Page 46 of Breaking Sanity (Hell’s Asylum #1)

The girl was one of Carson’s claims, so you can imagine how fucked that was. He strung her up in the mess hall a week prior to her contract being up. Each day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, he would beat her with whatever weapon he got his hands on.

The first day, for breakfast, he repeatedly beat the girl’s shoulder with a rubber mallet.

First, starting off soft then quickly turned brutal until her shoulder eventually dislocated.

The skin was bruised, and the girl was whimpering in pain.

He sat and waited until the girls were close to finish eating when he took a knife and skinned the bruised flesh from her body.

Her screams made him smile and to keep that going he yanked her shoulder blade back into place.

Before lunch, he cauterized the skin around the wound so when you walked into the mess hall you couldn’t help but gag on the smell of burnt flesh.

Luckily, he let the girls eat in peace until again they were close to being finished.

That is when he took a meat tenderizer to the exposed muscle.

Then at dinner he raped the girl repeatedly.

It got more brutal with each day, and the girls were subjected to watch, because Baron wouldn’t let them starve.

Finally, when she was on the brink of death, he set her on fire, subjecting all of us to listen to her scream.

After witnessing that, I understood why he doesn’t get a lot of claims. It was after that week Shadow deleted that picture of her and shut himself off.

Not going to lie, I sent the picture to myself before he deleted it.

I needed a reminder of the good that was out there.

I did have to block out the thought of another man seeing her like that or on our first leave I would’ve kidnapped her myself.

Now, he can’t push her out even if he wanted to. I know that is why he didn’t want to be around her after what happened in Baron’s bedroom. Shadow thought if he only saw her here and there, he could pretend that he was hallucinating and that she wasn’t here.

Instead of that dumbass plan, Baron has him watching her almost 24/7.

He has no choice but to face the consequences of our decision.

Unlike Vaughn, Baron isn’t a total dictator and does give him a break so he can sleep, but the stubborn fucker doesn’t do that.

When he is supposed to be resting, he just works out at the gym here.

I think it’s him punishing himself for what is happening to her.

Shadow did try to make it up to her several times, but she didn’t take that very well.

Her shutting him out cuts him so deep that I am not sure even Shadow himself knows how to process those emotions.

Shadow never gets close to anyone besides us.

He doesn’t believe in the existence of romantic love.

In our society he is the one who handles all the dirty work. He was trained to torture people past the point of insanity to get what was needed. Unfortunately, feelings only get in the way and with The Underground you can’t have those.

Not to mention, what he witnessed with his mom when we were kids.

Before he was five, he saw what his dad subjected his mom to.

Although, his dad claimed up and down he loved his wife.

He watched his mom try to push through it but ultimately that ended about a year after we were taken for training.

I don’t remember a lot about his mom, but I do remember she was a fighter and loved him dearly.

I think because of that, he has never had a real relationship with a woman.

Shadow kept it that way for a long time.

So, when Alley almost confessed that she loved him in that bathroom, it jolted him.

Despite his denial, Shadow has been in love with Alley since the first day he started stalking her, I think.

It just snowballed downhill the more he watched her.

It piqued my interest when I first heard about her from him.

He had only been tailing her for a month and wouldn’t shut up about how she jumped out of a moving fucking vehicle to get away from a guy she had been seeing.

Shadow told us everything in vivid detail about that night.

Then when I saw her at the cafe and Shadow said off limits, I was even more curious.

Naturally, when he talked to me about sharing her, I jumped at the fucking chance to do so.

He and I have shared our conquests in the past and never thought anymore of it.

I thought it was going to be the same when he invited me that night to that house.

I was completely wrong. The way he held her after he made his entrance was so tender and intimate.

Which is something he has never done before, and that’s when I knew he was fucked, but then again so was I.

“You need to sleep,” I say, removing my mask.

“I would if she wasn’t so hell bent on getting her self fucking killed.” He covers his mouth to yawn while glaring at the door.

“She has a guardian angel for a reason.”

“I’m pretty sure hers offed itself after two hours of trying to watch over her,” He chuckles.

“You are probably right.” I smile.

“We good,” he asks, pushing back his dark blonde hair.

“Yeah, we are good,” I answer, holding out my fist. We do our secret handshake that he created when we were kids.

Removing his phone from his pocket, he starts to scroll then hands it to me. It’s a text thread between him and Wolf.

Wolf: We are close to getting both of you out.

Shadow: How close?

Wolf: Soon.

Shadow: We need to pull Alley out.

Wolf: We can’t do that.

Shadow: And why the fuck not?

Wolf: You knew going into this that wasn’t an option. Contracts are to be respected

Shadow: Give me a fucking break. If that was true, then why the fuck are we here? Why did you take Micah?

