Page 32 of Taken By the Convicts
“Did I offend you?” he asked.
She closed her eyes. “Why are you being nice to me? You’ll get to sleep with me, like the rest. It’s not like I have a choice.”
“You have a choice. Lots of choices, Mel. Even here.”
“Not if I want protection.”
“Reece won’t let anyone touch you.”
Reece couldn’t guard her every minute. He couldn’t even get into this room. “Ivan has all the power here.”
“You make your own power, Mel. Remember that in the weeks to come.”
She tipped her head against the door. “Who are you, Zev? You don’t talk like a prisoner.”
“Making assumptions about people will get you in trouble. Killed even,” he said, his easy-going voice of a few minutes ago gone.
“Are you talking from experience?”
Several minutes passed in silence. Was he still in the hallway?
“I’m sorry, Zev. I didn’t mean to insult you.”
“I was just thinking.” His voice sounded distant, distracted.
She wanted to ask what he was thinking about, but Zev never seemed to give out much information about himself.
“You’re different from the rest,” she said instead.
“How is that?”
She hesitated, not sure how to say what she felt. To her surprise, Zev didn’t scare her. He didn’t come off as a killer. Most Level 5s were rapists or killers, but not all.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “You don’t seem to act like you’ll be here long. Like you’re a casual observer.”
He laughed. “Oh, you have a rich imagination, Mel.”
She liked him calling her Mel. It felt familiar. Like something a friend would call her.
“I’m as much a prisoner here as you. Perhaps what you’re sensing is the fact that I don’t anger easily. Anger and hatred are dangerous emotions as they make a man take chances he shouldn’t. I’ve learned to stay calm under stress. I’ll outlive most of these assholes on Veenith as a result.”
“How do you understand Reece so well?”
“He’s not hard to understand. You need to watch his face, his body language.”
“You care about him.”
Silence.
“Zev?”
“He needs me, and I need him. Backup.”
Not friendship. Survival. For her, that would be one and the same. Even if Ivan learned to trust her—and she doubted he would because of what she’d done to him—she’d end up sleeping with these guys at some point. With no other women around, it was inevitable. Even if they didn’t force her at first, the men would tire of waiting eventually, and then she’d have no choice, despite what Zev thought, despite if Reece intended to protect her. It would be better to give herself to them, to take some control over the situation, maybe even form a bond with them.
The lights shut off. Melina stood and waved her hand, trying to activate the motion sensor. Nothing. “Zev, the lights—”
“They’re off here too,” he yelled as if from a distance. “I’ll be back.”
