Chapter 4

• Present
• Unfortunately for me, I couldn't escape him. I stare at the ceiling wondering when Thomas is going to torture me again and how long I'm going to survive.
• My head turns to the door as I hear footsteps approaching. I sit up and wait for them to enter the room. My eyes widen when I see it's Thomas walking in. "Thomas," I say once he stands before me. He doesn't say anything. He stands there and just stares at me. I try to hold his stare, but the burning rage in his eyes is too painful to look at because I know I'm the reason for it. Thomas bends down, his face right in mine, his breath fanning my face. I close my eyes when he raises his hand. I wait for him to smack me, but instead I feel his fingers on my cheek. Flinching, I open my eyes and feel him pushing my hair out of my face. He takes out a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes the sweat off my face.
• "I still can't believe it," Thomas says. "Believe what?"
• "Believe I didn't see it." "See what?"
• "See the vixen that you are," he says, through gritted teeth. "Oh." I sniff as I blink my eyes. I know I'm a vixen but hearing
• him say it feels like a bullet piercing my heart. My head drops forward as my heart cracks.
• "Look at me." He lifts my chin. I lock gazes with him and the crack in my heart expands. There's so much hatred in his eyes. I turn away, trying to stop the fracturing in my chest.
• "Keep eye contact with me." Thomas moves my face back in front of his, but I look down at my fingers. There's dried blood on my broken nails. I shake my head thinking my suffering hasn't even started and my hands look like this.
• "It's fascinating," Thomas says, snapping me out of my thoughts. "What?"
• "How amazing that I, Thomas Costanzo," his Italian accent rips out as he says his name, "fell for you and let you dupe me."
• "I am sorry."
• "I don't want sorry," he yells, pushing off the ground and standing straight. I flinch and put my hands up in defense as I begin to shake. "I want you to fucking tell me where James is."
• "I don't know."
• "So, the torture you underwent tonight wasn't enough to make you talk?"
• "I'm not lying."
• "Then tell me where he fucking is!"
• "I don't know," I cry out, frustrated he won't believe me. "You've decided then."
• "What do you mean? Decided what?"
• "You'll see tomorrow," he says, walking toward the door.
• ***
• A few hours later they bring me food, but I barely touch it. I sigh remembering how Thomas used to gaze at me. Those beautiful eyes of his will never be soft and adoring as they used to be. My heart squeezes in my chest thinking about it.
• I remember the day I realized I'd fallen in love with him. We'd been dating for four or five months. I knew I had feelings for him, but I denied it until that day. Thomas got into an accident, and the thought of being in the world without him scared me more than James' wrath. It made me realize that I'd fallen in love with him. It still amazed me. I didn't think I could love another man after the hell I'd been through with James, but I did.
• If only I could tell Thomas that my feelings for him were real. But I doubted even that would save myself from whatever's coming. I never wanted to steal his money. But he'd never believe me. I approached him for his money, and that's always going to be a fact. If only I could tell him James forced me to do it. If only he'd believe me. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll be that lucky.
• ***
• I wake up to the sound of the door opening. I don't remember falling asleep. The same man from last time steps inside and asks me to follow him. We walk to the room where they'd tortured me. He asks me to sit in the chair covered in my dried blood. I don't fight him this time, but I cringe as he straps me to the chair.
• "How're you feeling today, Melina?" Kimberly asks, walking toward me from the stairs. She is wearing black denim jeans and a jacket with a brown T-shirt. Her black ankle boots click hard against the floor as she approaches me. She's wearing the same red lipstick from yesterday and her pitch-black hair is in a rough bun.
• "As you would expect."
• "Hmm." Kimberly nods, taking off her jacket.
• "Today, we're going to do things like yesterday. I'm going to give you three chances to tell me where James or the money is before I make you suffer."
• "I already told you I don't know."
• "I can see you're still choosing to protect him. No problem, we can skip ahead to the fun part then." Kimberly picks up a short dagger from the table and licks it, grinning. I cringe. Wouldn't Kimberly hurt her tongue doing that? "It seems I'll make you bleed faster than I thought." She smirks as she moves closer to me.
• "Please, don't hurt me." Kimberly rests the blade against my forearm. My heart rate speeds up.
• "Let the games begin." Kimberly draws the blade across my arm.
• Screaming in agony, I ball my hands into a tight fist as my skin tears open.
• "I never understood what he saw in you." Walking behind me and grabbing my hair, she pulls my head back and places the blade on my cheek. "I wish he would fucking let me cut this ugly face."
• Kimberly brings the dagger an inch away from my eyes and they widen in terror.
