Page 103 of Mayhem

He nods his head to one of the men who immediately comes toward me. I attempt to swing at him with my hands tied, but he easily dodges it. Even with me struggling, he wraps his hands around my waist, moving me toward the chair. At the last second, I slam my head back into his as hard as possible. I hear a loud crunch as he drops me. A searing pain fills my head as I fall to the floor. My wrist twists painfully as my knee bounces off the floor.

My whole body fills with pain.

“The fucking bitch broke my nose,” the man growls.

I look up at the man and can’t help but laugh maniacally.

He kicks me in the stomach, making me wheeze. I feel like I’m about to puke.

“That’s enough,” the man in charge says.

He comes over, leaning down on his knees. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you act up. Now get in the chair.”

I struggle to get up from the floor. The second man, the one who I didn’t hurt, comes over, hauling me up and dropping me in the chair.

“Great. Now, tell me everything you know about Rocky’s business.”

I burst out laughing. “That’s what you want? I’m sorry to break it to you, but Rocky doesn’t mix business with pleasure.”

“Don’t play coy. You’ve been living with him. You have to know something.”

I shake my head. “He doesn’t bring business home. I don’t even know what he does for work.”

“That can’t be true. I saw you at the rave that night. You saying he brought you there for what? A good time?”

“No. He didn’t bring me there at all. I went on my own, snooping. I was trying to figure out what he was up to.”

“Good. We’re getting somewhere. What did you find out?”

I laugh. “That he has no qualms about using me as a bullet-proof vest. You were there. He had no problem putting me in the way of a bunch of bullets. Does that sound like someone he would confide in?”

“Maybe then, but I know for a fact that you showed up to the fights together.”

“Your spies are terrible. We went to the fights together, but I had no idea why we were there. If you’re saying he does business there, then he hid it well. All we did was watch a bunch of guys fight.”

“Either you’re a pathetic fool or a liar. I’m betting on the latter. Fine, you don’t want to talk on your own? We have ways to make you talk. Take her to the butcher.”

I bite on my cheek, keeping my face calm.

“You said I could see my mom.”

He laughs. “I did, didn’t I? Turns out both of us are liars.”

I surge forward. “You fucking asshole.”

His guards step in front of me, holding me back. “That I am. Take her away.”

These guys are much less gentle than the first one. They pull me forward, dragging me when my feet don’t move fast enough. They bring me to another room, but this one isn’t empty. There’s a table with many items lying across it.

In the middle, there is a hook hanging from the ceiling.

A man is standing with his back to me. The men beside me throw me to the ground before stepping back.

The first man with the broken nose calls out to the man. “Be careful. This one is wild.”

“Oh, I know,” the man says as he turns around.

My blood runs cold. I recognize the scar above his eye.

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