6
Enzo
The first night I spent as Milo’s prisoner was the worst. He and his men beat me until I had no fight left.
My face was smashed in, my nose broken, my lip busted, my eye bulging, and my head rang with a bad concussion. My broken ribs jabbed into my lungs every time I took a breath. Thick, dark bruises and knife gashes covered my body.
Luckily many of those injuries have healed in the two weeks since that night.
Milo is one angry, vindictive man. And he thought one night of torturing me would be enough to soothe his soul. Enough to make me pay for creating an empire bigger and stronger than his.
But one day isn’t enough to tame the monster within. He could have asked me that. I know from my own experience with my own demons.
Milo is a smart man though. He knows one day was all he gets. Now he has to be patient. And it turns out, Milo isn’t a patient man.
I hear the familiar sounds of the boots coming down the stairs, and I sit up on the edge of the mattress on the floor to put on my running shoes.
Every day at ten in the morning and seven in the evening I get let out for two hours at a time to train. It’s more exercise than I usually get at home. Apparently, Milo thinks if I’m in the best physical shape of my life, I won’t have any choice but to win the games. But I don’t complain. It makes the time go by faster.
My life since being Milo’s prisoner has been relatively easy. I have a comfy bed. I get three nutritious meals a day. Plenty of exercise. And books about war strategy and brain teasers Milo thinks will help keep my mind sharp for the games.
It almost feels like a luxurious vacation if it wasn’t for the dark cell, prison guards, and bars holding me in. And the fact that anywhere that Kai isn’t is my own personal hell.
The guards reach my cell.
“You going to keep up with me today, Felix?” I ask every day. So far, I’ve only been allowed to run in the gym. But I’m hoping to convince one of the guards to run outside with me. I want to know everything there is to know about Milo’s mansion and security. I want to know so I can destroy him.
Felix shakes his head. “No, but I’ll enjoy taking you down during a boxing match.”
I smirk. I like Felix. He’s loyal but is the only man here who actually talks to me. A man I might be able to persuade to my side.
“You’re on,” I say as the door unlocks.
I walk to the door, and the other guard who never speaks puts his gun on me.
I chuckle. “You know I won’t run, right? If I leave, then Milo has every right to torture and kill my girl. I won’t let anything happen to her. Therefore, I will never run. You don’t need to point that gun at me.” As if a single gun pointed at me would be enough to take me down if I did decide to run.
Felix chuckles with me. “Give Konrad a break. He doesn’t understand trustworthy men. He thinks all men are pigs.”
I raise an eyebrow as I follow them up the stairs. “Aren’t all men pigs?”
He shrugs. “Yes, but some are honest pigs.”
We reach the top of the stairs and then freeze.
One of Milo’s men is standing in the hallway, but that isn’t what is shocking. What is shocking is who he is holding onto—a woman. A woman with a striking resemblance to Kai. A woman who has fear in her eyes, a dark circle under one of them, and a heavy bruise beneath his grasp.
“Gentl
eman,” he says, nodding to our presence. He has an evil grin on his face. “I was just delivering this whore to Milo’s rooms. He’ll be home in a couple of hours and needs to blow off some steam.”
Konrad smiles back, but Felix frowns. He doesn’t like his boss’ extracurricular activities any more than I do.
We start walking again past the girl. A girl I want to save, but don’t think I can.
My only hope is to convince Felix to free her and then come over to my side.
Felix looks at me, obviously as disturbed as I am about what Milo thinks is acceptable to do to a woman.