15. Isabela #2
"You don't talk much," he purrs. "That's alright.
I talk enough for two." This time, when he leans in, his hand isn't groping my back.
It's gripping a fistful of my hair, forcing me to slow down as we near the bedroom.
It makes my pulse kick against my ribs. "I bet you have parts that are just as pretty as that face of yours, maybe prettier… I could really enjoy that."
"Veta a la mierda," I snarl, ready to spit on his face as our progress comes to a grinding halt and he breathes down my neck.
"A girl who looks like you, in an organization like this…" He runs his tongue over his teeth and growls again and clicks his tongue. "The boss is wasting you…"
My stomach turns as I realize what he's saying.
"Mr. Roshin protects me." I look him dead in the eye, wondering for the first time if Demin really is protecting me.
Would he say something to this beast of a man for touching me like this?
He said he owns me. Would he stop another man from touching me?
The man laughs darkly and licks his lips. "Maybe he's saving you for me…"
"Go to hell," I tell him in as plain of English as I can muster.
The whimper hovers at the back of my throat as I press my palms flat against the wall behind me and swallow hard around a lump.
He's so big. There's no way I can stop him if he wants to do something to me.
No way I'd ever overpower him or break free.
"Maybe if I pay him enough, you'll belong to me…" His frame is hulking and he runs a hand up my inner thigh, proving how strong he is, how weak I am.
"I don't belong to anyone."
"Not yet," he says, taking his hand out of my hair, but I don't stick around to find out what he'll do next. I turn and run straight for Demin's room. My entire body is thrumming with adrenaline, though he's not giving chase, at least.
My steps slow as I turn the corner and see Mishka standing outside the bedroom door leaning on the wall looking bored. He glances up when he sees me and relief floods every cell of my body.
I race through the door and wait for him to shut it, but my heart is racing now and my hands are shaking. That asshole could really hurt me if he wanted to.
"Didn't know the boss kept her watched this close." God, his voice is so sleazy, and to think I thought he smelled good. The hair on my arms rises and I get nauseous. I'm going to remember that stench for a long time and it's going to make me feel so creeped out.
"Day and night," Mishka says, "and she stays alone in there." I like him. Suddenly, Mishka is my favorite person in the world. I sink onto the edge of the bed trembling and wring my hands in my lap.
I can't see him, but the awkward silence tells me he's not happy about not being permitted in this room. Probably because it's Demin's room and they have orders not to let anyone else in here. But I'm glad for it. At least Demin doesn't speak to me like that.
"’Course," he grumbles, and I hear his footsteps retreating up the hallway.
When the door shuts, no lock clicks, but this time, I honestly wish it would. I'd feel safer knowing that sick fucker couldn't get to me.
I curl up on the far side of the bed and wait, knowing at this hour it won't be long until Demin comes to bed for the night, and I think about how he hasn't touched me since the shower.
Not once. He climbs into bed and sleeps—that's all.
There've been a few times I felt his body aroused, but he hasn't attempted to be aggressive with me in the least bit.
It makes me wonder why this new guy is so different and what the rest of those guards are like. I don't know if I feel safer here than at the Solano compound, but with Mishka around, I know Sergei wouldn't touch me. So Demin must not tolerate bullshit from his men.
When he comes in, he undresses without a word.
The bandage is gone from his side now and the wound has closed to a thin line.
I notice it as he climbs into bed and pulls the sheet up over us.
But there's tension in him tonight, the same one that's hung on him all week, anger that I still haven't done the thing he needs me to do.
As he pulls me against his chest, I think about telling him what that large ogre of a man said to me, the way he touched me.
But nothing really happened, did it? And if I just tattle on a man who's done nothing wrong, what does that make me?
I don't want to start trouble. Hell, I don't know if it would even make Demin blink twice. But I don’t want to be harassed by that asshole again.
Still, he seems frustrated as it is, and if I instigate a bickering match over a non-thing, I'd just be making it worse for myself. But I'm not ready to sleep. I can't shut my brain down. I want to talk to him and see if he meant what he said at dinner the other night.
"My father thinks your threats are real…
That you'll actually hurt me." Turning, I face him and splay a hand on his chest where his heart pounds.
Demin says nothing to me, but he looks me dead in the eye.
"Is he right?" I ask cautiously. "Would you actually do that to me?
" When he threatened me I fully believed him, but he hasn't done a single thing to hurt me.
If he was going to make good on those threats, I think he'd have done it before.
"Go to sleep, Isabela," he mumbles, pulling me tighter.
"No… I need to know, Demin. Why are you so kind and gentle to me if you might actually hurt me?" I lie there staring at the ceiling until he flicks off the light and grumbles something I can't understand. "Hmm?" I say, hoping it's an answer.
"I said, I have to get up early. So go to sleep. Don't worry about it right now."
Scowling, I turn back to facing away from him and wrap my hand around his wrist, which nestles between my boobs. I don't even know what to believe anymore, though one thing is for certain. I won't be sneaking away from this place any time soon. He tracks every step I take.
But if there is a way out, I will find it… Unless Mr. Demin Roshin convinces me there's some other reason to stay.
The idea of being in his arms every night is growing on me. I don't think I'd mind being with a man other men fear. It's some added layer of security I didn't realize might feel good.
And it's that thought that lingers in my mind as I drift off to sleep.