"Stop. Don't—Dante, don't—"
"Relax. We're not doing anything tonight. I'm just looking. Reminding myself what I've been missing. What you owe me."
"I don't owe you anything—"
He grabbed my hair. Yanked my head back. Made me look up at him.
"You owe me five years. Five years of humiliation. Five years of waiting. Five years of being denied what's mine." His face was inches from mine. "And you're going to repay that debt. Starting now."
His mouth crashed against mine. Brutal. Possessive. I tried to jerk away. Couldn't. He held me in place. Kissed me like he was claiming territory.
I bit down. Hard. Tasted blood.
He jerked back. Touched his lip. Looked at the blood on his fingers.
Then he laughed. "Still fighting. Good. I like it better when you fight. Makes it more satisfying when you finally break."
He hit me. Backhanded across the face. My head snapped to the side. Stars exploded in my vision.
"But there are consequences for fighting." His voice was cold now. Dangerous. "You need to learn that. Need to understand what happens when you resist."
He moved around the chair. He pulled my shirt off my shoulders and down my arms, leaving my back bare. I heard his belt buckle. Heard the leather sliding free.
No. No no no. This was happening. This was really happening.
I fought the restraints desperately. Uselessly. The zip ties cut into my wrists. Drew blood. Didn't break.
"Elio's coming for me," I said. Desperate. Trying anything. "He's going to find me. And when he does—"
"When he does, you'll already be mine. Already broken. Already accepting your place. And then we'll be gone. Disappeared. He'll never find us."
The belt came down across my back. Pain exploded. Made me gasp. Made my eyes water.
"That's one. Let's see how many it takes before you learn."
I lost count after twenty.
My back was on fire. My face was swelling where he'd hit me. My wrists were bleeding from fighting the restraints. Everything hurt.
But I was still conscious. Still aware. Still fighting even though it was hopeless.
Dante had stopped hitting me. Was standing in front of the chair breathing hard. Looking at me like I was something he owned. Something he could break.
"You're more resilient than I expected," he said. "Most people would've broken by now. But you—you keep fighting. Keep defying me. I almost admire it."
"Go to hell."
"We're already there, little spitfire. We're already in hell. The only question is how long you want to suffer before you accept the inevitable."
He touched my face. Almost gentle. I jerked away. He grabbed my jaw again. Forced me to look at him.
"Tomorrow we finish this. Tonight I let you rest. Let you think. Let you realize there's no escape. No rescue. No hope. Just you and me and the future we're going to have together." His thumb traced my split lip. "Sleep well, Julian. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."
He left. Locked the door behind him.
I sat alone in the dark and tried not to cry. Tried not to break. Tried to hold onto hope that was getting harder to maintain with every passing hour.
Elio. Please. Please find me. Please come.
