Page 2 of Relentless Sinner

I saw it happen. I was right there.

My mother sacrificed herself and saved me so that I could live. That’s why I tried to run from my father’s controlling hand. All I could see in his plans for me was a future of darkness and doom.

His shitty plans began weeks ago when he wanted to sign Natasha’s life away to a man people call the Beast. Then when Natasha left and Dad couldn’t find her, he roped me into his plan as thereplacement. Never mind that I was nigh on starting med school in L.A.

I can’t even take pleasure in the fact that Dad would have been enraged when he discovered I’d also gone. Not just one but both his daughters had managed to escape him.

That doesn’t even matter anymore. What matters is what’s going to happen to me now.

The silence around me is sharp and deafening, an arena for my thoughts and fears to war with each other. The stillness consumes me. And then… footsteps.

Oh no. Someone’s coming.One of the men.

The sound of heavy boots on the concrete floor fills my surroundings, and my insides tighten like ropes wrapping around my organs.

I sit straighter and stare through the bars with wide eyes. The footsteps come closer and I try to discern which of them is coming.

The man with the scar on his face or the man with the scar across his neck. Both of them are as gruesome and monstrous as each other.

An icy wave of dread rolls down my spine as I wait to see who it is.

Seconds pass as the sound gets closer and closer, then the light in the hallway snaps on, allowing me to see which monster has come for me tonight.

It’s the man with the scar across his neck. The one who took me. The one who chased me into the park and knocked me out with a fist to my face.

His scar stretches from ear to ear. My guess is that someone slashed him good and proper. He’s lucky to be alive.

Or maybe that was the intention—tokeephim alive, with the scar as a reminder of sorts.

Listen to me trying to figure it out. As if I care.

Besides, that’s not the only scar on his head. His entire face is so fucked up I can’t tell how old he is. His scars look like wrinkles and the wrinkles look like scars. The only decent-looking thing on him is his neatly trimmed hair.

He smiles, revealing silver teeth that make his leathery pale skin look ghostly. I say nothing as I stare back at him. Not even to scream at him to let me out.

Yesterday when I did that he hit me and dragged me by my hair until my scalp bled, reminding me that I was nothing but a pawn in his twisted game.

Without taking his eyes off me he unlocks the barred door and pushes it open.

There’s a lusty look in his steely stare that churns my stomach. Since I’ve been here this man has always looked at me like that.

The others were ordered by a man I know only by his voice not to touch me. He didn’t want to devalue my worth.

I’m not a virgin but I made them believe I was. It was the one clever thing I was able to do. Thankfully they weren’t gross enough to conduct a virginity test. I guess they assumed, regardless of my age, that a man like Salvatore De Costa would have kept his daughters pure for the same reason as them—more money.

“Look at you. Not saying anything today?” His contemptuous voice is as sharp as the blade he keeps tucked away in the sheath on his belt.

He walks in, steps into the dim light and lifts his chin, giving me a better view of his scar. His smile twists into something grotesque and I wish I could run far away.

This man loves watching me squirm.

I force myself not to flinch as he walks up to me and crouches down but I can’t stop myself from heaving when he catches my face with his clammy fingers.

He tilts my head up, studying my face with amusement. "What? No fighting today? You disappoint me.” He laughs in my face. “Guess what, princess? The boss is gone for the weekend. There’s no one to stop us now from taking what we want. The boys and I plan to take turns fucking you. I get to go first."

Oh my God. No, no, no.This isn’t happening. “Let go of me, you fucking asshole.”

“No chance of that.” He reaches between us to undo his belt.

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