Damn, I’m getting good at that.
He lets go of me and falls to the floor, cupping his junk.
I should’ve seen the other man sneak up behind me, but my focus was on the piece of shit in front of me.
I’m picked up and tossed down on the cot a lot harder this time, my head bouncing. My wrists and ankles are secured to the metal frame so tight I can’t even move an inch.
“Let me go!” I fight against them, and Susie only rolls her eyes, turning away from me and grabbing a small metal box from under the cot just as Peter strolls in.
“My favorite girl!” he says with a clap of his hands. “Are you ready to get started? Susie here will get these clothes off of you! Let’s see everything under them.” His eyes gleam with lust and all that’s going through my head is all the ways I want to end him. “Then the nurse here will confirm whether or not you’re a virgin.”
“What? Of course I’m not a fucking virgin!” I shout. “Why are you doing this?” I glare at him.
“Because you’re the prettiest one here. You’re going to make me a very, very rich man, Brielle.” He smiles as if he’s doing hero work. “I’m so grateful for our dear Susie. Without her, I wouldn’t have you right now.” He looks between us before landing on me again, his eyes roaming up and down my body and stopping where my shirt has ridden up my stomach.
“She mentioned you one night. Told me how pretty you were, and her owing me money isn’t an option. So getting the pretty girls was her job. After scoring you, her debt is now paid in full.” I look over at Susie and the feeling of betrayal runs deep inside me. She looks at Peter like he’s a god, like he has all the answers she’s looking for. Like I’m nothing compared to dirt under her shoe.
“I was so happy when Susie and Troy brought you in. If only your little boyfriend made it. He had so much potential.” Peter shakes his head in fake sadness. Meanwhile, my whole chest caves in.
“What?” My voice is barely there. “What do you mean?” I stutter, my breath scraping hard against my lungs.
Emris… No. No, no, no. My mind rejects the thought outright. There’s no way. I can’t—I don’t?—
“He didn’t make it, my sweet Brielle. But he tried,” he says softly, way too softly. “He tried really hard to fight through it.” His words slam into me.
“D-don’t lie to m-me!” I thrash against the restraints, tears streaming down my face. “H-he’s fine! Emris is f-fine! H-he’s not dead!” The word feels like fucking poison.
I haven’t even had the chance to love him yet. Not really. Heat floods my body, blazing through my veins. The room closes in, pressing against me and the voices stacking on top of each other until there’s nothing but noise.
Peter keeps talking but I don’t know what he’s saying.
My chest heaves, every breath is a fight and every sob rips out of me like something has torn loose. I can’t stop shaking, can’t stop crying, can’t stop breaking.
Nothing can stop it.
Susie’s shrill voice is enough to bring me back in time to see Peter hand Troy a needle. “Peter! No! You said that it was mine!”
Where the fuck did Troy come from?
“I’ll make it feel better, Brielle. I promise,” Troy says, kneeling next to the cot. The tip of the needle enters a vein in my inner elbow and I can feel the effects instantly. My body stops shaking, and my head rolls to the side.
Maybe this is what I deserve. Maybe this was my path all along.
The fight I mentioned about wanting to live or die?
I choose death.
46
EMRIS
It’s beenthree days since Peter let his men beat me. Three days of knowing nothing. Every guard that has come down here has ignored me. Jasper doesn’t talk much, and I’m not one to complain about silence, but right now, the silence is making me go insane.
Having no way of knowing whether Brielle is okay is making me feel something I can’t even put into words. I’ve spent all my time down here plotting out ways I’m going to kill Troy for dragging us into this—the way I want to make all of them suffer. To hear their screams as I take every last breath from them.
I rest my head against the metal bars on the cell and I let my eyes drift closed. I haven’t been able to sleep. A few times I’ve dozed off, but the shit Brielle might be dealing with right now races through my mind, jolting me back awake.
The sound of keys clanking against metal is what jolts me upward. A guard stands outside Jasper’s cell before unlocking mine next.