• "Please," I plead and Kimberly smiles, taking the dagger away. Moving it to my shoulder, she draws it down my arm. I scream in pain wrapping my hands tight around the armrests. Tears flow down my face mixing with my sweat. I watch Kimberly as she takes the blade away. I wonder if she's doing this to get answers or because she hates me for being the woman Thomas loved.
• I snap out of my thoughts seeing Kimberly throwing the knife up, letting gravity take its course. The color drains from my face watching the blade plummet toward my thigh. I try to get out of the way by pushing my butt backward to move the chair, but Kimberly catches it before it dives into my lap. Kimberly laughs seeing me hold my breath as the blade rests a breath away from my thigh.
• "This is only the beginning, Melina. If you continue to claim you don't know where the money or James is, I'll carve designs into your body with my blades." Kimberly draws the blade down my thigh, tearing open my skin. My blood splashes onto the floor, painting it crimson.
• ***
• I don't know how much time has gone by, but my throat is sore, and a pool of blood lies around my feet. My hands are white from gripping the armrest too hard. My hair sticks to my face, and I can no longer taste salt on my lips. Looking at the carnage on my arms and legs, fresh tears form in my eyes. Kimberly has sliced the skin on my arms, stomach, chest, and thighs.
• I don't understand how I'm still alive with the amount of blood I've lost. The only place Kimberly hasn't used her dagger is my face. I'm surprised Kimberly didn't slice my face because she has always been jealous of my beauty. I remember Kimberly saying someone won't allow her and wonder if that was Thomas' order.
• "Wow, I didn't expect you to last this long." I don't reply and continue staring at the ground. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, bitch." Kimberly grabs my hair and forces my head up. She places the blade against my cheek. "You're lucky he said I can't touch your face; otherwise, I'd make you the ugliest woman on this planet." She releases my hair and takes a step away.
• "Bring the salt! Seems we need to spice things up a little bit more," Kimberly says to the man who brought me into the room.
• I abruptly lift my head, and my eyes widen. "Please don't.
• Please, I'm begging you, Kimberly."
• "It seems this is the only thing that's going to make you talk." "I swear to you, Kimberly, I don't know where the money or
• James is."
• "We'll see about that." She takes a plate from the big man. It's loaded with a pile of salt.
• I push my butt backward, trying to move the chair to get away. I look behind me, then to Kimberly to see if I'm getting any further away. Hope flutters in my heart as I see the table is a little further away than before, but my chair suddenly stops moving. I turn to see the big man holding my chair in place as Kimberly approaches.
• "Kimberly, please, please, I beg you. Don't do this."
• "The more you beg, the more I want to do it." She smirks and grabs a handful of salt. I shut my eyes as Kimberly swings it at my body. An anxious breath leaves my lips as I brace for the salt to settle in my wounds and the agonizing pain to begin. When it doesn't, I open my eyes. Thomas is holding Kimberly's wrist.
• "That's enough, Kimberly. I said nothing extreme." I look behind him and see the salt and broken plate at his feet.
• I gaze into his eyes and for a split second see sadness there. It quickly disappears as his eyes become void of any emotion. I didn't know he was here today. How much did he see? Does watching Kimberly torture me move any emotion inside him?
• "Pouring salt on her wounds isn't extreme," Kimberly says, through gritted teeth.
• "It is. I think she's had enough for today. Seth, cut her hands and feet free."
• "No, she hasn't." Kimberly slaps Seth's hands away from the armrest before he can cut the cable ties.
• "I said she has," Thomas growls in her face. Kimberly backs down and takes a step away.
• Seth proceeds to cut the cable ties. I try to stand up but can't take one step before my body gives out. Thomas catches me before I hit the floor. He places his hand under my knees and lifts me off the ground. I stare at his shirt as my blood stains it, and I
• wonder how he feels about that. I try to blink as Thomas' face starts to double but I end up closing them.
• "Melina!" Thomas shakes me.
• I grunt but my eyes feel too heavy to keep open. "Fucking open your eyes!"
• "I want to sleep, Thomas." His scent drifts through my nose, pulling me into the darkness. I find it hard to stay awake as his scent calms me down and my body relaxes.
• "Seth, look for Leo and ask him to call Dr. Chris. Tell him to get his fucking ass here now." Thomas walks toward the stairs with me in his arms.
• "Why are you getting her treated?" Kimberly asks, blocking Thomas' way.
• "Because I fucking want to. Now move out of my damn way." Thomas tries to walk past Kimberly, but she keeps blocking him.
• "She lied to you. You shouldn't get her treated—you should let her die."
• "Kimberly, I'm only going to say this one more time. Move out of my fucking way."
• "I can't believe you."
• "I choose when she dies, not you." Thomas walks up the stairs. I let myself embrace the dark, closing my eyes.