Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Then he just took a seat across from me, not speaking, barely even breathing.
I didn’t know how long he sat there, but it was long enough that whatever medication I’d taken took my pain away, the edges of the world fading.
But it was the image of him leaning forward and bracing his forearms on his thighs, a slow smirk forming on his mouth, and the faint sound of him saying, “Jesus, you’re pretty,” that was the last thing I saw and heard as I let the heavy hands of sleep pull me in.
Chapter 6
Liliana
I was groggy when I woke up, my mind feeling hazy, as if I were staring into a TV filled with static.
That electrical snow buzzing loudly in my head and the feeling of being discombobulated so pronounced it made me nauseous.
I got my bearings, and the first thing I realized was that I was alone in the room. My eyes were still closed, but I could sense a stillness, one that could only be linked to Matteo being gone.
His presence was like a shot of electricity through my cortex stealing all rational thoughts.
I sat up slowly, my head swimming slightly before everything became clear.
Calmer.
I looked around the room, the pain nothing but a slight tremor in the back of my head now.
I felt unsteady from whatever medication Matteo had given me. My body felt stiff, as if I’d been sleeping for quite a while. And because I didn’t feel drugged, I had to assume that was the case.
I made slow work getting off the bed and padding barefoot over to the bathroom. I was thankful to see I was still in my clothes from when I'd gone to bed at home.
Although, the thought of Matteo undressing me didn’t terrify me as much as it should have. I blamed that on the drugs still in my system.
I used the restroom and bent down to guzzle water straight from the tap. I stood there a moment staring at myself in the mirror, seeing the bruise down the side of my face, presumably from when I fell.
I gently touched it, but the painkillers I’d taken must still be doing their job because, despite how nasty it looked, I felt little more than a tenderness.
When I left the bathroom, I was still alone, my focus going straight to the bedroom door. My heart was beating faster the closer I made my way to it. I was about to open it when I looked down at myself. Being barefoot and weaponless wasn’t going to help me in getting free, but a quick look around the room showed little that would help with the former or latter.
I started going through the dresser, then the closet, but it was clear this room wasn’t being used because I found jack shit in either. No clothes, nothing I could use as a weapon aside from a heavy lamp on the bedside table that was too clunky for me to wield properly.
But I couldn’t leave—or attempt to—empty-handed. That would be the stupidest fucking thing for me to do, and I wasn’t in some movie where I was a ditzy chick who didn’t know two-shits about surviving.
I went back into the bathroom and searched the cupboards and drawers. Aside from a couple of brand new bottles of shampoo and body wash, I came up empty-handed.
Then I rechecked the closet. There were a couple extra blankets on the top shelf, but again, nothing that I could use to beat the shit out of somebody.
I stared at that lamp once again, walked over to it, and picked it up. It was hefty, bulky, but I unplugged it, removed the shade, and gripped the neck in one hand, shaking it a few times to see how it felt.
I didn’t know how long I could keep hold of it as the bottom was solid metal and an abstract shape, but it was better than nothing.
After wrapping the cord around the base, I made my way to the door. I expected it to be locked, but it opened right away… and there wasn’t a guard stationed on the other side ready to stop me from trying to leave.
This had my hackles rising and warning bells going off in me.
If Matteo didn’t have someone watching my door, that meant he wasn’t worried about me trying to escape. There isn’t any hope for that.
For a moment, I just stood there and listened. I looked down each side of the hallway and saw nothing but emptiness, closed doors, and a few pieces of decor.
At any second, I expected Matteo and a handful of his goons to come down the hall. I was sure there were cameras posted all over, ones strategically placed so that, although hidden, he would know what was happening in every square inch of this prison.