Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
Emilia
C racking open one eye, I wince at the pain in the back of my head as I peer down at my legs. Fucking hell, these bastards just love to knock people out with their big guns. Must be compensating for something , I think to myself.
The humor leaves my body as quickly as it came as I go to move my arms and realize I’m tied down with rope around my chest, wrists, and ankles.
“Ah, ah, ah, principessa . You’re not going anywhere anytime soon—struggling is useless here.”
Hearing the one voice I least expected to find here, I finally lift my head and stare into the eyes of betrayal.
“Fuck you, Lorenzo. Why did you do it? My parents, my fucking parents, Lorenzo! You killed them. What the fuck did the Romanis offer you that was so good you had to betray the only people that actually gave a fuck about you?”
“Ahhh, but that’s where you’re wrong, Em. They didn’t care about their lap dogs. And that was all I was ever going to be to them. I heard your mother and father talking one night, how Matteo could take over the dynasty should you ever want to get out of the business. They had a backup plan, one that didn’t involve me,” he spits out, his fists clenching at his side as his jaw feathers. “They said I would need to be replaced, that my age was making me a hindrance—a liability they said.”
“FUCKING REPLACED, EMILIA,” he shouts. “LIKE I WAS NOTHING!”
He continues to pace the concrete room, but then stops abruptly, tugging a hand through his hair as he stops in front of me. The Lorenzo that I knew was always stoic and silent; to see this rageful person in front of me is turning my world upside down.
“And that is where the Romanis come in, principessa .” He bends down and tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear before I can whip my head away from his grimy hands. He strides away, once again pacing in front of me.
“Anthony is offering a seat at his table, so to speak. I’m not just some guard dog anymore, Em.”
Glaring at him with the utmost amount of hate in my eyes, I spit at his feet, my lip curling in disgust. “And what do you call this? Bringing me in here, doing his dirty work? Looks like a lap dog to me,” I say, sneering at him as he moves quickly in front of me, backhanding me so hard my head whips to the side, and I feel a trickle of blood running down my cheek.
I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of my chest, hysteria dancing along the edges of my mind. These fucking men, thinking they own the world and the women in it. That they can just take and take without any consequences. Well, fuck that.
“ Eres un pendejo , Lorenzo” I say, more laughter causing my body to shake in the chair. (You’re a dickhead.) “I hope you burn with the lot of them.”
“You mean, like your parents burned up in that house? Their bodies nothing but ash?”
I scream, my rage and grief turning my vision red. “Fuck you!”
He cocks his head to the side, seeming to contemplate his next words very carefully.
“You know, principessa , I was sent in here to soften you up, make you pliant for Anthony. But that doesn’t look like it’s happening. Unfortunately for you, that means you get my friend Vincent”—he looks away toward the door as it swings open—“he loves to play with pretty little dolls like yourself.”
Lorenzo leaves the room, whispering something in Vincent’s ear before he makes his exit.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the royal bitch that has all the men drooling for a piece of ass,” Vincent says, circling where I’m held in the chair, unable to do anything but move my legs.
“Yeah, you’re pretty to look at, but I’ve seen bigger tits. Nice tight body, though. Bet your pussy would squeeze my dick real good.”
I spit at his feet, disgust plain to see on my face. Vincent is grossly overweight but tall, and he looks like he uses his shirt as a napkin and hasn’t showered in a week.
“Ahh, the princess has some fire to her, huh? Good, a lot of us men like our women to have some fight in them. Making it easy is too boring.”
Vincent stops his circling to stand at my back. I don’t give him the satisfaction of trying to keep him in my sights, however. I know I’m at a gross disadvantage. My only hope is that James and Kayden figure this out with Franklin and bring in the big guns. Until then, I just need to survive. I’ll take whatever they give, I just need to make it out alive . I repeat this over and over in my head, and it still sickens me when I feel his grubby hand reach around and grab a handful of my breast, pinching my nipple to the point of pain.
“Fuck, these tits are still nice, even if they are smaller than what I normally like,” he says, speaking to himself. “You like that, princess?”
I hiss out a breath when he squeezes even harder, the pain sending warning signals to my brain. I jerk my body to the side in the hopes of throwing his hand off me, but it does nothing but piss him off.
“I like it as much as I like being tied to this chair, asshat,” I spit at him, my hatred rolling off me in waves.
My head is yanked back by my hair, and I clench my jaw through the pain. This fucker definitely pulled out some of my hair, fucking pendejo . Head pulled back, I can see Vincent leaned over my face, reveling in my pain.
“Ahhh, princess, we are just getting started.”
He abruptly lets go of my hair, and my head jerks forward, and this time I do look left and right, trying to keep him in my sights. He quickly walks around to my front and takes a length of rope out of his back pocket, looking at me with a dark promise.
