I looked back at Rose. “We can get out of this. We can go to the club. They’ll protect you. You’ll be safe there and your dad won’t be able to find you,” I talked quietly and quickly. I saw her eyes flick to where the men stood. She was considering it. I could see it. “You don’t have to do this, I know you think you do, but you don’t. I can prove to you the club didn’t do what you think they did. I can prove it.”

I saw the front door of the house was now open and the men were walking back to the car, laughing and joking like my life wasn’t in danger. It was one big joke to them.

I reached out to her, my hand moving slowly even in my desperate need to get the gun away from her. I felt the cold metal under my hand but before I could close my fingers around it, the car door flew open behind me and I was wrenched out.

I screamed, hoping that someone would hear me. “Get off me! Put me down!”

I saw Rose fumble with the handle and dive out the other side. “Stop it!” she cried. “You’ll hurt her!”

McCreepy laughed, watching as the other man held me tightly as I kicked and fought. He snatched the gun from Rose’s hand. She tried to grab it back off him, but he pushed her in the chest causing her to go sprawling on the concrete driveway.

“This what you wanted, whore?” he asked, pointing the gun at me. My body instantly froze.

People lied when they said your life flashed before your eyes before you died. My life did not flash before my eyes. There were no deep and meaningful thoughts that ran through my mind. I didn’t question the choices I’d made or whether I wished I had one more chance to do things differently. All I thought was, I wonder how much this is going to hurt. I saw his finger pull the trigger, it was slow and purposeful. The smile on his face growing wider and wider.

Rose screamed. “No!” Shuffling along the concrete, holding her broken arm to her body and reaching out with the other hand. I let out a puff of breath, accepting my fate as the trigger was forced all the way back.

Click.

There was no loud bang. No flash of light before the darkness consumed me.

What there was though was laughter.

McCreepy was in hysterics, almost doubled over and wheezing. The man holding me couldn’t suppress chuckles either.

“You thought...” he attempted to speak but had to take a moment to calm down. “You thought we’d give the little backstabber a loaded gun?”

Rose looked like she’d been slapped.

I bared my teeth and threw myself forward, only to be restrained.

He laughed again. “She’s been stringing you along this whole time and you think we would trust her? Don’t you think we knew you’d play the pity card and try to turn her to your side? Almost had her too. I saw it in her eyes.” He laughed again. “Or should I say eye.”

The man behind me forced me up the path, shoving me and causing me to stumble and fall. My knees grazed the concrete and my palms were now scratched and stinging. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t have time, I was dragged to my feet and pulled up the front steps. I could hear Rose behind me, sobbing. McCreepy told her to shut the fuck up and I wanted to turn and give him a piece of my mind. She was hurting, she was broken. Yes, she had betrayed me but I couldn’t help but still feel protective of her.

She’d been fooled too. I just knew it.

Walking through the doorway I could feel blood dripping down my leg from the scrapes on my knees. The carpet inside the door was a light creamy color.

Good. I hope this stains you fucker.

I felt the blood drop from my leg onto the floor. It was slightly satisfying.

We walked down a long hall, the house was nice. Tidy. Almost as if no one actually lived there. At the end of the hall there was a door. I didn’t want to open the door. I knew where it would go. Right into a basement.

“How bad guy cliché,” I spat, causing the man behind me to laugh.

He reached around me, turning the door handle and pushing the door open to reveal some stairs. His chest rubbed against my back and I could feel his breath in my ear. I shuddered. Just a mere touch made me feel dirty. Taking a deep breath, I held my head high as I took each step. Every time I put my foot down I told myself ‘you are strong, they won’t break you.’ I hoped I could convince myself that the words were true because I had no idea what I was walking into.

The temperature changed dramatically when I reached the bottom of the long staircase. It was cold and with only a light T-shirt on over a pair of tight stretchy workout pants and track shoes, it felt like I was inside a freezer. The place was dirty, not like upstairs at all. There were boxes covered in dust and old tools scattered everywhere. A sofa was pushed against the far wall and other household items were everywhere.

“Chelsea! I’m so glad you could join us. Rosalie has told me so much about you.” The man appeared out from behind a pile of boxes. I knew this was Rose’s dad.

I didn’t respond, just glared at him which only made him laugh. He walked closer. He was done up in a gray pinstripe suit and tie and his hair was cut short. I didn’t miss the Italian accent either. It was prominent enough for me to know that English was his second language.

“I hope my boys treated you well,” he said, gesturing to the two men.

“They didn’t force me to hold my hand on any burning stove tops, so that’s always a bonus,” I sneered.

My smart remark only made his grin grow wider. “Yes, you are everything I was hoping you would be.”

“And what exactly were you hoping I would be?”

“Strong.” His smile turned into a smirk and I could feel the promise of pain in his eyes. “The strongest ones are the most fun to break.”

Ropes were bound around my wrists and ankles and I was forced to sit on the cold concrete floor against the wall. Marco has disappeared upstairs with McCreepy, leaving the other man with us. I could hear him coming back down the stairs now, but he was alone. I didn’t know how long they’d been gone, but my ass had gone dead a long time ago and my body was so frozen I wasn’t even shaking anymore—I was just numb.

My stomach was in knots and I felt as though I might puke. My mouth filled with saliva, but I forced myself to swallow, not wanting to show these men how I was really feeling despite my death glares and sharp tongue.

I was scared. So fucking scared.

I heard Rose’s breathing catch on a sob just as Marco stepped back into the cold room.

“Go clean yourself up, Rosalie.” Her father’s tone was not caring and gentle but rather disgusted.

Rose looked over to me as if debating with herself whether to leave me alone with these men. It didn’t matter. I had the feeling if Marco was the type of man to treat his own blood the way he treated Rose, he wouldn’t care if she was in the room while he hurt me. She stood up on shaky legs and started walking to the stairs, stopping in front of her father and looking up at him.

“Please, Daddy—” She didn’t even have time to finish her sentence before she was sent skidding across the floor crying out in pain.

“I told you, you have not yet earned the right to address me that way,” he yelled, the sound booming in the closed space and hurting my ears. He stood over her whimpering body.

“Leave her alone,” I yelled, fighting at my restraints.

He looked up, surprised by my outburst. Bending down, he grabbed a fist full of her hair. “This girl lied to you, she lured you to places and attempted to hurt you and you are speaking up for her?” He shook her and she cried out again.