Page 28 of Ruined

“Oh, fuck,” he grunts above me. Shoving the side of my face into the ground, I’m aware of those standing around me, hoping one of them will realize how wrong this is. But none of them care. I’m their enemy's daughter. They think my father would have told me where the shipments are. I guess if they couldn’t get to Tobias, they were going totake someone.

I open my mouth to beg them to stop; I shouldn’t have. It gives one of them a chance to claw my mouth open further, the sensation burning. I don’t realize what they’re doing until I smell burning flesh. Then the pain comes, and my tongue explodes with pain.

They’re burning my tongue.

Blood coats my mouth, leaking down my chin into the concrete ground.

I jerk awake, my heart nearly beating out of my chest. The memories of what they did to me, what Henry did to me. I just want to forget. I want to shove a hot poker stick into my eye and give myself a damn lobotomy. Then I might be happy. I wouldn’t remember what they did to me, what he felt like. I hate it.

I hate them all.

I should’ve died in that basement, and the sad part is, part of me did. I might not have told them where Dad’s shipments were or where Tobias was. But I broke inside. I lost my voice and no matter how much therapy Mom thinks she can get me, nothing works. They all say the same thing, they’re dead. But Mom and Dad don’t know. Tobias and all of them, they only killed a handful. I might have been out of it, but I remember everything. I paid attention to all the details. Half of the group left when shit hit the fan. The cartel knew that my father was going to tear them apart, and he did to the ones who stayed behind. But not all of them.

And I can’t tell my family.

Soon the cartel is going to come looking for me.

It’ll just be a count down on who is going to get to me first, the Italians or the cartel.

10

“Da,” Dimitri answers.

Stepping outside, I quietly shut the door, not wanting to wake Blake up. After breakfast, she ran off to the bathroom. Every ten minutes I was cracking the door open to check on her. I think she forgot the bathroom no longer locks because I broke it last night.

“She’s safe,” I mumble into the phone. Stepping down the stairs, I make my way to the beat-up car we had stolen.

“It’s been almost twelve hours,” he growls into the phone.

“Yeah, well I had to get her out of there and far enough away they couldn’t follow us,” I snap. Dimitri might be protective of his daughter, but I found myself wanting to rip his head off for even letting her get taken in the first place.

“How many was it this time?” He sighs.

“Eight, maybe nine,” I say, glancing over to the cabin, my eyes watching the only window connected to the room she’s in.

“They’re learning.”

I nod even though he can’t see me. For the first attack in the hotel room, they had only sent four guys. I should’ve known the next attempt was going to be more.

“Is she okay?” Dimitri asks, after an awkward amount of silence. I wasn’t sure how to answer this because Blake was nowhere near okay. She hasn’t been okay since she was taken, and Mila just shoved a tracker into her shoulder. Well, that doesn’t help.

“She’s alive,” I answer. It’s the best I could do.

“Well, that’s great to hear. Gabriel has been beside himself worried since he saw some of the attacks.”

“Yeah,” I sarcastically spat into the phone. I’m more worried about Blake shutting herself down. Dimitri hadn’t told me anything about this job. I was doing it as a favor to Walker, and now that I’m here, I’ve grown feelings for her and refuse to back down. Even if that means they send hundreds of more men. I’ve dealt with worse.

“I sense a little…what should I call it, attitude?” Dimitri chuckles into the phone.

“Did you know your wife put a tracker in your daughter’s fucking shoulder?” I snap.

Silence meets me on the other line, telling me he had no idea.

“Tell your wife if she wants to shove a tracker into her kid, she might want to let the guy trying to protect her know about it.” I snap, hanging up before Dimitri can say anything.

Fuck Dimitri and his whole family. I don’t understand how Blake grew up in that household. Her father is a cocky fuck and her mother sure was better than my shithead of a mom, if you could even call her that, but still, putting a tracker in your kid… What the fuck is wrong with Mila?

“Hey.” Luna comes up behind me. “I’m running into town to pick up my monthly order. Want to come with?”

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