Page 36 of The Mafia's Vendetta

He kissed her before pulling out of her.He caught her flinch.

“I’m sorry, Babe.I’ll be right back.”

“It’s fine.”

She closed her eyes and rested.She was jolted when he rolled back in bed and pulled her against his chest.

“Now we talk,” Drew said.

This was the thing she most dreaded, but she knew she had no choice.She just hoped it wouldn’t affect the way he felt about her.

Chapter Eighteen

Drew pulled her tight against his chest when she stiffened.“Everything is going to be all right, Babe.”

From the look on her face, he guessed she didn’t believe him.He yanked the blanket over them and waited.

“What do you want to know?”she asked.

“Everything.But let’s start with when you got out of foster care.”

“I went to what’s called a halfway house.It’s a place that kids can go to after they turn eighteen and are thrown out on the street.Some died, and some became prostitutes and druggies.Very few made a life after being fostered.”

“That’s fucked up.”

She nodded.

“Anyway, there was a guy they called the manager of the place.He gave me the creeps right off the bat, so I stayed away from him.I spent my time looking for a job.I planned on staying at the place until I saved up enough for an apartment.So, I’m guessing he’s the one that sold me out.I was taken from my bed in the middle of the night.They drugged me so I couldn’t fight at all.”

He was going to get every name she remembered and make them pay.

“I woke up naked in a room with no windows and a concrete floor and block walls.There was an old gross mattress and a bucket.”

He felt his stomach get tighter the more she talked.

“I have no idea how long I was there before Clayton came to get me.He was the one that bought me.He took me to another room that had a pole in the middle and a table with a few things on it, but that’s it.I remember thinking, what in the world is that used for?God, I was so stupid.”

Drew was clenching his teeth so hard it felt like they could break at any moment.He didn’t want to hear anymore but knew he needed all the information she could give him.He also made a list in his head of the things he was going to do to the man when he found him.And he would find him.

She cleared her throat.“He had one of his men tie me to the post.My toes barely touched the ground.The first time the whip hit me, I thought my back was on fire.It seemed like he went on forever.I have no idea how long we were there before one of his men untied me, and I sank to the floor.When it was happening, I screamed and screamed until my voice broke.Clayton crouched down and said this was my first taste of the things he was going to do to me.”

Drew reached for the box of tissues and handed her one when she started sniffling.

“The guy lifted me up and followed Clayton to his bedroom.The man set me down on a dog bed.Clayton told me to rest and that he’d be back soon.My first thought was to find something to kill him with, but the minute I tried to move, it felt like my back was tearing apart.The only thing I could do was press my face into the bed and cry.”

Jesus fucking Christ.What kind of sick fuck does this shit?

“Sometimes, I was able to wear a potato sack.They had cut holes in my arms and head.I would have rather gone naked because the fabric scraped over my wounds, making them hurt worse.”

“How long were you there?”Drew asked.

“Close to three years.”

Goddamn.How the hell did she survive that?

“How did you get out?”

“He went out one night.I had saved every bit of money I found.I even took some from his wallet, and I checked his suit pockets every chance I got.It wasn’t much, but it was the perfect opportunity.I couldn’t pass it up.”

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