I knew what I was getting myself into when I gave myself up. I’ve seen the horrors that all the women have had to endure, but it does nothing to staunch the fear that is coursing through my body right this second now that I’m living it. I repeat over and over “ just make it out alive, James will get me out alive” until it’s a mantra in my head that I cling to. It’s all I have to cling to…
Pulled from my thoughts, Vincent kneels down and grabs my feet which are tied together at my ankles and slowly undoes the knot. Grabbing my left ankle, he jerks my legs apart and starts tying my ankle to the leg of the chair. I know he means to get my legs apart for whatever sick task he wants to achieve, so I kick out with my right foot, catching him square in the chest, sending him sprawling onto his ass. Huffing from exertion, I fight against the ropes but it’s useless, all it does is cause the rope to dig into my wrists and chest. He lunges forward, catching my right foot and hurriedly tying it to the other chair leg. Sitting back, he observes his handiwork.
“Such a little fighter, princess. I like it. I like it a lot,” he says as he starts to rub his cock through his jeans. “What I wouldn’t give to have that smart-ass mouth on my dick, but Anthony has strict rules I have to follow. I can touch and play all I want, but fucking your pussy, ass, or mouth is completely off the table. I think we can still have some fun, though. So many things we can still do to break this little rebellious streak you have going.”
I’m disgusted, and my body is betraying me as I start to tremble with the fear that is taking hold of me. Just make it out alive, just make it out alive, just make it out alive…
Vincent pushes off the ground, tugging the ropes free from my chest. He rips my tank top down the middle, exposing my now pebbled breasts to the cool air in the room. My chest heaves as he stares at me like a piece of meat that he can’t wait to take a bite of.
“These breasts,” he says as he grabs each one in his hands, “are mine now.” He takes a hand off my breast and shoves his hand between my legs to grab my center. “And this pussy is mine now.”
“I’m not someone to be owned, pendejo .”
“Well, it looks like you have very little say in the matter,” he says as he backs up slightly, undoing his jeans and pulling out his cock.
Repulsed by him, I turn my head to the side trying to avoid what I know is to come.
“Ah, ah, ah, princess. Eyes on me. Otherwise, I’ll have to cut you up. Anthony didn’t say anything about keeping you pretty.”
Calling his bluff, I keep my head turned to the side to avoid looking at him as he strokes himself. A sharp pain explodes across my chest, and I scream out in pain, unable to hold it in. Vincent stands before me, a bloody knife in one hand and the other hand still stroking his cock. I look down at the source of my pain and find a nasty cut across my chest that is probably going to need a lot of stitches. I hiss out breaths through my teeth, the pain all consuming as my blood runs in rivers onto my thighs.
I scream out in pain again as Vincent pokes his finger into the cut, laughing as he digs into my torn skin.
“That’s better. I always did like a little blood play.”
He rubs his hand all over my chest, so my blood coats his hand before rubbing the blood all over his cock. He continues to stroke himself as he looks down at me with hooded eyes.
“You like watching me, princess? Does it make you wet watching me stroke myself with your blood?”
Before I can utter a retort, the door to the room swings open, and Anthony comes in, closing the door and leaning against the wall. “Don’t mind me, Vincent. Please, continue.”
Vincent nods his head and turns back to me. “Now, princess, you’re going to be a good little girl for me, aren’t you?”
“Fuck you!”
Anthony chuckles and my eyes widen. “I don’t think she’s learned her lesson yet, Vincent,” he says, stroking his jaw. “Cut off her shorts, and play with her pretty pussy. I want to see her spread open before me.”
I narrow my eyes at him, equal parts rage and fear running through my veins. Vincent cuts my shorts from my body and moves behind me, placing the knife to my throat and leaning down so his breath can be felt on my ear. “I’m going to finger fuck you so hard, you won’t be able to close your legs for a week without feeling a reminder.”
I get no further warning as he reaches down over me and spreads me open for Anthony’s appraisal.
“Such a pretty pussy, principessa . It’s a shame it’s been wasted on that lawyer’s cock,” says Anthony, walking closer into the light of the room. He’s wearing an all black suit that makes him look as menacing as it does lethal.
“You can proceed, Vincent. I want to hear how beautifully she screams.”
The first thrust from his fingers is punishing, but I clench my jaw and take it. I don’t give them the satisfaction. Just make it out alive. It doesn’t matter if I’m broken, just make it out alive.
It only makes Vincent frustrated though, and soon, he gets more aggressive, and I know he’s bruising my tender flesh. There is no pleasure, only pain as it completely encompasses me. As he pounds his fingers in and out of me, I try to escape into a dark corner of my mind. I vaguely recall looking down and seeing blood all over his hand that is working my sex, but I’m so far detached that I can no longer feel the pain.
I narrow my eyes as I see Anthony stride over and stop in front of me, kneeling down so he’s eye level with my abused flesh. He watches Vincent own me as he looks into my eyes. He smirks before standing and makes his way to the door, leaving me alone in the room with a monster.
Only then do I scream.