Page 53 of A Game of Survival

“You’re fucking worthless, Salvatore. And now your woman is all mine.” Ronan taunts, striding over to where Marcus and I are standing. I kick my heels against the floor immediately, trying to push us back and as far away from his touch as possible but he reaches us too quickly. His hands come up to my face and he runs them roughly through my hair, bringing strands through his fingers and up to his nose where he breathes in deeply, closing his eyes, reveling in the smell.

“What do you want from me?” I whisper, trying not to spook him into doing anything.

“I already had what I wanted… A son to raise and rule my empire when I am old and fragile… Somebody I could bend and break and mold into everything I needed them to be… But you, my darling Lucille, took that away from me.”

“He wasn’t yours to have, you sick fuck. He’s my son.” I snap back, no longer fearful. A sharp pain shoots across my cheek and the realization that Ronan just slapped me filters through the sudden fogginess. I shake my head, clearing the stars in my vision, barely noticing Cole as he begins to shout for Ronan’s attention.

“He was mine, you silly bitch and you took him away from me. So now you get to give me what I want. And this time nobody is going to stop me,” he snarls, moving in closer before trailing his hand across my jaw and neck. He pauses, tapping his finger against my throat before tutting loudly. “Get her into the cell,” he orders. Marcus doesn’t wait to be told again as he immediately pulls me away from his leering eyes, pulling me against his chest as he leads me back to the cell I woke up in. I’m suddenly grateful for his closeness as my brain fails to figure out how to put one foot in front of the other and I trip several times causing him to take my weight.

“Get in and don’t say another word,” he whispers low into my ear before shoving me to the floor. I hit the concrete floor with a loud smack, the pain radiating its way up my knees to my hips, hissing out at the shock. I steady myself with my hands against the dusty floor, distracted suddenly by Cole’s voice shouting my name across the room.

“Cole, I'm here. I’m still here. I’m OK.” I reassure him, pulling myself up on the bars of the cell.

“Oh, how touching,” Ronan taunts before giving his next order. “Pull out the nails. And do it one by one, I want to see if he squeals just as much as when they went in.”

The taller of the two guards standing either side of Cole move to the other side of the room before returning with a pair of pliers while the smaller of the two flips the hammer in his hand, holding the claw terrifyingly close to Cole’s face.

“Hold still, pretty boy. This may hurt just a little.” I hear one of them say before Cole’s animalistic screams reverberate around the room.

“Cole. Cole, I need you to stay awake for me.” I shout, trying to keep him even the slightest bit distracted. To see him withstanding so much pain is more horrifying than the thought of Ronan’s hand on my body. I can barely stand to watch but I know he would do the same for me.

“Topolino,” Cole murmurs along with other inaudible words as Ronan’s men take turns to pull out the nails out of his hands. His voice cracks while his body tenses and I can see the pain he’s trying desperately hard to hide from me.

“I’m right here, Cole. I’m not going anywhere.” I cry. “Please Ronan. Please stop!” I beg him while he watches on, a shimmer of amusement laced in his eyes. “You sick fuck. You’re enjoying this!” I snap, to which he turns his attention back to me and smiles.

“You’ve seen nothing yet, girly.” He states, narrowing his eyes at me before making his way out of the room shouting. “Make sure he doesn’t die. I’m not finished with him yet.”

Cole’s screams become less and less until he’s finally rendered unconscious again. When they removed the last nail from his hand with elated cheers at their handiwork, his body slumps to the floor with a loud thud.

“Check his pulse, Boss doesn’t want him dead just yet.” The smaller of the two guards orders. The taller one kneels down, pulling Cole onto his back and checking his neck.

“He’s alive, for now.” he laughs, kicking Cole as he stands. They both laugh before walking out of the room, leaving me alone with Cole’s unconscious body.

Hours seemed to pass as I sit and wait, watching the rise and fall of Cole’s chest to make sure he was still breathing. Although, from behind these bars, I’m not entirely sure what I’d do if he wasn’t.

“Cole,” I call out to him, careful not to raise my voice too loud incase I was heard. I don’t want anyone coming back down here any time soon. “Cole, can you hear me?” A low groan escapes his lips that I almost miss until he raises a bloodied, mangled hand to his face. “You’re awake!” I gasp, pulling myself to my knees.

“Am I?” Cole groans again, rolling onto his side and locking eyes with mine. “I’m so fucking sorry, Lucille,” he chokes, trying to push himself off the floor.

“Cole don’t move, you’ve lost too much blood.” I urge him, but it falls on deaf ears. His elbows buckle under the strain as he collapses back to the floor, grunting at the impact.

“Fuck,” he curses before trying again, succeeding this time and precariously crawling over so only the bars of my cell separate us once more.

With a closer look at his wounds, my stomach churns at the sight of his left hand. It was completely mangled from Ronan’s boot and the nails had punctured through his palm. With his already missing finger he must be in an incredible amount of pain, but he’s hiding it well. Reaching my hands through the bars, desperate to feel him. I grab his face and pull his head to the bars, pushing my lips to his and kissing him so hard it take my own breath away.

“Mio topolino,” Cole breathes against my lips. “I can’t get close enough to you through these bars for you to keep kissing me like that.”

“Half dead yet you still manage to sweet talk me,” I laugh, kissing him again.

“Lucille, I will get you out of here. I promise.” He says, pulling back to look me in the eyes. His eyes narrow at me and the line between his eyebrows became prominent when I don’t respond. But I'm not sure what to say anymore. This situation is fucked. I don’t see him being able to survive much more torture and I don’t know how long it will take for Silas and Lincoln to get to us. My mind flickers back to Teddy in that street, the helplessly frightened look in his eyes as I was ripped away. I pray that he’s alright and that Kat got to him in time. I know she’ll look after him like her own if anything happens to me in here and for whatever reason, I don’t make it back.

“Where are you little mouse?” Cole asks, pulling me back to the dire reality we’re in.

“I was thinking about Teddy,” I sigh, closing my eyes as a single tear tracks down my cheek. “I was thinking about what will happen if I don’t make it out of here.”

Cole kisses my forehead, cheeks, nose and finally my lips before whispering more broken promises. “Don’t think like that. You will get back to him. I promise to get you out of here.”

We stay embraced in each other's arms through the cold metal bars of the cell with Cole slipping in and out of sleep and my arms way past numb but I couldn’t care less. He’s here with me and that’s all I could ask for.

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