My Masters' Nightmare, Season 1 / Episode 14 (3 page)

I glanced at my brother.

“
He won’t be hurt,” Christo
said, “unless you don’t do as you’re told.”

“
I’ll do whatever you
want.”

“
As every little
schiava
should. Now,
out.”

Knowing I didn’t have a
choice,
I
headed out of the house, following the muscled soldier to a black
car in the driveway. I went for the back door.

“
No, in the trunk,” Christo
said.

The soldier opened it. I climbed in,
quickly assessing if there were any weapons. Finding nothing, I
laid down.

“
Hold out your hands,” the
soldier said.

I did. He wrapped rope around my wrists,
then closed the trunk, locking me inside.

***

As I lay in the trunk, I
searched under the carpeting
the best I could, my tied wrists and the cramped,
dark space hindering me. After several minutes, I gave up, the
breakdown kit not in here. I stuck my hands in my pocket and pulled
out the blade I’d stolen from Frano. I pressed it between my hands,
the tape on the small blade making it stick to my right
palm.

After a short
drive
, we
came to a stop. I remained inside the trunk a while longer,
wondering what they were doing. Eventually it was opened. The
muscular soldier yanked me out, my eyes taking in where we were. It
was the same barn Christo had raped me in. I headed for the door,
knowing there was no point in running. They still had my brother,
and even if they didn’t, I wouldn’t run from Christo—I wanted
revenge.

I entered through the
open
door,
the soldier closing it behind us. Christo was leaning against the
tractor, smiling at me. My eyes went to the long ropes hanging from
the rafters.

“
Like my
decorations?”

I sneered at him.

His smile
remained
.
“My little teenage
schiava
would’ve been crying and trembling at the sight. But you’re
not scared, are you?”

“
No.”

“
Oh, you’re going to be an
absolute
joy
to break. I haven’t had such a lovely challenge in years. All the
women nowadays cry and break so quick, but you … I hope you don’t
disappoint me.”

“
That depends upon whether
you mind me killing you.”

He pushed away from the tractor and
started clapping as he walked towards me. “I love your
viciousness.” He stopped a few paces from me and raised his gun.
“Take your pants off.”

“
Are you stupid? My hands are
tied.”

His jaw clenched. “In front of you, which
means you can still get them off.”

“
You don’t want to
strip me
instead?”

“
Tempting, but I’d rather not
get a fist in my face.”

“
Maybe the soldier would like to
do it for me, then?” I glanced over my shoulder at him. “I’d rather
fuck you, Muscles.”

“
Schiava
!”

I turned back to Christo, giving him a
smile. “What’s wrong? Jealous I like him better?”

“
I know what you’re doing,” he
said, frowning at me.

“
And what’s
that?”

“
You’re going to continue
to insult me and flirt with him, trying to cause unrest. And it
won’t work.”

“
I’m speaking the truth. I like
muscular men and you really are skinny. Not my taste at all,
baldy.”

His hand whipped out, hitting me hard
across the face with his gun, the strike causing me to yelp. I
brought my hands to my cheek, then spat blood on one of his
shoes.

His eyes widened. “You
disrespectful,
troia
! Get down and lick it up.”

“
If you make me, my fist will be
in your balls before you can say Jingle Bells.”

He sneered at me. “Matteo has
obviously had an effect on you. You have a smartass mouth on
you.”

“
Who?”

“
Matteo, your
husband.”

“
Oh, him, he’s forgettable—like
you.”

Anger clouded his face. “I’m
not interested in your stupid banter,
troia
, so get on your knees and clean my
shoe!”

“
Jingle Bells—”

His hand whipped out, hitting me across
the face again. I refrained from bringing my hands up this time,
even though my face hurt like crazy, the strike much harder than
the first. Instead, I spat on his other shoe and forced myself to
smile, regardless of how much pain I was in.

“
Push her to the ground,”
Christo snapped at the soldier.

The man shoved me to the ground. Christo
rubbed his shoe in my face. I jerked my head to the side, yelling
out as he did the same with his other shoe. I lifted my hands, then
forced myself to lower them, knowing I couldn’t do shit to him like
this.

“
You are to call me
master
,” he said, glaring down at me, “and the next time you
disrespect me, you’ll get worse than bitch slapped.”

I pushed to my knees and looked up at
him. “You can do whatever the hell you like, but it won’t change
the fact you’re not a real man.”

“
I have you cowering
before me.”

“
I’m not cowering; I’m only on
my knees because you have a gun. If you didn’t have one, you’d be
dead. By the way, what you and your brother did to me and Jagger
was nothing but an act of cowardice. People like you deserve to be
put out of everyone’s misery.”

His eyes
moved to the soldier. “Gag
her.”

I was yanked to my feet.

“
Open your mouth,” the
soldier said.

My eyes stayed on Christo. “Pathetic,”
I said, opening my mouth wide.

The ball was
jammed into my
mouth and the straps secured around my head. I kept my eyes on
Christo, knowing I couldn’t show any sign of weakness, otherwise I
would be dead by the end of the day. He didn’t take his eyes off
me, his expression unreadable.

“
Strip her,” he said.

The soldier pulled out a knife and cut
my shirt away, then removed my pants along with my
underwear.

“
Tie her up.”

The soldier prodded me forward. I walked
to the second lot of ropes, holding my hands up, the feel of the
blade in between my palms calming me.

