Page 197 of Keeping Kasey
“Well, Consoli doesn’t need to know that, now does he?”
“What? No, you can’t—”
This time, it’s not a palm but a fist that slams into my jaw. It comes from above me, where the soldier stands at my side. I collapse to the ground, unable to break my fall with my hands still bound behind me. My ears ring, and I blink back the haziness threatening to take over.
“I need to see her face,” Emilio snaps.
The soldier grabs my hair, roughly tugging me up to my knees so Emilio can take a picture of me, then the ultrasound.
“Now,” Leon starts, wearing a wide, easy smile, “let’s give Consoli a call. Rex, hold her.”
The soldier’s grip on me shifts, so one hand covers my mouth, and the other holds a knife to my throat.
“One word, and you’re in for a world of pain,” Rex warns, pressing the blade harder for emphasis.
Leon pulls out his phone, and I’m itching to do something, but what? With a hand over my mouth, a knife to my throat, and surrounded by enemies, my options are nonexistent.
I hear the phone ringing, even as it’s held to Leon’s ear, and I hold my breath.
“Consoli, how are you these days?” Leon asks in a pleasant tone.
When Logan’s voice comes through the line, a single tear runs down my cheek as I mentally beg him not to fall for any of this.
I watch Leon’s lips moving, but I can’t hear anything over the pounding in my ears. I need to do something—anythingto stop Logan from coming here.
I know the price of defying Leon, but losing Logan to a lie is worse.
I throw my head back and twist to elbow Rex as I jerk away as hard as I can. I cry out as his knife slices my collarbone, and Emilio moves to help Rex get a hold of me, but it doesn’t matter.
Even though I never fully escaped Rex’s grip, he couldn’t keep his hand over my mouth.
“It’s a lie, Logan! There is no baby! Don’t come here!” I scream at the top of my lungs just before a foot lands on my stomach.
The breath is knocked out of me, and I gasp desperately for air that won’t come as Rex drags me up by my hair. I barely draw oxygen into my lungs before I’m thrown back to the ground.
“You don’t take direction well, do you?” Leon asks, and with his phone tucked away, I realize that I might’ve been too late.
Did Logan hear me?
“The fact that you’re not carrying the Consoli heir makes this much more interesting,” he muses with a cold smile. “You’ve given me no reason to be careful with you. Rex, knock yourself out.”
The air shifts, thickening with anticipation. I know what’s coming before Rex even steps forward. My body tenses, bracing for the agony—but nothing could’ve prepared me.
The pain that follows is easily the worst I have ever experienced in my life.
I’m kicked, slapped, punched, and dragged across the floor.
Not a single person in that cabin lifts a finger to help me, and why would they? I’m sure they’re enjoying the show Rex puts on.
I learn quickly that I am not above begging. Somewhere between a gash over my eye and the relentless throb in my leg, I plead with Rex to stop through labored gasps. I only give up when a snap in my ribcage makes every breath burn like hellfire.
So, I’m left with only one thing to do.
Hope.
I hope Logan doesn’t love me the way I love him. I hope he won’t forgive me. I hope he won’t want me. I hope that he will let me die to protect his family.
At least then—with Logan and his family safe—I can make peace with my death.
