But that didn’t deter him. His hand moved lower, toward my breast. I twisted away, but his knee pressed into my thigh, holding me in place. The pain was sharp and immediate.
I groaned in response, anger taking over. “Stop!”
“Look at you now, pathetic slut,” Renat sneered. “I’ll touch you however I like.”
His grip tightened, and I lashed out, trying to push him off. He swatted my hands away with ease. Pinning my wrists above my head, he squeezed my breast with his free hand. I whimpered, the sensation numbing me.
“Good,” he mocked, his grip tightening. “That’s the sound of an obedient whore.”
My chest burned with shame and pain. I wanted to scream, toclaw him off of me, but I couldn’t.
Tears blurred my eyes. “Please stop.”
Renat’s smirk only deepened. “Not until you tell me everything you know about Marco. How much did he tell you?”
“Nothing,” I gasped, struggling against his hold. But my strength was fading. The numbness spreading through me made it hard to focus. Despite the tears, he didn’t loosen his grip. I had no choice but to admit defeat. “Nothing.”
“You fucking know something.”
“No, I don’t.” I shook my head. “Trust me.”
A knock on the door interrupted us, and Renat turned, his irritation palpable. “Who told you to come in?” He released me and turned toward the intruder, his voice tight. “What?”
“The car is ready. You have a meeting.”
Renat cursed under his breath. “Cancel it.”
The man pressed on. “You scheduled it. It’s important.”
Renat swore again, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “Fine. Keep her here. I’ll be back in an hour.”
His gaze flicked to me, but I crawled away, curling into myself as he walked out the door. The room fell silent, but I stayed motionless, refusing to admit this was my life now.
Footsteps approached the bed, and my heart skipped a beat. I prepared for whatever assault this one had planned. But when I glanced at him, recognition set in. He was one of the men who walked around with Artur.
He met my gaze with a calculating look. “Sit up.”
My left thigh burned with pain as I tried to sit up. When I shifted, my dress pulled tight over my thighs, exposing the bruise left by Renat’s knee.
His eyes flickered to my injured leg before returning to my face, and his lips curled in a faint smirk. “You should learn to obey. Otherwise, this will get worse.”
Anger tasted bitter on my tongue, but I managed to whisper, “Ididn’t do anything.”
More tears threatened to spill, but I blinked them away. Our eyes locked for a brief moment, and for the first time, his expression faltered. His gaze dropped to my leg again, the memory of Renat’s violence still fresh in my body.
“You will die here,” he said, his tone matter-of-fact.
Pulling my knees to my chest, I closed my eyes and tried to block out the ache in my joints and the uncertainty gnawing at me.
Silence hung in the air, broken only by the distant echoes of footsteps outside. My mind drifted again to the image of Marco’s chef and the blood pooling on the floor. Artur took her life without mercy, and that same fate awaited me.
A scream tore from my throat when I felt hands slide under my thighs and another settle against my back. My eyes snapped open, and my pulse quickened.
“Shut up and close your eyes,” the new guy snapped.
His voice was cold, but he wasn’t hurting me. He was carrying me. I could feel the heat of his body, his broad chest rising and falling with each steady breath. I forced myself to look away from the intensity in his gaze and focused on the hard thrum of my pulse.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked.