Psychotic Love (a mafia love story)

Chapter 50

ECHO'S POV

Today has been easier. Arturo hasn't laid a finger on me, he hasn't even raised his voice. It's worrying, like the calm before a storm. Arturo has been nothing but a fucking ticking bomb and the fear of when he'll explode is causing my heart to constrict in ways I've never felt before.

"Would you like to go outside?" Arturo runs his hand through my hair roughly. It's all tangled and frizzy. "Don't worry, you don't have to do anything for it. Just answer, yes or no."

"Yes," I say lowly.

He smiles at me but I can only tremble. Yesterday he beat me half to death and now he wants to take me outside. It doesn't make sense. Something's...off.

"Could I have clothes before we go?" My voice is shaky as I speak.

"If you covered up, I wouldn't be able to see those beautifully dark bruises, now would I?"

I shake my head, no. Seeing me hurt never makes Arturo feel guilty or sympathetic. It only turns him on.

He places his hand on the back of my neck as we walk downstairs and out of the back door to the backyard. The sun is warm and the air is fresh with a cool breeze. I haven't felt the sun in months, this is nice.

Metal chimes behind me and the sound nearly sends me to my knees. I fear turning around to see what's in store for me. But slowly, I do. Arturo has pulled a silver chain from the pavement. "Come here, I can't have my pet running away. Did you think I'd give you complete freedom back here?"

I walk towards him cautiously. He grabs the collar around my neck and harshly pulls me closer. After connecting the leash, he wraps the end of the chain around his knuckles. "Go on. Walk, pet."

I feel tears pervading my vision. This is so dehumanizing. I hope this man drops fucking dead. I hate him...but I don't dare disobey him. I take a step towards the garden, and then another. Just as my pace quickens, he yanks me back hard. I grab my throat as pain surges through it. "Towards the pool, pet. Don't you want to put your feet in?"

I have zero desire to do so, but I don't feel like that was meant to be a question. I walk towards the pool and stop at the stairs. "Get in," he says. I really don't want to. I don't like this at all, but I do it in fear of the repercussions if I don't. The water chills my body as I get deeper into it. I get about waist-deep when he jerks on the chain. "Can you swim, little pet?"

I turn around to look at him. It's kind of hard to see him through swollen eyes and the shining sun. I shake my head. "No," I say.

He chuckles sadistically and then I know I've answered his question just the way he wanted. While I stand in the shallow middle of the pool, Arturo travels to the other end with the chain still wrapped around his knuckles. My heart jumps with every step he takes and the look in his eyes has me trembling like a petrified puppy.

Tears slide from my eyes as I watch the long chain extend out in front of me. Arturo squats down near the edge of the pool. "Well, that's too bad, pet." He yanks the chain, pulling me closer to the deep end. Panic tears away at me as I realize what's happening. I pull back but it feels like being a cat playing tug of war with a lion.

"Please. Stop," I say, barely loud enough for him to hear.

He pulls again and now I'm chest deep. I look Arturo in his dark eyes, perhaps to find a soul buried deep within him, and a sinful smile stretches across his lips as if telling me I won't find one. "PLEASE. I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT."

"You'll do whatever I want, anyway." He pulls the chain again.

I look up at the sky to keep my head above the water. What the hell did I do? Why is this happening to me? I know I'm not a good person, I've done wrong in my life, but I'm not a bad person. I...I don't think I'm a bad person. The sun glimmers in my eyes and I try pushing my senses beyond the clouds. To the being ruling over me, God, The King of Kings, the spirit of divinity, some sort of higher power. "Why are you doing this to me?" I whisper. I'm on the tips of my toes as I speak to whoever is above me.