Wolf: Don’t start, Shadow. I have kicked your ass before and I am more than willing to do it again.

Shadow: It won’t be just me that you will have to fight, fucker.

Wolf: You and Eagle say goodbye to Alessandra while you can.

I hand the phone back to him fuming. I get that Micah plays a big role in this organization and war going on, but this is ridiculous. Wolf is focused on her because he has been in love with her since they were fucking teens and that is one of the reasons we are fucking here.

She was contracted to be Baron’s wife, yet he stole her right before Baron graduated high school.

Wolf was never supposed to interfere, but he got distracted and fucked the whole system.

Putting her life in more danger than it would’ve been if she just stayed with Baron.

Yet, the fuckhead lectures us about not letting our feelings for Alley get in the way.

The man is a robotic fucking hypocrite at times.

If contracts are to be respected, then Micah should be married to Baron right now.

Not in this fucked up love triangle with him and Killer while hiding from the world just so she isn’t slaughtered on sight by her father’s organization.

“He’s fucking joking right,” I exclaim.

“Who’s joking,” Alley asks, popping her head out of the now open bathroom door.

“Shit,” Shadow mutters, immediately turning and putting his mask back on.

“It’s nothing to worry about, Baby Girl.”

“Sure,” she snorts, rolling her eyes. She moves to the small plastic dresser with her clothes. “Do you mind turning around?”

We both do as she asks, giving her a semblance of privacy.

After everything that has happened, privacy has truly been stripped away from her.

Not only with us constantly being here, but also with Baron and Gunner.

If they aren’t in the room with her, Nik comes in to gawk at her as well.

Mostly while she is sleeping, but that is only when she is in Baron’s room.

They are fucking creeps if you ask me. Yes, I realize the irony considering when we were on the outside we did the same.

As much as I would love to claim that’s different, it’s not.

“Can I ask you a question, Eagle,” she inquires over the shifting of clothes.

“Always,” I answer, feeling Shadow’s eyes boring a hole into my face.

“What’s your real name?”

“He’s not answering that,” Shadow snaps, turning back around. “We’ve been over this.”

“No, you told me you won’t tell me your name. Eagle has not said anything about not telling me. You can’t force your need for anonymity on him, jackass.” I try so hard not to laugh at the amount of attitude in her voice, or the fact that she is right.

“It’s Leonardo, Baby Girl, but call me Leo,” I answer, turning around to see her in a baggy shirt and booty shorts.

Her natural honey brown hair is finally showing now that the coffee color has grown out. The wet waves outline her plump face, and I swear I have never seen anything so sexy in my life. Well maybe when the shirt she was wearing was mine and there was nothing underneath.

“Like the ninja turtle?” She cocks her head, eyeing me.

“Yeah, like the ninja turtle,” I laugh because she didn’t go for Leonardo DiCaprio or Leo the lion as Emily liked to call me. No, my little nerd went straight for a crime fighting turtle.

“Well Leonardo,” she walks up to me holding out her hand. “I am Alessandra. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

I gently pick up her extended hand and lay a kiss in the center. Her smile beams bright when I use my hold to yank her into my chest. My lips ghost over hers as they slightly part and her minty breath grazes across my skin.

Fuck, I could take her right now. I could kiss her finally after years of dreaming about it. Instead, I settle for placing a kiss on her cheek before pulling away to look at her gorgeous face. Though I do notice the slight clench of her thighs.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Shadow mumbles. “We need to get moving.”

“Fine,” she pouts, backing away from me. Reluctantly, I put my mask back on and adjust it into place before opening the door.

“That was fucking risky,” Shadow says, moving into the hall and practically storming to the staircase.

“Leo,” she whispers and I start to walk beside her. “ I’m sorry. I don’t really hate you. My brain is so muddied with everything. It still is but I shouldn’t have done that to you and Shadow.”

“Alley, we know. You don’t need to apologize for how you feel.” I whisper back. I wish I could tell her everything while holding her to my chest.

“I promise I won’t tell anyone your name.”

“I know.”

“But how do I fix this,” she asks by gesturing between her and a retreating Shadow.

“Make it through this,” I answer honestly. “I’ll do my best to help you and tell you all I know, but I need you to survive.”

“I’m not sure that’s an option for me.” She bows her head as we reach the stairs.

Shadow holds the door open, and we pass through. There are no words exchanged as we take her to the day room. Once at the entrance, Alley wipes her tears and strolls in to join Annie and Piper on the couch. She has mastered putting her feelings aside to comfort others.

Shadow, turning quickly on his heel, makes a bee line to Baron’s office. I have to practically run to keep up with him and I stop him before he can go in.

“We can’t leave her,” I speak, my tone low.

“I know that,” he grits.

“Then what’s the plan,” I ask.

“I am not sure yet.” He calmly opens Baron’s door and steps in.