Chapter 41
FORTY-ONE
The next morning, I awoke with a jolt, everything rushing in at once. The gunshot wound in my shoulder ached where I'd accidentally slept on it wrong. I had a tattoo of a scorpion crawling from my collar up to my neck. I was back under Manuel's control, except now, I had the most innocent creature with me.
Honey had snuggled close to me in the night, her little fingers wrapping around my palm.
It was so cute and sweet, the most intimate gesture I'd ever seen her make in the short time that I'd interacted with her.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit me. Slipping my hand from Honey's, I scrambled to get off the bed. Rolling over, I fell off it, once again. Pain ricocheted up my arm and side and the food from yesterday came lurching up my throat.
I made it to my hands and knees just in time as it spewed outward, chunks of undigested food spraying across the concrete.
When I was done, I heaved, hating the itching sensation crawling up my arms. My stomach was still burning with acid; I could feel it surging up my throat again.
I forced it down, watching as Honey's feet swung from the bed.
"You threw up." She slapped a hand over her mouth as she stared down at it. Grabbing the blankets, she pulled them up and over her head, burying herself inside them.
"Honey?" My voice was gentle, but I was freaking out inside. If someone was watching the cameras, they would be here soon.
"Yes?" She peeped her head out, her eyes wide.
"I need your help."
"You do?" She scrambled out of the bed, pulling the comforter with her. Falling to the floor, she began to try to clean up the vomit with the blanket.
"Oh," I gently placed my hand on her arm. "Not that. Don't worry about me. We need to try to escape."
"But you just threw up!" she exclaimed, gesturing disgustedly at the vomit. "You're sick."
"Look, we don't have much time. I'm sure someone will be here soon." I gently tugged on her arm, pulling her away from the mess on the floor. "This has happened before. I'm going to be okay."
I used to get like this when I was married to Manuel; my body was reacting to being near him again.
The sound of the key in the door made my heart thud loudly in my chest. "Remember your promise last night?" I asked her, unable to keep the panic from my voice. She nodded enthusiastically, her eyes wide. "I need you to pretend to cry, okay? We need to get him inside the room."
She glanced towards the bed again, as if she wanted to get back under the covers, but instead, she nodded, her face tight with fear. "Okay."
"What's going on here?" A guard I didn't recognize stood in the doorway, dressed in jeans and a white tank top. To my luck, a gun was slung on his hip.
"She's sick," Honey blurted out, pointing at the vomit all over the ground.
The guard gave me a dubious look, until his gaze caught sight of the chunks of veal and broccoli. His doubt was quickly overtaken by repugnance. "Oh, gross, ese."
Honey started bawling. "She needs help getting up!" Big tears trailed down her cheeks, her eyes wide and imploring. I tried to appear as meek and pitiful as possible, impressed by her showmanship.
Despite this, the guard still looked hesitant and Honey's cries grew more intense. "What if she gets sick and dies?"
"Fine, fine," he grumbled, coming towards us. I didn't have to pretend to shake as he lifted me up surprisingly carefully and guided me towards the bed. As soon as I reached it, I grabbed a pillow, then his gun, yelling out, "Behind me, Honey!"
She dove for my legs. In two swift moves I had his gun pointed at him, the pillow muffling the sound.
I didn't hesitate to shoot him. Then I aimed for the camera on the opposite wall. It exploded with my second shot.
"Don't look down," I pulled Honey to her feet. She was squeezing her eyes shut. "We need to hurry," I muttered.
I guided her towards the other side of the bed. Placing my hands under her arms, I heaved her into the air. "Do you think you can get into that air vent?"
"I can try!" she squeaked.
I got her onto my shoulders and she managed to reach the large industrial vent. "You have to hide in there. Don't come out until you hear either me, or Knight's voice, okay?"
"Okay," she said with a panicked tone, struggling to open it.
"Hurry!" I urged her. It felt like a lifetime before it finally gave way.
I barely had enough time to push the panel back in place before running back over to the dead body when Antonio appeared in the doorway.
I held the gun towards him. "Don't move."
He held his hands up but he took in the other guard, face down in a pool of blood. "Tatiana," he tsked, giving me a disappointed look. "You can't go around killing the guards. Now what am I going to tell Louisa?"
"You can tell her," I came towards him, "that he was an asshole keeping a woman and a kid locked up against their will."
