Page 61 of Stolen

“I think it’s safe to say you’ll survive,” Sid said with a smirk.

I nodded in acknowledgment. “I told them I was fine.”

“Yes, yes.” Sid nodded. “But precautions and all.”

“Sure,” I replied, narrowing my eyes.

“I’ll give you a cold pack to lie on for tonight, and then we’ll switch it to a heat pack in the morning to help heal the bruising before the auction. Because that will look like shit by tomorrow if we don’t take care of it now.”

I felt my stomach shrivel up. That meant the auction had to be coming up soon if they wanted the bruises to heal faster.

Fuck.

Sid handed me the cool pack from a mini fridge under the counter and headed for the door.

“You can take her back now. And come back for the other girl in an hour,” Sid said before exiting the room.

Finally!

Hopping down from the medical table, I hid my wince as I eagerly made my way out of the room and around the corner to the elevator. That was when I smacked right into the hard chest of another guard, forcing me to stumble back a step. Looking up, I felt all the blood immediately drain from my face as my eyes met that icy penetrating gaze of the owner.

Fuck.

His gaze narrowed on me before he folded his arms across his chest and smirked. “Well, look what I found. Our most troublesome little slave wandering outside her cage.” His voice held a hint of amusement, but it did nothing to quell the blood that had frozen in my veins. And I fucking hated him for it.

“I’m not wandering around,” I managed to say, thankful I could still keep my voice even.

“Then what are you doing up here?” he asked sternly.

“Just a precautionary checkup, sir,” answered Alex from behind me, finally making himself known.

“For what?” The owner’s tone suddenly changed, adding a hint of danger behind it that left me feeling incredibly uneasy.

“She took quite the beating from Rick,” Alex answered.

Of all the fucking answers he could have given...

The owner’s gaze shot right back to me with instant fury, the shock of which left me with no time to react as he grabbed my throat and roughly shoved me against the wall. I gasped out loud as the pain in my back flared up all over again from the force of his body.

“And what thefuckdid she do to earn that?” he roared out, the anger in his voice causing me to shrivel up with fear as I fought for my right to breathe.

“She was shielding another girl’s body who’d become temporarily unconscious.”

Turning back to me, his eyes still full of rage, he released my throat only just enough to allow me to breathe fully but kept me firmly against the wall. “Explain. Now,” he demanded.

Gulping back my anxiety, I did my best to answer him. “A girl slipped and fell in the showers. She cracked her head and couldn’t get up. The guard started to beat her with his baton and rather thanfighting him,” I emphasized, “I shielded her with my body instead—to protect her.”

The owner’s lips formed a tight line as he took in my words, not a single one of which worked to dispel his anger.

“You just can’t fucking help yourself, can you?” he stated disapprovingly.

Jesus Christ, dude, damned if I do, damned if I don’t.

“Should I have let him kill her then?”

Apparently, these weren’t the right words either because the only thing they did was cause him to squeeze my throat tighter, cutting my air supply off completely. He stepped in closer, his massive body suffocating me until he was the only thing I could see.

“Would it even matter to you if I said yes,” he answered, his voice smooth and dangerous. “If I told you that you should have refrained from interfering and let him beat her to death right in front of you, would you have listened?”

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