Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Susanna
It’s cold in the basement without clothes. There’s no blanket to cover myself with. Nothing to protect myself from the chill in the air.
It doesn’t take me long before I start shivering. Gabriel doesn’t come back down to give me food.
He also doesn’t come back down to get rid of the body. Blood has stained the floor and my flimsy mattress – the only thing I can call my own. The only thing to offer me some comfort in this terrible place.
The body begins to smell not long after Gabriel leaves and now that it’s been hours, it reeks down here.
I stare into the eyes of the dead man. The hitman that Luca sent after Gabriel. I was so close to being saved. If Gabriel were to die…
But then, does anyone know I’m down here? If Gabriel is dead, will I be stuck in this basement with a dead body until I become one myself?
I shudder at the thought. Luca doesn’t care for me.
He won’t save me. He only wants Gabriel dead to save Nina.
My sister was always nicer than me. More liked than me.
While I had more obvious charms, she had a sweetness to her that made me jealous.
Why couldn’t I be like that? Why did I always have to be so hard on the outside, pushing people away?
After our dad died when I was eleven, nothing made sense anymore. That’s when I became hard. When any sweetness in me disappeared and was replaced with a coldness that I used to protect myself. If I pushed people away, they couldn’t hurt me.
But that’s crazy now. Because I’ve been kidnapped. I’m probably going to die. It’s a miracle I haven’t been raped yet. Everything I’ve done in the past just seems… silly.
I move the mattress far away from the dead body to get some relief but the stench is strong in the air.
After what feels like forever, footsteps come down the basement stairs and Chip and the Scar Eyed man appear.
“Disgusting,” Chip says, throwing me a glance. It’s pointed and it takes everything in me to ignore it. I’m not in the mood right now to deal with these assholes.
“Let’s just clean up the body,” Scar Eye says.
“Issac, you’re seriously telling me that you don’t have an opinion on the girl? She’s naked right now.”
Issac sighs and gives me a look before turning back to the body. “Gabriel doesn’t want us messing with her. He told us to clean up the body so we’re going to do that. If you mess with her Chip, you’re fucking dead and you know it.”
Chip looks like he wants to argue but he grumbles and turns to the body, helping Issac stuff it into a suitcase. They have to bend the body at odd angles to get it to work but they manage. It’s almost like magic.
Almost.
If this wasn’t a nightmare.
Shivers overtake my body. Even wrapping my arms around myself isn’t doing anything.
“The girl is cold,” Issac comments.
“I can see that. But who cares? You just told me to leave her alone.”
“She might die down here. If she dies, then Gabriel can’t use her. He needs to give her something to keep her alive.”
“I’m right here,” I snap, unable to help myself. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not.”
“Just be quiet,” Chip snaps in return. “You’re such a bitch.”
“How am I bitch?” I push myself to my feet, not even caring they can see my entire naked body. “I was the one who was kidnapped. You’re the asshole here.”
Chip storms over to me and grabs my face. “I told you to be quiet.” I can’t stop the squeak of fear that leaves me. I’m trying to be strong but I can only pretend for so long.
“Chip,” Isaac warns. “Let her go. You don’t want Gabriel to see you like this.”
With a sneer in my direction, Chip lets me go.
“You’re not man enough to stand up to Gabriel?” I taunt.
That was the wrong thing to say.
Chip’s hand connects to my face before I can even react. I fall to my knees from the impact. “That’s what you get, bitch.” He walks over to Issac, who only stares at him. “What? Let’s just get this body out of here. It stinks down here.”
Both men leave.
I remain on my knees, shivering, my face on fire from Chip’s hand.
Time passes after that. How long, I’m not sure. I can only go by the light from outside the tiny window and even that isn’t reliable. I was never good in school. I can’t tell how many hours pass from just the sun.
But it feels like forever before Gabriel comes back into the basement.
He stops when he sees me on the floor, shivering like crazy. “Why aren’t you on the mattress?”
“It’s covered in blood,” I manage to say through my trembling.
He kneels down beside me and smirks, like he wants to taunt me, before his eyes settle on my face. “What’s this?” He places his fingers on my cheekbone from where Chip had hit me. “You have a bruise here. How did you get it? I know for a fact you didn’t have one before.”
I wrench away from him. “Like you care.”
“I don’t,” he says in a flat voice, removing his hand. “I just don’t want my merchandise to be ruined. You’re my bargaining chip, Susanna. If you’re dead, then anything can happen.”
“You really want to know? That asshole, Chip, hit me.”
“What?” His tone is deadly serious. It makes me hesitate on whether I should tell him or not but frankly, I hate Chip. If this gets him killed, then so be it.
“Yeah. Chip. He smacked me across the face.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Ask him.” A hard shiver wracks itself over my body.
