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I shook my head, answering his question and readied myself for whatever was going to come next. The only bright light was the fact that nothing he could do would be worse than what he’d already done to me.
“You’re fuckin’ useless!” He shoved me away from him, his hand letting go of my face. My neck snapped back as I fell back on the bed, the comforter coming with me. I knew better now than to just sit there, so I pushed back on the bed, crawling toward the headboard. But it didn’t matter because he followed me like a predator stalking its prey.
“Please, no,” I pleaded. It was no use though because it always fell on deaf ears. Still, it came out of my mouth, hopeful that it would have an effect this time.
It didn’t. It never would.
He laughed, throwing his head back. “I love it when they beg.” He thrashed his arm out in front of me, grabbing me again, only this time it was around my throat. “Do it again,” he taunted.
I blinked, a single tear slipping from my eye and drifting down my cheek. I didn’t want to do as he said. I didn’t want him to like the pain he was causing me. But I knew to go along with it…for now. I just had to bide my time. I had to be patient. “Please,” I begged, hating that I’d just done what he wanted. My stomach rolled as bile rose in the back of my throat.
“Nah.” He grinned, pushing his face so close to mine that I could feel every breath coming from his mouth and nose. “Not good enough.” He narrowed his eyes on me, tracking every contour of my face. “Yet again, you’ve not done as you were told.” He tutted, sounding like a disappointed teacher. “Guess I’m gonna have to show you what happens when you don’t listen.”
He pulled back, his hand squeezing my throat, threatening to make me pass out, but I hung on just long enough to hear him say, “Soak this up, because it will be nothing compared to what I have planned for you if you defy me again.”
My eyes widened; my thoughts plastered all over my features.
What did that mean?
Everything in me wanted to open my mouth and ask him even though I knew I wouldn’t get an answer. But I didn’t, and not for lack of trying, his hand pressing harder on my throat, cutting off my airway, made it almost impossible. When the edges of my vision turned black; I sighed a breath of relief. He squeezed harder, and the darkness finally took me under, providing me with a little bit of peace, even if it was just for a while.
* * *
ROMEO
“You know the plan?” I asked Raf, not looking over at him in the passenger seat. We were in one of the trucks that Lorenzo kept in the warehouse so that we could go unnoticed. Some of the trucks had branding on the side so people would think we were the cable guy or a local construction worker. But this one was plain, incognito, no identifying features.
“Yeah,” he ground out. “Why are we doing this without telling Lorenzo though?”
My nostrils flared and I snapped my head around to face him. His features were screwed up, showing his displeasure at being here with me at four a.m. I didn’t know whether it was because my little brother loved his sleep, or if it was because we were going off script, but either way, it didn’t matter a tiny bit. I needed to do this, and right now, Raf was the only person I trusted with it.
“Because…” I trailed off, not giving him a reason. We were brothers, the “because” was all that was needed.
He lifted his hand and cracked his knuckles, a habit he’d been doing since he was three years old. Every bone he could crack he would. It was almost obsessive sometimes, but only I knew he did it more when he was nervous.
“We could have included Dad,” he said, his tone tentative.
I narrowed my eyes on him. “We don’t need him. We’ve got this.”
He blew out a breath. “Then where are we gonna take him afterward?” He raised a brow at me, coming at me with too many damn questions, but it wasn’t that that pissed me off the most.
No. It was the fact that I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I just knew that I needed some intel and a way into that damn place without blowing my cover with Gio. The last thing I needed was for me to be dead and Bailey still trapped in there.
My hands clenched into fists as I thought about her. I hated how my breaths came a little faster and rage slammed through me—rage directed at everyone who had hurt her, including myself.
We were sitting down the street from the club, the building in my sight.
She was still inside. So close, yet so far away. And there was nothing I could do about it…yet.
“Fuck!” I screamed, slamming my hand down onto my steering wheel. It was the only thing in front of me to let my frustration out on, the thing was, it seemed to always be a damn steering wheel that I used as a punching bag. “I need to get her the fuck out of there!”
“What?” Raf asked, his voice like whiplash. I felt him shuffle closer, but he still kept his distance between me in the driver’s seat and the middle seat between us. “Getwhoout of there?” He was watching me closely, no doubt waiting for anything to give me away, knowing that I wouldn’t tell him and instead keep my secrets like I usually did. The thing was, I couldn’t keep this a secret, not anymore. I needed to confide insomeone.
I threw my fist down one last time, then let my head fall back against the headrest. There was no turning back after this. I knew that. I was making a choice, but fuck, it was theonlyoption I could see. “Bailey,” I murmured, loving the way her name rolled off my tongue. “I need to get her out of there.”
“Yeah…” Raf trailed off, but then he didn’t continue, not until I glanced over at him. “Wasn’t that the original plan?” He looked confused, and for a second, I felt bad about the fact that he wasn’t fully in the inner circle—yet. It would only be a matter of time.
“It’s taking too long,” I growled, pushing back up and staring directly at him. “He’s hurting her.”I hurt her,I wanted to tack on the end, but the words caught in the back of my throat, refusing to be vocalized.
