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AMELIA
Ijolt awake and my hands fly to my neck when the weight of the chain feels like it’s choking me. I rolled over again. Every time I do, I feel the heavy metal pull, and I’m catapulted from a less terrifying nightmare.
I don’t know how I’ve slept at all.
The first glimpse of sunlight shines through the crack in the black out curtains, so instead of going back to sleep, I sit up on the rug I’m forced to sleep on and claw at the collar Lorenzo put around my neck. Bolted to the floorboard, the chain is maybe six feet long, but heavy enough that it nearly anchors me to the ground. A cage would be preferable to the never-ending feeling of being choked.
“You make so much more noise than Lucian.”
My eyes snap to Lorenzo, who’s staring at me through a sleepy haze.
I sit back on my heels and shift as far away from him as the chain will allow. “Maybe that’s because I’m not a tiger.”
Lorenzo stretches his arms above his head, then sits up, rolling his neck. “Neither is he. He’s a lion and a much bigger cat than you are. You’d think you’d snore softer.”
“I’m not a cat, and I don’t snore!”
He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck while I glare at him. “Whatever you say, Kitty.”
He throws the blanket off of himself and stands, and when he does, I have to look away. He sleeps naked and doesn’t seem to care that I’m right here and could see him clearly if I looked. The memory of him undressing last night flies through my mind and lights up my fear yet again, but I remind myself he didn’t do anything then. He hasn’t hurt me yet. Not like that, at least.
He flips on the light, and I slowly turn to watch him go inside his closet. I keep my eyes trained on his back and refuse to let them dip lower.
He pulls on a pair of sweatpants then comes back into the room. His smirk catches my eye, and I look away before my face can burst into flames from him knowing I was watching him.
“Are you hungry, Kitty?”
“No… And stop calling me that.”
He walks to me, and I force myself to stay still instead of shrinking back. Despite my poor sleep, I feel more alert than I did last night. My muscles don’t feel as heavy, and neither does my head.
I close my eyes at the feel of his large, calloused hands splaying over my jaw, but they open when he forces my head his way.
“You’re more catty this morning. Has the fear worn off?”
“I’ve never been afraid of you,” I lie, and the lie is so bad that it leaves a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. I lower my eyes to Lorenzo’s chest when his amused grin flares.
“Good. I don’t like girls who scare so easily. It’ll be more fun if I can challenge you.”
“Or you could just let me go.” I meet his gaze and try uselessly again to find some sort of reasonable side of him. Some side that isn’t so damn crazy. “We both know you can get Lucian back with the contacts I’m sure you have. I can see you love him and that I saw the situation wrong. I’ll disappear. You won’t ever have to—”
He presses a finger to my mouth and dips his gaze to my lips. They burn from the contact, but the rest of my body is frozen in place, so I don’t move.
“When Lucian was a cub,” Lorenzo begins. “He whined a lot. Now, it was understandable because he’d just been ripped from his pride when I took him in, but even so, it became so bothersome that he had to wear a muzzle to bed at night.” He lifts his brows to emphasize his point. “You should be very careful about becoming bothersome, Kitty. I don’t have a muzzle for you, but I can easily get you a gag if it would help you remember not to talk so much about pointless things.”
I narrow my eyes at him, and he smiles before removing his finger and walking around the bed to pluck a key from his nightstand. He returns and unlocks the chain from the collar. As it falls to the floor, I take in a deep breath, the first of many. I thought the collar was bad, but it’s nothing compared to the weight of that chain.
Lorenzo starts for the door.
“Thank you,” I call at his back, and it causes him to pause mid-step.
He looks at me over his shoulder. “Come, Kitty. Breakfast will be up shortly.”
He leaves the room and doesn’t look back again, and I stay there on the rug watching him go. My stomach growls, but I ignore it and roam my gaze around the room, searching for something that could be used as a weapon if I needed it.
Which, Iwillneed it. What are the odds of this guy not hurting me when he has one of his fits? Better question, what are the odds of him letting me go?
Not good. But even if I did manage to get a weapon and hurt him before he hurts me, I don’t know how to get out of here. He said he’s a member of a crime family, is that like the mob or something? How many people would come after me if Ididescape?
