Page 41 of Curse

If she catches me out here, will she try to hurt me or turn me in? I’m thicker than she is and likely stronger, but if she has a weapon or calls for guards, I’m screwed.

Taking a deep breath, I edge closer, straining to hear their conversation. It doesn’t take long for me to realize that what I thought was Franco in pain was actually him… flirting. Painful for everyone else, sure, but not for him.

I shake my head, my fear giving way to embarrassment as my anger at him melts away. For all his faults, for all his douche bag behaviors, and despite his inaction at the law office, Franco is still my brother, and I’ve found him. Now I have to figure out how to get him out of here.

But first, I have a few choice words for him.

Plus, I like Olivia, and it sucks that she has to be subjected to Franco. Though it would serve Matti right if she did hook up with Franco, given what Matti did with me behind her back.

My skin flushes with heat, and I force myself to stay present rather than drift off into the memory of the shower that has haunted me every minute of every day since.

“…You come in here every day and bring me food, but you’re still not taking care of my needs,” Franco says, his voice dripping with sleaze.

I groan inwardly. So gross. I’m close enough now to peek into the room. Franco is sitting on a stained mattress, one hand cuffed to the steel bed frame of the bed. The bed is bolted to the floor, and there’s a stainless steel toilet nearby, but his chain doesn’t reach far beyond that.

Olivia’s back is to me as she arranges something on a metaltable. Franco, naturally, is staring at her ass.

Before either of them can notice me, I dart across the open doorway and crouch behind the cart outside. My heart is racing as I try to steady my breathing.

There’s a clank of metal and what sounds like a zipper.

“Put that pathetic excuse for a dick away this fucking second,” Olivia snaps, her voice sharp and unyielding. “And I’ll do you the favor of saving your life by not telling my boyfriend about this.”

Oh, fuck no, Franco. What is wrong with you?

I hang my head, shame and anger warring inside me. He’s so disgusting, but at least he’s chained up.

Olivia, for her part, doesn’t sound remotely intimidated. If anything, her voice has an edge I’ve never heard before. She’s a badass bitch, and I love that about her. In another circumstance, we could have really been friends.

I refuse to allow myself to think about the fact that she said the word ‘boyfriend.’ My thoughts flash to Matti in the shower, the way his hands felt on my skin, the intensity in his eyes, the way he pressed his forehead to mine then ordered me to look at him while I came.

Fuck. He’s such an asshole. They all are, apparently.

Franco laughs. “Bullshit. You don’t have a boyfriend. But I can be your boyfriend for the next ten minutes if you come over here and put your mouth on this dick.”

I want to vomit. And punch him. And walk away.

But I can’t leave him here. Not like this. Even if he was somehow working with Matti’s guys at the law office, the script has flipped since then or he wouldn’t be chained up here in Matti’s warehouse dungeon if he was one of them.

Plus, if nothing else, I owe it to Olivia to get him awayfrom her.

“You don’t remember Matti?” Olivia’s voice cuts through my thoughts.

My stomach plummets.

Franco grunts, and she continues, “So you do remember. You’re only just now recovering from what he did to you the last time. Are you sure you want to see what happens when he finds out you pulled out your dick and showed it to his girlfriend?”

Franco scoffs. “Matti. Whatever. You guys got an open relationship? Because you know he’s fucking my sister, right?”

Oh, Jesus.

Olivia is quiet for a moment, and when she speaks, her voice is softer but edged with warning. “Mind your business, Franco.”

I really feel like I’m going to throw up. I bang my head softly against the edge of the cart, feeling like the asshole that I am for fucking around with Olivia and Matti’s relationship, for hurting Olivia.

A sudden clang jolts me back to reality, the sound echoing down the hallway. I’ve accidentally knocked over a metal ring holding a dozen keys. Shit. They had to have heard that.

Without thinking, I grab the keys and bolt toward a doorway across the hall. The knob turns easily, and I stumble inside, shutting the door carefully behind me.

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