Christo
’s eyes ran over my body as the
soldier attached my wrists to the hanging rope. “I like your new
body very much. It’s much nicer than the soft, plump figure you had
as a teenager.” He ran his hand over my stomach, moving it around
to my back as he circled me. “Nice and clear skin, perfect for
whipping. Actually, I wouldn’t mind hearing you scream.” He undid
the tie at the back of my head and removed the gag. “Maybe I could
whip you a bit. Let’s see if you have any smart-mouthed comments
after that. I personally think you’ll be begging me to
stop.”

“
That doesn’t change the fact
you’re still a coward.”

“
Quiet!”

“
You removed the gag so you must
want me to talk.”

He stepped in front of me, his slap to my
face making my head whip to the side. I flexed my jaw, my face
still throbbing from his previous blows. “You hit like a
grandmother,” I said, staring him in the eyes.

“
Liar.”
He grabbed my cheeks and squeezed
them, making me yelp.

My knee whipped out, hitting
him in the balls. Hollering, he stumbled back, his hands going to
his crotch. The soldier rushed forward, asking if he was all right.
Christo snapped at him to get back, then straightened, his face
bright red. “
Troia
!” he yelled. “You will pay for that!”

“
I already have. Seven fucking
years ago!”

He moved forward fast, striking me in the
stomach hard. My leg shot out again, but he moved to the side,
hitting me again. I yelled out, wanting to bend forward to clutch
my stomach, but couldn’t, my tied wrists stopping me.

“
Not so funny now that it’s you,
is it?” he spat.

“
You’re weak hitting a tied up
woman,” I coughed out. “It’s pathetic that the Donatelli consider
you their Don. Shows how pathetic they’ve become.”

He moved behind me and grabbed
my hair, yanking my head back. I looked at his vicious face. “You
aren’t as strong as you think,
schiava
; this is all an act to anger
me.”

“
Are you angry?” I asked,
grimacing at the pull on my hair.

“
Not after I break you
down piece by piece.”

“
Eat me.”

“
I’m not the Black Russian, so
I’ll have to pass on that.” He let go of my hair, his footsteps
heading away from me. I turned my head, trying to see what he was
up to, my heart pounding like crazy.

He came into my
line of vision with
a whip and a cruel smile. I turned my head back around, willing
myself to be strong. Even if he whipped me, I had to stay in
control. I couldn’t break, and I most certainly couldn’t drop the
scalpel.

“
No smart comments now?”
Christo said, running the whip down my back, making me
shiver.

“
I’ve decided you’re a
waste of breath.”

“
Is that so?
”

A
crack came from behind me, the sound
of the whip. It didn’t touch me, but I still jolted.

Christo laughed in response. “Not so tough
now.”

“
You’d
react too if you were about to be
whipped.”

“
Always add the title of
master
when speaking to
me.”

“
You’re not my
m
aster,” I
spat. “You’re just a scrawny bastard with an overly inflated
ego.”

He cracked the whip again, this time
striking me. I yelled out, taken by surprise, the pain slicing down
my back.

“
I will whip respect into
you!” he yelled.

I tightened my grip on the blade, feeling
it slice into my hand, but I didn’t let it go. Instead, I breathed
through the pain.

He moved in
f
ront of me,
placing the whip between my breasts. “Now, the next time you open
your mouth, think before you speak, because it could mean the
difference between pleasure and pain.”

“
You can’t bring me pleasure.
You’re a dried up
old prune.”

He glared at me. “I meant it as
a saying, and I don’t wish to fuck you, you battered
troia.
By the time I’m
finished with you, no one will want you, not even Frano
D’Angelo.”

“
Don’t you dare speak
his name! You stole
me from him, stole seven years of our life together. You stole my
happiness, you stole everything!”

He smiled. “Oh, looks
like
I’ve
found the right buttons to push. And,
schiava
, Frano never truly wanted you; he just
wanted to steal what was his little cousin’s. If I had left you
untouched, the manwhore would’ve tossed you aside after a month and
moved onto the next woman.”

“
He loved me; he wanted to marry
me, still does.”

“
That’s just what he says
to women he wants to fuck. Propose and see how fast their panties
drop.” He laughed.

“
You’re lying. I was with
him not long ago.”

“
And now you’re with me, he’ll
move on like the last time, possibly even get married
again.”

“
Again?”

“
Oh,
he didn’t tell you.” He smiled wider,
probably knowing his words hurt me. “He married Angelica Rosso not
long after you were dumped in the river.”

I clenched my jaw, angry with Frano for
not mentioning it. “Then why isn’t she with him anymore?” I said,
barely controlling my voice.

“
She committed suicide. As far
as I heard, he fucked her once on their wedding night, then took
off to America to finish his studies. There, he fucked all the
women he could get his hands on, then returned home and ignored
her. When she tried to talk to him, he told her he was only with
her because he was forced to be. He also said he would keep fucking
whomever ever he liked and for her to shut the fuck up. THAT is why
the Rossos are helping me. I promised them revenge for their
daughter.”

“
It still isn’t his fault; they
forced him to marry her.”

“
He was cruel to her when
she loved him.”

“
What do you
care?”

“
I don’t, other than the Rosso
Don helped me
, so he could get revenge on Frano for driving his daughter
into an early grave.” He ran his hand over the whip. “Which I have
every intention of doing.”

“
Frano’
s protected by the Landi.”