His eyes flicker. ‘I’ll pay for my sins. But now it’s your turn. Don’t worry I’m kind enough to use butter.’
I draw in a shocked br
eath.
‘I don’t want to tear you. I want to use you many times before I discard you.’
‘And after you’ve raped me, what will you do? Kill me? And then what?’
He takes his hand off my thigh. ‘Don’t you get it? The only thing left for me is the satisfaction of knowing you will get what you deserve.’
He turns me roughly onto my front.
‘Pleeeeease,’ I beg.
He hooks his fingers into the top of my flimsy, edible panties. At that moment there is a massive bang and the door of the dingy flat flies open and hits the wall hard. Both Rob and I freeze. Dom charges through the door followed by Jake. Even through the fear and shock my brain notes that they look so big and ferocious compared to Rob. Before I know it, I feel the cold, sharp end of Rob’s knife pressing into the skin of my throat.
‘Don’t come any closer, or I’ll slit this bitch’s throat from ear to ear,’ he threatens with a tremor of panic in his voice.
Both Dom and Jake take a step back, Dom with both his hands raised, the palms showing.
Jake is the first to speak. ‘If you hurt her, we will kill you. If you let her go now, you have my word we’ll do nothing to you. We won’t go to the police. We’re gypsies—we settle everything on our own. I’ll even give you money.’
‘Money,’ Rob spits. ‘You think you can buy me? This is my bitch.’
I see Dom start, his face reddens, and his hands clench so hard the muscles of his shoulders bulge.
‘Listen,’ Jake says. ‘If you think you’re going to walk out of here alive after touching one hair on her head you’re mad.’
My breathing is shallow. Rob’s painfully firm grip on my shoulder has not eased at all.
I feel Rob’s body become tense. In the end he is a coward.
‘You’ll gain nothing by taking a life and surrendering your own. Make no mistake. If you harm her, we’ll kill you with our bare hands.’
Rob’s grip eases a fraction.
‘Let her go. We won’t hurt you,’ Jake adds persuasively.
‘You’ll not keep your word. I know how this works.’
Dom is as still as a statue.
‘No. My word is my honor,’ Jake says.
Rob’s face crumples. Suddenly, he erupts with the hysterical laughter of a madman. Nobody reacts. Both Dom and Jake remain stony-faced. As suddenly as he had begun laughing, he stops. ‘All right. Prove it,’ he says, and throws the knife on the ground.
No sooner does the knife hit the ground than Dom rushes forward with an incoherent cry of rage and starts kicking the shit out of Rob. In his uncontrollable frenzy, strings of curses stream out of his snarling mouth. ‘You fucking ugly cunt. You think you’re so big? Let’s see how big you are without your blade. Fucking piece of chicken shit.’
Jake grabs Dom by the front of his shirt and pushes him back.
‘Look at her face. He fucking hit her. I want to kill the fucking cunt,’ Dom roars.
‘No, you fucking don’t,’ Jake growls. ‘Take your woman out of this hellhole and leave me with him.’
Dom’s face is tight and tense, and his hands are clenched into fists. He takes a great shuddering breath as he fights to control his natural instinct.
Jake lets go of his shirt. ‘Go home, Dom.’