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“Please,” I whisper, trying to pull back.
“You won’t eat, drink, sleep, or leave this basement until I know what happened to my wife.” He shoves me forwards, and I lose my balance, crashing onto my side and bouncing down the concrete steps. I hit the bottom with a thud and lay there, staring up at Ivan. He sneers before slamming the door closed.
Hours pass, and I’m so cold, I can’t think straight. I find myself drifting into a dream-like state where I remember what life was like before all this. When it was me and Nick and we were happy.
I’m aware the door opens and footsteps slowly descend the stairs, stopping beside me. “Are you ready to tell me?” asks Ivan.
“I have nothing to tell you,” I mutter.
“Please, sladost, don’t make me drag it from you. It will hurt us both.”
I stare up at him. “There is nothing to drag from me, Ivan. I don’t know where it came from.”
He shakes his head sadly. “Have it your way.” He looks towards the door, where Maxim watches us. He grins and heads down the stairs, passing Ivan on his way back up. “Call me when you have my answers.”
“That’s it?” I snap, and he pauses, turning back to look at me. “You’re not even going to wait around and watch?” I know it’s tearing him apart, but he doesn’t just get to walk away and pretend I don’t exist. “What kind of man gives the order but doesn’t wait around for the results?” Maxim arches a brow and glances at Ivan. “A real man would do it himself instead of asking his monkey to do the hard part.”
Ivan laughs, and it’s cold and empty as he descends the steps again. “Very well.” He takes a chair from the corner of the room and slams it down in the middle. “Get up.”
It’s my turn to laugh. “You think I’m going to make it easy on you? Make me.”
He sighs impatiently and speaks in Russian to Maxim, who sweeps down and takes me by the arm and pulls me up. He shoves me hard, and I land on the chair. My hip and back are already painful from my tumble down the steps, and I cry out in discomfort. Ivan clenches his fists, and I can see in his eyes that he wants to come to me.
Maxim pulls my arms behind my back and ties my wrists together with some rope. “Pathetic,” I mutter.
“Just tell me what I need to know and you can get out of here,” hisses Ivan.
“How many times?” I snap. “I don’t have the information. I have never laid eyes on your wife, and I didn’t take that purse.”
“Hard to prove when we met in similar circumstances,” says Maxim, pulling the rope tighter and burning my skin.
“I admit it doesn’t look good,” I begin.
“Enough,” Ivan snaps angrily. “No more bullshit. You will tell me everything, Grace.” Maxim places a black sack over my head. “Because if you don’t, it’s going to be a long night.”
IVAN
I nod to Maxim, who pulls her head back and begins to tip water from a bottle over Grace’s face. It’s a cruel form of torture, one that often works on women better than men. She splutters, coughing violently, and I turn my back, clenching my hands into fists to stop me ripping Maxim away from her.
The water stops and I turn back as Maxim removes the cloth hood. Grace leans to the side and vomits violently. Maxim re-covers her head in disgust and begins the procedure again. It takes three attempts before she nods her head, and I hold up my hand for Maxim to stop.
“Okay,” she pants. I hold my breath, waiting for her words. Waiting for her to end my nightmare. “Maybe it was one of your men.”
I growl in frustration. “Again,” I order, and Maxim covers her head.
“They hate you,” she continues. “I heard them mocking you before.”
I hold up my hand again, and Maxim hesitates. “She’s trying to distract you,” he snaps.
“Continue,” I mutter, standing and heading up the steps. He’s right, and I can’t ignore the evidence. I’ve had men looking for Lara’s belongings for nine months and her purse turns up in the same bag Grace is hiding Femidoms from me. Rage fills me. And then, like a bright light, something inside me clicks and I rush back down the steps.
“Stop,” I order. I pull the bag from her head, and she continues to cough. “This is what you want,” I sneer, “but you’re not getting off so easily.” I untie the ropes around her wrists. “There is no escape, Grace. You’ll give me what I want, and you’ll tell me what happened to Lara. And until you do, you’re not going anywhere.”
GRACE
Maxim frowns. “Boss?”
Ivan pulls me to stand, but my legs give way, I’m so exhausted. He sighs heavily, lifting me into his arms and carrying me. He doesn’t stop until I’m in the bedroom. His bedroom. He dumps me to stand in the middle of the floor and begins removing my wet clothes, tearing my shorts rather than unfastening the ankle cuffs. I shiver violently. He leaves the room briefly, returning with more chains.
