Page 45 of Savage Little Secret

The men shove me down, forcing me to sit in a wooden chair. Multiple people untie and retie my hands behind the back of the chair. My ankles are restrained too, trapping me to the most uncomfortable chair that I’ve ever sat in.

“What’s going on? Can’t you say anything?” I question them, my frustration breaking through my fear for a moment. “Tell me who you are! What do you want from me?”

Footsteps retreat, then a door closes and a lock clicks.

The remaining silence swallows me whole.

I curse under my breath, my head hanging in defeat. All I wanted to do was get out of the city and try to make a new life for myself. Instead, I got kidnapped.

I swear I’m cursed.

A few minutes pass before I finally hear something else. Someone walking down the steps to the basement. Whoever it is stops a few feet in front of me, staying silent besides their slow, calm breathing.

“Are you finally going to speak, you giant piece of shit?” I question the person.

“You’re a mouthy one, aren’t you?” a man finally responds. “Did Dmitri like that?”

My blood chills as his deep voice fills my ears. He doesn’t sound familiar at all, and he doesn’t sound like any of the Russians I’ve met. Or Irish. “Who are you?”

“Not yet,” he replies.

I scoff, fighting to stay as calm as possible despite wanting to panic. “You won’t let me see you. Now, you won’t even tell me your name either?”

“Names make people feel safe,” he says. “You’re not safe.”

I tense up when I hear his footsteps coming closer and hold my breath. I don’t know anything about who these people are or their motivation. That makes them even more dangerous.

I can’t see him, but a light draft of air hits me, shifting the cloth around my head a little. Is he leaning close to me? Or am I imagining things?

“You’re bleeding,” he murmurs, too close. Like he’s enjoying it.

“Because you wrecked my car!” I snap at him. “Will you take this damn bag off my head? I can barely breathe in here!”

“No,” he replies. “Gotta put you under again. You wake up when I say you wake up.”

“Put me under? What the hell are you talking about?” I question him as I try to fight against the ropes, writhing around in the chair until I’m so exhausted that I slump back.

“Don’t even bother trying to escape,” he warns me, his voice lowering. “You’re right where you need to be.”

“And where’s that?” I ask him, dying for a smidge of information at this point. Being in the dark physically and mentally is driving me insane already.

“You’ll learn what you’re allowed to,” he replies.

If I weren’t tied up, I would punch him in the face. He could be anyone!

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” I tell him, my breath quickening again as my chest grows tight. “Just let me go, and I’ll disappear!”

“Oh no. The last thing that we want is for you to disappear.”

We. So, he’s working with someone else who possibly calls the shots.

He speaks so calmly, but I can’t help but sense something menacing about his words.

“Are you going to kill me?” I ask him, fighting past the tightness in my throat.

The man lets out a cold laugh. “No, I’m not.”

“Why not? Why wreck my car and tie me up down here?” I question him as I struggle against the ropes again.