Twenty
Ava
I drift back to consciousness with a throbbing pulse hammering in my head. The first thing I see is a young girl’s face hovering over me. She’s holding my head up, and the second my eyes flick open, she flinches back, startled.
“Sorry,” she whispers. “I just wanted to put something under your head. You’ve been lying like that for a long time.”
I blink a few more times, trying to focus, scanning my surroundings. The first thought that hits me is a prison camp, like the ones I’ve seen in movies. A large open yard fenced in by tall iron bars. Women scattered across the enclosure, trapped on the cold, hard ground.
I try to sit up, but every muscle screams in protest. My body feels beaten, bruised, and sore.
The girl, barely a teenager, sees me struggling and hurries back to help.
Now that I really look at her, she’s still wearing a school uniform, a white blouse, a plaid skirt, and her long black hair is braided neatly down her back.
I lean against the rough wall for support.
“Where are we?” I ask, my voice hoarse.
She sinks down beside me, her chin trembling. “I don’t know. They grabbed me right outside my school two days ago, and I woke up here.”
She leans closer, her voice dropping to a shaky whisper. “None of the women talk to me. One of them hit me when I tried.”
I follow her gaze and lock onto a young woman with fierce, pitch-black eyes glaring straight at us. I turn back to the girl.
“What’s your name?”
“Maria.”
Despite everything, a faint smile tugs at my lips. “That’s the same name as one of my dearest friends.”
This time, it’s not just her chin, her eyes shimmer behind a veil of tears. “I’m so scared. Last night, they took two women away… and brought them back like that.”
I follow her trembling finger to the far side of the yard, where one woman lies barely recognizable, her face swollen and bloodied, and another slumped with her back to us, motionless. Terror seeps into me too, cold and deep, but I force myself to cling to whatever scrap of courage I’ve got left.
“How old are you, Maria?”
“Fourteen.”
I take her hand and squeeze gently. “My name’s Ava.”
She hesitates, studying me through wet lashes, then a tear slips down her cheek. “Can I...can I rest my head on your lap, Ava?”
Her request catches me off guard, but I nod softly.
A few minutes pass before the heavy thud of boots echoes through the space, filling the air. Maria pulls away from me in a panic, curling into a tight ball on the ground like she could disappear if she just made herself small enough.
In the faint light spilling in, I spot the man who snatched me from my house. When he sees me, the corner of his mouth curls up, and he mutters something to the burly guy next to him that I can’t make out.
They swing open the cell door, and the familiar man steps inside, pushing through the crowd.
He grabs my arm so hard I yelp in pain. Ignoring it, he hauls me to my feet and drags me out.
We weave through dark hallways until we reach a room with nothing but a large bed and a small couch inside.
He shoves me into the middle of the floor and shuts the door.
Fear coils in my gut, but he just keeps smirking at me. I pull myself together, trying to look steady.
“Who are you?” I ask.
To my surprise, he answers right away. “Leonardo Scavia.”
My whole body freezes, like I’ve just been plunged into ice water. Oh God, this is Maxim’s father, the one Maxim’s been hunting high and low for weeks.
As I study his features closer, I see Maxim there, an older version, with the same eyes, the same jaw, the same broad build and height. He reads the recognition on my face, and his hateful smirk deepens.
“I see Maxim’s told you about me.”
I swallow hard. “Why did you kidnap me?”
“What do you think?”
“I have nothing to do with Maxim’s business. And I don’t mean anything to him.”
That second part hurts more than I expect.
A mocking laugh slips from him. “You popped out a kid with him, that means you’re connected. And you’ve been riding his cock for months now. That’s plenty for the man who wants to tie you to that bed and fill every hole you’ve got.”
My throat goes so dry that every breath feels like it’s scraping me raw. He wants to rape me? But he—my eyes flick down to his crotch without meaning to. Maxim told me he’d been mutilated, castrated.
The second he catches where I’m looking, something snaps inside him. He storms toward me and slaps me so hard I crash to the ground. Fisting my collar, he yanks me back up, his face twisted in rage.
“So that bastard told you what he did to me? God help you when Roberto’s finished with you,” he roars.
He hauls me even higher with ruthless force, a chilling smirk curling his lips.
“I’ll strap a knife to my waist and fuck you with that instead. Think about how Maxim will feel when he finds out.”
The door swings open again, followed by the calm voice of a man. “Let her go.”
