Fuck.
This is bad.
Think, Summer, think.I’m trying, but the drugs are not helping.I pull at the rope, and it doesn't give, but I soon give up again. I'm shaking, from the cold and the drugs still in my system.
This can’t be it.
This is not how it all ends.
I must pass out for a bit as a voice in the corridor wakes me. They are talking low.
"... ten million, confirmed. Wire transfer went through."
"Rayne's a piece of work, selling his own kid twice." Another voice chuckles.
I knew it.
“Castellano's been wanting leverage against Saint for years."
“Guess now he’s got it.” Both men burst out laughing.
Then I fall back into darkness, and this time I hope I don’t wake up.
When I come too again,there is someone standing in front of me, he's tall, silver-haired, in a sharp suit. He lifts my chin with one finger, and nothing but cold, dead eyes look at me.
"Summer Rayne." His voice is smooth. "The woman Kairo Saint lost his mind over. I can see why.”
"Who are you?" My voice is barely a whisper.
"Victor Castellano. And you just became the most expensive woman in this city." He stands, removes his jacket, and folds it over the chair. He then rolls up his sleeves with slow, careful precision. "Your husband took twenty million from me. Your brother sold you for ten. That means you owe me ten million in pain."
Then he hits me with an open palm. My head snaps sideways, and I taste blood.
"That's for the port deal."
He hits me again, harder this time, and my lip splits.
"That's for the shipment in March."
My head lolls to the side, and pain shoots through my body. This Victor guy seems angry, and it looks to me like I’m his punching bag. Then I notice he pulls a knife from his belt. It’s small and thin. He sadistically walks over with a smile on his face and presses the tip against my collarbone.
"Where does Saint keep his product?"
Product? What is he talking about? "I don't know," I mumble.
The blade slides across my skin, shallow, precise. I scream as blood runs down my chest and soaks into the white dress.
"How many men on the mainland?"
"I don't know anything! He didn't tell me. I was his wife for a week, and before that, he was a stranger."
He considers this. "That is true, but I had to check for myself.” He chuckles darkly as he traces the blade down my arm. "You're not here for information, sweetheart. You're here because the second Kairo finds out I have you, he'll come for you. And when he does, I'll be ready."
He cuts me again, my arm, ribs, my thigh through the slit of the dress. Shallow, deliberate, not trying to kill me, but writing a message on my body for Kairo to read. When he's done, he wipes the blade clean and puts his jacket back on. He looks up at me, bleeding and shaking.
"I have to get back to my guests." He straightens his collar, his eyes drop to my body, and the look in them makes every cut stop stinging and the real fear begin. "But I'll be back, and when I do, sweetheart, we're going to get much better acquainted."
He laughs as he walks out of the room and locks the door behind him.
