39. Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Elise
“I can’t hear you, Elise. How many is that?”
I open my mouth, but only a squeak escapes me as I shudder in pain. Each breath that I take adds to my pain more than it relieves me. Running without a proper plan was a mistake. Pissing off a man whose temperament I know nothing about was an even worse one.
I was so far off, thinking what Luca had put me through was cruelty. Compared to this, it was nothing. This man has no restraints since he doesn’t know me. He has used the past hour with my hands bound as he uses a belt with jewels embedded in it to strike me over my back.
I tense when I feel his fingers tracing the welted skin, the burning pain intensifying from the heat he gives off.
“Elise. I’m talking to you,” he murmurs as he steps around, using his finger to lift my chin. “How many is that?”
I sense the mocking in his tone. But I don’t have the strength to stand against it. I cough, blinking tears from my eyes as I whisper.
“I don’t know,” I whimper.
He laughs, releasing my chin as he moves around me again, this time using the belt to trace the welts on my back.
“I’ve known Luca for a long time. He always had the nicest toys. But when he got married and disappeared, it made no sense to any of us. But seeing you here…like this…I think I understand,” he says.
I tense when I feel his lips hovering over the back of my neck, and I flinch away, eager to get away from his touch. Instead of anger, he laughs again.
“You are loyal to him. That is admirable. But he won’t be finding you anytime soon. It’s best if you forget about him and adjust to your new life here,” he says.
Silence stretches over us, and he walks around to stand in front of me. I keep my gaze on his shoes, taking deep breaths to make myself remain calm. But he suddenly roughly grips my jaw, forcing my eyes to meet his cold ones.
“Will you run again?” he asks.
As much as this man terrifies me, he is right about one thing. My loyalty lies with Luca. I pull my jaw from his grip, closing my eyes as pain radiates over me.
“Fuck you,” I say.
Silence.
Then, footsteps as he moves behind me.
“That won’t come until you have healed from this—until I know I have your loyalty,” he says.
Suddenly, the bite of metal hits my bare flesh as the belt collides with my skin, and I can do nothing but scream.
I never thought I would say this, but I miss Luca. I wish he would come in and save me from this hell and make this man pay for the things he’s done and has yet to do. The most degrading thing I’ve ever had to endure is being “owned” by this man. He has a complex, that’s for sure. He has a personal vendetta against Luca, which is making him break me down more intimately than he probably would have if I were a random woman.
I bite back my whimper as his servant lightly presses a cotton ball soaked in alcohol to the split wounds on my back. Some of the bruising has swelled so much that the skin has broken. And while it is painful, it gives me more time to form an escape.
I’ve been here for at least a week, as I’ve mentally kept up with how often I go to sleep and how often it gets dark around here. The man has finally revealed his name to be Alexander, though I don’t know him from any of Luca’s dealings. But he is one of the lower dogs on the chain to do what he’s done to me in my time here, notwithstanding the bruises he placed on me for speaking my husband’s name.
In hindsight, I guess it was lucky that my father married me off to someone like Luca when men like this existed. With the mentality I had at the time, I never would have fought for myself, and I doubt this man would have done the things Luca has to keep me safe. What’s become even more evident during this time is the lengths to which very powerful people will go to gain some form of control over Luca. All this happened because the agent who kidnapped me wanted me to help him put Luca away. As a result of my refusal to help, he pushed me into an illegal ring that he was supposed to be helping prevent.
I flinch when I hear the door opening. I don’t have to look to know it’s Alexander entering. His footsteps are slow and confident as he approaches, taking in his handiwork.
“Ngh!” I groan when his finger brushes over my back.
“See what you’ve made me do, being so disobedient? Do you think I wanted to mar up my perfect new toy?” he asks, slowly circling me.
He stands over me, his chest coming into my line of vision. But I don’t look at him. I refuse to. He quickly snatches my face, forcing my gaze to meet his. His eyes are wide with controlled rage that I am sure he will express shortly if I keep this up. But I don’t care. I would rather he kill me than do what I know he is aching to do once my back heals enough that my blood won’t leak onto his skin while he tries to force himself on me.
“Have you learned your lesson?” he asks.
I narrow my gaze, mustering all of my strength as I spit in his face.
Alexander doesn’t miss a beat as he quickly releases me, his fist coming hard at my cheek. I cry out as the world spins, and I am knocked off the table. The taste of blood fills my mouth, and my cheek throbs wildly in pain. And as much as I want it to stop, I know it is my only chance to buy some time.
Alexander is a strange man in that he refuses to touch me while I’m bruised and bloodied.
I slowly roll over, catching my breath as he steps over me, his fingers threading through my hair as he pulls me up from the ground. My screech fills the room, and my fingers claw uselessly at his as he holds me up, tears springing into my eyes.
“It looks like he did a poor job breaking you. But I have the patience that he does not. And I will twist you until you break, Elise,” he growls.
