Mentally, I believed I was stronger than this.
Nausea rolled through my belly, and I bent forward, dry-heaving and waiting for something—anything—to come up, but nothing did.
The sickness stayed trapped inside me, turning in my stomach like another punishment from them.
I was ready to crack.
Ready to grab that gun and end it.
But I couldn’t.
Even if I didn’t believe it at the moment, I was stronger than that.
I wouldn’t let these men break me.
I wouldn’t letanyman break me.
“Focus, Blair,” I whispered harshly to myself. “Forget about this. Go to your place.”
I hadn’t gonetheresince I was a child. When my father had locked me in the shed during my punishments, to stop the pain and boredom, I had learned how to disappear in my own mind.
Shutting my eyes, I tucked my face tight between my knees and imagined myself in a forest.
Everything was peaceful there. No parents were allowed. No other children. Just me and nature. In that world, rabbits hopped up to the door of my tiny cottage, waiting for me to feed them carrots.
A bird perched on my shoulder, chirping a song, while I sat in the sun, eating strawberries. A fawn slowly emerged from the trees, approaching me so carefully. Her soft brown eyes met mine.
When she sank to the ground at my feet, I ran my fingers through her thick, plush fur, feeling the soft texture between my fingers.
This softened me. Calmed me. Grounded me.
Somewhere in the background, the real room went silent, but I was too lost in my peaceful one to notice.
Not until I opened my eyes and noticed nothing but the dark.
The door opened, and a slender beam of light came through.
I held in a breath so deep that my cheeks stretched wide when I made out someone entering the room.
“Are you ready, Blair?” a masked man asked.
I wasn’t, so I didn’t reply.
He crouched down beside me to unlock my ankle, and I rolled it once it was loose. The chain dropped against the ground with a loud clank.
When he offered his hand, I didn’t take it, so he thrust it closer.
Knowing I had no choice and not wanting to be in this room any longer, I grabbed it.
Another leather glove that felt rough against my palm.
He dropped my hand the moment I was on my feet, and I followed him out into a corridor that resembled a tunnel.
Crossing my arms, I tried my best to hide my cleavage while wishing I had an extra pair of hands to do the same with my ass, which was on full display.
The man walking alongside me wasn’t Enzo.
He was shorter and didn’t carry Enzo’s scent.
