Page 47 of Corrupt Game

Even though I’d grown used to asking him to feed me each meal, that was just for survival. Or so I told myself.

How was this any different? I was going to need to be warm.

Pissed off because I knew I’d have to give in to his demands eventually.

There was always a nice hot shower.

No, I’d leave that for when I was super desperate. Why waste it now? As soon as he realized what I was doing he probably would have the hot water shut off. I’ll need to wait for when my lips turned blue.

Ha, like I wasn’t already to that point. At least I had some form of plan.

What could he possibly gain from this type of torture?

It had to have been at least a couple of weeks since he’d brought me down here. He was still hanging around and in my thoughts constantly.

Once I was done with my mission, I was going to miss him. I was going to crave his care. He was able to bleed into my subconscious and make me crave him on a deeper level. Was this what it felt like for Stockholm syndrome or being brainwashed?

This wasn’t what I’d signed up for. I’d only meant to use him until I could get some evidence on my brother’s murder. Now, he was using me to gain my trust, confidence, and become completely his.

“No wonder you had to have new people come and go every year. No one woman would have been able to endure this kind of torture for longer than a year. Her body would have given out long after her heart had become broken,” I muttered aloud. I seemed to no longer care if he heard me. I had to speak aloud to keep my hold on my sanity. My own thoughts were starting to torture me.

Could this be part of the research for his lab?

Maybe he was doing trials for the military to see how much the body could endure under these types of conditions.

I stood in the middle of the room and rotated my neck around and took deep breaths. Letting out long exhales. I practiced centerting myself, and calmed my mind. I had to stay strong so I could find out what happened to my brother.

All the thoughts of my brother were coming less and less as the days and hours went on. I worried that he would slip away from me. What I had left were my memories and my demand for justice.

My need for survival had begun to take first place in my mind again. It slowly stripped Andy from me. I couldn’t allow that to happen.

Focus on my mission needed to remain the main goal. I couldn’t let him push the need for justice away. It was too important that someone of his status be held accountable for his actions.

I wasn’t certain what he was capable of, but I was becoming more convinced that Ian Holdt was a multi-faceted man.

The elevator door opened, and I moved to the couch, gritting my teeth to keep them from chattering as I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms around them, trying to keep warm.

Heat from his body brushed against me as I felt his gaze fasten on me.

The faint electrical hum from his night vision glasses made me blush because I knew that he’d noticed my almost naked attire.

My nipples were taunt little nubs sticking out of my bra. Such a guy move to get a live show without much effort. That might have been his complete reason for having the heater turned off.

Then again, he was pretty upfront about things of this nature. It didn’t feel that he would use these types of tactics just to see me cold.

He was very careful not to touch me as he took a seat next to me. The heat from his body practically danced across my skin, and I felt myself scooting toward him.

“No,” I uttered aloud without meaning to. “Fuck.”

“Something wrong, Collette?”

“Not at all,” I lied. “Just forgot something that I needed to make sure to remember.”

“Hmm, is there something I could do to help?” His deep voice made me shiver, only this time it wasn’t from the cold.

“I’ve got it covered.”

“Really?” His head tilted as if he were doubting the sincerity of my words. “Are you hungry?”

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