Page 8

I deserve answers.

Chuckling in a deep tone, Dante shook his head, dragging a hand through his hair. “Let's go.”

“Answer me! Did Remo tell you to do this?!” My fingers dug into my palms, the nails burying so deep I felt the skin pop.

“Alright, looks like we're doing this the hard way.” Shoving his gun into the trim of his pants, he lunged forward, scooping his arms around my waist, and slinging me over his shoulder. “If you can't follow directions, then we'll do this my way.”

I tried to fight him, kicking my legs and pounding my fists against his back. But it did nothing. There wasn't a damn flinch in his stride. He was a wall of hardened rock, thick muscles built his long back, strong arms wrapped around my hips, holding me in place.

“Fuck you! Fuck this! Let me go!” Tossing my body around, I did everything I could to try and get him to drop me.

I didn't care if I landed face first on the ground, breaking teeth, and crushing my eye sockets. I wanted to be as far away from him and from this place as I could get.

Squeezing me tighter, Dante kept his pace long and firm. “Scream all you want, no one is going to hear you.” His voice was laced in humor and threat, teasing my freedom.

Red glazed my insides, turning any fear I had into a torture chamber of pure rage.

Fuck him!

“You're going to pay for this! You're fucking dead!” Squirming and shrieking, I jostled my body across his shoulder, scratching and clawing at any piece of him my hands could touch. “Do you know who I am?”

Dante didn't say a word, the only sound he made was a deep, hollow laugh.

My threats weren't felt, they weren't feared. He wasn't afraid of me.

And why would he be?

I was a woman who was owned, who wasn't loved. I was a slave, and not worth the life I had been given.

Lifting my head, I wanted to look and see where I was. Maybe it was somewhere I'd recognize, someplace I'd be able to catch my bearings and know which way to run if I had the chance.

I wasn't giving up on the idea of getting away. He might be holding me now, but he couldn't hold me forever.

The hall was dark, the air still thick and soiled with dust. The walls were dirty and made of worn down brick, the floor a mirror image of the room we had just left.

Passing an open doorway, my eyes scanned inside, and a scream caught the back of my throat. The room was covered in plastic, dimly lit and shadowed. But I knew what I saw.

And it was something I couldn't un-see.

Vince was hovering over Tony's body, holding a hand saw. Tony had gone from a monster to an arm-less torso.

The scream I held onto faded away, my stomach twisting and taking its place making me gag.

“You might want to shut your eyes again.”

“You're fucking sick, just like your asshole friends.” Covering my lips, I forced my stomach to steady. I wasn't sure how long these men had me, but I didn't want to lose what was left in my stomach all over Dante's back.

“No, that's where you're wrong. I'm nothing like them. I'm the one you should be afraid of.” The way he said it sent chills up my spine.

That wasn't a threat, or some weak excuse to instill fear inside me. His statement was spoken with truth, with certainty.

“Why are you doing this?” Speaking into his back, I let my body go limp. Dante didn't answer. I guess I wasn't privy to that information. “If you just let me go I won't say anything.”

“Shut up.”

“I promise, I won't. Please, just let me go.” I had no clue what he was planning to do with me, or where he was taking me.

Why the fuck am I here?