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Natasha struggles to sit. She rubs at her eyes, then reaches for her hip where she got poked by the needle. She flops back and stares at the ceiling, then takes in her surroundings. There’s nothing except the steel walls, the mattress, and a keypad by the door.
“Bids are dropping by the minute,” Luca jokes after a while of her just lying there. “This is boring as shit.”
I might as well show the little bird that she can flee the nest. I’m hesitating because once she walks out of there, I’m going to have to deal with her. Not my usual Sunday night. I flick the app open on my phone, enter several security codes and my thumbprint, and from the living room we can all hear the heavy steel door click open. It is after all in front of us, a few paces away from the TV screen.
At the sound, Natasha rolls onto her side, looks at the door, and blinks at the faint strip of light falling over the floor.
Her dad might be a useless fucking coward, not worth the air he breathes, but this one… the jury is still out on this one.
I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.
For now.
6
TASHA
The sliver of light beckons me. I sit up again, feeling less woozy than the first time. I get on all fours and crawl to the door.
I startle and freeze when a man laughs and says, “That’s it, baby girl, crawl to daddy.”
My knees hurt on the hard floor, but I don’t move, too scared of what I’ll find on the other side of the door. For a minute I wait, but no voice comes. When I lean back on my haunches, the same voice chuckles and says, “Fuck, Matteo, did you script this? Is she acting? Sitting like a submissive? If we were on auction?—”
“Shut the fuck up, Luca,” another voice says, and a frisson of fear shoots down my spine as I recognize it. Him.
Matteo?
I glance at the upper corners of the room and in the dim light I spot the shine of a camera lens. My skin bursts out in goosebumps as I realize they can see me. Two men on the other side of the door. I hug my body and, in that moment, realize I’m still wearing my bikini—and only my bikini.
I’ve never felt more naked in my life.
I have nothing to defend myself with.
An eternity of time passes before I eventually realize they aren’t coming for me. I can stay in here forever and die or go out and face what waits on the other side. And die. This ends no other way.
I stand slowly, leaning onto the wall for support, and with some effort pull the heavy door open. I blink at the sudden light flooding over my body. My gaze flits over the space. Double volume floor-to-ceiling windows and the soft pink summer light of the sun just gone. The dark and masculine interior of the walls, the steel and glass railings, the even bigger black leather sectional where not two, but five men face me. And him in the middle, flanked by his lieutenants.
I don’t step out of the small comfort of the door jamb, clinging to it in fear as every pair of eyes inspects me. A blush bursts out on my skin as I feel the unabashed caress of several gazes lingering on my breasts, my stomach, and my crotch, where this scant slip of fabric barely covers my sex.
He pockets his phone slowly and as he stands our eyes meet. I shrink inwardly and want to fall back to the safety of the room behind me.
“Miss Armstrong. Thank you for joining us.”
“Who are you?” I ask. Nobody answers, they just stare at me. “And what have you done to my dad?”
“Your dad’s at home.”
“I don’t believe you! You killed him!”
“Believe what you want.”
“It’s Matteo, is it?” I ask, taking a step forward.
That annoyingly perfect brow cocks at me again. “Yes. Matteo. My brothers.” He gestures towards the other men who are all still sitting, and as I take them in, I curse inwardly. They are all… freaking hot as Vee would say. Vee. I should have bailed with her while I had the chance. Why didn’t I listen to my gut? These men might be hot, but an aura of danger hangs in the space.
Nobody speaks. They all just stare at me until a resigned sigh comes from one of the men as he slumps back and another one reaches for a beer and raises it to me in a mock toast.
“You killed him! God! Why?” I shudder with so many emotions, foremost the one where I want to kill this Matteo asshole in front of me with my own bare hands. “Are you going to kill me too?”
