Chapter 34
Thirty-Four
Emilia
W hen I finally come to, I’m sprawled on a wooden floor, my nakedness covered only by a thin white sheet that’s been laid over my body. It takes me a second to take in my surroundings for everything to come rushing back to me. My chest blossoms in pain, and the ache between my legs is all consuming. As I move to push myself up, my breath hisses between my teeth as every movement pulls at the gash across my chest.
“Careful there,” comes a strong, yet tentative voice to the side.
Whipping my head toward the voice, I can just barely make out another woman in the dim space of the small room, sitting on a cot that has been secured to the floor with nuts and bolts. She has a chain around her ankle that connects to the cot, and she’s completely naked. Her face was probably at one time beautiful, but now it’s so swollen and bruised, and her dark hair hangs in tatters, it’s hard to tell. I recognize her from the security footage, however. She’s the she-devil that’s been giving the men hell. Her cot also happens to be missing a sheet.
“Who are you?” I ask her, leaning back on the cold wall that I finally manage to scoot over to.
“My name is Jessica, but everyone calls me Jess.”
“Well, Jess, you look like shit.”
“Can’t say you look any better yourself…” She hesitates, searching for a name to call me.
“The name’s Emilia.”
“Right. You must be the princess that everyone has been talking about.”
I roll my eyes. This princess bullshit is getting old.
“You could say that.” I wince, trying to reposition myself into a more comfortable position, but I soon give up. “Thanks for the sheet, by the way. It’s fucking cold in here.”
“It’s the least I could do,” Jess replies. “They keep us all naked so we’re readily available for them at the drop of a dime.”
“I had a feeling that was the case…”
Before I can ask Jess any more questions, the door suddenly swings open, and one of Anthony’s men escorts an older gentleman into the room.
“Here’s the bitch we need you to treat. Stitch up her cut and make sure she’s good for another round. Boss’s orders.”
“Certainly, certainly. I’ll just need to take a look at her wound,” the doctor says, nodding his head and keeping his eyes on the ground, only briefly flicking them up to look at me and then Jess.
“Don’t take too long, Doc. Wouldn’t want something happening to your family, now would we?” he sneers before shutting the door behind him.
The doctor visibly relaxes now that the door is shut, and I can’t help but to scoot farther up the wall, trying to put myself into a better position if I need to protect myself. I’m a naked woman, and doctor or no doctor, this is a man left alone with two vulnerable women.
“Hi, umm, hi there. Emilia, is it? I’ve been sent here to take a look at you and get you patched up,” says the doctor, pushing his glasses further up on his nose.
“Alright, Doc. No funny business though.”
The doctor flushes and immediately starts sputtering over his words. “I-I-I would never do such a thing. These men are h-h-horrible. I became a doctor to help people, n-n-not hurt them.”
“Emilia. Let the man look you over. Plus, you’re starting to bleed through my sheet,” says Jess from across the room.
I wince as I look down and see the blood starting to seep through her sheet from where I clutch it to my chest. As much as I hate to show any form of weakness, the cut really fucking hurts.
“Fine, fine.”
The doctor instantly looks relieved. “Great, please lie back down so I can evaluate your injury. Here, let me help.”
As he reaches out his hand, he stops midway, letting it fall back to his side as I flinch away. He looks like he wants to say something, but he mercifully stays silent and lets me get into position on the floor.
As I lie back and stare up at the ceiling, I can’t help but to think of James. I hope he and his brother are close to a plan to get us all out of here. In case they aren’t though, I need to start coming up with my own plans. This doctor might be just the person I need.
“May I?” asks the doctor, interrupting my thoughts.
“You may. What is your name so I can properly address you?” I ask, watching him as he gets started taking various items out of his bag.
“It’s Dr. Crawford, ma’am.”
“Dr .Crawford,” I say, testing out the name on my tongue. “How long have you been doing this, Dr. Crawford?”