“Your lips are turning blue.”
“Because it’s cold down here and I have no clothes. No thanks to you.”
“If you’re going to keep up with this attitude, then you can stay down here longer.”
“I might,” I say. It comes out more as a whisper, which I hate myself for.
“You won’t die.” That’s all he says before he walks away.
Gabriel
I find Chip on the couch in the shitty little living room.
Susanna is down in the basement, shivering her ass off, while this asshole is watching TV and scratching his balls.
A sudden surge of anger courses over me, though I’m not sure why.
Susanna doesn’t mean anything to me. It shouldn’t matter that Chip hit her. I should let it go.
But I can’t.
I grab Chip by the shirt and wrench him to his feet. The bowl of potato chips that had been in his lap falls to the ground. Issac, who’s in the kitchen, glances up with a shake of his head, but other than that, stays out of this. He knows better than to piss me off.
“You hit her?” I ask.
Fear dances across Chip’s eyes. “She had it coming.”
“I told you not to touch her.
“Why do you care? You kidnapped her!”
“I care because I am your boss. I told you not to touch her and yet you did it anyway. How is that supposed to make me feel? You don’t listen Chip.
This is a warning. If you fuck up again, I’m going to kill you.
And I am going to make it slow. And painful.
And you will regret it with everything inside of you until the moment you die. Is that understood?”
“Y-yes,” he stutters.
I shove him back onto the couch. “Good. Now stop pissing me off.”
The truth is, I need Chip, despite how much he annoys me. I lost a lot of power when Luca drove me out of town and I went into hiding. I need all the men I can get right now and Chip has nowhere else to go. Fear will keep him in line.
I stop by the basement door, thinking of Susanna down there, shivering her ass off. The reality is, she could die if she doesn’t get warm. But that doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.
“Issac, bring the girl some food,” I say. “I don’t need her starving.”
“Gotcha, boss,” he says like the good loyal follower he is.
I give Susanna one more thought before I walk away.
Susanna
Issac brings me a flimsy sandwich that I eat up without even thinking about. The baloney will be terrible for my figure but right now, I need all the strength I can get. Gabriel is keeping me alive for right now. I need to stay alive until I can escape.
While the sandwich helps, it doesn’t help the cold in my body.
Issac leaves without a word, not offering me any sort of compassion.
It’s nighttime when the food hurts my stomach and I can’t stop myself from throwing up. I feel cold and hot at the same time. My head is pounding. None of this is good. I’m sick with something. I’ll either die or I won’t have the strength to fight Gabriel and escape.
It’s almost a relief when Gabriel comes back down. At least it will help me forget how terrible I feel.
He stops when he sees my vomit on the ground. “I take it you didn’t like the food Issac gave you.”
I glare at him through my shivering.
For just a moment, his eyes soften, before they harden again. “You’re sick.”
“How could you tell?” I snap.
“Even now, you can’t help yourself.” He kneels beside me and sets his hand on my forehead. “You’re hot and sweaty like you have a fever.”
“Is that a problem for you? If I die?”
He frowns, contemplating what to do before he nods. “You can’t die on me. Come with me.”
I try to stand up but my body is too weak. I double over, crying out. With a sigh, Gabriel scoops me into his arms bridal style and carries me upstairs. It’s instantly warmer up here. I can’t help it – I sink into his arms because they feel nice. Nice and warm. No other reason.
He takes me into one of the bedrooms. It’s covered in dust but otherwise, it’s not bad. He wraps a blanket around me and rubs my arms, like he’s trying to bring the warmth back into me.
“What are you doing?” I ask, noticing how my voice slurs.
“You dying would be inconvenient for me. So I have to get you warmed up again. I’m pretty positive you have a fever. Lay down. Close your eyes.”
“You actually have a nice side to you?”
He chuckles. “It’s not nice. It’s being practical. Now, rest.”
I snuggle into the warm blanket and soak into the soft mattress and shut my eyes. Sleep takes me right away. The last thing on my mind is Gabriel, looking down at me, with a softness I never knew he possessed.
Gabriel
“What are you doing?” Chip asks, storming over to me after I leave Susanna in the bedroom.
“I can’t let her die. She wasn’t doing well.”
“So you gave her a cushy bed to sleep on? That’s not fair. Besides, that’s my room I’ve been staying in since you insist we remain in this shithole.”
“Do I look like I care, Chip? Need I remind you what I said I’d do to you if you pissed me off more?”
He averts his gaze. “I just think you don’t have to give her a room.”
“She can’t die. Simple as that. This will get her better and then I can use her against Luca. Nothing more. So drop this, Chip.”
I walk past him but before I leave the house, I glance towards the bedroom door, and all I can think about is how vulnerable Susanna had looked.
And how it had made me feel protective over someone for the first time in my life.