“Might be crowded. How will we recognize each other?”
“I’ll be wearing a navy blue dress with white and yellow daisies. And you…how will I know it’s you?”
“What’s your favorite flower?”
“Pink roses.”
“I’ll be carrying a bouquet of pink roses.”
She breathed out a little laugh. “You’ve got yourself a date.”
Doors creaked, heavy footsteps came closer. It wasn’t time for their one measly meal, which meant their time was up. What happened next was all that mattered.
“Remember what I said, Cat,” Liam whispered. “Stay strong. You are an amazing person and can survive anything these bastards throw at you. You can do this.”
Her cell door squealed as it opened. Liam could picture it in his mind. Soulless men with grim faces and conscienceless hearts stomped inside her cell.
“What are you doing?”
Liam knew Cat had meant the words to sound demanding and angry, but the shaking in her voice ripped out his heart. She was terrified but trying her best to sound brave.
“Leave her alone, asshole,” Liam growled. “It’s me you want, not her. She doesn’t know anything.”
“Oh, I beg to differ. She knows much more than you give her credit for.”
What did that mean? And who was this new guy? He had a British accent, sounded older than the other men, and was most definitely the one in charge.
“I’ll tell you whatever you want,” Liam said. “Just leave her alone.”
“You mean you’ll tell me whatever you want me to hear. Believe me, when we’re through with your little Cat, you’ll tell me everything down to your shoe size.”
“Lion!” Cat screamed.
“I’m here, Cat. Fight them. Fight them for all you’re worth.”
Unable to do anything else, Liam gripped the bars of his cell door and tried to angle his head so he could see what was happening. They were out of his line of vision. All he could do was listen to Cat’s terror-filled voice pleading with them to leave her alone.
Liam yelled obscenities, expletives, insults—every derogatory word he knew and some he just made up. Every word he screamed was from his heart. And he would keep his promise, every one of them would pay for what they were about to put her through.
Cat screamed and fought. Liam heard every gasp, every cry. They didn’t say anything, but he had a clear image in his mind of the horror she was experiencing. The screams grew fainter and fainter as they carried her out the door.
The screams cut off abruptly, leaving him with only a stark silence and the gut-sick knowledge that he was responsible for what Cat was going through. He shouldn’t have talked to her, shouldn’t have tried to comfort her. They’d seen that, and now Cat was paying the price.
The quiet, dead and still, permeated his surroundings. Gripping the bars of his cell, Liam felt tears fill his eyes. He hadn’t cried in a long time. It’d been longer since he’d prayed. He did both now.
How long he stood there he would never know. Every nightmare, every ounce of fear he’d ever felt were wrapped up in what Cat was enduring. His heart ripped to shreds, and his soul screamed at the cruel injustice for the innocent and the wickedness of monsters.
When he heard the doors creak open again, he braced himself for the worst. Footsteps sounded, belonging to only one person—a heavy, booted male.
Liam gripped the steel bars, waiting and dreading. Was Cat being carried back to her cell? Was she unconscious? Was she dead?
The door to the cell next to his opened, and someone entered. Something dropped on the ground. Liam heard a low curse, but the sound was so soft it was indistinguishable, unrecognizable.
“Where is she, asshole?” Liam growled.
No answer. Just some heavy breathing as if someone was frustrated and then he heard a grunt of satisfaction, a couple of clicks. Sounds filled the air, loud and full of anguish.
“No, please don’t do this. Please don’t!”