Page 28 of When Sinners Rise
He chuckles, deep and rumbled. “Nice touch. That’s much more like a Cortez.” I frown and take another swill on my brandy. “I’ll make arrangements and get in touch tomorrow, and then we can get this bitch dealt with and get you to New York.”
“What does‘dealt with’mean?”
“Sold. I don’t want her anywhere near us.” Why the fuck am I hunting her ass down then? I look back across the corridor. Could’ve just left her free.
“Who’s the buyer?”
“Why does that matter? We’re getting rid of dead weight. Gotta make some profit and clean house around here. I’m reorganising. Putting everything in place.”
“Yeah, Okay.”
The phone cuts out. Conversation over, apparently. Fine. I’ll just do as I’m damn well told again, yeah? I snort, pissed with myself, him, and the situation I’m in. It should be easier to treat women like crap by now. It isn’t.
CHAPTER TEN
MIRI
He didn’t speak for long. A few words and it was too muffled to make them out.
It was a distraction, though. My eyes are sore, but so is the rest of my body. Sore and cold – it shakes uncontrollably as I wrap my arms around my knees and pull myself together. My head and vision now clear as whatever he gave me wears off.
I feel vile. Wretched.
But that’s his doing.
When I was in this room before, it was pure terror. Elias was a monster, and the fear he instilled in me is still there, buried under months of healing. He had one intention for me in this room – to rape me and have his fun.
Well, he didn’t have the opportunity. Reed saw to that and set all of this in motion.
I make a crooked-sounding laugh as I wind back all the events that’ve happened since my first visit here. Maybe, if Reed hadn't stepped in, things would have been different. Reed wouldn’t have gone on the run with Naja, and I wouldn’t havebeen dumped and left in the first safe place they found. Reed might still be alive, and Naja and I might be together.
But then I remember that the horrors of this place weren’t confined to what Elias wanted to do with his cock. We were going to be sold to who knows who. Separated and ripped apart for profit. All because that’s what the Cortez family do.
There have been times that I’ve hated thinking of Naja. Hated wondering what’s happened to her and what she’s doing. But she saved me and did everything she could to protect me here. She risked everything for me – to get me safe.
She’d be broken to see that this is where I am now – right back where it started.
I wipe the back of my hand over my nose as I bring my emotions under control.
Shaw Cortez. That’s my enemy now.
All this time worrying about being afraid of what might happen, of men taking advantage, and I let it happen anyway. I never expected them to come for me, though. The scar permanently blazoned on my foot was a mark they always said was one of ownership. But I was naïve.
Fuck.
The anger festers as I run it all over in my mind. It’s the same fucking building – the same room. Like some sick, twisted vengeance. It makes this worse, somehow. Like the damage they did the first time wasn’t enough for them. They needed to drive the knife in deep and twist, hard and sharp.
No. I’m not going to just sit here. I owe it to myself and everything I’ve already been through to stand up and fight. Even if I’m frightened, but it’s not fucking fair when I’ve been drugged.
I rub my eyes, wiping any last drop of moisture away. I’ve cried all I will. I’ve had my time to feel sorry for myself. Naja didn’t sit and cry when we were here, so neither will I.
“Hey, Shaw? I want my clothes,” I shout. They might be ripped, but they’ll be better than nothing.
Listening, I wonder if he even heard me. But then the steel bolt creeks and slides back, and the door opens.
He looks towards me but keeps his eyes lowered. Gone is the confident guy I met and fell for. Gone is the man who brought me pizza and drew me a bath.
“Number?” he barks, holding my clothes in his hands.
