Before he leaned me back, tipping the front two chair legs backward until I did nothing but dangle from his grasp.
“No! Stop! Please!”
My feet, moving around in the air.
“Oh, my God,” I choked out as tears flooded my cheeks.
My body, suspended.
“Don’t kill me, please. If I can’t help, I will, I swear. Whatever it is. Just please, don’t kill me.”
Completely under his control.
“Please,” I whispered as tears brewed in my eyes, “my parents are waiting for me. I know they must be worried. I won’t say anything. I-I-If you let me go, I—”
His stare stayed still, as if torturing a woman did nothing for him. “Does the name Luca ring any bells?”
I scoffed. “I dated a Luca in college for, like, three days. Do you mean him?”
The chair’s legs slammed back down before a resounding crack filled the room. It wasn’t until after I’d caught my breath, however, that the searing pain ricocheted through my cheekbone.
Before something trickled down my jawline to my neck.
“Ouch,” I whimpered.
“I won’t ask you again,” the man snarled, gripping my hair and pulled my head back.
“Ah! Please! Stop!”
His disgusting breath fanned against the shell of my ear. “Tell me the truth, you slimy little cunt, or you’ll stay down here until your stomach eats away at your muscles.”
I had no idea what he wanted. I had no idea what the hell he wanted me to say. But if I was going to die, I sure as hell wasn’t going to die a liar.
So, I swallowed hard. “I don’t know who you think I am, but you’ve got the wrong woman.”
At first, nothing happened. Even though I braced for the pain. Even though my entire body locked up, preparing itself for the man’s fists, nothing came. One by one, my muscles relaxed. One by one, the hairs along my arms and legs finally settled back down against my skin.
Until I found myself suddenly staring at the ceiling and gasping for air.
“Oh—huuuh—no.”
“Do you believe her?”
I didn’t recognize the voice as I laid there with heated pain rushing through the marrow of my bones. What day was it? How long had I been there? What the hell did that man want from me? I gasped to try and catch my breath. My skin tingled. My ass burned. Tears flooded the sides of my face as my lungs felt as if they were collapsing, air sac by air sac. Why couldn’t I catch my breath? I forced my stomach to press out as I tried breathing through my nose. But it was no use.
My body seemed to be protesting the fact that I was still alive.
“Help,” I sputtered.
From the corner of my eye, a movement caught my attention long enough to flood my body with adrenaline. My lungs set themselves on fire. It felt like my entire body was burning from the inside out. But as that shadow appeared above me, I knew I was in trouble.
I wasn’t in there with one person.
I had been in there with two.
“Help—me,” I managed to choke out.
“You sure we got the right one?” the voice I didn’t recognize asked.