“This? As in whatever this is for Anthony? Just today. Threatened my family, I had no choice in the matter. At least, none if I want my family to stay safe. You have to understand, I have a wife and two little girls,” he sputters, getting more and more flustered the more he talks.
“I figured they must have something over you. The Romanis are as dirty as they come.”
The doctor simply nods as he reaches over to pull down the sheet, his eyes meeting mine briefly in an unspoken question. I grab the edge of the sheet, pulling it down enough that he can work, but not far enough that my breasts are completely on display.
“Oh my god…” he says under his breath, his eyes wide as he looks up into mine. “This must be excruciating for you.”
His reaction is warranted, I think to myself. The cut itself is from armpit to armpit across my chest, the skin along the cut flopping over slightly. I wince thinking of all the times Vincent dug his nasty fingers into it, making me black out, only to bring me back to consciousness to repeat the actions all over again. It’s going to require a lot of stitches, and I’m hoping to God this doctor has something for the pain.
My hopes are instantly dashed. “Unfortunately, I don’t have anything for the pain. They actually strictly forbade it.”
“Fucking pendejos .”
Dr. Crawford looks at me sympathetically, then proceeds to clean my cut, though I can’t help muttering a few other choice words. The burn itself almost causes me to black out a time or two. The doctor is gentle though, and I can tell it upsets him to be in this predicament.
“Alright, Emilia. I have to stitch you up now. I can give you this rag here to bite down onto if needed, but one way or another this has got to get closed up.”
“I don’t need the rag, Dr. Crawford. Just do it.”
I don’t make it through three stitches before I pass out, the pulling and the pain too much for my body to handle.
* * *
“Emilia. Pssstt, Emilia. Wake up.”
“Wha-what?” I squint my eyes, blinded by the bright light above my head. I reach out my hand to block out the light, only to abruptly drop it when the pain from my chest becomes too much. Looking down, I see my mangled chest. The doctor clearly did the best he could do given the circumstances, but I look like a doll that’s been sewed back together.
“Emilia, are you OK?” asks Jess from across the room. She’s huddled in the corner, doing her best to protect her body from the chill in the air.
“Fucking-A, I feel like shit.”
Jess visibly winces as she takes in the state of my body. My chest is stitched up, but even the small action of bringing my arm up tugged on the stitches so that new blood is running down my chest once again. The dried blood between my legs chafes, and I wince at the pain radiating from my center.
“They’re coming, Emilia. They’re coming!”
As Jess loudly whispers the last word, the door bangs open against the wall, and none other than Anthony Romani stands in the doorway, eyeing up myself and then Jess.
“It’s your lucky day, dollface,” he says, staring at Jess. “You’ve finally been sold. Your buyer is looking forward to breaking you in. For all the trouble you’ve put us through, you at least fetched a pretty penny on the sales floor.”
Jess straightens and glares at Anthony before catching my gaze from across the room.
“What’s the problem, Jess? Not happy? Wanted to stay here with me, have another round of lessons?” asks Anthony, taking a step closer to her cot with each question he asks.
Jess spits back, “Not much for lessons, they last two minutes at most.”
Anthony sneers at her comment. “Grab her boys.”
Two burly men storm into the room, yanking Jess by the wrists until she’s flailing on the ground, trying to fight them both off her. They slam her down on the ground, her head making a sickening crunching sound as it bounces off the floor. She’s still connected to the cot by a chain at her ankle, so they aren’t able to get her very far.
Anthony kneels down on the ground, undoes his belt, and starts to pull down his pants as Jess screams like a banshee, clawing at the men holding her down while blood starts to drip onto the floor from her head. I push myself into a sitting position on the floor, and while everyone is distracted, I launch myself at Anthony, clawing his face as I land upon his back. I can already feel a few of the stitches tearing as Anthony twists and turns, trying to pry me off of him. The two men holding down Jess abandon their current task to rip me off Anthony, flinging me into the wall. Anthony strides up to where I’m trying to catch my breath and backhands me, my head whipping to the side with the force, teeth clattering in pain.
