“You’d be better off answering my questions instead of arguing with me, Alexandra.” He emphasized my name, and it was somehow worse than the mocking nickname. His low, quiet tone resonated through the dimly lit room, caressing my skin in a silky-smooth threat. He said my name like he knew all my darkest secrets, ones that were buried so deep, even I wasn’t aware of them yet. “You know about your father’s connection to the Bratva. And you’re going to tell me everything.”
I couldn’t fathom knowing anything terrible enough to warrant the heavy condemnation in his tone, but he spoke with such absolute certainty that for a moment, I questioned my sanity.
I shook my head to clear it. The movement made my thoughts slosh in my brain. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My tongue was too thick in my mouth, and my words slurred slightly.
Don’t show weakness. I swallowed and tried again. “Let me go.”
He muttered a low curse. “I shouldn’t have dosed you so much. You’re even more delicate than you look.”
I’m not delicate! The snappish, kneejerk retort was at the tip of my tongue, but I pressed my lips together to lock it inside. I couldn’t allow him to see how much he was riling me.
Weak. Skinny. Ugly. You look like a little boy. My bullies’ words echoed in my head, rolling around inside my skull and heightening my nausea.
“Tell me what I want to know, and you can go home. You’re staying right here until you talk, Freckles.”
“I told you not to call me that!” I burst out before I could stop myself.
“I’ll call you whatever I want. You’re the one tied to a chair in my basement. You don’t get to make demands, Freckles.” He placed extra emphasis on the mocking nickname, twisting the knife. I caught another flash of white teeth as he bared a cruel smile at me.
“You’re a bully,” I seethed in a moment of absolute clarity, cleaving to my righteous, familiar rage. It seared away the worst of my debilitating terror. “You think you can scare me into telling you what you want to hear. I don’t know anything about any Russians. I don’t know if you’re insane or if you’re just getting off on terrorizing me. But you’re a bully, and I’ve dealt with bullies before. You won’t get anything out of me.”
So far, Max hadn’t physically hurt me to get me to talk. In fact, he’d barely touched me at all. I knew his type. He wanted my fear. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, and I wouldn’t give him any nasty lies he could use against my father. He’d put that camera there for a reason: he wanted to record my testimony.
“You think I’m just a bully.” His voice went cold and flat, and I realized he’d been almost conversational until now. A chill danced over my skin, making my flesh pebble and my fine hairs stand on end.
I’d been wrong. This man wasn’t toying with me. He wasn’t playing games.
He ran a hand through the dark curls that fell over his brow, pushing his hair back so his eyes flashed through the gloom. His long fingers wrapped around the arms of the chair at either side of me, and he surged forward into my personal space.
I couldn’t stifle my horrified shriek when his snarling face stopped within inches of my own.
“I’m not a bully,” he growled. “I am a monster out of your worst nightmares.” Full lips twisted on a grimace, teeth snapping on each menacing word. The ferocious expression contorted his features, and a true beast snarled in my face. The sparse light overhead caught in the craggy, ruined flesh around his right eye, casting rippling shadows that formed a grotesque mask. The dark pools in the hollows beneath his high cheekbones were more skull-like than ever.
I jerked back on instinct, and the movement caused the world to swirl around me. The horrible face wavered and twisted before my eyes. My heart leapt into my throat, blocking my ability to breathe. I gasped for air, and something hot and wet spilled down my cheeks.
A harsh, inhuman sound grated across my senses, like claws scraping down my spine. My hands shook in their bonds, and a sob wracked my body.
Suddenly, the terrible face was gone. My tormentor slid back into the shadows, melting into the darkness. “Do you understand what you’re dealing with now?” The words were strangely rough, as though forced through a mouthful of gravel. “Tell me about your father’s ties to the Bratva. I know he worked with them to destroy my family. You’re going to give me proof. I want details, names. I want every scrap of information in your pretty head. You will tell me. You’re not leaving here until you do.”
“I-I don’t… I w-won’t…” My protests wavered on little hitching breaths. I couldn’t find the air to tell him that I didn’t know what he was talking about, and that I wouldn’t simply say whatever insanity he wanted to hear.
I couldn’t conceal my fear anymore. Not when the burst of terror and swirl of drugs left my head spinning. This nightmare couldn’t be real. That monster couldn’t be real. Nothing he said made any sense, and despite my horror, something deep inside me knew that I couldn’t lie to appease him. I couldn’t betray my father like that, no matter how scared I was.
A low curse hissed from the shadows. “Breathe, Alexandra. I’m not going to hurt you.” Another curse, softer this time. “But I will keep you here until you talk.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” I managed faintly. I closed my eyes to block out the spinning room. It barely helped.
A heavy sigh ghosted around me. His boots stomped against the concrete floor, retreating to the far corner of the basement. I squinted just in time for a flash of bright light to sear my vision. I recognized the sound of a fridge closing as I squeezed my eyes shut tight.
His footsteps approached me, and I shrank back into the unyielding chair. When his body heat kissed my chilled skin, I peeked up at him, dread a lead weight in my stomach. I didn’t want to look into the monster’s face again, but instinct urged me to keep my eyes on the threat.
Mercifully, he remained mostly cloaked in shadow, sparing me his terrible snarl. His hand was illuminated by the light above me as he extended a bottle of water toward my lips. “Here. You need to hydrate.”
I turned my face away, fearful of drinking anything he offered me. He’d already drugged me once.
Another sigh, roughened by an exasperated growl. “It’s just water. I want you to sober up. You’re useless to me like this.”
“Then you shouldn’t have drugged me.” The bitter words popped out before I could think better of antagonizing him.
Something had softened in him since I’d started weeping. The palpable menace that’d pulsed from his huge body ever since I’d woken up seemed to have dissipated. He was still towering over me, still cloaked in darkness, but the shadows concealing his beastly appearance now seemed merciful rather than frightening. He was granting me a reprieve from his terrifying snarl.
I’m not going to hurt you. His low promise played through my mind. He hadn’t hurt me so far. Even the binding around my wrists was smooth and silky, too soft to chafe my skin, no matter how much I twisted and pulled. Now, he was offering me water.
I suddenly became aware of the cotton-wool dryness in my mouth and the sandpaper itch behind my eyes. I couldn’t think clearly through the haze that still blanketed my mind. His words and actions didn’t make any sense to me, but I had a better chance of figuring my way out of this awful scenario if I could sober up.