The Heir (The King Dynasty #1)

30. Pain

Chapter thirty

Pain

One Month Later

" S he won't break." I hear the guard say to Claudio, who is standing just outside the door.

I work to roll on the little makeshift pallet on the floor, turning onto my right side and facing the wall, exposing my back to him in what I know is a weak attempt to protect the baby that's luckily still alive inside my womb. I already know what's coming when he walks through that door.

Pain.

It's all I've experienced for I don't know how long because there's no clock down here. No window with sunshine to mark the passing days. The seconds have crawled by in my mind at an abhorrently slow pace, making me feel as if I could have been here for a year, but in reality it's only been a matter of a handful of weeks or so I'm sure.

I hope, anyways. My tummy would have grown more if I'd been in here for a great deal of time I would think.

I hear Claudio snap at the guard angrily but he can kick me to death for all I care at this point. I'm not marrying the drug lord he promised me to. I won't give him the satisfaction. And if mine and King's baby dies in this process well then better for us. I'd never stand for King's baby being subjected to this kind of life.

We'll go down together, me and my little bump. I've accepted it.

I miss my husband.

Hearing the heavy footsteps advance through the door I tighten my lips, clench my jaw and refuse to roll back over to see who it is. The footsteps get louder and louder until they stop. My body suddenly jerks as a sharp blast of pain reverberates through my spine, layered on top of the pain already there, making me so dizzy I break out into a full sweat at just the one contact.

"Ahhhh!" I scream, arching hard. Gritting my teeth, I attempt to yank against the bindings around my wrists.

Based on the pain of the boot grinding against my back, it's him . Claudio. My fucking piece of shit sperm donor. He's the only one that has money and status worth anything to lose in this scenario, and he's beating me like it too.

"You will," kick, "fucking," kick, "marry hiiiimmmm!" Claudio roars, continuing to kick me over and over, laying into my back so hard I feel my bladder give out. I eventually stop screaming, my voice giving out next. Hearing and feeling painful thump after thump I sag, settling into the thin blanket of the pallet and force my mind elsewhere. Disassociating.

"You fucking bitch."

Thump.

"I promised you, and I always give my word no matter what!"

Thump.

"Nasty whore. Can't even hold your piss in, you gross piece of shit. I'm glad I didn't stick around to raise you. Look at you, you're worthless!"

Thump.

My body jerks repeatedly. The small divots and marks in the stone wall bounce back and forth along with cycling between fading away, blurring, and just downright disappearing. Tears pour in a steady stream out of my eyes, and I'm busy praying for the sweet bliss of nothingness when his next words chill me to the bone and force me back to the present with a sickening, ironic thump of finality.

I can't believe I share DNA with this monster.

I tighten my lips, refusing to respond in anyway.

The wet blanket beneath me drives home the point that I am truly captured. He hasn't let me take a shower since I've been here, and I've been relieving myself in a bucket in the corner of the room that only gets changed every other day. I'm filthy. My hair is horrendously matted, and I know I stink, because every time that door opens for Claudio to beat me, or for my daily sandwich, the brief reprieve from the stench drives home how desolate the situation I'm in is.

If by some miracle I am ever let out of here, I will never eat another fucking sandwich again in my life.

Claudio bends down into my eyesight, and I stare back at him defiantly. His dull red hair shines in the florescent lights of this dank basement, highlighting the lines in his face that betray his rough lifestyle. "You don't want to comply?" He sneers at me. "Fine. I'll get your sister Melody, and then her ass can marry Lucious Scogmiligio. I'll dig your grave personally after I make you watch her marry him first. "

I stare at the wall, still not saying anything because I'm sure by now both my mother and Melody have been tucked safely away. King wouldn't have abandoned them just because I'm no longer in the picture. No, he's not that kind of man.

They're safe. My only hope right now is to die, and quickly, because I don't want to do this much longer. I squeeze my eyes shut praying that when it finally happens it's not slow.

To my horror I let out a weak groan as Claudio snatches me up by my hair, and forcibly turns my head to face him. I stare into his eyes defiantly as his arm jerks hard against me.

"Mmmhhh." I bite my lip and jerk, feeling a white-hot pain burst into my abdomen.

There, as we stare into each other's eyes, Claudio stabs me right in my lower stomach.

"No," I whisper, hearing it turn into screeching as he digs it deeper. My only thought is of my baby, and King.

Oh my love…

His eyes emit pure evil as he yanks the knife out. The pain rolls over and through me in red-hot waves unlike anything I've ever felt before. My eyes glaze over as his arm jerks once more, and a tear falls from my eyes as the knife sink into another spot in my abdomen, as well as the metallic taste of blood comes up my mouth.

This is it. It's not fast like I hoped.