“You stupid little bitch,” says Anthony, bringing a hand to his face and coming away with blood. “You fucking cut me.”
“I think if anything, it’s an improvement to your face,” I spit out, watching him out of the corner of my eye from where I lean against the wall.
Anthony is quick as a snake, launching himself in front of me and grasping my chin in a punishing hold. “Every negative action on your end, Emilia, results in a punishment. Or haven’t you learned your lesson yet?” he asks, poking my chest, causing fresh blood to squeeze between the sutures and drip onto the floorboards.
I stay quiet as I assess him and the words he spews. He won’t kill me, that much I’m certain. Otherwise he wouldn’t waste his time bringing in a doctor to patch me up. He won’t let any of his men rape me, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t saving that for himself.
“I see your gears turning, princess. Have you worked it out yet? No? Let me enlighten you. Every time you fight me, one of these women will be raped in front of you. Let’s start with Jess, shall we?”
“Don’t you fucking dare…”
“Ah, ah, ah, Emilia. You have no power here. Now, sit down like a good little bitch, otherwise I’ll have my men hold you down while I let Vincent in to play.”
Peering around Anthony, I see Jess on the floor, her eyes wide but a steely resolve in her gaze. She quickly shakes her head when she sees me start to push up off the wall, and it’s only then that I understand—she’s going to take the punishment, and she doesn’t want me interfering. Interfering means an even worse punishment for the both of us.
“I see you’re starting to understand how things work around here, Emilia. Jess, spread your fucking legs.”
When she doesn’t immediately listen, the two goons Anthony brought in here with him each grab an ankle and spread her legs for him. She has silent tears tracking down her face, but my gaze finds hers, and I hold her stare. Anthony is quick, shedding his pants and plunging his cock into her in one punishing thrust. Her body jostles from his aggressiveness, and her eyes move to the ceiling, seemingly escaping within herself. Anthony continues thrusting, leaving bruising fingerprints along her side as he goes.
“Fuuuck. That’s it, Jess. Now that we have the fight out of you, we can finally start teaching you how to act like you’re enjoying it. Wouldn’t want to disappoint your new owner, now would we?” He talks in between each thrust, owning her physically and mentally.
As he gets close to climax, his thrusts stutter, and he quickly pulls out, dumping his load on her stomach. She doesn’t even flinch as he slaps the side of her ass, telling her what a good girl she is.
Anthony stands up, does up his jeans, and steps out in the hallway, returning only to throw a towel at Jess and telling her to clean up his mess.
“You and me, princess. We have a lot to discuss. I’ll have someone come grab you for dinner, and then we can talk about my plans for your future.”
I spit at his feet. “Fuck you!”
“Oh, Emilia. In due time, in due time. Some things shouldn’t be rushed. The journey is half the enjoyment.”
“You’re not getting your limp cock anywhere near me, pendejo .”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Emilia. In fact, how about I just tell you now, seeing that you are so intent on being an annoying little bitch.”
Anthony leans against the door frame, eyeing me up from where I sit against the wall, my body fully on display, but I’m unable to give a fuck at this point.
“Such a beautiful fucking pussy, Emilia.” He pauses, enjoying the sight before continuing. “My plans, for one, involve getting rid of that stuffy lawyer you call a husband. Once he’s out of the picture, you’ll marry me so we can join both our territories under one rule.”
“There’s a reason my men aren’t to touch you unless I say. I want you all to myself, but I want you pliable and complacent. So, my men get to teach you some manners, and in return, they get a small taste of what is mine. It works out for everyone, wouldn’t you agree, princess?”
I’m sick to my stomach with the images he weaves that are stuck in my head. Killing James, wedding me, raping me, it’s all too much. I’m a strong, fierce woman under ideal conditions, hell, even questionable conditions, but this , this is breaking me piece by piece…
Pieces that can eventually be put back together, I just have to make it out alive…