Silence.
I try again, louder this time.
“Help! Somebody,please!”
Nothing.
The realization that no one can hear me, or worse, that no one cares, hurts more than the pain in my head.
Sean is going to kill me, and he’s going to make sure it hurts.
Tears prick at my eyes, but I force myself to blink them back.
Crying sure as hell isn’t going to help. If my baby and I are going to have any chance of surviving this, I have to stay calm. I have tothink.
I wrap my arms protectively around my stomach as I force myself to look around the room again, slower this time.
The walls are bare concrete, stained with something dark near the base. There’s no window, just a single bulb overhead that flickers occasionally. A steel door sits on the far wall, heavy and rusted, with no handle on my side.
I tug at the cuff on my ankle.
It’s tight, but the chain attached to it gives me about three feet of movement, which is enough to reach the far edge of the mattress and the radiator, but nothing else.
There is nothing sharp that I could use to pry myself loose, but maybe if I pull apart the mattress I could use a spring as a makeshift key…
My thoughts of escape seemed to have summoned someone at last as the sound of footsteps cuts through the silence.
I freeze as the door suddenly unlocks with a sharp click.
The rusty hinges groan as it swings open, and Sean stalks inside.
He looks surprisingly rested despite holding the pregnant wife of one of the most powerful men in the city hostage.
Is he really stupid enough to think that the Sullivans aren’t a threat?
But then again, he managed to wipe out Ronan’s security in one hit. If that isn’t enough to make someone think they’re invincible, I don’t know what is.
“Well…” He takes a few slow steps into the room. “How didyesleep?”
I don’t answer and even if I wanted to speak, my throat is so dry that I doubt I could get the words out.
“Cat gotyertongue?”
He crouches down next to me until his face is only inches from mine.
The smell of whiskey and cigarettes on his breath makes my stomach churn, and I let out a shaky sob as his breath tickles my cheek.
But my clear discomfort only makes Sean chuckle.
“Ye’re such a little princess,yeknow that? I was really lookin’ forward to defloweringyeback whenyeruncle promisedyeto me. I would have treatedyelike a goddamn queen.” He lightly brushes his calloused fingers against my jaw.
When I try to jerk my head away, he grips my chin and forces me to look at him. “But no.Yehad to go and pickhim.”
“Sean,” I plead, my voice trembling. “You don’t have to do this.”
He leans closer as his lips pull up into a cruel smile. “Oh, but I do.”
Tears spill down my cheeks, hot and fast.
