Page 35 of Strangers in Love

Audric and I both stood up, the tension in the room palpable. Something about this new man made me think that he was more dangerous than the others. Even Audric looked serious for once, and I’d seen him smile while they made him clean our bucket.

The angry soldier was still only holding onto Dana with one hand, and he planted the other in the center of Hammond’s chest and shoved him against the wall. Hammond’s head bounced off the concrete.

Dana went nuts.

She yanked her arm, kicked at him. Cursing, she called him every awful name I’d ever heard. He spun her around and slammed her against the wall next to Hammond. His face was only an inch from hers as he released her wrist.

“Bitch.” The word was heavily accented but still understandable.

A whimper from behind me brought my head around, and what I saw stopped me cold.

The guard who’d caught Gia now had her back pressed to his chest. One hand grabbing a breast…and the other hand was down the front of her pants.

She wasn’t struggling. She was shaking. Shaking so hard that I could hear her teeth clacking together. A look of absolute terror had replaced the blank stare that’d been her only expression from the first moment I’d met her.

I stood there for what felt like forever, and I knew it felt longer for Gia. Something primal inside me snapped, and I unfroze and darted forward, grabbing the man’s wrist right above where his hand had disappeared into Gia’s pants. I glared up at him and dug my nails into his flesh.

“Let her go.”

He glared at me and barked something I assumed was anoorhell nosince he didn’t move his hands. I dug my nails in more, stomach lurching when I felt the skin give. With a pained yelp, he yanked his hand away and pushed Gia to the side so he could crowd me.

I put my hands on my hips and didn’t move. The man’s arm was bleeding from four deep gouges, visible when he pointed at me, saying something that I assumed was a threat.

“If you touch me, you’ll regret it,” I said simply, making my voice loud enough that the man behind me would be able to hear me as well. “My parents will pay the ransom you asked for, but if you hurt me, they’re never let it go at that.” I gestured to the people behind me. “And if you hurt any of these people, I will make it my mission, use every connection my family has, to bring you to justice.”

The man I’d scratched pulled his arm back, but before he could land a punch, a sharp order from behind me stopped him. The guard who’d been beating Hammond over, stopping just inches from me.

“Bitch.”

I didn’t know if he understood English but only knew how to say that one word, or if that was just the only word he wanted to use. Either way, it was the one he said to me again before walking out, the bleeding man trailing behind.

Everything went dark when the door closed, and I allowed a few seconds for my eyes to adjust before I went to Gia.

“Are you okay?” I made my voice as gentle as I could, which was surprising considering how angry I was. Not at her, of course. She hadn’t done anything wrong, but she was in such a fragile place that I worried any bit of negative emotion would make matters worse.

She didn’t answer, so I reached out to touch her, but she flinched. I pulled back but crouched down next to her.

“It’s all right, Gia. They’re gone. We’re okay now.”

“Don’t be an idiot.” Dana’s voice came from behind me. “We’re not okay. We’re not going tobeokay.”

“Yes, we will,” I said firmly. “My parents will pay the ransom on Thursday, and as soon as I see them, I’ll let them know about all of you. We’ll pay what needs paid and talk to whoever can make things happen. We’ll all be home before the holidays.”

“Aline, you can’t promise us that.” Audric’s voice was tight and sad at the same time. “All sorts of stuff could happen between now and then.”

I shook my head. “The money will be there. I wouldn’t be surprised if my parents will be here too. They might even be able to talk to the authorities here and get things set into motion to have you all released too.”

“You really don’t get it, do you?” Dana asked. “You caused trouble. If you keep causing it, they’re not going to give a damn about your parents or who they know.”

“And if your parents aren’t able to pay on time, for some reason or another, you can’t imagine the things those men will do to you,” Hammond said.

I could see well enough now to catch the troubled expression on his face. Dana appeared more annoyed than anything else, but while the look she sent my way wasn’t a kind one, there was concern in it too.

“We didn’t want to scare…anyone.” Dana’s eyes darted to Gia and then came back to me. “There was someone else here when Hammond and I got here. They tried to escape as soon as the door opened and were so fast that we couldn’t tell if it was a guy or girl. We were shoved inside, and the last thing we saw was that asshole that was beating on Hammond draw his gun. We heard the shot, but that wasn’t the end because then we heard screaming. It went for a long time.”

“The blood was still on the hallway floor when they took us out to shoot the ransom video,” Hammond added, his voice barely audible.

A chill ran down my spine, but I didn’t let myself give in to the fear that wanted to follow. I had to hold on to hope, not let a single thread of doubt creep in, if I wanted to survive this experience without it changing who I was.

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