Chapter 12
Regan
R icardo showed up at the house this afternoon and dragged Kelly into the office, all while cutting his eyes at me as they disappeared behind closed doors. The man who ran the house wasn’t there, so a few of the others and I were eating breakfast when Ricardo arrived.
Passion, one of the willing ladies at the house, muttered to me, “He looks pissed. I told you fighting that man was going to cause you problems.”
“Shut up, Passion,” another woman said as I tried to choke down a bite of scrambled eggs.
I wouldn’t speak, no matter how much they taunted me, and I was already aware how pissed Ricardo was with me.
The man who was here last week boasted that he was one of the original families of the Syndicate and how the Lenkovs owed him a tribute for the initiation.
When he started saying he was choosing me and how I was to comply with him, he was tightening the belt he had around my neck, trying to get me to obey.
Fighting him as hard as I could, I managed to kick him in the knee, causing him to buckle to the floor. The look he gave me was murderous, and I instantly knew I’d fucked up. But I wasn’t going to willingly strap myself to that monstrous man and his deluded sense of entitlement.
So, seeing Ricardo here, giving me the evil eye, was enough to send a terrified wave of panic down my spine. Fighting the urge to throw up the little bit of food I’d managed to keep down, I placed my fork onto the plate and stood from the table.
They insisted we eat meals at the dining room table like some kind of family, but the next minute, they were pimping us out to whoever had enough money. And I was disgusted by it all. When I stood from my seat, a few of the other girls cut their eyes to me but immediately went back to their meals.
Walking past the office where Kelly and Ricardo were having a meeting, I moved down the hallway to the small library at the back of the large house.
No one ever came in here, and it was one of the only places I could have any peace and quiet.
But it never lasted long. I was reading a book of poetry when I heard someone walking down the hallway.
Lifting my gaze to the door, I waited to see what fresh hell was about to rein down on me, and when I saw Kelly and Ricardo walk in together, both with smug looks on their faces, I knew today was going to suck.
“I told you she’d be in here,” Kelly remarked to Ricardo. “She always hides in the library.”
Both took a seat across from me at the small table, and the smiles on their faces were disturbing.
It was Kelly who began the conversation.
“As you know, for the last six months, we’ve been gracious enough to give you a place to stay since my dear Sergey insisted we look after you.
But last night, Ricardo got an offer to take you off our hands, and we decided to take them up on the deal. ”
My eyes grew wide as she looked at Ricardo. “Would you like to tell her who’s decided to take her and deal with her ridiculous silent treatment?”
“I’d be happy to. Since you refuse to tell us why you were so important to Sergey, and you refuse to utter a word to anyone, we’ve decided to let one of the Syndicate members take you over, so you can at least earn your keep.
” I shook my head, and they both smiled.
“I believe you remember Giovanni Marcora. He’s been nice enough to pay your asking price, and he’s agreeing to let you take the place of a lost tribute for the next initiation.
That gives him six months to get you up to acceptable standards. ”
I tried to shake my head, but they both stood from their seats and smiled down at me. Kelly said, “He’ll be here this evening, so you might want to get ready for him. He’s ready for you to get what’s coming to you for his little knee injury.”
They walked out of the room laughing at what they managed to do to me without lifting a finger. Giovanni Marcora was a sadist, and if he had his way, he’d destroy any good parts of me before he publicly raped me, all for perceived clout within the criminal organization.
I jumped up from my chair, needing to get away before he arrived, but when I opened the door to make my getaway, I was face-to-face with the man who looked like he wanted to break me into pieces with his bare hands.
Giovanni stepped into the room as I stepped back, and the smirk he gave me was telling of my future with him.
“I’m so glad to see you again,” he stated as my legs hit the back of the desk and he continued to approach.
He grabbed a piece of my hair and rubbed it between his fingers as he taunted me.
“We’re going to have so much fun together.
” Leaning closer, he whispered, “But it can all be over if you just tell us what we want to know.”
I gave him a confused look as he stepped back, and then he added, “Sergey told you secrets, and I want to know what they are. So, make this easy on yourself and it will all be over.”
