He laughs. “It doesn’t matter what is legal or not. I own this town and most of the country. No one cares what my family or I do as long as we keep pumping money into the towns and protect them. Then, they look the other way to what we do in our spare time or how we make our money.”
“I’m not scared of you.”
“You should be.”
“I’m not,” I say, but my voice falters.
“I’m not the only one you should be afraid of. When you are in my debt, you are in my entire family’s debt. My sister is not as sweet as she look
s. My father is more controlling than you could ever imagine. And my brother doesn’t have the same charm that I do.”
“You have a brother?”
“Yes.”
I don’t know why I didn’t know that before, but it doesn’t matter now. He’ll rape me or make me do unthinkable things, the same as Arlo. The difference is, I want Arlo to do those things to me. His brother, not so much.
“So, what? They will all rape me? Make me have sex with them?”
“My father and brother probably will. My sister will find other ways to torture you and make you pay us back for going through the trouble of saving you. Trust me, it was a family effort to save you. I couldn’t have done it on my own. As much as you think I’m some type of superman who can save you from anything, I’m not, and I can’t. I’m human. The same as you.”
I wrap my arms across my bare chest. I still haven’t bothered to put my shirt back on.
“I warned you to stay away. Several times. But you couldn’t resist. And, now, you will pay the price. You have just entered a world that you couldn’t even imagine. A world where the men in my family will fight over you. The women will punish you. We will all make you love us and hate us at the same time until it drives you mad. We will play games with your mind, heart, and soul. We are twisted, dirty people who have learned to control people in the only way we know how. By putting you in our debt. Then, we can do whatever we want.”
“I don’t believe you. I’ve met your sister. She’s nice. You aren’t even as evil as you seem.”
He shakes his head. “Then, you’re naive. You thought Erick was bad. We are worse. We’ll rape you and threaten to kill you; one of us might even follow through on that threat. We control you. You are our plaything, Nina. A game to entertain us when we are bored. A game that you won’t even understand the rules of until you have already lost. You’ve just entered a dirty, dark world without any escape.”
His words are twisted and wrong. Nothing makes sense. I don’t know how a family could get away with raping and murdering for years without getting prosecuted. I don’t even know if what he is saying is true or if he is just messing with me.
I’m scared.
Just enough to not want to be here anymore. He’s scared me enough to believe that at least part of it is true.
If his brother or father is anything like him, then they will try to control me. Rape me if they want. And I won’t let them.
I run.
Through the darkness, not even fully dressed, I run. I get to the door and throw it open shocked that is isn’t locked and run out into the sunlight. To freedom. But I still hear his threat ringing in my ear behind me.
“Run, Nina! Don’t ever stop running! We love the chase. Don’t ever stop running. Because, when you do, we will own you. Forever.”
9
Arlo
“We’ve found her. Our number seven,” my brother says, stepping out of the shadows.
I nod, staring at the empty black hole stretched in front of me, while Nina runs away from me. I did everything I could to keep her safe. Everything I could to scare her into running and hiding, but it won’t be enough. I have to find another way to save her. She may be in debt to my family, but I’m in her debt too. She’s already saved my life, even though she doesn’t realize it yet. I will spend my own life paying her back. Protecting her. Caring for her. And doing everything I can to not fall in love with her. She deserves better than the love of a monster.
“She will make the perfect end to our twisted game,” he says.
“I doubt we will make it that far, Matteo. I might win the first four rounds, and then the game will stop,” I say.
Matteo walks over and turns the lights on while he laughs. “You know that will never happen. The family is split on who they want to win. It will come down to Nina.”
I frown as I stare at my twin brother, who is a spitting image of me. Even our own family has a hard time telling us apart. I’ve played games against him my entire life, but the stakes have never been this high.