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I’m trying to argue that we haven’t even done anything but Mack’s hot breath rasps against my neck, distracting me. I have never wanted to crawl out of my own skin so badly. I can’t even breathe, my heart is hammering too fast in my throat.
I don’t know how far they’re willing to take this, or how true their claims of selling me off like an old car are, but I don’t intend to help them out.
"Claire Monroe." Wes interjects. "This sexy little bitch is 20 years old, a senior in college, and has been spending her summer riding none other than Remington Boudreaux." He laughs. "Bidding starts at three hundred sixty firm and closes at three a.m. Greenwich Mean Time. You don't wanna miss this."
Mack chuckles, his tongue darting out to lick the swell of my cleavage, one hand wrapped around my throat while the other kneads against my other breast. Wes makes no attempt to stop him until his hand drifts over my stomach, running through the blood welling from the cuts Slick made and dipping into the waistband of my thong. “No!” I gasp, crying freely as I try to evade his touch.
“That’s enough.” Wes commands, slipping the phone in his pocket. Mack pauses, but doesn’t let go of me, his hand cupping me like he’s considering ignoring Wes altogether. When Wes sees my face, he laughs. "You can dry your eyes now. You should just be grateful you're worth more alive than dead... for now anyway."
Mack moves his hand away from my neck, brushing his fingers down my chest. "And you should be glad that I have a family to feed, or else I wouldn't hold back on showing you just what you’re in for." He pulls his hand out from my underwear, grabbing me by the neck and flinging me to the ground, where I stay with my face pressed against the dirty floor until Slick tugs me into a sitting position. He drops his weight on the balls of his feet so that his face is level with mine.
"I wanna say it isn't personal and it's just business." He says, grabbing the rope off the table. "But now that he knows Boudreaux's been with you, it is personal."
He pushes my wrists behind me and winds the rope around them, knotting it tightly before repeating it over again. He does the same at my ankles and then connects them behind my back so that I can't move... not even a little. I told them I wasn't cattle, but I’m not sure anybody even treats cattle this cruelly. He pushes me backward and guides me to the ground where he rests me on my side. Now at least, my face isn’t on the ground, so I won’t drown in my own tears or suffocate in the dirt they left me in.
"You should try and get some beauty sleep.” He suggests, as if he didn’t stab me five minutes ago. “It’ll be a few hours before we know where we're sending you."
I’m fairly certain I'll never sleep again, but as he walks out of sight and flicks the light off, the darkness he casts me into is indistinguishable from sleep.
And my nightmares? Those are indistinguishable from what has become my life.
Chapter twenty-nine
Remy
Jovich underestimates me. He foolishly assumes that I’m no good at getting my hands dirty, simply because I let him handle otherwise unsavory business that he takes pleasure in. It’s a win/win situation and delegating allows me to prioritize, so that I can focus my energy on the true goal. Unfortunately for him, I’m not as meek as he seems to think I am. I handled my own problems before he was sent to keep an eye on me, and I can handle him, too.
"What do you mean, she's settling my father's debt? His debt was paid in his death."
Jovich laughs. "You know as well as I do that the type of debt your father racked up can't be paid in his own blood. He made them an offer and they accepted. Your father being dead doesn't change anything."
"He made an impossible deal!" I yell. "He bargained with a life that wasn't his."
"That's how you see it." He shrugs, far too casual about the circumstances. Jovich has been involved in my father’s debauchery for far longer than I have, and he’s either desensitized to it, or he enjoys it. "But you know your father always considered women to be his property… his to do whatever he wants to. Your mother, your sister, your housekeepers…"
I curl my fingers around the collar of his shirt and draw him closer. "Tell me where she is!"
"That can never happen.” Jovich shakes his head. “And you know that."
"No." I shake my head, my jaw tense as I clench it. When I let go of him and turn, Jovich follows.
"Come on, Remington. It's not natural for you to be in such a twist over one little bitch."
He says it like she’s just another victim of the billion-dollar industry I’ve been forced into. He says it like she’s just some random girl who has been pulled off the street, as if that makes it any easier to look the other way.
But Claire is so much more than that, and not just to Rhea. "Where is she?” I growl. “Who did you hand her over to?"
"Remy," He tsks. "Let's go inside, have a drink. Get her out of your head." He claps a hand on my shoulder and squeezes like he thinks he’s going to offer me some kind of comfort. I lift my eyes to his. They’re flat, unaffected.
I knew he was sick... I knew something in him wasn't quite normal. He enjoys causing the pain and destruction that his job demands of him, but usually it’s directed toward men who are so despicable they’re barely even human. It’s easy to overlook his depravity when it’s aimed at men whose wickedness knows no bounds. "Come on," he nods to the front door, "we’ll tell Rhea I drove her friend to the airport. She won't even know that I've told you."
Something in me snaps.
I grab his arm and twist it behind his back so fast, so violently, that I feel it pop out of place. He growls and hisses, gnashing his tobacco-stained teeth like a wild animal. "Tell me where you took her, and I won't tell Rhea what you've done."
"Davos' men have her.” He hisses. “In a matter of hours, she’ll be gone, and I guarantee you'll never see her alive again."
My brain doesn’t even register that he gave me a timeline. I’m reeling, trying to deny the truth he just told me. He’s lied to me a few times today, but I know that this isn’t one of them. There’s no merit in a lie like this.