Suddenly, a sharp pain hits me in the stomach, forcing the air from my lungs and all of the food I’ve eaten. Alexander releases me, and as I fall to my knees, he pushes me into my own vomit, his foot pressing into my back.
I can’t breathe.
He’s suffocating me from behind. I choke and claw at the floor, my eyes focusing on the servant who was cleaning the injuries on my back only minutes ago. Her hands are clasped in front of her, and her eyes are focused on the ground in panic as she waits for him to kill me.
“Beg me for your life. Say, please, Alexander,” he growls above me.
When I don’t respond, his foot presses deeper into my back.
“Hck! P-please…” My voice is a pathetic squeak, and I hear him chuckling above me.
“I can’t hear you,” he says wickedly, his tone sultry as he finds joy in my torture.
“Ngh, Please, Alexander,” I choke out.
The world slowly blurs around me, and my struggle dies down as I slowly lose consciousness. Panic hits me with an intensity I can’t fathom as I come to the realization that he is going to kill me. There is no time to plan an escape. There is no time to stall. He’s going to kill me right here, right now.
Suddenly, he lifts me off the ground, roughly pressing me against the counter. I cry out as it digs into my back, but he hits me again.
“Quiet,” he snaps, forcing my gaze to his.
He studies me intensely, having an inner battle with himself. I tense as he presses himself against me, his erection straining against my inner thigh as he glares at me.
My panic intensifies, and I press against his chest, but he quickly grips my hands between his, holding me roughly. He leans into me, his lips lingering over mine, and when he presses himself harder against me, his lips mash against mine.
I struggle, moving my head as I try to break him away from me, but I am weak and injured. Tears burn my eyes as I squeeze them shut, just as a wave of nausea washes over me. He senses it, quickly pulling back as I heave clear liquid between us, my disgust prominent.
Instead of anger, he chuckles, gripping my chin between his forefinger.
“If you continue to push me, I can’t be held responsible for what will happen to you,” he says.
His words are chilling as he steps away from me, and I collapse as my legs are no longer able to hold me up.
Alexander stands over me, licking his lips as he does.
“I am a patient man… but you are testing me, Elise,” he says.
He finally leaves the room after a moment, plunging me into silence. I stare at the ground, my breathing coming out in faster pants until tears are rolling down my cheeks. I place my hand over my mouth to prevent my sobs from echoing over the walls. I don’t want him to hear me—to know he’s affected me in this way.
I hate my father for forcing me into a world like this—a world where women are currency and men have no tether to reality. And I hate him even more for plunging our family into war with the Pasquinos, further digging the hole he had already placed us in. All of this is his fault. Ari, me, even Enzo—everything that has happened to us is because of my father’s greed—even my mother’s death.
I haven’t had the mental capacity to think about it. To even think about the reason I’m in this mess. Luca may have ended her life, but it was my father who asked for their help in doing so. My family is cursed. From the moment my father decided to enlist the help of a family he planned on using for power in the future, he cursed us. And now I am paying the price for it.
I tense when I feel hands around my shoulders, and I look into the servant’s eyes. She watches me with a pity-filled gaze as she helps me up, but she looks away as soon as she senses I am about to speak. She is as much a prisoner as I am.
“Eat, Elise.”
My eyes remain on the plate in front of me. What he doesn’t know is that ever since the beating he gave me hours ago, I have been unable to open my mouth properly. I couldn’t eat even if I wanted to. And as I stare at the plate, nausea settles in my stomach. I have no appetite.
I shift my attention to Alexander, grimacing as I try to open my mouth.
“I…can’t,” I murmur.
He glares at me in response, and the longer he does, the faster my heart beats.
He suddenly stands, sitting right next to me, and he eyes the newest bruising forming on my face. He reaches for my face, his hand hesitating as I flinch away from him, closing my eyes as more tears form, falling down my cheeks.
He laughs, lowering his hand.
“You think I am the monster, Elise. But I am not. You married the true monster,” he says.
I slowly open my eyes, my gaze remaining on my plate as I try to stomach this man’s proximity.
“Why do you think you are here? Do you think you would have been taken to that auction house if you were anyone else? Your husband is a dangerous man in this world. You marrying him was a mistake,” he says.
I’m trembling from how close he is, but that doesn’t stop me from laughing.
“You…think…I don’t…know that?” I murmur.
Alexander’s gaze is frightening, but he laughs as well.
“Then stop being so stubborn. It will only end badly for you,” he says.
I laugh again, causing pain in my jaw as I look at him.
“When he…finds out…what you’ve done…it won’t end…well…for you,” I manage.
Alexander watches me silently, his eye twitching slightly as he raises his hand, ready to strike, when hurried footsteps interrupt.
“Sir, you have a visitor.” Alexander’s maid enters the room, her face pale as she looks at her boss.
Irritation crosses his features as he looks at her. “Who the fuck is at my door at this hour?” he growls.
She struggles to speak, her eyes shifting to me briefly before Alexander screams at her.
“Well? Spit it out!” he snaps.
“I-It’s Luca Pasquino, sir.”