"Where is the girl?" he demanded.
"She escaped. Now move."
Antonio glared at me but took a step backwards. "You won't get out of here."
"Move slowly," I instructed him, then followed quickly, keeping him in my sight as I left the room.
I swallowed down my fear and allowed the rage inside me to surge to the surface. "Take me to him." I wasn't trying to escape. No, I had other plans.
Antonio turned his back, leading me through the hallway. "You know he won't care if you kill me."
"Well, let's just hope your little buddies care whether you live or die, then."
Antonio led me down a maze of hallways and I committed them to memory so I could go back for Honey.
We came to a wooden door painted red, and I knew this was Manuel's. He was obsessed with the color; every single door in our house had been painted red.
"Go inside," I directed, "And don't even think about giving him any kind of warning."
His expression cold and hard, he turned the handle. The door opened easily.
Too easily.
Just as I was about to step away, a hand reached from the darkness of the room. It grabbed my wrist, jerking me forward and towards the shadows inside.
Manuel and I struggled for control of the gun, with Antonio joining in. Then the rest of Manuel's men surrounded us. Too quickly, I was pressed up against the wall, my hands behind my back.
I didn't know where the gun was; it had been lost in the fight.
My fresh tattoo burned against my chest, along with my shoulder-wound from the last time I'd been held captive by Manuel's men.
"Looks like the little pajarita has lost her wings," Manuel's breath poured over the shoulder of my flimsy dress.
I could feel his hard dick pressing into my back; he got off on this kind of thing.
Disgust rolled over me and bile surged up my throat. Sweat plastered my hair to my face, which was pressed up against the cold wall.
A wave of helplessness overwhelmed me as a flashback threatened to unfurl through my mind.
"You're mine, little pajarita," he growled over my shoulder; my howl filling the air as his teeth bit down on my shoulder. "You'll never escape me. Even after death, I'll chain you to me and we will walk the dregs of hell together."
A roar ripped from my mouth. "I will never belong to anyone ever again!"
Yanking my wrist from his hold, I jammed my elbow into his gut. Then I slammed down on his foot. He groaned in pain, releasing me. But only for a second before his men were on me.
I fought against them, panic taking over. I thrashed and punched.
"You disappoint me, Tatiana," Manuel said, then, "Hold her down."
Hands went to my back, my side, my arms. Imprisoning me. Salty tears of sweat dripped into my eyes. My breath heaved. Someone shoved my neck into the wall. I was helpless to move a single inch.
"Move," Manuel commanded. Hands shuffled, still holding me still. Then Manuel was at my back, again. "Looks like the little bird hasn't learned her lesson yet." He paused, pressing a small kiss on my shoulder. A shiver of disgust rolled up over me. "But you will. You will. "
A needle pricked right over the same spot he'd just kissed.
"No!" I screamed, renewing my urge to fight, even as the numbness surged through my veins.
He tenderly kissed each spot on my skin before he injected me. The poison spread quickly.
He left my neck and head free.
I was outnumbered. I had to get him alone. I leaned against the wall limply.
He turned my face away from the cold concrete to give me a triumphant smile.
Drool leaked from my mouth.
"Now, now," he wiped it away, his lips tilted down. "Even under these circumstances, we must still be a lady."
My eyes drifted to Antonio. For the first time, I noticed that he hadn't been one of the men restraining me. He was standing to the side, a conflicted look on his face.
"Please," I begged him.
Grabbing my chin, Manuel jerked my face towards him. "Eyes only on me, doll."
There was a loud boom, stilling everyone into silence for a brief second.
His eyes flashed with surprise and anger. "He's here already."
Knight.
Panic seared through me. He shouldn't be here. How'd he find me so quickly?
"Go take care of that," he ordered his men. "Hold him in the red room. You," He pointed to Antonio, "quit standing there with your dick in your hand. Guard the door. Don't let anyone in, or out."
Hands gripping my arms harshly, he drug me towards his office.
Bile crawled up my throat, as the flashback of times behind red doors threatened to overtake me.
In my mind I was screaming but I bit down on my tongue to stop it from escaping.
I wouldn't let him hear what he was doing to me.
Manuel slammed the door behind us, and there was a muted silence from the fighting outside the room. "Now," he said, an evil grin to his face. "Time for some more fun."