3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Aria
T he moment I feel the urge to pee, I know I’m in for a long night.
I try tugging at the rope around my wrists and ankles but it’s pointless. The tighter I pull, the tighter they become. I’m stuck here.
But I refuse to pee myself like a little girl. I never peed myself when I was twelve and kidnapped. I will not do it now.
The issue is that Finn’s been gone for hours, doing who knows what. The longer he’s gone, the more I start to wonder if I can actually hold it.
My black leggings are the only thing I have on that feel truly comfortable. Normally, I wear skirts and dresses but when I snuck out earlier in the night, I figured pants would be the safer option. I’m glad for them now.
But I won’t be glad if I pee in them.
This is so frustrating. A woman like me – kidnapped twice. The universe is mocking me. Making fun of my plight. What did I do to deserve this?
I’m bursting by the time Finn returns. I never thought I would be relieved to hear his heavy footsteps on the ground.
“Let me go,” I demand as he walks into the room with a smirk on his face.
“Now why would I do that?” He leans against the wall and crosses his arms, looking the picture of calm, cool, collected. Bastard.
“I have to use the bathroom.”
“So?”
I pause. He can’t be serious? “If you don’t untie me, I’ll pee in this bed.”
“So?”
“So? So do you actually want me to pee in this bed? I’ll ruin the mattress. I’ll ruin my pants.”
His eyes rake over my body. “Maybe that won’t be such a bad thing. You’d have to take your pants off to clean them.”
I scrunch up my nose and fight against my rope, which, of course, is pointless. “You are disgusting. You said you wouldn’t rape me.”
“I won’t.”
“But forcing me to get naked is ok? That’s still a form of assault, you know.”
“Not in my world, it isn’t. It’s either kill, fuck, or destroy. Getting naked is nothing.”
“Just let me go.” I don’t plead. I don’t sound weak. I make sure to infuse my voice with as much strength as I can muster.
He considers my words before he shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”
“I will not pee myself. You will not make a disgrace of me.”
“Then don’t pee yourself. But I imagine it will be hard to hold it after a while. You might not have a choice.”
This is a form of torture, I realize. Finn is trying to play mind games with me. Trying to test how far I’ll go. How far he’ll go.
“You’ll have to clean my clothes though. I doubt you’ll want me smelling like pee.”
“I don’t wash my clothes like a woman does.”
“Sexist much? How do you clean your clothes then?”
“I take them to the cleaners. They’re much better at getting blood stains out than I am. And I doubt you’ve ever done a chore in your entire life. You have a maid to clean your clothes.”
I scoff. That was beside the point.
“So pee, Aria.” The wicked glint in his eye makes my stomach churn. “Let’s see what will happen.”
“No.” I’m trying to stay strong but it’s getting harder and harder. My bladder can only handle so much.
He slowly approaches me like a lion approaches its prey. But I’m not in the wild. I don’t have the choice to run. I’m stuck here.
He places his hand on my stomach.
“Don’t touch me,” I hiss. “You said you wouldn’t touch me.”
“I said I wouldn’t rape you. I never said anything about not touching you.”
“Same thing.”
“Is it?”
“I’m not going to debate the morals and ethics of you touching me. Just don’t do it.” I buck and fight against the rope holding me down. Finn only stares down at me with amusement. This is all a game to him.
I finally stop since there’s no point.
That’s when Finn presses down with his hand. Right onto my stomach. Right over my bladder.
“Oh my god!” It’s the first time I’ve ever let myself sound truly panicked around him. “Stop. God, stop!”
“If you have to pee, Aria, then do it.”
“Please,” I whimper. I hate how weak I sound.
He eases off me and looks down with curious eyes. “Please? You’re finally begging me? Don’t go soft on me now, Aria. It’s disappointing.”
He presses back down onto my bladder and I can’t control it this time. I finally let my bladder go.
The hot pee that goes down my leg is the most disgusting and embarrassing feeling I’ve ever had. I’m a little girl all over again, wetting her bed, instead of a strong young woman.
Once I’m done, Finn removes his hand. “Whoops. Sorry about that.”
“I hate you!” I scream, bucking up towards him. Of course, I can’t reach him.
“That’s the fiery Aria I know.”
“You don’t know me. You know nothing about me. You’re a monster.”
“Just because I made you pee yourself? That doesn’t make me a monster.”
“Kidnapping me sure does,” I snap.
He shrugs. “You haven’t seen the truly monstrous things I’m capable of.”
“I’ve seen you murder innocent men for sport.”
“That’s not the worst thing I’ve ever done.”
I shiver. This man is like no one I’ve ever met before. So much anger and hate within him and for what? What does he get out of doing all of this?
