Finally moving, Desmond moves to stand in front of me, shielding me from Ricco’s pervy eyes. “Why don’t you try.”
“Speaking of trying, let’s try something. Why don’t you two touch each other? Intimately,” Ricco says with a smarmy smile. Crossing his arms over his chest and taking a more protective stance in front of me, Dez doesn’t move, and I’m so thankful he’s here. “No?” Ricco asks with a raised brow. “Perhaps a kiss then.” Still, neither of us moves. Stepping into Desmond’s space, Ricco reaches out and grabs him by the balls. I watch as Dez tenses and grunts but stands firm and unmoved.
“Didn’t know you played for the pink team,” Dez manages to grit out before being punched in the side by one of the other men in the room.
Ricco walks closer to the door to leave but stops and turns. “Tie her to the bed,” he tells his men. “I want to see her laid out on display.”
Dez lets out a yell and moves to get to Ricco but is held back by a chain connected to his ankle that I didn’t notice until now. Ricco laughs when the chain keeps Dez from reaching him and causes him to almost fall backward with another yell and curse. Then Ricco leaves, his cackle still heard bouncing off the walls outside the door.
I’m so focused on their interaction that I almost don’t notice the two men grab me by the arms and push me onto the bed. The commotion is enough to make Dez turn to see. “Get you’re fuckin’ hands off her!”
“You do it or we do,” one of the men says.
I look up to Dez, my eyes pleading with him to do it. I see him physically swallow as he walks to the bed. He takes the strap at one corner and puts it around my ankle.
“Tighter,” one of them says.
He pulls tighter while whispering an apology to me that I almost don’t hear. He finishes fastening the straps and connecting the locks to ensure he can’t remove them.
“She is a pretty one; I’ll give boss that,” one man says to the other with a laugh.
“Get the fuck outta here!” Dez yells at them.
Their laughter grows as they say, “Sure thing. I’d want my privacy to do things to her too if I were you.”
Once their laughter fades and silence fills the air, I can’t take it any longer as Dez stands next to the bed that I’m strapped to with his head down.
“Will you say something?” I break the quiet.
“I don’t even know what to say.”
“This isn’t your fault, Dez.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Please look at me,” I ask. Slowly he turns, and after a few minutes, his eyes find mine through a veil of dark hair. “Hi.” I grin.”
“How the hell can you smile at me when you’re strapped to a bed being held by that motherfucker?”
“Because I’ve got my best friend with me, and that makes it not as bad as it’d be if I were here alone.” Wanting to cut the tension and the awkwardness, I say, “Nice ass by the way.”
He shakes his head, biting back a grin seeped in sadness. “I can’t even comment on that without thinkin’ ‘bout how much Sonny’ll fuckin’ kill me.”
“I don’t think you’re the one Sonny is going to be killing,” I state darkly.
He snorts as he sits on the edge of the bed. “You doin’ okay? He didn’t…”
I shake my head. “No,” I say, not wanting to tell him about the little bit he did touch me. “I have to say being tied up to this bed is better than being shackled to that wall though.”
Dez starts to say something, but then he looks at me in concern. “You’re shaking. Are you cold?” I nod, unable to hold back the trembling of my body.
“I’m gonna lie next to you to warm you up. Promise I’m not gonna touch you in any other way.”
“You aren’t the one I’m worried about, Dez.”
His jaw twitches before he slowly moves to lie next to me. “If this makes you uncomfortable or you want me to move, just tell me.” The moment his body is next to mine, it’s like the warmest blanket. I hum at the feel of his heat warming me. “Shit. You’re a fuckin’ ice cube,” he murmurs as he covers me more until he’s on top of me as much as possible without putting all of his weight on me.
“Thank you,” I sigh.
“Try to get some sleep, okay?”
I hum in response, and as tired as I am, I can’t will myself to fall asleep. “Dez?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m pregnant.” He moves to look at my face in question. “I found out a couple weeks ago. I haven’t told Sonny yet. I was going to tell him this weekend. I found some cute ways to tell the dad on Pinterest and was going to make a whole thing about it.”
“How were you going to tell him?”
“There were some funny cards to make or T-shirts. Writing a note inside of a pizza box or donuts or something. But I was thinking about giving him a new bottle of bourbon—since we finished his off—and putting a note with it that said I’d join him next year.” I try to shrug. “It seems stupid now.”
“That’s not stupid, Ruby. That’s beautiful.”
“You think he’ll be happy about it?” I ask, rubbing a stray tear with my shoulder.
“I think he’ll be ecstatic.”
I sniff. “I hope so.”
“We’re gonna get outta here and you’re gonna be fine and you’re gonna be the best mom. Sonny, I’m not so sure about, but you… you’re gonna be amazing.” I let out a short laugh. “Rest now, momma.”
I close my eyes and try to think about Sonny as a dad. Before long, I fall asleep and dream about the sweet family we’ll have.
I’m woken up by Dez, who’s still covering me in his blanket of warmth and protection. “Ruby, wake up,” he whispers, nudging me from my sweet dreams. Somethin’ is going on. I hear a bunch of yellin’.”
“Do you think it’s Sonny?” I ask, feeling hopeful.
“I dunno. Hope so though.” He looks at me and gives a small grin, showing signs of his own hope.
I return his smile and close my eyes to pray that it is, in fact, Sonny here to get us out of this hell. I have no doubt that Sonny will scour the earth from one end to the other to find us.
The door opens with a bang, putting both Dez and me on edge. “Rise and shine, motherfuckers,” Ricco says, walking into the room. His usual cocky smile is gone, and in its place is anger. “Your big boss man made a mess at one of my houses this morning.” Then that smile slips into place. “Too bad he didn’t find the right location.” A tear falls down the side of my face as I lie there unable to move. “He lit my fucking house on fire. So, guess what? I’m going to do the same to him.”
My eyes have been closed, so when he touches me, it makes me jump, and my eyes fly open. Dez tries to stop him, but someone yanks on the chain he’s attached to, pulling him from the bed.
Ricco’s hand slides across my stomach, and it makes me want to puke. I let out a guttural yell as he keeps tracing his fingers over my skin, leaving a path that feels like burning acid.