Page 15 of Sweet Misery

7

ARIANNA

My ropes were undone and I was yanked roughly from my bed. The man taking me didn’t say a word, but I knew who he was.

Well, sort of.

He was one of Sever’s brothers. A twin. Roman or Renzo. I wasn’t sure which since they looked exactly alike. It was creepy how much they looked alike. Sometimes, there were little things you could use to distinguish twins apart. Not with them. Everything was a carbon copy of the other. At least that's what I remembered of them.

My heart banged hard as he led me from the bedroom and into a long, dark hall.

“W-Where are we going?”

He said nothing as he dragged me along. When I tried to put the brakes on, he simply hefted me over his shoulder and carried me bucking and crying down the stairs and into a massive living room.

He tossed me onto the floor, and I landed in a painful heap. He stepped away from me and moved to sit on the black leather couch. I went up on my hands and knees and looked forwardto see three sets of feet in front of me. Another set entered my vision as someone stepped up to me and grabbed my braid.

I let out a cry as he yanked me up by it.

“Knees. You will always be on your knees when you greet us,” Massimo said sternly, giving my head a violent shake by my braid.

I trembled at his words, fear coursing through me. I wasn’t sure I could run or even move, but I darted my gaze around, trying to memorize everything about the place so I could try to escape the moment I got a chance.

“And don’t try to escape,” Massimo continued as if reading my mind. “There are guards and cameras every inch of this place. You run. We chase. And if we catch you.” He ripped my head back, making me gasp at the pain. “Then we will fuck every hole in your body and maybe even make some new ones.”

He released me, and I fell forward back onto my hands.

“Up,” he commanded with a snarl. “Back straight.”

I was going to lose it. I felt the panic rising, and I knew once it started I wouldn’t be able to control it. I hadn’t had a bad panic attack in years, but I knew what they felt like when they started to brew beneath the surface. I sucked in ragged breath after ragged breath, the very real fear that this was it smothering me.

I was going to die here.

Sever made it clear our friendship and everything else ended the day I ran.

“Up!” Massimo shouted.

I jumped, but I couldn’t bring myself to straighten. I was going to black out as my chest heaved with every struggled intake of breath. My body shook. My head spun. My hands grew clammy, and my lips tingled.

Massimo let out a snarl and wrapped his hand around my throat. With little effort, he slammed me onto the floor onto my back and loomed over me.

I looked up into his gray eyes, losing all my senses.

The room spun wildly.

He cocked his head at me and tightened his grip on my throat. I couldn’t breathe even more now. I kicked my legs beneath him, the room darkening.

With my hands around his wrists, I tried to get him to release me. He only held tighter.

“I will kill you. Is that what you want? Calm down and live another day or keep at it and die right here and now. Either way, your pussy is going to get fucked. Understand?”

Tears poured down my cheeks as I stopped my struggle. He released me, and I gulped in mouthfuls of air. He got to his feet and stood over me.

“On your knees,” he said softly.

It took everything I had to bring myself to my knees. I swayed where I kneeled, my stomach churning and my heart pounding.

Massimo reached out and put my long braid over my shoulder so it hung in front of me before he backed away and stood next to where his brothers were watching from the couch. I didn’t look at them. I kept my eyes on the floor.

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