Chapter 18
JADE
The following night, I go to bed alone, missing those arms around me. The chilly comforter feels even colder as I slip under it.
Closing my eyes, I envision the last time I saw Robby, his brilliant blue eyes so vivid you’d think the whole world was within them. Even with all the awful around us, seeing him in those short minutes every month, managed to make my whole world brighter.
I drift off, remembering him, remembering those fleeting moments we managed to smile together, and I never want to forget them. They’re the only pieces of him I have to cling to. The only things that submerge the nightmares that haunt me still.
I stand before them, naked, body trembling, hands covering my breasts, my knees clasped so hard, my bones ache. Tears drip down my cheeks as they stare at me, their gazes putrid, rotting thoughts filling them.
“This is our new one,” a man says, resting on the black velvet sofa, the sides of his hair peppered with gray as he swipes the side of my bruised cheek with his hardened knuckles. “I broke her in already.”
“Looks like you did more than that.” Another laughs, his face just as old as the one who beat me earlier when I fought back. But he took what he wanted anyway.
I wobble on my bare feet, still coming down from whatever they drugged me with.
“Does she dance?” the third man asks, staring past me at the pole centered in the room. “I’d pay to see that body work.”
“She’ll do whatever the hell we tell her,” the one who harmed me chimes in, his sinister tone like spikes across my flesh.
I swallow through the pain in my throat, where he held me while he threatened to kill me if I didn’t obey. He said his name was Faro, and that I was his now.
I tried to look for Kayla and Elsie when I was first brought into the cage where I’m held, but they’re not there. They would’ve answered when I called out for them, screaming so loud that the other women there told me to shut up. Where could they be? How will I ever find them?
“Dance, girl,” one barks, a snarl turning up his upper lip.
But I don’t. I can’t. My body is numb, shivering, my breathing so rapid, I’m afraid I’ll pass out.
“Is she a mute, Faro?” he continues. “You get us a fucking dummy?”
“Nah.” Faro laughs cruelly. “I think she needs some more encouragement.”
I gasp, shaking my head. “N-no. Please,” I stammer.
“Oh, look,” the third man says. “She speaks. It’s a damn miracle.”
They advance on me, rising off the sofa while I fall back a step, almost tripping, my hands uncovering what I didn’t want them to see.
They grin, their eyes on my breasts, the tears streaming down my face and I know what’s coming.
As they get to me, as their hands greedily gnaw at my skin, my cries turn to screams, and I don’t stop, not until they finish, leaving me on the floor like I’m discarded already.
ENZO
Sleeping beside her, it’s the soundest I’ve slept in forever. She does that, and I hope I do that for her too.
I arrive home after spending a couple of hours at Viper, taking care of some business Dante and I were supposed to handle together.
I admitted to liking Joelle, and I caught Dante off guard with that.
But I meant what I told him. If Joelle wanted me, I wouldn’t hesitate to make her mine, but she’s got too much holding her back.
If only I could shatter that wall and show her what’s behind it. Maybe then she’d stay.
The house is quiet as I enter, my men around the premises as always. Joelle must be asleep by now. The last time I saw her on my cell was while at the club, and she was curled up on the sofa watching television.
Taking the stairs quietly, I make it to the door of my bedroom, but instead of going in, I walk down until I get to hers. I want to sleep next to her again. Does she want me there too?
Gently, I turn the knob, hoping not to wake her. As I start to push open the door, her scream rips through the walls, so loud it causes my pulse to jump, my feet moving with alarm, some of my men already upstairs, marching toward us.
“Sir?” one says behind me. “Is everything good here?”
I find Joelle huddled up against the headboard, knees up to her chest, arms wrapped around them, her body trembling, her exhales loud.
I hold out a hand, indicating for my men to stay back. “It’s okay. Close the door.”
It clicks behind me as I continue toward her, but she doesn’t even look at me, those large, unblinking eyes staring ahead.
“Joelle, baby?”
I near the bed, almost at the foot.
“It’s Enzo. I’m here.”
When she doesn’t answer, I round the corner, sitting close, letting her feel my body heat. She keeps shuddering and her cheeks are glossy from tears.
How long has she been like this?
If I hadn’t been busy at the club, I would’ve done a better fucking job of watching her on the camera.
Did she have a nightmare about what that prick did to her? Were there others? How fucking many?
My jaw pulsates hard, teeth rattling at the thought of what could’ve been done to her.
My Joelle.
A hand inches toward her knee, barely touching at first, testing her reaction, slowly lowering it, clasping in reassurance. “I’m here, baby. I’m not gonna leave you.”
Her head slowly drifts toward my voice, as though she’s only just hearing it for the first time. She stares, but it’s as though she sees right through me, her lips shuddering like she wants to say something.
Fuck. I’m gonna kill them. If there are more. If they touched her. I’m gonna torture their fucking souls before I end them. Every single one.
Unable to stand another second of watching her so broken, I scoop her up into my arms, cradling her against me as we walk out the door.
Her breathing slows as she lays her head against my shoulder, and once we get to my bedroom, I reach a hand for the knob, quickly opening the door, before shutting it with my foot.
She shouldn’t be in that room. She should be in mine. And from now on, she will be. Yanking the comforter up, I place her down on the bed, tucking the blanket around her before resting a kiss on her forehead.
“You’re safe here,” I whisper. “No one can hurt you anymore.”
I slip out of my shoes, pulling the shirt from beneath my pants, unbuttoning it as I start to move. Suddenly, her palm clasps around my forearm, her pleading eyes peering up at me. I see her. Finally, she’s there, the clouds shrouding her eyes now fading.
“Stay,” she asks, her brows bowing.
“I’m not going anywhere, baby. Just gonna take this shirt off.”
“O-okay.” She nods with a tremor, dropping her hand away. I quickly snatch a T-shirt and some sweats from the drawer, changing into them.
Placing my nine on top of the nightstand, I get into the space beside her. Shifting closer, I curl one arm under her hip, dragging her body to mine.
“You wanna talk about it?” My fingers stroke up and down her arm.
“Not tonight.”
I kiss the back of her head.
“Could you just hold me? You’re the only one who makes…” The rest of the words die out, but I’ll do anything to hear them.
“Makes what, Joelle?”
She sighs. “Makes me feel safe.”
My inhale comes deep. Those words, they mean so much. “You'll always be safe with me.”
“I know that now.”
“Sleep, baby. No one is coming for you, not while I’m here.”
Her fingers slice through mine, curling into my palm. “Goodnight, Enzo.”
“Goodnight, baby girl.”
Once her chest drops with a steady rhythm, and she’s asleep, only then do I allow myself to go there too.