I shook my head, and when he went to grab me, I tried to strike out at him, only to be met with the back of his hand as he slapped me across the face, causing my ears to ring and my jaw to throb. He gripped my hair, and I pushed to my tiptoes, trying to fight as I felt strands rip from my scalp.
“I will get the secrets from you, or I swear you will meet Sergey.” Giovanni threatened, and I closed my eyes as tears fell hot and fast.
He began to smile as he grabbed hold of my shirt and ripped it down from my neck, exposing the front of my bra. When he pushed me onto the desk, I tried to kick at him, only to be punched directly in the face, rendering me defenseless as I lay there, trying to shake off the blow.
Fighting him only made him more determined, and when he was done with me, I had blood on my nose and lip from his punches. As I collapsed onto the floor with my underwear and pants around my ankles, I looked up at him through teary eyes.
“You know how to make this all stop.”
He turned, leaving me half-naked on the floor of the library, and when I looked through the open doorway, I saw Kelly standing there with a smile on her face.
She leaned into the room and remarked, “All you have to do is give up Sergey’s secrets about why he protected you and I’ll let you go back to your brother.
Or you can spend some more quality time with Giovanni.
” She shrugged as she added, “Choice is yours.”
Mustering whatever nerve I still had, I raised my middle finger to her and gave her a bloody smile, knowing I’d rather die than tell her anything he’d said to me.
Not out of loyalty to him, but I was his confidante, and he told me where all the money was hidden, who the potential members of the Syndicate were, and who was buried where.
With that kind of information, Kelly and Ricardo would be unstoppable, and I refused to give those two assholes any more power than they already had.
“Stupid girl,” Kelly muttered as she walked away from the library, leaving me disheveled and bleeding on the floor.
I didn’t realize I was fighting until I heard someone repeatedly saying my name. “Regan, darlin’, I need you to wake up. Regan . . . Regan, please, baby. You have to wake up.”
I stopped struggling and slowly blinked my eyes open, seeing I was in Seth’s house and not with any of the monsters who plagued my dreams. I sat up and brushed my sweaty hair off my forehead as I tried to slow my heart rate.
Looking over at him, I felt the embarrassment rise, knowing he saw me in a state I tried not to let anyone see me in.
It usually led to questions I didn’t want to answer, and I wanted to kick myself for allowing sleep to overtake me. But being wrapped in Seth’s arms, warm and safe, gave me a false sense of peace that reminded me I should never drop my guard.
“Are you okay?” Seth asked, and I tried to push a smile onto my face, only for him to lift one eyebrow without words.
“I just have bad dreams sometimes,” I remarked, hoping he would drop it but quickly realizing he wasn’t going to let this go.
“Regan, you started fighting me, and . . . it sounded like someone was hurting you in your sleep.” He paused then added, “I wish you trusted me enough to share.”
I sat up and realized Edgar was pressed against my leg still. Reaching down, I scratched his head as I looked at Seth, trying to rationalize my actions during my sleep. “Sometimes I have dreams about the house with my mom, and it’s hard to get out of it when it happens.”
Seth turned to face me directly and shook his head. “The name you called wasn’t that bastard’s, and I need you to tell me who it was that hurt you, so I can make sure he never hurts another woman again.”
“I called a name?” I asked, fear growing from deep inside me.
“Yeah, but you mumbled and I couldn’t make it out.
” He took my hands gently into his and lowered his voice as he spoke.
“Regan, darlin’, I know you have no reason to tell me any of your secrets, but I swear to you, there isn’t anything you can say to me that will change how I feel about you.
You are the strongest woman I’ve ever met, and you deserve to live in peace and not always looking over your shoulder, waiting for the boogey man to sneak up on you. ”
I stood from the couch and began to pace, not wanting to say anything to anyone but quickly realizing the corridor of secrets I’d walked for years was getting smaller, and I was going to have to divulge things I never wanted to.
Deciding to tell him something without giving too much away, I began to speak.
“When I was . . . kidnapped, and Elsa was already gone, I had to decide what I could live with or what I would die from. I made the decision not to fight, and it saved my life. If you want to know exactly how many people hurt me, or who they were, your guess is as good as mine.”
His eyes grew darker as he stood from his seat and walked closer to me. “How many times?”