Chapter Two #2
If I could throw my hands into the air in frustration, I would, but instead, I snort out another laugh. “I don’t know about any safe houses!” I snicker. “The only escape route I know is how to get from the main clubhouse to the kitchen when I want ice cream at three in the morning.”
Scar Face moves the knife to my thigh this time, another shallow cut that makes me hiss through my teeth. But even as the blood trickles down my leg, even as the pain shoots through my nervous system, the absurdity of the situation keeps me giggling.
“This is so stupid!” I gasp. “You’re torturing someone who literally knows nothing. It’s like interrogating a golden retriever about nuclear physics.”
“Enough!” Javier’s voice cuts through my laughter. On the laptop screen, I see his jaw ticking with frustration. “She’s telling the truth. She doesn’t know anything useful.”
“So… what do we do with her?” Mustache Guy asks.
There’s a pause, and for the first time since I woke up, something cold moves through my chest. Not fear exactly—the serum won’t let me feel proper fear—but a dim recognition that something important is happening.
“Well…” Javier says slowly, “… if she’s of no use to us for information, then perhaps she can serve another purpose.”
My brows raise in curiosity, a smirk crossing my face at this news.
“What kind of purpose?” Scar Face asks.
Javier’s smile on the screen turns predatory. “The men who love her will do anything to get her back. And when they inevitably fail…” He shrugs. “Grief makes people careless. Angry. Prone to making mistakes.”
The implications of his words should terrify me.
They should have me begging, pleading, and trying to bargain for my life.
Instead, I snort with laughter.
“Oh, you’re going to use me as bait? That’s actually not a terrible strategy. I mean, Phoenix will definitely lose his shit when he realizes I’m gone. And Maverick…” Another giggle. “Both Maverick and Phoenix are going to burn the entire world down to find me.”
“Yes…” Javier agrees. “And while they’re burning the world down for you, they’ll leave themselves vulnerable. Exposed.”
Tilting my pain-filled head, I purse my bloodied lips. “Clever,” I admit, nodding appreciatively. “Evil, but clever. I can respect that.”
“This serum is making her loco,” Mustache Guy mutters.
But there’s something else happening now.
Underneath the artificial euphoria of whatever drug they pumped into me, a warmth spreads through my body that has nothing to do with amusement and everything to do with the fact that I’m naked except for a jacket.
I am surrounded by men, and whatever they gave me is affecting more than just my ability to lie.
I shift uncomfortably in the chair, suddenly extremely aware of how the cool air is hitting my skin, how the rough fabric of the jacket is rubbing against my nipples. The truth serum has apparently decided to ramp up every sensation, including ones I definitely don’t want to be feeling right now.
“Oh, this is just fucking perfect,” I mutter, another laugh escaping.
“Not only am I going to die, but I’m going to die horny.
Phoenix is going to be so disappointed he missed this.
” The guards exchange more confused looks.
“I need to get back to him,” I continue, the words tumbling out without any filter.
“Because this stupid drug is making me want to climb him like a tree, and if I’m going to die, I at least want to have really great sex first. And Phoenix and I are really great at sex. ”
“Jesús Cristo,” Scar Face swears.
“Right?” I agree enthusiastically. “My husband has magic hands, and I am very frustrated right now that I’m here instead of letting him use them,” I say, shifting uncomfortably in the seat, trying to ease the tension building between my legs.
Javier’s laughter crackles through the laptop speakers. “Well, this has been entertaining, but I think we’ve gotten all we’re going to get from our guest.”
“So, what now, jefe?” the big guard asks.
There’s another pause, longer this time, and I can see Javier considering his options. The dim part of my brain that isn’t swimming in chemical euphoria recognizes that this is the moment.
This is where he decides whether I live or die.
“If she’s of no use for information…” he says finally, “… then we will have to make her useful in other ways.”
“How do you want us to handle it?” Scar Face asks.
Javier’s smile turns ice-cold. “Kill her. Slowly. Make sure there’s enough left for her lover to find, but not enough to give him comfort.
Grief-stricken men make poor tactical decisions.
” His eyes light up before he says, “In fact, call him. Tell him we have her. If we can’t get information from her, then we get it from him. ”
The words should hit me like a physical blow.
It should snap me out of this drug-induced haze and into pure terror.
But as if on cue, I burst into fucking hysterical laughter.
“Oh my God, you’re actually going to villain monologue my death, use me as bait for Phoenix?
” I wheeze, almost into a full-on asthma attack.
“That’s so cliché! What’s next? A drawn-out death trap that moves at a snail’s pace just so I have time to escape dramatically?
Are you going to explain your entire evil plan while I’m helplessly tied up?
Give Phoenix enough time to find me and ruin this whole evil plan of yours while he kicks your asses when he gets here? ”
The three guards slowly stalk toward me, and somewhere in the back of my mind, alarm bells are finally starting to ring. But they’re muffled by the chemical fog in my brain, distant and unimportant compared to how absolutely hilarious this whole situation has become.
“This is it!” I giggle as they close in. “This is how I die. Naked in a warehouse, high as a kite, being killed by three guys who look like they failed straight out of Villain Academy for Dummies.”
One of them has a length of rope in his hands. Another is testing the edge of his knife again. The third is cracking his knuckles like he’s warming up for a workout.
“Phoenix is going to be so pissed he missed this.” I laugh, even as my heart starts hammering against my ribs with the first real fear I’ve felt since waking up. “He’s gonna want to kill me himself for getting kidnapped on his watch.”
The rope goes around my neck, not tight enough to cut off air, but it’s a clear promise of what’s coming. My eyes widen as they land on Scar Face.
“Any last words, princesa?” Scar Face asks with mock courtesy.
I look up at him through my laughter-induced tears, and for just a moment, the absurdity of it all hits me afresh. Here I am, about to die, and I can’t stop fucking laughing. It’s the most ridiculous thing that’s ever happened to anyone, ever.
“Yeah!” I gasp between giggles. “Tell Phoenix when he gets here I said his coffee was terrible… but his dick game was legendary.”
The rope starts to tighten, and even through the chemical haze, real panic begins to claw its way up my throat.
But my laughter doesn’t stop.
Even as the world starts to fade around the edges.
Even when my fear kicks in, and everything starts to turn black.