There’s a sound in the hall. That’s the problem with concrete, it echoes loudly, and I’ve got excellent hearing. It’s not the click of high heels, thank fuck, to alert me that she’s asked for me again, nor is it the heavy drum base of the guard who’s been pacing back and forth in front of my cell for the past two hours.
I think it’s night. At least it feels that way by the chill in the air. I’m wearing nothing but the clean boxer briefs they gave me to wear this morning after Henrietta was through using me. Time is harder to discern. The guards change shifts every eight hours, and four are regularly on rotation outside my cell if their gait is anything to go by. I call one fatty with his heavy clomp clomp clomping step, one gimpy because he has a sort of drag to his step with every turn. One is skippy since he seems to run back and forth in the hallway, moving quickly, like he is trying to get a workout in during every guard shift. The last one is the meanest, and I just call him motherfucker. His steps are normal, at least for this lot, but his fists are rougher than the others, and he’s not afraid to hit me.
My guess…Henrietta had been sleeping with him before she decided to get herself an upgrade.
I focus on the steps again, but there are several now. One I’d recognize anywhere. I’ve been listening to them pace the halls of the penthouse for years.
I tuck my legs up to hide my nudity and brace my arms across my knees so he can’t see the bruises there.
The door is thrown open, but it’s not Adrian who walks in, it’s Valentina. Ah. She’s light, tiny, I usually can’t hear her walking around unless she’s angry.
She takes a step into the cell with Adrian right on her ass. The guard closes the door behind them.
“Careful,” I warn. “Now that they got you here, they might not let you out again.”
Adrian digs his cell phone out of his pocket and flips on the flashlight so we can see each other. “This place is a shithole. Don’t they know concrete isn’t great for holding cells, too damn hard to heat.”
I shiver as if proving his point, but it’s more out of adrenaline from seeing them than the actual chill in the air. “What are you doing here? The stream I did should have given you guys time to get away.”
He snorts and shoves the hand not holding his phone into his pocket. “You really think I’d leave you, just like that?”
I wave at his wife. “To protect Valentina and your child, of course, I would.” Maybe he’s fucking with me for defying his orders and coming after him even though he expressly forbade it. “And I sure as hell didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to bring her back here, under any circumstance.”
He meets my eyes head-on and shrugs. “It seems I can’t deny her anything. Her only request every day for the past week has been to come here and get you out. Considering I also want you out of this hellhole, I was inclined to make it happen.”
A bright light surges in my chest. “We’re leaving?”
“Not yet,” Valentina says, closing the distance between us. I stare at her, almost on equal height with me sitting on the bench and her short stature.
She strikes out, slapping me hard across the cheek. With the slap, she caught a little of my ear, too, setting it ringing.
I clutch my face and glare her way. “What the hell? Haven’t I been beaten enough recently?”
“Watch your tone,” Adrian hisses, stepping behind her to cup her upper arms and pull her back a few steps.
“Why didn’t you tell me Rose was alive?” she demands, her fists clenched at her side.
I peer over her shoulder at Adrian and answer. “Why do you think? Orders. It’s the reason I do anything that I do.”
She waves around the room exaggeratedly, her arm casting shadows in Adrian’s flashlight. “You seem to disobey orders just fine when it suits you, and I saved your life, or have you forgotten.”
Guilt. Another old friend threatens to choke me, but I shove it down again. “I stand by my decision to keep her existence secret. It wasn’t safe for either of you between Sal’s family and your father. Besides, mentally, she still needs a lot of care. She has a hard time processing things, being touched, and even going outside. And there’s one more major reason I didn’t tell you.”
Her hands frame her slim hips, her curls spinning around her face in her anger. “Yes?”
“She doesn’t want to see you. We talked about it. She specifically told me she doesn’t want to see you.”