CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Jess

Rice, protein and vegetables,” Roger grunts, thrusting a tray of food at me. “Eat it all, you need to be strong.”

I glare at him, wanting so desperately to beat him. He has no idea of the hatred that swells in my belly every time I look at him. He returns my glare and leans down close.

“You’re so lucky I need you for money, otherwise you’d be on your back being fucked like the whore you are.”

My fists clench and I grind my jaw, but say nothing.

“You led me on all those years ago, you know that, don’t you? Coming in wearing only a towel.”

“I was a little girl!” I scream. “It shouldn’t have mattered, you shouldn’t have looked.”

“You used to climb onto my lap,” he roars. “You asked for it.”

“You’re an asshole, a fucking piece of shit. I’ll make you pay, I promise you.”

“You already made me pay,” he snarls, sending spittle over my face. “You fucked my face for life. No one will look at me now. No woman will fuck me. You should be giving it to me, considering you took it.”

He reaches down and takes my leg, curling his fingers around my thigh.

“You know,” he murmurs. “Fucking you won’t affect your fighting.”

My entire world stops spinning and I begin to struggle, shoving at him. He grins, as if my struggling completely turns him on. He leans down and grips both of my thighs, pulling them apart. I can’t punch him, because my wrists are cuffed. I shake my head from side to side and kick my legs as hard as I can. I only manage to make contact with his thigh. He rears his hand back and slaps me so hard my face jerks to the side.

“You monster, let me go!” I scream, thrashing as best I can.

He presses his hands on the insides of my legs and my vision begins to blur as fear courses through my veins. He slides them up until he reaches my button and then he proceeds to tug my pants down. At least he tries to—I am squirming so much it’s next to impossible, but he’s managing. Tears tumble down my cheeks as I thrash, trying desperately to figure out a way to escape this. When one of his hands cups my breasts, I begin to dry retch.

“You always fucking loved it,” he murmurs. “Loved when I was inside you.”

I begin to cry harder, still squirming, still desperately trying to escape. His fingers slide inside my pants and my vision begins to go black. Inside my already damaged mind, I begin to pray.

“Roger!”

I hear Damon’s voice pounding on the door and hope swells in my chest. Roger snarls and pulls his hand from my pants, getting to his feet. He swings the door open and barks, “What?”

“There’s an urgent visitor. I’ll watch her.”

Roger turns and grins at me. “Enjoy your dinner.”

He leaves and I crumble. I begin sobbing so hard my body shakes. Damon steps in and closes the door before walking over and kneeling in front of me. He takes one look at my unbuttoned pants and the way I’m shaking, and a curse leaves his mouth. He reaches out and touches my cheek gently. “All the teaching I gave and not once did I think about how to teach you to fight off a predator. How long has he been . . . ?”

“I . . .” My voice trembles. “He did it first when I was twelve. It continued. When I was sixteen I got away and haven’t seen him again until recently.”

“How’d you get away?” he asks, his voice tight.

“I stabbed him . . . a lot.”

His eyes widen. “You did that to his face?”

I nod, feeling my lip tremble. “I thought he was dead and . . . then he showed up at one of Dimitri’s fights.”

“Is Dimitri your . . . lover?”

I nod again, dropping my head. “I don’t even know if he will guess where I am. If he doesn’t find me, Roger will . . . will . . .”

“Hey,” Damon says, lifting my chin and meeting my gaze. “He won’t touch you, I’ll find a way to make sure of that. I’ll get to Dimitri.”

“Why can’t you get me out of here?” I whisper.

He drops his head. “Because Roger gives me good money for what I do. Without that money I can’t support my family. My wife was in an accident four years ago. She’s completely disabled now and it’s around the clock care. That kind of care isn’t cheap and so I’m working to train illegal fighters to make enough money to keep us afloat. If he suspects . . .”

“I understand,” I whisper, cutting him off.

He looks me dead in the eye. “But I will get you out of here, I’ll find Dimitri.”

“When you do, tell him . . . tell him L-L-Livvie knows where I am.”

He nods and stands. “If I stay too long, he will get suspicious. Eat, you need your strength. I’ll stand guard tonight, don’t worry about Rex . . . ahh . . . Roger. I’ll make sure he doesn’t come in, I’ll figure a good excuse out. You’ll be safe to sleep.”

I smile weakly. “Thank you, I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

He smiles back. “I think I can guess.”

He turns and leaves the room and I slump in relief. I hope to God he can find a way to get me out of here, because if he can’t there’ll only be so long I can fight Roger off. Eventually, he’ll find out a way to get to me and if he does, he’ll take everything I’ve fought so hard to build up. I drop my head and tug on my cuffs. How the fuck am I supposed to eat when I’m shackled?