Art.”
Art narrowed his eyes at her. “She’s naked.”
“I can see that.”
Her hands clenched, and she swore she would scratch his eyes out if he so much as touched her.
“You want me to touch his woman?”
It took her a sec to understand what he meant. Then it took her another one to realize that they didn’t eye her as a piece of meat, unlike the men from the other night. Then again, Pedro had given her twenty-four hours. Apparently, she still had some time left.
“She’s not his woman.”
Damn right, she wasn’t. “I’m not Pedro's anything. Except for his sister-in-law, unfortunately. And that won’t be for long.” She would change her name the first chance she got.
Art took off his jacket and draped it over her. She gratefully accepted it and pulled it over her as much as she could, gritting her teeth. Pedro had gotten in some quite good kicks, and her left side had already turned purple.
The other guy, with eyes that seemed to take in everything, smirked.
“Don’t thank him just yet.”
Before she could ask what he meant by that, Art pulled out a needle and jammed it in her thigh. Everything went blurry, and she slumped to her side.
***
This time when she woke up, she was lying on a mattress. A single fluorescent light hung from the ceiling, flickering soft yellow light across the space. The unfamiliar room she was stuffed in was bigger than the last, but all the same, a cage. Judging by the ceiling and tiny window, she suspected they had put her in another basement. She wasn’t sure why Pedro had relocated her but seeing the mattress, she had a pretty good idea.
The sick fuck.
Nauseated, she jumped up, clutching the jacket she still had on close to her body. It took hours before the door opened, which was a blessing and a terror at the same time.
The snarky guy came in, carrying a tray of food. He all but shoved it into her hands.
She looked dumbfounded at the toast and glass of water.
“Water and bread? Really?” She wasn’t sure why she was surprised, but something about the situation just seemed off.
The guy cocked a brow. “What? You think you deserve better?”
She didn’t understand the hint of accusation in his voice, nor did she care. She’d had enough to deal with without wondering about his animosity toward her.
“I think I deserve to be free.” She put the tray on the floor and was ready to plead with him, or offer him a bribe.
He gave her a push, and she stumbled back onto the mattress. When she looked up, it was into a pair of angry eyes.
“Free? You think you deserve to be free after what you did to him? He should put a bullet through your head and be done with it.”
With those ominous words and a look filled with disgust, he left.
A coldness gripped her heart, petrifying her limbs. They felt she had betrayed the Family. She knew what that meant. She was never leaving this place. No matter what, Pedro would make her bleed, if only to prove himself worthy of the Morelli crown. It was the way of their world, a world she had lived in for so many years and couldn’t seem to be able to leave.
Her next visitor wouldn’t be bringing water and bread, to show that she was his prisoner at his mercy. The next time Pedro came to see her, he would finish the job he’d started in her bedroom. Well, she wasn’t going down without a fight. Pedro seemed to forget the number one rule of survival: a cornered cat had nothing to lose.
She smashed the water glass against the wall. Shards scattered over the floor. Picking the biggest one, she turned it into a weapon.
Let him come.
Except hours passed, and no one came. The light in the windows showed the change of night and day twice, and still no one came. Meanwhile, the cold crept into her bones, coating her skin with a layer of ice. She started pacing to keep warm, doing jumping-jacks now and then. With her makeshift weapon, she waited vigilantly for anyone to ambush her.
