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But she’s not in the condition I left her in.
Her eyes are sad and glassy. Her wrists are cut up and bound. She’s wearing some kind of robe, and from the looks of it, nothing underneath. It hangs on her frame that looks less curvy and more frail—have they not been feeding her?
They’ve put their hands on her. There’s two of them. The dipshit gripping her shoulder and making her wince, and the other who jerks his thumb at the chair and tells his colleague to sit her down.
On her cheek is the faintest streak of red on her brown complexion.
From the hard strike in the face he just gave her.
I erupt in another episode of rage and shove the guard with the cattle prod off me. The second guard latches on to me from behind and attempts to wrestle me back to the ground. I’m too quick for him, banging my fists again on the glass.
“Don’t you ever fucking touch her!” I yell.
De Trolio clicks the hammer in his pistol and points it at my head. “Enough. One more word and I’ll blow your brains out. Better yet… we will hurt her. Understand?”
I’m thrown back into the chair and strapped down with belts designed to secure me.
De Trolio steps into my line of vision and blocks out the glass pane from view. He doesn’t like it when I crane my neck to see around him, trying to keep Delphine in sight. He swings the arm holding his pistol and whips me over the head with it.
“I said enough! You must want a difficult afternoon. When this was supposed to be a treat. She can’t see or hear you, you fucking dumbass. There are mics and speakers in both rooms. The mic is on in her room. The mic is off in yours. Same for the glass pane.”
I grit my teeth, glaring up at him. “Let her go.”
“That ain’t my call. You know that. I’m here to facilitate this treat.”
“If you… any of you… hurt her…”
“Threats don’t mean shit from the guy strapped down,” De Trolio sneers. “Shall we begin?”
My body hardens from the tension that’s corded through it. If today’s ‘treat’ is anything like past sessions, then I’m fucked. I can block out the pain inflicted on me, withhold giving them the satisfaction of knowing they’re getting to me, but if it’s going to be turned onto Delphine…
How the hell has this happened?! Where are Francis and the rest of the men whose duty it was to protect her and see that she’s sent out of the country at the first sign of trouble? How the fuck could they fail so spectacularly they’ve let Lucius capture her?
Or did Phi run away? Francis has mentioned multiple times she wasn’t cooperating. She was deeply upset by my absence. Did she run off to come looking for me?
Phi, what the fuck have you done?!
I can’t save her from this moment. Not like the dozens of times before this, where my security kept tabs on her and eliminated any threat. Even other dangerous situations like the Belinis coming for her, I could do something.
I could use my resources and my men. I could use myself. I had the means to protect her.
Sitting here strapped to a chair, I have nothing. I can do nothing. All I have left is the maddening rage and fury that’s burning my insides. Useless without any sort of level playing field. I don’t even have my fucking hands.
De Trolio grins watching me watch the glass. The dipshits have forced Delphine into the chair. I don’t like the way they’re touching her—almost like it’s intentional how their rough hands linger along her shoulders and waist. The one I’m certain slapped her lets his hand fall onto her thigh for a fleeting second before he steps in front of her and grips the armrests of her chair.
“Pay attention to me,” De Trolio says, snapping his fingers in front of my eyes. “I’m going to ask you the same questions I always ask you. Let’s see if you finally answer. Where are the tapes?”
The hatred in my unblinking glare is clear.
De Trolio shrugs. “Have it your way. Fellas.”
He taps into the mic attached to the lapel of his suit jacket.
The dipshit who touched Delphine’s thigh stands up before her and grips her chin. “I told you we were going to have some fun. We have to get you ready for the sales floor. We don’t like sending out products that haven’t been tested first.”
“NO!” My body bucks against the belts tying me down. “I told you! Get your hands off her!”
“Let’s see if that mouth feels as good as that pussy.”
