I turn the corner and find the kitchen, but the devil himself is sitting at the table with a mug in his hand. He looks up and eyes me for a long second before looking back down at his paper.
“You didn’t eat breakfast,” he says without looking back at me.
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“And now you are.”
“No.” He clears his throat and sets the paper on the table next to his mug before looking back up at me.
“You will eat, Mylah. Starving yourself is only hurting you.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should care. You need nourishment. Your body needs something in it when training begins.”
“You think I’m going to do anything you tell me to do?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. I should watch my mouth after what I saw in the gym but I don’t. I push him. I want him to break. I want to see it. I want to see what I’m up against.
Padgett clears his throat before standing to his feet and walking toward me. My heart beats faster the closer he comes. I try to remain calm, but I’m not doing so well. Once he’s right in front of me, I raise my head high and stare back at him. His lips curl into a smile before his hand swoops up and wraps around my throat. I open my mouth ready to scream, but nothing comes out. I look to the left at the woman cooking, but she ignores what’s happening beside her.
“Look all you want, Mylah. They won’t help you.” I reach up and claw at his arms as he pulls his belt free from his slacks. He finally releases the hold he has on me before spinning mearound and slamming me against the counter. I cry out from the pain but he doesn’t care. He rips my shirt down the back so that my skin is exposed to him. I fight him. I buck against him and thrash around so that he has to use two hands to hold me down. There’s no way in hell that I’ll let him do this without a fight.
“Hector!” I hear him call out to someone. I’m still fighting against his hold when two men step into the room. One comes for my arms, tugging them above my head, while the other drops down and grabs my legs. I can’t move. I can’t fucking move. Tears roll down my cheeks as I try to maintain some sense of control but I don’t have any. I’m at his mercy.
Then I hear it. The sound of his belt snapping against my flesh, and I scream. They don’t care. They let me scream as I’m held in place and beaten with a belt. It lashes against my flesh, a burning pain shooting through me with each one. I lose count of how many times I’m hit, but I know I can’t scream anymore. My throat is sore, and my face is covered in my own tears when my arms are released. They fall to my sides, and as soon as my legs are let go of, I fall to the floor in a heap of tears.
“I warned you that you wouldn’t like the punishment. It’s simple, really, Mylah. Follow the rules, and things like this won’t happen to you.”
“F-fuck you,” I manage to say. His hand knots in the back of my hair as he tugs me to my feet. He’s in my face, his breath dancing over my skin.
“Is that what it will take to break you? Me fucking you? I can arrange that as well, Mylah. In fact, I could do it right here and now,” he says, kicking my feet apart so that my legs are spread. “Or maybe you’d like one of my men to do it. They can get a little rough if you know what I mean.” Bile burns the back ofmy throat as I think about any of them touching me. One of his hands disappears and finds its way to my thigh. I gag on the vomit in my throat as he slides his hand up my thigh and closer to my private place.
“Do your worst,” I hiss at him. I don’t want any of them touching me, but if this is how it’s going to be, so be it. I will fight them every second of every day until I get out of here.
“You think you’re so strong, Mylah. The blood on your back says otherwise,” he whispers near my ear.
“It’s only skin deep.”
“For now.” With that, he pulls away from me and releases the hold he had on my hair. I suck air into my lungs, needing to get myself together. Padgett walks back over and sits down in his chair, lifting his mug to his lips while the other guys stand next to me, awaiting orders.
“Take her downstairs,” Padgett says.
“Is she ready for that?” one of the men asks him. What the hell is downstairs?
“I didn’t ask for your input, did I? Take her downstairs,” he orders once more. The man doesn’t say a word as he grabs me and tugs me along with him. I stumble over my own feet trying to keep up with him as he drags me through the living room to a door I hadn’t noticed before.
The door opens, and my heart sinks in my chest. I don’t know what’s down there. I don’t know what’s about to happen to me. Inside, I cringe as I’m led down the steps and into a dark basement. The man reaches over and flicks on the light, and myjaw drops. There’s a girl chained to the wall across the room, sitting on the floor naked. She doesn’t even look up at us.
“What did you do to her?” I ask softly. The man jerks me in the other direction before shoving me down on a piece of wood that resembles a table of sorts. I try to fight him, but the other man holds me down. The rest of my clothes are ripped off before I’m handcuffed to the table. I kick my feet before they grab a hold of those too and cuff me to the table. I’m naked, vulnerable. I’m open for anyone to see. Shame and embarrassment wash over me, but I quickly hold back the tears. I can’t let them break me. I repeat those words in my head when I hear the men stomping back up the steps.
Chapter 17
Tide
I’ve tried working out, like I did in prison. I hit the heavy bag, trying to focus on something, anything else, but I fail. Badly.
I blow out a breath and turn around, sitting on a piece of the gym equipment, resting my head in my hands. This is all a fucking mess. Mystic is doing his best to track her down, but we found out that the asshole who bought her sells them off quickly, too. Mystic is doing what he can to figure this all out for us. Doesn’t change the facts. I’m still unsettled and that isn’t a good thing for anyone. I come unhinged and lose my shit quickly when I get like this.
“Pop?” I hear Christian’s voice before he steps into the gym. I haven’t seen him in days, and it makes me wonder where he thinks Mylah is.