“What’s the worst thing?” I ask, unable to stop myself.
“You’d have to ask my brother.” He chuckles to himself. “Now, let’s get you out of those dirty clothes.”
“No.”
“No? You mean you want to stay in pee-stained clothes?”
“If it’s between this or being naked, then yes. I’ll take this.”
Slowly, he shakes his head. “No. Like you said before, you’ll stink up the place. I need to wash the sheets. Well, you’ll wash the sheets.”
“What?”
“You’ve never done a chore in your life. Think of it as another form of punishment.”
“Punishment for what? What have I done to you to deserve this?”
“Nothing,” he says so simply, it’s shocking. He begins to untie the rope around my ankles before I can even process it happening. The moment my ankles are free, I kick my foot towards his face.
I manage to land a hit to Finn’s surprise. To my surprise as well.
Finn jerks back. “There’s that fight I like so much. It will make it more fun to break you this way.”
“You bastard.”
“I’m just doing what needs to be done. Dante needs to be punished for siding with Erik fucking Koslov. Don’t you hate the Russians? A proud Mafia girl like yourself. There’s no way you’re friends with them.”
“I’m not,” I snap. But then I think of Nadia, Dante’s wife. How kind she’s been to me over the years. How kind her sister, Anya, has been. Anya is the wife of Erik and if the wife of the highest ranking Bratva man can be kind to me, then I shouldn’t hate the Russians as much as I do.
Except, I don’t hate those ones. I just didn’t want to marry one. There’s a difference.
Finn unties my wrists and I immediately rake my fingers down his cheek. He hisses. The sight of the red welts on his skin makes me proud. I did that.
He grabs my wrists and hauls me off the bed. I fight against him but he’s just too strong for me. I’ll never win. I was never taught how to defend myself in a situation like this. I just thought I’d always have men to protect me.
So where are they now?
Finn manages to rip my pants down in the scuffle. My underwear too.
The moment I feel the cool air hit my bare backside, I know I’m fucked. I can’t be naked in front of Finn. Who knows what he’ll do to me now? He said he wouldn’t rape me but I don’t believe him. He’s an evil, evil man.
Finn steps back and eyes me over. “Something’s missing. Ah. Got it.” Then his hands grab the bottom of my shirt and rips it off me. When he goes for my bra, I fight him with everything I’ve got. He deftly unhooks my bra and tosses it to the ground.
“That bra cost me three hundred dollars, you know.”
His eyes rake over my naked body.
I will not cover myself in front of him, even though that’s all I want to do. I will be strong. I will not show weakness.
“Shitty investment if you ask me,” he murmurs.
“Those leggings cost me a thousand dollars. And now you made me ruin them.”
“You mean they cost your daddy a thousand dollars. You haven’t worked a day in your life.”
“So? My dad’s money is also my money. And what do you know of hard work?”
He gets right in my face but doesn’t touch me. The urge to lean back is strong but I stay rooted in place. “I’ve had to work the majority of my life to survive.”
“Somehow, I doubt that.”
His face screws up into pure anger. It makes me laugh. “My father abused my mother every day for years. Hit her until she fucking bled.”
My laughter dies off and I stare at Finn in horror. He could just be making this up to scare me. But there’s an honesty in his eyes that makes me believe him.
“So me and my brother killed him when we were old enough.”
I gasp.
“I worked hard to protect my mom,” he continues.
“I worked hard when I joined the Irish mob. I worked hard when I left it. I worked hard when I made my way in life doing what I’m good at: killing people.
And I worked hard to kidnap you. I’ve been working hard to take down Dante and Erik.
So talk to me like you know what hard work is.
Don’t act like I don’t know what it means. If anyone knows, it’s me.”
“So you kill people for a living,” I say with as much derision as I can. “Big whoop. You’re a coward who hides behind his gun. Who gets off on hurting women smaller and weaker than him. You are nothing.”
All the rage leaves him and he steps back with a smirk on his face. “No woman has ever spoken to me the way you do. I have to admit, it’s refreshing.”
“Because I don’t cower in fear? You are sick.”
“Come on.” He starts walking out of the room. “Grab your clothes. There’s a washing machine in this house somewhere.”
I know Finn will not touch my clothes and if I want the chance to wear them again, I’ll have to clean them myself so with a scrunch of my nose, I pick up my pee-stained clothes and follow after him.
We find the washer and dryer in a hall closet.
“There.” He nods at it. “Wash your clothes.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“Figure it out.”
I stare at the washing machine, acutely aware that I’m standing naked before Finn.
“Has any man seen you naked?” he asks.