2

CHAPTER 2

NO ESCAPE

The barrel was the coldest thing I've ever felt on my skin.

Is this how I die!?

His green eyes didn't blink, and the gun didn't waver either. My knees went liquid, and my lungs seized, but the only sound in the room was my own heartbeat trying to punch through its ribs.

"Where are the drives?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Just a strangled breath that tasted like fear.

"I—I don't k—now wh—at you're talking about."

The silence stretched so long I felt it pressing against my skull. He didn't react or move; he just stared at me with those frozen eyes. And I understood for the first time what it meant to be truly hunted.

"I don't like to repeat myself."

"I'm not—" My voice cracked. "I swear, I don't know. Whatever you think I have, I don't have it."

Something flickered in his expression, and from the fear of having a gun to my head, I couldn't figure it out.

He lowered the gun slowly, tracing the muzzle down my cheek as the coldness bit into my skin before tilting my chin up with the tip.

"Do you take me for a fool?" He asked in a soft voice. "Do not make me scatter your ugly brain on my pretty walls."

Sweat gathered on my forehead as my heart nearly jumped out of my ribcage. He leaned closer, close enough for me to see the faint ring of gold around his pupils.

"Where are the drives?"

I was shaking so hard my teeth clattered. "I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about."

“You don't know what I'm talking about, but you're shaking?”

“I have a gun pointed to my head, Einstein.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Oh God.

His eyes grew darker as he held my gaze. I thought I was gone. But he holstered the gun in one motion and tucked it away.

"Everyone breaks eventually, wife. You will too."

He turned and walked to the door without looking back. "Get comfortable. Tomorrow, we will try again. And let me warn you… I am not a patient man."

When the door closed behind him, my legs gave out. I collapsed onto the cold marble floor as my whole body convulsed with the effort of holding myself together.

That night, sleep eluded me. Four words kept resounding in my head.

I need to leave.

By morning I was forced into another dress by that maid and given just bread and water on a tray.

As the hours crawled, I paced. I stared at the windows before testing the door handle twenty times.

Of course it was locked.

By evening, the lock turned against it, and this time a younger maid stepped in with a tray. She set down a tray and turned to leave without meeting my eyes.

"Wait—" My voice came out cracked, quickly taking advantage of my position. "Please, the dress zipper is stuck. I can't breathe; just help me. Please."

She hesitated as she glanced at the door. Then pity flickered in her gaze as she moved closer to me. The moment her back was turned, I slammed the bathroom door between us and locked it.

"Hey!"

I was already out. Bare feet padding desperately on the cold marble floor. I wrenched open the main door and stopped dead. Two guards stood right outside.

I froze her for half a heartbeat as the guard's dead stare bore holes into my skull. Without waiting for another reaction, I stumbled back and turned around immediately.

One of them spoke into a radio on his wrist. "She's out."

I ran anyway, bolting down the hallway in the opposite direction. I made a left turn… a dead end. I skidded on the marble, bare feet sliding, as I threw myself right. My legs skidded down the staircase, my lungs on fire.

I rounded a corner and walked straight into a chest.

I fell hard on my ass, pain shooting through my spine. I looked up to see the person I was trying to escape.

And on his face was a very bored expression.

Leaning a bit, he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up roughly. I thrashed against his grip, but his hands didn't budge. They were iron wrapped in skin, and the more I struggled, the tighter they got.

"Let me go!"

"No."

He pulled me closer, tilting his head as he studied my face.

"I'm going to ask you a question," he said in a very calm voice, "and I want you to think very carefully before you answer."

I stopped struggling, breathing heavily.

"Where were you going?"

My lips remained sealed, making his jaw tighten. But his grip also tightened along with it, making me wince.

"Don't make me repeat myself."

"I—" My voice came out as a plea. "I just wanted air. I can't breathe in that room."

"You can't breathe." He repeated the words like they sounded stupid, raising one of his brows. "Let me make something clear to you, wife. You were never brought here to be comfortable. You are collateral, and collateral can get damaged."

His hand moved to my jaw, digging his fingers into it.

"Run again," he murmured, "and I'll stop being patient."

"Patient?" The word burst out before I could stop it. "You pointed a gun at my head and threatened my life."

"And you're still alive." His thumb pressed lightly against my chin. "That was me being patient."

I stared up at him with stubbornness and fear in my eyes as he turned around.

"Take her back," he said to the guards. "Double the watch outside her door and bring me the maid."

My blood went cold. "No—please—she didn't do anything wrong. I tricked her. It was me. Please don't hurt her."

Lucien paused, turning back to me. I could see mockery dancing behind his eyes.

"You beg for a stranger," he said. "But not for yourself? How foolish."

He stared at me, his eyes searching mine for a long moment. Then he turned around.

"Lock her in without food or water till I say otherwise. Maybe hunger will loosen her tongue."

What!?

As the guards dragged me back down the hallway, I twisted violently in their grip, panic clawing up my throat while Lucien watched without expression.

When I got back to my room, the last tray of food was gone.

Before my chest could cave, the shrill sound of a female’s scream pierced the doors and into my ears.

Pleading for mercy.