25. Simone #2
“I wouldn’t do any of that,” I assure him. “You won’t get what you want.”
“Pain is a powerful motivator, Simone.” Sal’s smile is the same as I remember, only colder, more victorious now. “And I especially enjoy hurting beautiful women like you.”
"I'll never agree to marry you,” I spit out. “No matter what lies you tell or what you do.”
“You will,” Sal promises. “For instance, what if I tortured Tristan in front of you instead of killing him quickly? You’d agree to it to spare him that.”
“What makes you think I’d care?” I glare at him, and he laughs.
“You came running when you thought he was in danger, Simone. You were so easy . I can twist that knife whenever I want, now. All I need is him in my hands, and I could manipulate that like this.” Sal snaps his fingers. “I could use you to motivate him, and he’d walk right into my grasp.”
“I doubt it.” The words hurt as I say them. I really do doubt it. And I hate that I do, right now, when I could use that faith.
I wish things had been different between Tristan and me. Not just for myself right now, but so that we could have enjoyed what we have together before it all went to shit. We could have had so many good days, and I fought all of them. I fought him.
He’s an arrogant thief, but there are far worse men in the world. And he did save me.
I’ve just been too fucking proud to admit it.
“He’d come for you,” Sal says with confidence. “You’ll be my bargaining chip, if need be. And then I’ll use him to convince you.”
My jaw tightens. “You’re not going to scare me, Sal. I’m fucking sick and tired of being used by men who only want me for power. Fuck you.”
Sal snickers. “You will be soon enough. In the meantime, we have a problem that needs taking care of.”
The hairs prickle on the back of my neck. “What are you talking about?”
"Here's what's going to happen," Sal says, his voice matter-of-fact.
"You're going to marry me. You're going to help me take control of this territory.
And then you're going to be a good wife and give me sons of my own. Which means you can’t keep the child, Simone.
I'm not going to let you birth an heir for the man who stole everything from me.
" The cold smile returns. "I've already arranged for a doctor to come take care of that little problem. He should be here within the hour."
Fear lances through me like nothing I’ve ever known before, hot and sharp. I try to scramble to my feet, and Sal advances toward me, shoving me onto my back on the hard floor with a foot against my stomach. He presses the toe of his boot down, and I go still, my heart pounding so hard it hurts.
“You can’t hurt my baby,” I gasp. “You can’t?—”
Sal’s smile is evil as he looks down at me. “Agree to marry me right now, and I’ll think about it.”
“I’ll kill you,” I hiss. I start to squirm against my bonds again, I can’t help it. "I'll fucking kill you with my bare hands."
"Such language from such a refined young lady." Sal clicks his tongue disapprovingly. "Your father would be ashamed."
I want to say that my father would be ashamed of Sal, but I don’t know if that’s true any longer. My father wasn’t the man I believed he was before he died. I kick out at Sal instead of giving him a response, both feet slamming against the side of his leg and making him stumble slightly.
"Feisty.” Sal chuckles, regaining his balance. "I like that. It'll make breaking you so much more satisfying."
I try to kick him again, but with my ankles bound, I can't get good leverage. He grabs me by the shoulders and shoves me back against the wall. My head smacks against the concrete, and stars explode across my vision.
"Enough," he snarls, and there's real anger in his voice now. "I tried to be reasonable. I tried to be civilized. But if you want to do this the hard way, that's fine with me."
Sal bends down, grabbing me by my wrists and hauling me upright. “Let’s go,” he snaps. “We have a doctor’s appointment to get to.”
I struggle as he drags me toward the door, fighting him every step of the way.
Sal shoves me through the door, and I see four men waiting on the other side, hard-faced and silent, all in black fatigues.
They surround me, one of them tying a gag over my mouth as they shove me down a hallway toward another room.
Sal follows behind, and I twist my head around to try to see what he’s doing, but I can’t get a good look at him before I’m shoved forward again, another guard dragging me along the tiled floors.
I let out a muffled scream when they drag me into a bedroom, forgetting my promise to myself to be quiet and unflappable through all of this. All thoughts of appearing strong flee my head as I’m shoved down onto the bed, Sal on one side of the guards, directing them to handcuff me to the bed.
“Hands and feet,” he orders. “Cut her clothes away. The doctor will be here shortly.”
The men move to obey, and I writhe and fight, but it’s no use. They’re stronger, and with four of them, there’s nothing I can do. Nothing except twist and scratch and kick and finally try to bite as they cuff me to the bed, one of them pulling out a hunting knife to start cutting my clothing away.
“Better lie still,” the man growls. “Or else I might cut something that isn’t cloth.”
“Don’t harm her,” Sal orders. “Just get her ready for the doctor.”
The man looks disappointed that he can’t pretend that the knife slipped. That expression on his face makes my blood run cold as he starts to cut, shredding my clothes until I’m left naked and trembling on the bed. The air conditioning makes the room feel like ice, or maybe it’s just shock.
“Please,” I gasp, looking at Sal. I’m beyond pride now, beyond not begging. “Please don’t hurt my baby. I’ll convince Tristan to give you the territory. I’ll do anything. Just don’t?—”
“Keeping that bastard was never an option,” Sal says flatly. “As for the rest, we’ll talk later, Simone. Right now, you have an appointment to keep.”
He steps back, and I see a man walk into the room, elderly and thin, dressed in civilian clothing. He’s carrying a bag, and I shrink back, knowing instinctively this is a man I should fear.
This is the man who is going to take my child away from me.
And unless Tristan gets here very soon, there’s nothing I can do to stop it.