Alberto only laughed. When I saw the flash from the phone, I was suddenly snapped out of my haze, and I struggled under his body.
Alberto’s nostril flared, and his lips pulled back in a snarl. He slapped me hard across the face, and I whimpered.
My body was already aching from days of abuse. How long had it been since Alberto took me away? A few days? Weeks? I didn’t know. After all, I was trapped in the dungeon every day. I only knew darkness.
Except today. Today, I was in a room.
Was this Alberto’s plan all along?
I pushed at his chest, but he was unmoving. Let me go, I screamed in my head. My voice was gone. My throat hurt, and I felt dizzy.
Alberto threw the phone somewhere on the bed, and then he was on me. I felt him near my entrance, and I closed my eyes.
My body filled with dread, and my throat was too tight. My chest ached with knowing what was coming. He brutally gripped my body as he aligned himself with me.
“You’re mine,” he hissed into my face.
I looked away from him, moving my face to the side. I thought of Alessio and our happy moments.
I heard his voice in my head, and I smiled.
I just want you to know that you are loved…you matter.
You bring happiness to others. You bring light, Ayla. You have people who care about you.
You are worth more than you think.
You are a fighter, Ayla. So keep fighting. Don’t give up now.
Ayla…do you know how strong you are? You are the strongest woman I have ever met. Your strength shines brighter than any others.
Strong. Alessio thought I was strong. Even Nikolay and Maddie thought I was strong. But they were wrong. I wasn’t. I was weak.
My eyes fell on the lamp, and for a brief moment, I heard Alessio yelling at me to fight.
Alberto pushed inside of me, and my already broken soul cracked further. But still I heard Alessio telling me to fight. Pushing me to fight.
I stared at the lamp as Alberto started moving inside of me. He was slower than usual, taking his time. I shuddered, my body itching with the need to hide and fade away.
Fight, Ayla.
Without thinking, I reached for the lamp. Everything happened so quickly. One minute Alberto was inside of me, and the next, I was smacking the lamp into his head. I hit his head twice, hard enough to make him bleed.
He roared in pain and pulled away from me.
My body felt light as soon as he shifted away, and without wasting a second, I was rolling off the bed. My legs gave out under me, and I fell down.
I could barely stand. My whole body was trembling. I crawled toward the door and was finally able to push myself on my feet. Stumbling forward, I reached the door.
But I was too slow.
Alberto was on me again. He grabbed my hair and wrapped it around his wrist before smacking my face into the door, right over the knob.
Pain splintered its way into my head and my skull. My neck ached with the impact, and my vision blurred.
Was my jaw broken? My cheekbone?
My whole face was hurting, burning like it was on fire.
The pain traveled down my spine until black dots appeared in front my eyes. I blinked, trying to clear them away, but the pain was too much.
He slammed my head against the door again, holding my cheek there. He pressed his knuckles into my skull, and I screamed as the blinding agony spread through my body.
Spots danced in front of my eyes with the searing pain. Red droplets fell in front my eyes. My blood.
“I thought you learned your lesson, but you clearly didn’t,” Alberto said. “How many times do I have to tell you that you can’t run away from me?”
He chuckled, his chest moving against my back. “And why are you running? To whom? Alessio? Did you forget he gave you to me? He left you here at my mercy,” he taunted in my ears.
Those were the words he fed me every day. But I didn’t believe him. No matter how many times he said them, I would never believe him.
“Why are you running to him, huh? He doesn’t care about you, Ayla,” Alberto continued, his fingers getting tighter around my hair.
I closed my eyes and tried to block him out. But Alberto was a man impossible to block. He was a disease that infiltrated everywhere.
“He is probably buried balls-deep inside another pussy right now. That’s how much you mean to him, love.”
Stop it! I sobbed against the door. My heart cracked open, and the pieces flew everywhere. Empty. That was how I felt.
“Aww, does the thought of Alessio fucking another woman hurt?” he goaded, caressing a finger down my neck. “He can get any pussy he wants. You are not anything special, Ayla.”