“Jesus, he’s heavy!”
“He’s waking up!”
Something struck my side, which I swore was a boot, but I could hardly feel it over everything else my body had been through. My stomach was hit next, and then my jaw. They didn’t let up until I knew I was going to die.
They cinched what I assumed to be zip ties around my wrists and ankles, and I could barely feel the sting of them cutting into my skin.
“Fuck,” someone hissed. “He’s bleeding already.”
“We don’t need him pretty. Just breathing.”
The metal doors of a van slammed open, and I was hauled off the ground. There was paineverywhere. I tried to fight them, but my body wouldn’t listen. It was a twitching mess from the shocks.
One man leaned close to my ear, his breath hot and smug. “Donovan said to tell you something,” he whispered. “Word-for-word.”
I stilled. “You like touching what’s his?”
My heart stopped. “He wants her to beg.”
Something struck the side of my head, and everything finally went black.
Chapter Fifty
Ivan
The roomI’d been brought to was dark and smelled like mildew. I was chained to the ceiling like an animal ready to be gutted. Arms yanked above my head until my shoulders burned, feet barely touching the ground. Every breath scraped fire through my ribs. Every twitch sent pain ricocheting down my spine.
This was it. I hadn’t even managed to protect Poppy. I could have taken this scum of the earth right out of this world and saved her. I could have done my duty and disappeared.
My head lolled forward as I fought to regain consciousness. The world swayed, blurred, and doubled. The taste of iron filled my mouth. My jaw screamed when I clenched it, so I unclenched it and let my breath shake through my cracked, dry lips. A door creaked open somewhere in the distance.
There was no point in even trying to lift my head; Icouldn’t. The confident gait of the footsteps was enough to tell me who it was.
“Well,” a familiar voice crooned. “The infamous Ivan Cristof. Not so impressive now, are we?”
I forced my head up a fraction of an inch. Donovan Madden stepped into the thin slice of light. Instead of the usual suit he wore, he was wearing a black sweatshirt and black sweatpants. Even his tennis shoes were black. He obviously didn’t want to ruin his clothes with blood stains.
“You’ve been touching what’s mine,” he said quietly.
“She’ll never be yours,” the whisper barely slipped through my lips.
His fist flew forward, and my entire body rocked back with the blow. White exploded behind my eyes. My ribs screamed. The chains rattled overhead as the force swung me sideways before gravity snapped me back into place. The taste of iron only grew stronger.
Another hit came. This one to my stomach. He knew exactly where to strike to drop a man without knocking him out completely. He wanted me conscious. So I could be aware- to suffer. My knees buckled. The chains caught me with a harsh bite of metal into my wrists. I sucked in a breath, and he laughed, low and harsh.
“Do you think she will call me? Do you think she’ll beg for mercy? Or do you think she’ll try to find you and save you?”
My eyes met his. “I hope she doesn’t.”
“You’d rather die.”
“Then have her beg you,” I finished for him. “Yes.”
His lips twitched into a satisfied smile. “I can arrange that.”
“I didn’t peg you for the jealous type. I thought you had your other plaything.” I managed to get out.
His eye twitched, but the smile remained. “Do you think it's funny to provoke me? I will have as many toys as I want. I’m Donovan Madden.”
