With a snap of his belt in the air like a whip, I jumped. Instantly, I opened my mouth to tell him I would do what he ordered, but I was too late. He had other plans, and I only had myself to blame.
“You can’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“What are you—”
He raised his hand and swung the belt down, right by my leg. I loudly gasped as it hissed through the air and then slapped against the mattress. My eyes widened with fear, immediately cowering away from him. Gripping the belt tighter, he whipped it again, by my ass this time. The sound echoed off the walls, and I shuddered, panting profusely.
“I’m sorry!” I shouted, hoping my apology would be enough to suffice him.
I was wrong; if anything…
It only provoked him.
His grasp white-knuckled the belt the whole time, not letting up on his assault. “Now, let’s try this again. I. Said. Strip.”
“Or you’ll hit me?”
“Or you’ll like it.”
Just to prove that he would, he struck the belt to my ass, and it bit my skin. It didn’t break my flesh, but I could feel my skin swelling. It was enough for me not to have to be told again, basically throwing off the clothes I was taken in. My naked body shook while my knees buckled, and my chest was rising and falling with each second that passed between us.
He didn’t just look at me—he stared through me, seeing every last inch of me.
I swallowed the shame I felt, yet again, at my body’s response to him. It wasn’t the violence that got me; it was the look in his eyes that reminded me of all the men my father was always around.
Soulless.
“Happy now?!”
He moved so fast I barely had time to register that I was stumbling backward until his hand was on my neck, shoving me against the wall behind me. My mind pleaded with me to search for something sharp to stab him with, while my horror held me captive with his tight hold over my windpipe. This was when I noticed how tall he was; he towered over my small frame.
“I’d be happier if you obeyed my orders. That was me being kind to you, Juliet. Disobey me again and watch how fast you’ll live to regret it.”
With that, he cruely let me go and nodded toward the bathroom. Once we were both standing in there, he turned on the shower, and I didn’t have to be told this time. I stepped inside, only to be met with freezing cold water.
I shrieked and jolted back. “It’s cold!”
“Of course it is.” He leaned against the door, folding his arms over his solid chest. Relaxed as ever. “You get hot water when you deserve it.”
I was naive to think he wouldn’t punish me. “What happened to you?”
He stood, belt in hand, and the sound of it twisting between his fingers would be forever burned in my mind. “Did I say you could ask me questions, Juliet? Did I say you could even look at me?”
I clenched my jaw, shaking my head.
“Get your ass in the shower before I change my mind and teach you a lesson you won’t soon forget.”
I hesitantly stepped inside, shivering under the cold water, trying to ignore his words as I washed the horror from my body. I dug my soapy fingers into my skin and ignored the terror I felt building up in my soul. Squeezing my eyes shut, I prayed I could do this.
Live through this.
I started to think about my family. My life. The future I still desperately wanted to have that didn’t include this sociopath. Until a scream erupted from my lips after his first lash, and then second, third, and fourth. He whipped my ass, the back of my thighs, my stomach, and my breasts.
“Please!” I dropped to my knees and begged.
Crying.
Frozen.
Fucking dying.
And then he was behind me, leaning forward, massaging the tender skin with his fingertips.
I hissed in pain. In agony. Trying so hard to not feel broken.
“You said you weren’t going to hurt me unless I didn’t listen to you. I listened! I was in the shower, wasn’t I?” I’d never forget what he spewed next. It was now a part of me, embedded deep into my bleeding skin and becoming one with him.
Kissing my cheek, he confessed, “I couldn’t resist watching you hurt for me.”
CHAPTER THREE
Romeo
“Say it again. Slower this time.”
I circled the beaten bodyguard and tried to keep myself from ripping his head from his shoulders with a fucking smile on my face.
Alessandro lowered his head with a wince. “It was fast, Romeo. Two men in all black, they looked like ours. It’s all I saw.”
I couldn’t speak.
I simply reacted.
Throwing the first chair my hands could find against the wall, followed by another, and when everything was in chaos, my eyes fell to Alessandro, wondering if his head would split in two against the soundproof concrete room? Only one way to find out.
I charged toward him. He was the one who was supposed to be watching her, and they could have taken my son Naz too. They could have taken my wife, and my whole world would be in shambles.
Instead, they kidnapped my sister. Which was just as bad. He shouldn’t be living; hell, he shouldn’t even be fucking breathing.
“What do you think your punishment should be? For allowing Juliet Sinacore to slip from your grip and into someone’s grasp? Huh? How should I fucking kill you?”
The only sounds that could be heard were his bones crunching, and his screaming filled my ears like a calming symphony. Only reminding me of my baby sister playing the piano for me.
His death wouldn’t bring her back, but I didn’t care. Does that make me any different than the men who took Juliet?
Blood splattered.
His last breath.
My eyes locked with his, so he would only see me in death.
In Hell.
Because let’s fucking face it, that was where we were both going in the end.
Donovan
I trailed my fingers across the angry red skin of her flesh, gripping onto the belt in my left hand. I watched the way the water streamed down the blood on her skin and toward the drain making it disappear from her body. Whatever remaining human part of me that still existed was screaming in outrage, even though I was smiling.
I wanted her to fight me so bad it burned and ached inside of me.
“Do it, Juliet. I fucking dare you.”
I could see it in her eyes—she wanted to try me. Her gaze shifted toward the belt in my hands before she stepped out of the shower, and I snapped the belt to her ankle. Not enough to draw blood, but to get my point across.
“You don’t move unless I tell you to. Understood?”
Even her wet hair was tempting me as it draped down her breasts.
Jesus, she was breathtaking.
She nodded with tears still cascading down her flushed face, and I resisted the urge to fix the wounds I’d just inflicted. I would, but not now. The moment had come for me to start the process of truly making her mine in every sense of the word.
“Turn around.”
Her vulnerability was almost too much for me to bear as she spun, following my orders. I stepped behind her while she faced the mirror. Grabbing the scissors from the pocket of my slacks, I skimmed the cool metal against her fair skin.
Her breathing caught, and with wide eyes, she watched in horror through the mirror as I ran the steel down her arm.