"I will meet you in hell, you fucker," I whisper to him, feeling blood bubble over my mouth and down my chin. "But until then, I'm going to haunt your ass from the grave-"

Just then the door bursts open, startling both of us so bad that Claudio releases me to fall back on the floor straight onto my bound arms, causing me to roll slightly. Crying out, I look down seeing the handle of the knife stuck in me .

"Maniotti! What the hell are you doing?" A medium sized, six-foot tall, brown-haired man comes in and pauses in the doorway. His eyes narrow at the sight of me laying on the floor the way I am, and I meet his stunned stare boldly.

Claudio's face turns beet red at the sight of him. "Timothy, uh, Sir -Mr. Scognamiglio- I'm doing my best to try and get her to comply, but she just won't-"

The man holds up his hand and Claudio snaps his mouth shut. "Gypsy!" Mr. Scognamiglio snaps. "We found her. See to cleaning Mrs. King up please."

Mrs. King? My heart pounds as hope swells inside of me, and my eyes fill with tears at the prospect I could be rescued.

I gasp on the pallet, trying to maneuver off my wrists when Mr. Scognamiglio's eyes meet mine and he tilts his head. "Mrs. King, I am so sorry for how you've been treated. Had I known," he throws Claudio a filthy look, "this would never have been allowed to occur. You think I would have wanted my future bride to be tortured? Stabbed like that to force her into marrying me?"

A short, blonde woman steps through the door and walks towards me, her steps hurrying as she sees the state I'm in. I squirm, unsure of what's happening.

Am I still kidnapped or are these people helping me?

Mr. Scognamiglio puts his phone to his ear, but my vision is starting to waiver as whoever Gypsy is, yells out for two people to help her.

"Joaquin, I've got her, you can come down," Mr. Scognamiglio says. His tone is resigned, not offering me a hint of reassurance that I'm going to make it through this. I fight off the next wave of dizziness, wanting with everything inside me to stay conscious so I know what' s going on.

"What the fuck is going on?" Claudio yells, his face turns bright red once more with how irate he is, but he's being ignored by the others in the room.

Gypsy doesn't spare him a minute's glance.

She lowers beside me with confidence. Past her, two large men come behind her with a stretcher. As they lay it down next to me I'm distracted by Gypsy's hands working the bindings around my wrists. There's a hard tugging, then I'm free for the first time in I don't know how long. My arms jerk painfully to my front and black spots dot my vision as the room spins.

It hurts.

I scream, bile rises in my throat at the feeling of my joints being pulled uncomfortably.

It's almost worse than being stabbed. I look down my body, feeling my face break out in a fresh coat of sweat as Gypsy works to put pressure on the first stab wound, making me suck air through my teeth. Warm blood coats my pelvis and my thigh, making my ratted dress mat against me uncomfortably.

"No," I whimper, "Oh God, please no." I cry as I see her try and move my clothes around the knife.

Her warm blue eyes meet mine, turning soft. "Don't worry, Mrs. King. I won't pull it out. It's best to leave it until the doctor can handle it," she says kindly.

I nod frantically. "Yes, yes thank you. Thank you." I say hoarsely, my voice cracking.

I flinch as I hear a sound, forcing my gaze from Gypsy's to see Claudio slapping the wall. "We had an agreement!" Claudio yells at Mr. Scognamiglio, pointing a finger at him.

Mr. Scognamiglio's eyes turn downright evil, and I swallow thickly against the blood in my mouth as I'm forced into another wave of terror that I'm not being let go after all. I'd rather die than live alongside whatever I just saw flash in his eyes. "No, not like this we didn't," he says. "And besides, you didn't tell me who her husband is. Do you know what the fuck you've done? The bullshit you've put me and my family in? I'd kill you myself, but there's someone else who requires his pound of flesh that's much more pressing than me I fear."

Claudio is still yelling at whoever this Mr. Scognamiglio is, when I hear the door bang against the wall just as the two men are lifting me on the stretcher. My head lolls over just as a tall, olive skinned man with a slight crooked nose and dark hair walks into the room, and as he turns to clasp arms with Mr. Scognamiglio, I see my husband come in the room behind him.

"King," I whisper.

My heart pounds as he gets his first look at me.

I really want to die now. I do not want him to see me like this. His eyes widen when they meet mine, and everything stops. Claudio stops yelling, Gypsy stops fussing over me, and the men stop strapping me to the stretcher.

I see it unfold in slow motion. His eyes lock with mine, widening first before his brow settles into a furrow. His gaze rakes slowly down my body until they reach the knife handle protruding out of my belly then freezes. It's almost as if time itself crawls to a stop, and its the most surreal sensation.

His body language changes from one of relief to one that I pray I never, and I mean never, see again.

His pupils dilate, his lips pull back and he turns, seeing Claudio who's standing there with his mouth set in a tight line and his brow is lowered. Much like when he attacked Christopher, King moves silently. His body vaults across the small space and I hear a sickening crack as he collides with Claudio before they both bounce off the wall with a loud yell.

