I feel my right eye twitch when he calls me that, but there isn’t much I can do. As of now I am trapped here and from the looks of it, there is nowhere to run.
I saw how Patanza had to get in here. There are codes. Gates. There is no escape unless you are given permission to go...or unless you work for him.
But even so, there is nothing but darkness surrounding the idea of freedom.
I won’t get out clean—or probably alive.
He made it simple in there.
If I run, I die.
I stare at the bedroom door.
I feel the presence there.
Someone is watching.
Waiting.
I saw their footsteps go past and they haven’t gone back. I pull the blanket up to my nose, still staring at the door.
I don’t know if he has someone on guard around my door, but if they were being a guard, they wouldn’t have passed so quietly. So sinisterly.
The hallway light shuts out behind the door. It’s completely dark where the crack is. Pitch black.
I turn on my side with an intense glare on the doorknob.
It jiggles gently and I gasp, covering myself up some more—until I feel like I’ve drowned beneath the thick blanket.
The jiggling stops.
All is quiet.
All I hear are my ragged breaths.
And then I hear them.
The same footsteps that I almost thought I had imagined. They move across in slow, measured strides and I listen until I can no longer hear them.
Sighing, I turn onto my back and stare up at the canopy. I don’t feel safe here. I am being forced to sleep with one eye open.
I don’t even trust my life in his hands. He said I wouldn’t be harmed here, but how can I believe any of what he says after the way he killed my husband?
I don’t trust him and he doesn’t trust me. Why keep me here if he knows I will just be a burden…
Unless he thinks I know something—but there isn’t much to tell. Toni kept his work life out of our personal life unless it was completely necessary to tell me.
I guess he didn’t think this Draco Molina would be a threat worth discussing.
I’d never heard of this man before now. I don’t know who he is and even if I did know something I would never tell that son-of-a-bitch.
Chapter Eight
Day 7
The sunlight is spread across my body. My curtains have been opened by someone, but I don’t know who…that is, until I see the woman sitting in the recliner across from the end of the bed.
I sit up rapidly with a sharp gasp. She has her legs folded, her brown hair tucked neatly behind her ears. Her white suit is crisp and clean, the silky red blouse beneath it revealing most of her cleavage.
Her brunette hair swims around her shoulders, a small smirk on her lips. I notice there are honey streaks in her hair.
I yank the blanket up to my chest, sliding my back against the headboard as I stare at her. “Who the hell are you?”
“No one to fear.” Her ruby red lips purse together, and then she uncrosses her legs to stand. She walks towards my window, running her fingers along the white curtain. “I decorated this room, you know?” She looks over her shoulder. “Draco let me.”
I don’t say anything. I just study her. Though she seems well put together, there is something off about her. Her eyes are dark. There is no happiness within them. But what really catches me off guard are the scars around her ankles, like she’s been bound by them before. Her ankles are exactly how my wrists will be once healed.
“Why are you in here?” I demand. “This is my room.”
“Oh, don’t get so full of yourself, honey. This was once my room too, and a girl named Nilah, but she wasn’t very compliant.” Her arms fold across her chest as she looks me over. “You know what happens to the girls Draco tries to save, but they turn out to be disobedient?”
I narrow my eyes.
“They end up dead.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I just want you to know. I heard there was a new girl here. One that Draco didn’t want being touched. I also heard that you got loud with him last night in his galería which wasn’t very wise on your behalf.” She shakes her head with disapproval. “I am surprised he didn’t do anything to you.”
She walks around my bed and to the door. “But I guess this morning will make up for that.”
“What do you mean?” I ask quickly.
Her eyes spark, as if she’s pleased to know what I don’t. “You missed breakfast. Draco has a strict code. Everyone must be in the dining room for breakfast by eight and at dinner before seven and no later.”
“I don’t even know what time it is right now. I don’t have a clock in here.”