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Two days later I stared at Judith, then the long, clear tube in her hand, and then back to Judith.
“You will either willingly eat, or I will personally force-feed you. And trust me when I say you will not like it.”
Holding her eyes, I shook my head and folded my arms.
It was tough to look intimidating when propped up in bed on pillows, healing, but still unbearably weak.
Across my gilded prison/recovery room, Leo twitched, but I pretended I didn’t see him. I was very, very good at that, at pretending he didn’t exist. Since they were keeping me prisoner here and not letting me leave because I “knew too much”, Leo had been a constant shadow that was slowly driving me crazy. After I realized no amount of pleading or empty threats would get them to release me, I decided to go on a hunger strike. Not one of my brighter ideas, but I hurt so much—both physically and mentally—and I wanted Leo to suffer like I did.
Just the thought of him sent a cramp of pain through my heart, or maybe it was only my empty stomach cramping. I managed to hold myself together and not give in to my hunger. I’d missed two breakfasts, two lunches, and now almost two dinners. They were probably giving me something through my IV, but I knew I’d already lost weight I could hardly afford to lose. But they couldn’t make me eat and that was one small victory in my shattered world.
I’d be proud of myself if I wasn’t starving, but my body was the last thing I had any kind of control over, they’d stripped away the rest, and I needed some form of rebellion.
“Please, Hannah,” Leo said in a low, strained voice from nearby. “Please, you have to eat.”
I swore I could feel him, maybe a pace or two away, his hands twitching with the need to touch me. Last time he’d dared to lay a hand on me yesterday, I’d gone a little crazy, reinjuring myself and getting knocked out again in the process. I’ve found the Cordovas are quite fond of putting people who annoy them to sleep. Sometimes forever.
“Leo, out,” Judith said in a tight voice.
“Don’t—”
She stared at him, and even I shrank back against the bed I was in. “Are you telling me what to do in my own house?”
I held my breath, waiting for Judith to beat Leo to death with the tube or some other irrational shit. Isn’t that what a cartel lord would do? And as outlandish as the thought was of this sweet old lady cutting people’s eyes out and feeding them to the fishes, Judith was indeed a cartel lord. Not like the drug lords you see on TV, no, the Cordova Group was run like a corporation, and this woman was the CEO. That’s not to say her husband, Jose, was a sweet old man by any stretch of the imagination, but when Judith spoke, everyone listened.
I’d picked that up as I’d pretended to sleep, then eavesdropped on whoever was in the room with me talk. They never left me alone; the one time they had, I’d tried to smash a window to escape, which had only resulted in me collapsing in pain from my injured ribs.
It was Judith who’d found me gasping on the floor as I writhed in agony, who’d sighed and had her bodyguard pick me up and take me back to bed, while she lectured me on being a stupid child determined to cripple myself.
“I won’t allow anyone to hurt her, even you.”
She replied in Spanish, and whatever she said made Leo eventually leave the room, my stupid heart mourning the loss of his presence even as my mind celebrated a hollow victory.
“Now then,” Judith returned her gaze to me as I eyed her bodyguard watching us impassively, waiting for her to order him to jam the tube down my throat. “I’ve had quite enough of this. While I understand your anger, you are damaging your body, and that is just stupid. Starving yourself to death to spite Leo is just plain cruel.”
That had me staring at her, and my voice, rusty with disuse, croaked out, “Are you kidding me? I’m cruel?”
I didn’t miss the small gleam of triumph flash across her lined face that she’d made me talk. “Very. The only thing Leo ever tried to do was make you happy.”
I gawked at her, incredulous. “Judith, he tortures people to death for a living.”
She waved her hand at me, the stunning ruby ring on her right hand flashing with inner fire. “So do I. What’s your point?”
She sat at the end of the bed, a chill radiating from her that made me want to pull the covers over my head and hide.
“That’s kind of an important thing to share with someone.”