Leonardo drops my collar and turns toward the sharply dressed man in the suit. “Sorry, Roberto. I lost it.”
Roberto’s eyes stay fixed on mine. He steps closer and kneels beside me. My cheek stings from the slap, and my whole body throbs, pulsing with fear. With my back pressed to the wall, there’s nowhere left to retreat.
He drags his index finger along my cheek that’s probably bright red now, his wild, unhinged gaze locking onto mine. With the last scrap of strength I’ve got, I knock his hand away.
“Who the hell are you people? What do you want from me?”
He tilts his head to one side. “My name’s Roberto Rosa. Senator Rosa’s son. I believe you’ve already met Leonardo.”
I draw in a shaky breath. “I have nothing to do with Maxim’s business. Whatever score you’ve got, settle it with him.”
The mention of Maxim’s name makes the madness in his eyes burn brighter. “I don’t have a score with Maxim. He owes me. Big time.” He twirls a strand of my hair between his fingers, stroking it slowly. “A debt that only you can pay off.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t even know you.”
“But I know you, Ava Wilson. I tracked down your father and used him to deliver you to me. But the fool slipped up, and I had to kill him to keep my plan from blowing wide open.”
He drops my hair, his voice cold. “Maxim’s father hated him as much as your own did. Handing you over to Leonardo was the perfect way to make him bleed. Finding Leonardo, and buying off Alex, wasn’t hard at all.”
My stomach twists. “This was your plan…to make Maxim think I betrayed him, wasn’t it?”
His smirk turns smug, almost proud. “That’s right. Though I gotta admit, that little stunt you pulled and the phone you bought, for whatever reason, helped my plan a whole lot.”
He chuckles under his breath.
“All I did was throw your old boss in your path and snap a few pictures afterward with Leo.” His grin widens cruelly. “I’d fucking love to know what Maxim’s face looked like when he saw the money I transferred to your account and those plane tickets I bought for you on that phone.”
My stomach twists.
“Maxim’s convinced you helped Leonardo find the location of his hidden stash,” he continues casually. “When in reality, it was Alex the whole time.”
“You...what did you do to Gerard?”
“Oh, he was a decent man,” he says casually. “I took his wife hostage to make him play along. Don’t worry, sweetheart. They both got an easy death.”
Rage and despair explode inside me. I slap him hard across the face, snapping his head sideways. Before I can think, I’m on top of him, straddling his chest and raining fists down on his face and skull. This scum killed April. He murdered two innocent people for his filthy revenge.
Leonardo grabs me from behind and yanks me off him.
“Let me go, you pig! Let me go!”
Roberto pushes himself up, breathing hard, a twisted grin spreading across his bloodied lips. “You’re a fighter. Better than I expected.”
He turns to Leonardo. “Put her name on tomorrow night’s fight list. I’m betting on her.”
Then he steps close again, brushing his fingers across my cheek. “If you don’t want anyone touching you, you’d better win.”
Two broken women flash in my mind, the ones lying battered in the yard. My voice trembles. “And if I lose?”
His breath ghosts hot against my ear, sending chills crawling down my spine. “Then every single bettor there, man or woman, will take their turn with you.”
***
When Leonardo throws me back into the cell, Maria rushes over, eyes brimming with tears, and wraps her arms around me. “I thought you weren’t coming back.”
I sink to the ground, dazed, my mind spinning on poor April and her husband, they’re gone. Guilt, regret, and sorrow swallow me whole. They died just for crossing paths with me. God, how am I supposed to live with that?
I look at the woman lying on the floor, beaten beyond recognition, and I wonder what kind of monsters could do something like this to another human being.
My gaze falls on Maria, and my heart aches even more.
She’s way too young for something like this.
I glance around again. All the women here are broken and terrified.
There’s no way out of this place unless someone from the outside comes to save me.
Has Maxim figured out the truth by now? Is he coming for me? If he does, will he get here in time?
I lie down on the cold floor, burying my face in my hands. I have to hope he comes, otherwise, I’ll never see my daughter again. This isn’t how I imagined my life ending, but I’m ready to fight till the bitter end.
The next day, I spend it all eyeing the other women in the cell. We’re nearly twenty in here, and I have no idea who I’ll be up against. Some of them look like they’d be tough opponents.
Maria kneels beside me, holding out a piece of bread. “You should eat,” she says. “You’ll need your strength for tonight.”
I take the bread from her with a forced smile, and for a second, pure dread washes over me. What if they pit this kid against me?