Marcus shrugs before reaching across the table with his fork, stabbing a piece of steak and dropping it onto his plate. “What can I say?” he mutters. “I was in the moment.”
“Yeah, we know,” Levi scoffs. “You’re a fucking loose cannon when you’re in the moment.”
The brothers casually talk between themselves while annihilating the vast array of food around them, throwing meaningless threats at one another and bonding over their shared hatred of their father. I sit in silence, taking it all in. I can’t help but feel at ease, something I never thought possible about being in their presence.
I’m safe here among these beautifully broken souls, but one thing is for sure, Levi was right. Marcus is a loose cannon; they all are. And while I may feel safe, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I am. They’re broken from a lifetime of abuse, and I guarantee that they’ve never been taught what it means to care, love, or even show true kindness. They’re soldiers through and through. Weapons trained not to miss. Getting too close to them would be a mistake, one that would cost me dearly.
The brothers are only just getting started with me, and something tells me that I have one hell of a fight to survive.
22
BANG!
My door rebounds against the drywall as scuffles quickly fill my room. My heart races as fear rocks through me. The scuffles get closer and hands are on me before I even get a chance to scream. They pull at me, dragging me to the foot of my bed as I wail, desperate to see through the darkness, desperate to get just a glimpse of their faces.
I kick out, connecting with something hard, but the pained grunt that tears through the room isn’t familiar. “GET OFF ME,” I scream so damn loud that the sound tears painfully up my throat.
The hands grip me tighter, effortlessly yanking me off my bed as I struggle, shamelessly trying to free myself from the confines of their bruising grip. My body drops to the ground with a heavy thud and I cry out, but as I’m dragged across the floor and pass by the big window, the moonlight shines in, telling me my fears are right.
These guys aren’t the DeAngelis brothers.
This is something much, much worse.
I cry out as I’m pulled off the ground and forced to my feet with a bruising jab under my ribs. A hand curls around my upper arm and propels me toward my bedroom door, sending me straight out into the hallway and slamming into the opposite wall.
Dim light shines through the hallway, but not nearly enough for me to make out their faces. I’m thrown straight back to that old warehouse with those filthy men touching me, holding me down and putting their hands on me.
Tears fill my eyes, but I don’t dare give up, pulling and pushing, relentlessly trying to get free. “LET ME GO,” I scream, my voice bouncing off the walls and echoing right down the hallway, but no one is coming. It’s no use.
Where the fuck are the boys? Why are they allowing this to happen in their home? Have they run out of little games to play? Run out of mazes to stalk me through? Perhaps this is their punishment for escaping at the industrial estate.
They lead me through the massive castle, moving around the hallways as though they know exactly where they’re going. We reach the top of the stairs and I’m pushed forward, barely managing to stay on my feet as I struggle the whole way to the bottom.
They release me just as we hit the last step and my weight drops right to the fucking marble tiles. My knees slam hard and I cry out, but they don’t miss a step. Catching my arms once again, they drag me straight through the wide-open space.
I scramble behind them, desperately trying to get my feet back under myself, but they’re too fast and way too fucking strong. I don’t stand a chance. I try to glance up at them, hoping that I can recognize their faces from the boys’ party, but I get nothing. These men are like soldiers, trained and heavily armed. They’ve been given a mission, and without a single word, have made it clear that they will see this through.
A dim light comes from one of the rooms and I’m not surprised when the men drag me in there. They pull me straight through the open doorway and I skid to a stop right at Levi’s feet as they fall around the room, covering every damn exit.
My gaze snaps up as I desperately try to scurry away from Levi, only as I move closer to the center of the room, I quickly realize that this is something entirely different.
Levi stands with his brothers, all three of them with clenched jaws and murder in their eyes, looking like an impenetrable force. Not one of them even bother to look down at me as their heavy stares are locked across the room, staring at the man who holds the remote for the shock collars around their throats.