Page 85 of Caged

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Roman said. Though it wasn’t necessary; Jay had stopped the instant the rifles moved. “Now go stand in the corner like a good boy while we cuff your girlfriend.”

Girlfriend?Fuck. This was going to get so much worse now that he thought he could use us against each other.

Jay clenched his fists and back teeth, growling as he walked to the far corner. After cuffing me, they took me upstairs and tied me to one of the two chairs in front of Roman’s desk.

Two chairs?

I could feel Franks and Roman staring at me while I stared at the empty chair.

“Bring Sheppard up,” Roman said, bringing my attention fully back to him.

He’ll use me to make Jay talk.Not that there was much to share. Most of what we knew came from Roman himself, everything before that was speculation.

Jay stayed quiet while they escorted him in and tied him to his chair. They took the extra measure of wrapping a thick rope across his chest, making sure he couldn’t move more than an inch off the back.

When we made eye contact, I pleaded with him to stay strong.How do you tell someone, “I can take it,” with only your eyes?I didn’t know, but I tried to relay the message anyway.

They started slow. Slapping me anytime either of us didn’t answer Roman questions about his nephew or Blake.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” Jay growled.

“We don’t have to pick on anyone.” Roman smirked. “Answer my questions, and it’ll all stop.”

I yelled, “Don’t you dare!”

The resulting slap caused more blood to coat my tongue as my lip split again. I spat on the floor in defiance.

“We can’t tell you anything you don’t already know,” Jay said, playing nice.

“That remains to be seen,” Roman said before walking behind me and yanking my hair to force my head back. “It’s a shame we have to damage such a pretty face.”

Have to?They’d already made it puffy, black and blue.

I pulled against him, but he yanked harder causing me to grunt in pain.

“How much do you do you think she can take?” Roman asked.

Roman’s question scared me, but it was nothing compared to the overwhelming fear induced from hearing Franks laugh at the question. I broke eye contact with Roman and looked at Franks.

My head throbbed from having a fistful of hair almost yanked out, but I forgot all about the pain when I saw the sadistic glee on Franks’s face. I broke out in a cold sweat and couldn’t stop my hands from trembling.

“I don’t know, but I’ll bet fifty he breaks before she does,” Franks answered.

“Make it a hundred, and I’ll take it,” Roman said.

They ignored Jay when he asked if he could get in on the bet. I prayed that was his way of telling me he’d stay strong, no matter how bad it got.

Every time Jay refused to answer a question they hit me. Blood spilled from my lips and my left eye was swollen shut. The backhands weren’t as strong as the punches, so my right eye wasn’t as swollen, but my cheek was torn to shreds from the rings on Franks’s fingers. And his punches to my gut winded me every time.

Jay’s resolve waned as Franks hit me harder and harder.

“How do I get to Blake?” Roman asked again. I didn’t understand his tunnel-vision focus on getting money from Blake. He didn’t need it, and he had to realize it wasn’t worth the risk.

“You keep asking the same question, and I keep giving you the same answer. Are you hard of hearing, or just stupid?”

Jay let out a pained oof when a nameless goon kicked him in the ribs hard enough to tip his chair back. Luckily, a different nameless goon caught him and set the chair back on all four legs because there was nothing Jay could’ve done to prevent his head from slamming on the floor.

More questions. More non-answers. More hits.

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