Total pages in book: 238
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
The bottle. I eyed the Scotch whiskey.
And then to Micah. Rory and Will were trying to get Aydin’s liquor to soothe Micah’s pain.
The muscles in Will’s jaw flexed, and Aydin didn’t wait for his answer. Balling his fist, he reared back, swung, and slammed Will across the jaw, then grabbed his head and brought it down on his knee.
I gasped as blood spurted from Will’s nose and he fell to his knees again. I started to rush toward him, but he shot out his hand, stopping me without a look in my direction.
He sucked in air, eyes squeezed closed as he wiped the blood away from his mouth and knelt there, trying to get his legs under him again.
Finally, shaking, he rose to his feet.
But Aydin just chuckled and walked away, pouring himself another drink.
“I can’t trade with someone who doesn’t play,” he said.
Will stood there bleeding, and I moved a little, trying to catch his eyes.
But just when I thought he was going to look at me, he looked away instead and walked off the mat.
What had happened to him? He wasn’t the leader in high school, either, but he never let anyone treat him like shit.
“Sleep well?” Aydin asked.
I blinked, realizing he was talking to me.
“Taylor thought for sure we’d have to pry you out of that room,” he mused, taking a towel and wiping the sweat off his face.
He tossed the towel on a nearby chair, his gaze falling to my hand and the knife in it.
“You may as well relax,” he told me. “You’re not leaving.”
“I’m not staying.”
He laughed, unfastening his belt. “Denial. The first phase. I remember it well,” he mused, dropping his pants to the floor and leaving him in his boxer briefs. “Dealing with the loss of freedom and choice are exactly like dealing with the loss of a friend or parent. ‘This isn’t happening. This isn’t my life now. There has to be some way out of this…’”
He stared at me, amused, and then he peeled down the rest of his clothes, leaving him completely naked.
Heat rose up my neck, but I clenched my jaw and kept my eyes dead center on that stupid smirk of his as the others stood around, remaining silent.
“You’re dirty.” He sighed, throwing back another swallow of liquor. “I warned you that we’d bathe you if you didn’t do it yourself.”
“You’re going to have to, Hot Shot,” I fired back. “I don’t listen to you.”
“Oh, what a delight.” He smiled, turning and dropping waist deep into the pool. “I was so hoping you were going to make this hard.”
I glanced at the doorway I came through, wishing I’d gone for the kitchen like I was supposed to.
“Are there more people in this house?” I asked.
He splashed water on his face, coating his chest, as well. “Why would you think that?”
“I heard movement above me in your room a few minutes ago,” I told him.
Maybe if I got them distracted, searching the house, I could get to the kitchen. I might not get out of here tonight, but I could hoard some food.
“And again, in the walls down here,” I said. “But you’re all in here.”
I didn’t pass anyone on my way downstairs, and it appeared they were all already down here when I arrived.
“You’ve never heard anything before?” I asked.
The surveillance room, probably one of many, and movement in areas of the house where there weren’t supposed to be people?
But he knew where I was going with my train of thought. “There’s no help for you here.”
He sank below the surface, submerging his body, and rose up again, swimming to the other side and then smoothing his dark hair over the top of his head as the steam billowed around his body.
Unable to stop myself, I dropped my gaze. The curves and dips of his tight stomach, the bronze skin that looked like he was loved by the sun on some Mediterranean island instead of a cold, desolate house in the middle of nowhere, and the V of his hips that disappeared down into the water would make lots of women—and men—happy to look at.
And I had no doubt he was well aware of it.
“Come here,” he said softly.
I darted my eyes to his, seeing him tread through the water to the edge closest to me, looking like a god on Earth.
Too bad for him, I worshiped no one.
“Why do you control the food?” I demanded, staying right where I was.
“Why would I control the food?” he challenged and then looked behind me. “Taylor?”
I looked over my shoulder, seeing Dinescu approach. I moved away.
“Because we’re surviving,” he answered for Aydin. “When you can’t run to the supermarket or get takeout from a restaurant, you have to make sure people don’t overeat.”
“Or maybe controlling basic necessities helps you control the people,” I retorted, shifting my gaze from Taylor to Aydin.