Page 47 of A Game of Survival

"No little mouse, he's not. He's someone else. Someone more dangerous. Trust me and do as I say." I order. Her broken gaze bores into me, the tears glistening in her eyes as she struggles to contain herself. She's hardly holding it together.

"Lucille, you have to trust me." I demand before pulling her face to mine and kissing her quickly. I step away and face Marcus and Ronan again.

"How sweet of you, Cole. Anyone would think you love her." Ronan spits, snarling in Lucille's direction.

"How I feel about her is none of your business." I snap, hatred thick in my voice. I would love to rip his fucking voicebox from his throat with my bare hands.

"Have it your way. But I think your brother would like to see her safe or maybe hear her screams as I torture her dark lover some more. Will you scream when I break his hands, little girl?" Ronan sneers, addressing Lucille. I hear the audible gasp that escapes her throat but she doesn’t respond.

"Marcus, secure the girl." Ronan orders.

"No, leave her here." I snap.

"Come willingly or I'll have her as my plaything. Would you like that, stepdaughter? You seem to like being passed around by these dirty bastards." Ronan threatens.

"You are disgusting, how can you do this? I am your stepdaughter. Max is your son. And my boy, he's innocent in all of this!" she finally says, straightening her spine.

Ronan scoffs. "Dear girl, sometimes you have to tread on those in the way to climb to success. Your brother refused to do that. No one is innocent. Now, enough talk. MARCUS!"

Turning quickly to Lucille, I pull her against me once more, desperate to get these words out before she’s put through the hell of watching another round of torture i’m subjected to."Mio topolino, stay strong for me. My heart is yours, my soul is yours, in this world and the next. It always will be, "I love you." I whisper before Marcus rips her from my arms.

Marcus walks her from her cell, her arms held securely behind her back, but she does as I tell her and she remains strong. I can see that her breathing has quickened but she isn't screaming, and my pride swells in my chest.

"I am not a patient man Cole, the clock is ticking and if you don't come willingly, I will take my other prisoner for a test drive." He goads me, motioning to Lucille to which she stiffens.

I swallow down my emotions and make my way from my now unlocked cell to the center of the room when the chair still stands..

"Take a seat, Cole." Ronan gestures to the chair. As I settle, he secures me quickly and nods to Marcus. My head snaps to Lucille as she is brought closer. She struggles against Marcus but keeps eye contact with me the entire time.

"So I thought we would show dear Silas what we caught in our little trap today," Ronan smiles darkly at us both. Finn has now arrived in the room with a hammer and some nails, followed by another taller guy I know is named Cillian. They both grin at me as they walk to the chair.

"Silas, what a pleasure it is to talk to you again." Ronan says gleefully. I must have missed him reaching for his phone. I can hear Silas grunting a response.

"Now, now, don’t be rude. I think I should share my guests with you." Ronan taunts.

The phone automatically turns to video, on the screen before me I see my brother's grief stricken face as his eyes land on me. I look away focusing on Lucille, she needs me to be strong. Locking eyes with her we both know this isn't going to end well but I'm glad it's me in this chair and not her. And I intend to do everything I can to keep her out of it.

"Have you missed your brother?" Ronan asks Silas. "Or have you noticed your little whore is missing?" He moves the camera to Lucille, I'm not sure that they can see Marcus as he stands behind her but he has his hand fixed around her mouth stopping her cries for help as she struggles with panic flaring in her eyes as Silas roars through the phone.

"Mio topolino, eyes on me." I order. She immediately does as I say. "Good girl, stay with me." I demand.

Ronan cackles in the background but I don't pay him any attention as he taunts Silas. "How does it feel that your brother has the girl and I have them both. I'm tempted to see what all the fuss is about with her. I’m sure torturing your brother will get enough of your attention. And if it doesn't, then maybe I'll have some fun with her later," he goads.

"Leave them alone. Meet me and we will settle this between us like men." Silas growls.

"Not before we have some fun," Ronan announces

and nods to Finn. He and Cillian move closer to me, and I’m unable to move thanks to the restraints. Finn brings a nail to my hand, placing it over the top of my hand before wasting no time at all and bringing the hammer down and piercing my skin with the nail as a deep growl escapes my throat. Finn slams the hammer down, again and again with each nail he places on my hand as Cillian restrains my shoulders to stop me from writhing. I stay as still as I can for the majority of the time but the pain becomes unbearable about half way through as each nail pierces me with blinding pain more overwhelming than the last. I keep my eyes locked on Lucille, looking into the deep green abyss of her eyes. I try to ignore the blood that trickles from my hand, dripping patterns of intricate blood work across the floor. Lucille lets out a loud scream each time a nail penetrates my hand, but she does as I ask and keeps her eyes on mine the whole time. I hope I'll get to reward her for that one day. I know I’ve lost a lot of blood now as my head feels light and woozy and the voices in the room are becoming distant. I try to keep my eyes open, trying so hard to focus on Lucille as I slip into the depths of darkness. Screams echo around me until there’s nothing but the black void of unconsciousness enveloping my body.

Chapter 25

Silas

After Lucille’s refusal to be accompanied by one of us during her day out I sulked off to my office, not entirely happy with the thought that anybody could do a better job than either Lincoln, myself or even her own brother at keeping her safe. But I wanted to give her trust, and space. She needed to know she had freedom with her choices. Something her fuck of an ex withheld from her.

I have been sitting at my desk, staring at the computer for a while now, trying to figure out how to move forward with everything. How we need to outsmart Ronan and fight the urge to lock Lucille in my bedroom again. And while I wished for her to not leave the house, Lincoln politely reminded me once again that I cannot keep her captive. I scoff a breath to myself thinking of how I'm holding myself back from doing just that. What I would give to have her tied up to use for my pleasure, at my beck and call. A knock at the door halts my thoughts from becoming any more depraved.

“Come in,” I shout.

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