Stolen by Truths (Truth or Lies 4)

I feel Milo walking over to me with his knife in hand as Langston walks toward Enzo. Liesel is still standing on my left side, and I hear her tiny gasp as Milo pushes the blade into my shoulder without any warning.

I don’t flinch. Instead, my eyes bare into Enzo’s. There were hundreds of more painful places Milo could have stabbed me, but he chose the place Enzo was already hurt so I could remember what he did to Enzo and what pain he is in.

My eyes flicker to Langston, and I beg him to go easy on Enzo. I need him to go easy if I want a chance at winning.

Langston presses his knife into Enzo's thigh through his jeans, and when he pulls the knife, I see how little damage he has done and exhale.

Jesus, I’m not going to survive this.

It was just a tiny nick, Enzo didn’t flinch. He didn’t feel it any more than I did.

I feel sick to my stomach though. And I hate my father even more than I ever thought possible.

Milo snickers behind my shoulder. He’s going to use my hatred for Milo against me. I can’t let him win.

“Now that we got the formalities out of the way, it’s time for the first round. Remember each round will get more difficult and that at any time if you would like to stop, just say so, and the game is over,” Archard says.

I nod. Enzo just stares at Archard.

“The first round will test your ability to be alone without food or water. You will each be hidden in a room of your tormentor’s choosing. I will not tell you how long you will be in the room, but it will be long enough to test both of your willpowers,” Archard says. He looks to Milo. “Milo please take your prisoner to a dark room of your choosing. It must be in Miami, otherwise, there are no rules. Once you have selected your place, then Langston can choose his place.”

Milo grins and grabs my wrist forcibly. “My pleasure.”

Damn, why does his touch burn so much? Am I ever going to get over the feeling of a single touch like this?

But what hurts worse is being pulled away from Enzo. This first round will be nothing for either of us. It will barely cause either of us pain. We are used to being alone, and going without food or water is as easy as breathing for us. But my solace, and my punishment, was that we would complete each round in front of each other. This is the easiest round, and instead of getting to enjoy our time together, breathing the same air, and sending silent messages to each other, we will spend it apart.

“Come on whore,” Milo says, tightening his grip. I don’t notice if men are following us, and I have no idea where Milo will take me. But I find myself tripping over my feet as we stumble downstairs.

My eyes widen at the small roomed cells beneath the building. “How did you know this was here?”

“Because every bad man has a cell where he keeps the enemies he has to torture.”

He tosses me inside roughly, and I fall to the dirt floor. I watch his eyes turn a dark red before he slams the door on my face.

Milo is going to enjoy every second of this game too much. There is something seriously wrong with him.

I stand up and dust myself off, taking in my surroundings. There isn’t much in the room Milo has chosen for me. The room is made of thick wooden walls. The floor is dirt, and that ends my tour of the room. There is no furniture, no comforting items, nothing.

I sit down and lean against one of the wooden walls. When I rest my hand against the dirt, I find a rock—entertainment.

I smile as I toss the rock in the air, seeing how high I can toss it and still catch it. I try to focus on the rock instead of missing Enzo. That’s how I’ll pass the first hours. And then when that gets tiring, I’ll sleep. I’m a master at sleeping on a hard floor with an ache in my belly. That’s what I did every day for six years. I know this round won’t last anywhere near that long.

A door creaks outside, and my ears perk up, listening carefully to the sound.

“You can’t lock him in there,” Milo says.

“I can too. You chose your prison cell; now, I get to choose mine. And I choose this one,” Langston says.

“Then I would like to change the cell for Kai,” Milo says.

“You have already selected, Milo. Now Langston gets to select. You can’t change your spot. Now I suggest everyone go home and get some sleep; this is going to be a long game,” Archard says.

I hear a door lock shut and then footsteps retreating.

Could it be?

As soon as the footsteps stop making their way up the stairs, I run to the wall next to mine. “Enzo?” I ask, cautiously hopeful. I try to keep my heart from speeding up at the thought of spending the night next to Enzo. Being able to hear his voice would be a gift, even though I can’t see or touch him.