Page 58 of Savage Little Secret

“Disgusting,” the man mutters as he walks near me, the vibration of his footsteps echoing through the floor under my feet.

I’ve been without my sight for so long that I’ve had to learn the shape of this hell by sound and smell.

Around five men, including the leader, have come down to periodically feed me and water me, lead me to the bathroom, and take turns torturing me. I’m sure there are more upstairs who have also come down, but there are only a handful of voices that I recognize so far.

“If you don’t start talking soon, we’ll start withholding your food,” the man warns me.

“You barely feed me as it is,” I mutter, my voice cracking and weak. Bread and water aren’t a nutritional diet.

The man steps close enough for me to feel the heat of his larger body. “I don’t think you want to be smart with me. We can get creative.”

If I had more strength, I would laugh because what in the world is he talking about? I feel about as alive as roadkill.

“Kill me or let me go,” I tell him, keeping my head down. “I’m not telling you anything about anyone. I don’t even know anything to begin with.”

“You were in the middle of Dmitri’s operations, and you grew up in the Irish mob. I find that very hard to believe,” the man hisses at me. “You’ve at least overheard things.”

I merely clench my jaw, refusing to say a word. I do know some things, but there’s a lot that they have asked me that I truly don’t have a clue about. How am I supposed to know what Luca has been up to? Or what secrets Andrei is hiding?

I barely even know either of them!

The man grabs the back of my neck, forcing my head to tilt back. If I didn’t have the blindfold on, I’d be staring up into his eyes. I bet he looks pissed off. “If you would just work with us, we could make some adjustments. Maybe you could be chained to a bed instead of tied to a chair. Maybe you could have a bigger meal.”

“All you want me to do is sell out other people,” I say with a faint sneer. “You took my sight. My comfort. You don’t get my dignity too.”

The man releases my neck roughly, making my head jerk back forward. “You need a shower.”

As if I don’t know that. I feel disgusting. My clothes are so dirty and stained with blood that they’re stiff, and my skin feels sticky.

The only way for things to get worse is if I got my period and started bleeding on myself too.

My frustration quickly fades as my blood chills, my heart thudding to a sudden stop.

My period.

If I’ve been here for weeks, like I think I have, then shouldn’t I have gotten my period?

My heart restarts and slams against my ribcage as I try to count and calculate how late I might be. It’s definitely later than a week. On top of everything else, I can’t possibly be pregnant too!

Maybe I’m just late from the stress of the situation or because they’re starving me half the time and beating me the other half. Or because I missed all those birth control pills when Dmitri locked me up.

Who knows? All I know is that my period hasn’t come this month.

The door at the top of the stairs opens and slams shut, followed by the sound of rapid footsteps heading down the staircase.

The man near me sighs heavily.

I strain my ears to hear the voice of whoever walked in, but not a word comes out of them before someone strikes me against the side of the head with an open palm. My ears ring as my skin stings, a pained grunt leaving me.

The man steps away from me, but I can still sense whoever came down in front of me.

My body automatically tenses, preparing me for whatever comes next. Given how our interaction kicked off, I doubt it’s anything good.

I hear a sharp exhale before a flurry of blows land all over my body. A fist to the cheek. A strike to the side of the neck. A kick to the shin. Pain detonates across my body making me grit my teeth and try to endure all that I can.

One more blow lands, and it knocks the air out of my lungs. A kick to my stomach.

“Wait! Stop!” I blurt out, wishing that I could move my arms to protect myself. All that I can do is hunch down as much as possible to prevent more hits to my stomach.