Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 48018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Suddenly, I can hear them coming toward my room. I startle up, alert and ready to fight. My initial reaction after stabbing Bobby, the one that made me give up and submit to death, that is gone. My body is back in the mode of defending itself, and I intend to leave a few more marks on these men before I go.
“Just a flesh wound, boy.”
“She’s vicious.” Bobby doesn’t sound angry. He almost sounds excited. “She tried to kill me. If I’d been a fraction slower…”
“Yes, you’d be all over the rug,” Angelo purrs back. “And what a pity that would be.”
The door opens and two figures are silhouetted in the passage.
Bobby has a bandage on his neck. It looks expertly done. The Vitali first aid kit must be well-stocked. There are stitches beneath that bandage, I would bet. At least three, maybe four. I feel some small amount of satisfaction seeing that, but beneath the twin stares of Angelo and Bobby, that satisfaction dwindles and becomes diminutive in the face of fear.
I am standing by the bed because there is nowhere else to be in this room. I am facing the door because I know it is better to face danger than it is to let it come up behind you.
Angelo has a hand on Bobby’s upper back. He uses that hand to guide Bobby into the room. There is a tenderness to his touch, though I am well aware that Angelo technically took care of me before Bobby. He left his boy bleeding by the wall and settled me away first. Arguably that was because he wanted me under control, but he could have knocked me out. He didn’t.
He is a cruel master, and he expects strength of his acolytes. I know that pain is coming. I also know that it will be twisted, and that when it is over, I will bear fresh scars.
I feel a sudden, helpless desire to beg for mercy, but there is no mercy in either one of their gazes. There is predatory anticipation instead. I didn’t kill Bobby. I didn’t even hurt him. I gave him justification to make my life a living hell from this day forth.
I say nothing. Angelo speaks first.
“You owe Robert an apology. But first I intend to make sure that you are properly sorry. Then you will make your apologies.”
I don’t think saying sorry is what Angelo has in mind. I think these two twisted men are about to take me to pieces.
“Just kill me,” I say.
Angelo’s chuckle is deep and potent and full of charismatic evil. “You will not escape your punishment so easily. Remove your clothes.”
I shake my head. I will not be complicit in anything they do to me. They will never be able to say I participated in any of my downfall when they come to trial. One day I will see Angelo Vitali in a witness box and then behind bars. One day, I will have the power he now wields. I will watch him be broken by the system I serve.
But for now, Angelo steps into the room, turns the light on, and closes the door. The room becomes Angelo and nobody and nothing else. There are still walls and a little furniture, but I can’t perceive anything other than his strong, mature Sicilian features and the dark eyes that capture mine and will not release them.
He reaches for the clothing he purchased for me and begins to separate buttons from buttonholes. Every little motion feels like the end of the world. He removes my shirt, and then his large hands descend to my pants. I feel his fingers and knuckles brushing over my pubic mound through the fabric of the pants. It is a brief intimacy, and then it is gone, along with my pants. His thumbs hook in the sides of my underwear and I am naked from the waist down. My bra follows, and then I am entirely nude before both very large, very clothed men.
“I want you to understand something,” he says, cupping my chin in his hand. “I am very proud of you for what you did today. Attempted murder is very much in the vein of the House of Vitali. But, of course, you must be punished for it. You are new, and you are relatively young, and you are used to a world where rules apply. Here, only my rule applies. You are going to suffer. But you can make it easier with your obedience. I would ask you if you understood, but I know you do. You are an intelligent young woman, and you are in an impossible position. I intend to keep you there. Now. Lay down on your stomach on the bed.”
The way he speaks enchants me and calms me and makes it easier to do as he says. I find myself laying down on the bed, my naked body vulnerable.