Caged: A Dark Mafia Romance

“Fine,” I said as I walked around the outer walkway until I reached the other bathroom. “Has he said anything more?”

“I’m pretty confident the man spilled all the beans after the first beating. We got it all,” Tommy said.

“Fuck him up some more, just to be sure,” I ordered as I entered the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

Most likely, Tommy was correct. That weak piece of shit wouldn’t hold a secret if it meant any suffering at all. But the fucker deserved another beating regardless.

Chapter Eight

Nayla Bell

I considered walking out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around me, but thought better of it. I was pretty sure Eddie would have me remove it and would most likely punish me for trying. It had been nice to take a shower, brush my teeth, and I had even blown my hair dry. I had expected Eddie to bang on the door telling me I was taking too long and to come out immediately… or even charge in himself since there wasn’t a lock on the door, but he never did. He allowed me to take my time.

Plus, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to going back inside that cage.

I had to remain calm.

I knew my time would come where I could figure out a way out of this mess… if I could just stay calm.

And patient.

Caged or not, I had to remain steadfast and not try to kill the asshole with my bare hands.

Mustering up the courage to walk outside and face Eddie—naked—I opened the door with a shaky hand.

“Did you enjoy your shower?” Eddie asked as soon as the door opened.

Eddie clearly had taken a shower of his own. He was fully clothed in black slacks and a black button-down shirt. His hair was brushed to perfection like it always was. Just like his pictures, the man appeared dapper and his cologne wafted around his body.

“Yes, thank you,” I said softly.

I don’t know why I was feeling an overwhelming sense of bashfulness, but I crossed my arms against my chest to try to conceal some of my nudity.

A scream came from downstairs. It was Dylan.

He was at least alive, but from the sounds of his pain, the poor man was being tortured.

Eddie placed his hand on my back and began to lead me toward his room.

Toward the cage.

Another scream echoed through the large room, but Eddie walked as if he couldn’t hear a single sound. Was the man so immune to the sound of agony?

I couldn’t just walk and act like nothing was happening. I couldn’t allow Dylan to go through this and not at least try to save him. Patience or not, the man was suffering, and I wasn’t going to condone it any longer.

We continued on up above the grand room.

Eddie was on the outer edge of the walkway. I was on the inner side.

It would be a long fall down…

A neck-breaking fall down if one were to tumble over the railing…

If one were to be pushed over the railing…

Not taking the time to think the idea through, and not taking the time for fear to set in… I turned my body and attacked.

I pushed Eddie with all my weight and with every ounce of strength I could. “You son of a bitch!” I shouted as I clawed at his face in hopes that I could also stun him.

Eddie stumbled toward the edge but took a hold of the railing, preventing his fall. His wide eyes and awkward stance proved the man had underestimated me. He had not expected this to happen. I took his moment of shock as my advantage and charged at him with my body again as a football player would tackle a quarterback.

I was going in for the kill, still swiping my hands at his face. Because he had to hold onto the railing, Eddie couldn’t block my hands and I was able to get some gashes across that handsome face of his. Blood trickled down his cheek, flesh under my nails, but nothing distracted me as I lunged into him, hoping he would flip over the metal rail to his death.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he snarled as he countered my beating on him by restraining my body with his muscled arms. His strength overpowered mine as his senses and balance returned. Not only did the man not fall to his death, but he didn’t even come close. The only thing I had managed to do was bloody his face a bit with scratches… and piss him the fuck off.

I had to fight.

I had to run.

I had to somehow save Dylan and get the hell out of this industrial dungeon.

But I was helpless, restrained, vulnerable to the monster holding me close.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Eddie growled. I had never heard such sharpness in his tone before. Even when I’d punched him in the nose. “I tried to be fucking nice to you, and you repay my civility by trying to kill me? I thought you were smarter than that. I had expected a far better opponent than what I just saw here.”