The Deep End

Chapter 6

•Riot•

"You babied her, didn't you?" I ask Luca quietly as he enters the warehouse.

"I didn't baby her." He scowls. "I wasn't a dick but I treated her like a human being." He follows me through the building, stepping around the naked men and women that are counting our cash. Can't steal anything if you don't have pockets.

"You don't think I treat her like a human being?" I question as we make our way down the hall. "She has a bed and blankets, I let her shower, use the toilet and I keep her fed. I'd say as far as captors go I've exceeded expectations."

"How long do you plan to keep her? I gave her a perc for that nasty gash on her head because she could barely talk through the pain." He shakes his head. "And her wrists are already bruised from the shackle you're making her wear."

I shrug and run my fingers through my hair as we stop in front of the last door at the end of the hall. "I'll keep her as long as I need to. As for the shackle she will be fine. Don't start getting soft on me now."

Luca purses his lips. "She was timid, she looked scared and in pain. Toni didn't have to be so rough with her."

Poor Luca and his soft heart. It's one of the things I both admire and hate about him. Being soft in our world could easily get you killed, it's a good thing he has me.

"She's not timid and you shouldn't trust her. She's holding a lot of fire back right now. I'm sure it's part of the escape plan she's concocted. Play nice while she gains her strength back." I give him a grin. "Lucky for her I like to play too."

"Enzo." He states gruffly.

"Luca." I retort with a smirk and then sigh. "Look, as long as she behaves I won't put my hands on her, okay? But if you don't lose the sympathy you have for her I may just have you be the one that punishes her when she's bad." I grip his shoulder and give it a tight squeeze. "And she will be bad so don't let your guard down."

Luca swallows and gives me a silent nod. We step inside the room where Mattia waits, two familiar blondes cowering in the corner of the room with their arms tied behind their backs. Two sets of eyes widen as they land on me and a tear slips down the shorter ones cheek and absorbs into the cloth gag wrapped around her head.

"I told them they could sit but they prefer to stand in the corner, sir." Mattia explains.

The taller girl steps in front of the shorter one, shielding her from me. So protective.

I grab two chairs and pull them out from the table, dragging their legs across the cement floor, the screeches it makes echoing around the empty room. The girls flinch and squeeze in close to the corner as if the walls themselves will save them from me. If only they knew of the amount of blood that had been splattered on these walls before.

"Be good little Ivanovs and come sit." I demand.

The taller one's brow dips angrily, her eyes shining with defiance so similar to Polina's.

Luca steps beside me. "Come on, he's not going to hurt you." His eyes flick over to me. "Right?"

A grin curls my lips. "Right. I'll save my games for the eldest Ivanov sister." The smaller one peeks around her sister's side and I motion toward the chairs in front of me. "Come on, baby Ivanov, take a seat." Her sister shifts to the side so I can no longer see her and I mash my molars together. "You either take a seat or I'll come over there and get you. It seems you know who I am so you're aware that that wouldn't be a good idea."

They reluctantly leave their corner and take a seat in the chairs. I grab the tie on the gag and baby Ivanov panics, her squeals muffled by the cloth. I grip her head and whisper, "Shhhh." She freezes so I continue untying the gag with one hand until the cloth falls onto her lap and then move on to the other sister.