Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Trying to inch away from him, unsuccessfully, I shook my head and battled back tears. “No. Please, I have a boyfriend.”
He laughed, gold tooth gleaming, and it wasn’t nice. “That’s fine, I don’t need a girlfriend—I got a wife. I just wanna fuck you.”
“Her boyfriend,” Joy piped up, her voice breaking. “He’s not the kind of guy you want to mess around with.”
The men all laughed while Kayla had a vaguely uneasy look on her face, like she knew something was wrong but was too wasted to figure out what. “He’s an asshole. Makes me call him Mr. Brass instead of Leo. Why does she get to call him Leo and I don’t? I’m prettier!”
Manny jerked back as if he’d been hit, his whole demeanor changing from scary to terrifying. “You’re Leo Brass’s woman?”
I opened my mouth to say yes, but nothing would come out. My vocal chords had literally frozen and I made an unpleasant choking sound. Manny narrowed his eyes, then slapped me. “What the fuck is wrong with you, bitch? Are you or are you not Leo Brass’s woman?”
I couldn’t say yes, couldn’t make myself say the word, and I had no idea why.
Desperate to avoid another slap, I nodded as hard as I could.
That wasn’t good enough, because I got another smack by his big hand, this time to my other cheek, leaving me with a throbbing face and what would probably be bruises. “I asked you a fucking question, bitch, use your fucking words or I swear to God you’re going to regret it.”
“Yes,” Joy blurted out, “she’s dating Leo Brass. Big guy, long blond hair, scary. Rides around in a Rolls. Please—don’t hurt her. They’ve only been together for a few weeks. She hasn’t done anything.”
Loud music continued to pound through the wall from our neighbor’s place and I prayed someone still managed to hear me.
“Cunt, no one asked you your opinion.” Ray fisted his hand into Joy’s curls and held her as he slapped her once, then twice, snarling when she cried out. “Shut the fuck up. I don’t wanna hear none of your bullshit.”
Moving sparingly fast, Kayla tried to put herself between me and Manny. “Leave her alone.”
I let out a sharp scream, my vocal chords finally unfreezing, as Doug grabbed Kayla by the back of the neck and slung her across the room so hard she hit the wall with an ugly thump.
“Get these bitches out of here,” Doug snarled. “Take ’em to one of the bedrooms and tie ’em up.”
Ray grabbed Joy by the hair, then Kayla, shaking them hard when they tried to fight him. “Bitch, you better shut the fuck up and behave or I’ll fuck you with my knife, cut you up good from the inside out.”
“No,” I gasped. “Please, don’t hurt them! Just do what he says.”
Doug turned to me and I held my breath at the violence, the hate in his gaze. No one had ever looked at me like this and I despaired as I realized these guys were bad, like truly bad, and I was in great danger.
My brain went into panicked-rabbit mode and it took a great deal of effort to comprehend Doug’s words as he looked me in the eye and said, “That motherfucker you let in your snatch killed my brother. Tortured him to death over slicing some stupid whores. Must’a taken Leo days to do it, and that sick fuck loved every minute of it. Bet he jacked off while he was cutting Kamron up. Been waiting a long time for a chance at revenge, and you, doll, are going to suffer.”
“I don’t—”
Doug hauled me up then he hit me in the stomach, so hard it knocked my air out in a painful blow. “Bitch, you brought this shit on yourself. You think you can fuck the Cordova cartel’s torture master and not face the consequences? You spread your legs for a fucking monster.”
The blow to my heart was greater than the agony of my body. “What? I—”
Before I could finish my statement, Doug hit me so hard my vision splintered into bright white fragments as I slammed into the wall from the power of his blow. Blood filled my mouth as I raised a shaking hand to my face, sobbing when I touched my deeply split lip.
Doug’s nostril’s flared and his eyes were opened so wide I could see the white all the way around. Screams filled the air before they became muffled and black dots danced around the edges of my vision. I have no idea how men fought all the time, because one good hit and I was down for the count.
“Shut those bitches up!” Doug roared down the hall, and I curled into myself.
Torture master, torture master—the words kept repeating over and over in my head in tandem with the racing beat of my heart.