King twists them in midair so that Claudio falls on his back, and for the next however long, I am treated to the sight of my husband killing my father.

It's so good that I wave a hand away when the men go to lift up the stretcher to walk me out the door. "No, I need to see," I say weakly. "Just don't touch the kn-knife."

Oh God it hurts so bad, but I need to see this.

"But ma'am," Gypsy implores. "We need to take care of you." Laying a hand on my forehead, she gets her face right in front of me, but I crane my neck to see around her.

"Move!" I snap. "I want to see him fucking die!"

Gypsy jumps back at the fierceness of my scream, however, I'm unconcerned. I look beyond her, watching justice be served nice and perfect by my husband.

It's a bit before King stops, but eventually he raises up to his feet. His chest heaves with exertion, and I can't even begin to care that his body and hands are covered with blood. Claudio twitches on the floor and as King gets up, looking down at him he spits on him. Black surrounds my vision, making everything hazy. I loll my head on the stretcher, moaning.

"I'm keeping your ass alive for now," he says, snapping his fingers at the other men who point and have Claudio removed from the room. They hoist him by his ankles and drag him out the door. The sound of his head hitting every step barely does anything to make me feel better about my situation.

"King," I whimper, tears well in my eyes making him momentarily blurry .

Snapping out of it, his eyes lock on mine again. "Baby!" His voice is hoarse.

The desperation in his tone causes me to sob. My fingers clench as I jerk my wrists against the ties holding me down to the stretcher to keep me from grabbing at my wounds.

He runs over to me, reaching out for my face before drawing to a dead stop about a foot away. His hands raise and then he looks at them with a rather distraught expression. Pain, anger, and worry are etched in his face as he turns his eyes back to me.

"I need- get me something!" he shouts at the others in the room.

"Uhm, Hendrix there's nothing here clean…there's no running water," Mr. Scognamiglio says softly from where he stands to the side of the door against the wall, his face tight in a pinched expression. I can't blame him; it smells foul in here.

I'm foul; I haven't touched clean water since I've been taken.

King's eyes roam the tiny room, before seeing the bucket I've been forced to use as a toilet. Time crawls to a stop as the other men and Gypsy see it too.

"Oh my God," Gypsy whispers, breaking the silence. "You poor, poor girl."

I shake my head at her, feeling my teeth chatter with anger, pain… sickness even. But I don't want pity at the moment. I don't need that, not right now anyway. I want my husband, need to know he's okay.

King loses it, leaping forward to snatch the gun out of Gustavo's hand and points it directly at Mr. Scognamiglio's head. "Did you know about this? Did you know what he was doing to her? How he was treating my wife?" he says, deadly quiet.

Mr. Scognamiglio holds up a hand to halt his guard who stepped into a room with a gun trained on King. My eyes go wide .

"No, please!" I plead, but what little strength I had was taken away at how loudly I screamed at Gypsy to move so I can watch Claudio be murdered. My vision begins to waiver and my head lolls. "Baby…" I whisper.

Gypsy turns her face to look at me. "What?"

"The… baby… help my baby."

Gypsy's eyes flit down to my stomach before widening in understanding. "Go!" she shouts, standing up hastily. "She's pregnant! Get her up and to the ambulance now!"

The men raise me off the floor, and for a second my world spins and I turn my head, vomiting pass the stretcher and onto the floor. The adrenaline is gone now, and the pain is washing over me in waves. I tremble, feeling my head begin to pound almost unbearably.

My action apparently causes everyone to snap out of it, because suddenly everyone is moving.

"Gustavo, find me some clean water. I can't touch her like this with that- that man on me," King shouts as I speed by.

Everyone is moving in a rush of blurred hair, faces, and gesturing arms. I feel myself tilted, going up the stairs in small measured jerks. The sounds of the men's footsteps pounding on the stairs war with the pounding in my head, and I know it won't be too long before I pass out.

And let me tell you, I am ready. But I need to feel him first.

As we proceed down the hallway of what looks to be a run down house, the front door is open and I see an ambulance pulling into the drive. Beyond that is a wooded area, signifying we're in the country. There's a lurch as they haul me over a dead body that I recognize as the man who guarded the basement door and who brought my me daily sandwich .

"I'm coming, baby!" I hear King shout from the powder room off the hallway. "I'm just cleaning my hands for you real quick."

"Oh Goddd, you and your hands…" I gasp, rolling my eyes with difficulty. He's acting like I'm not covered in a month's worth of yuck and grime.

As I'm brought out into the fresh air and the sunlight which I haven't seen in so long it almost drove me insane, I feel myself succumbing to the blissfulness of unconsciousness. The last thing I feel before going under is King's hand slipping into mine, and his lips on my forehead.

"I'm here, baby. I got you."

Relief washes over me in waves. Keeping my eyes on him, I fight to stay conscious until I can't anymore and the blackness envelops me.