Page 44 of Before the Fall
I knew the moment I heard Jaxon’s voice that things were bad. Not that I didn’t understand we were in deep trouble when those two guys grabbed us at the car after shooting both our bodyguards. But Jaxon only sounds like that when he’s really upset or really scared.
He sounded like he was both.
Victor sits on a table with his legs hanging off like some elementary school bully watching us. I’ve been taking my cues from Kaia since she’s playing it as cool as a cucumber. She never looks away when he stares at her, tilting her chin up ever so slightly in a defiant way that makes her look strong.
I haven’t been able to master that look yet, so I’m simply trying not to burst into tears when he or that other guy even look at me for more than a moment. Unlike Kaia, I’m someone Victor wants to kill, and I can’t seem to make myself forget that for even a few seconds.
“So you’re the girl my son and then my nephew thought was worth the trouble?” he says as he looks over at me.
I have no idea how to answer that, so I try to smile, but it’s a lukewarm grin, at best. I’m not sure what he expects me to say.
Uncertain if I should even respond, I try to appeal to something he may care about. His son.
“I knew Michael, yes. We worked at the summer camp together,” I say, trying to sound confident and hopefully not giving away my true feelings on the bastard that was his kid.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kaia looking at me like I’ve done something wrong. I want to scream that I don’t know how to react in this situation. I’ve never genuinely had a bad man take me hostage. Jaxon doesn’t count because no matter what I’ve been assuming about him because of his job, he was never like this with me.
Victor hops down off the table and slowly walks toward where I’m tied to this chair. Stopping right in front of me, he seems to study me for a long time, like I’m an animal in the zoo that he doesn’t understand.
I don’t meet his gaze, instead fixing mine on the button on his suit coat. Much fatter than anyone else in the Varens family, his clothes seem to be ill-fitting, like they used to be fine on him before he gained a lot of weight but now they’re barely holding all of him in. That button keeping his suit coat closed around his waist is doing what my mother calls “God’s work” and at any moment might fly right off and hit me dead in the face.
“My boy seemed to have liked you at some point. Why?” he asks, and I think he truly wants an answer.
The only problem is I don’t think I have one he’ll like, especially since I’m sure I’ve just been insulted. Shaking my head, I try to play dumb. “I don’t know. Maybe he liked blondes?”
Victor narrows his eyes and continues to stare at me. “Hmmph. I’ve had blondes before. Nothing special. Pretty much like every other woman. No, I don’t think that was it. Probably because you were a decent lay. That’s all that kid ever thought of once he hit puberty. Yeah, that was it, I’m sure.”
My instinct is to immediately tell him I’m in no way a good lay, just in case he’s planning to try me out for himself, but I press my lips shut and keep my comment to myself. God, I want to be free from this place. Are Jaxon and Ryker coming to get us? Is that even possible?
I don’t know how any of this works. I’m just a girl from a middle class family in North Carolina who happened to meet a guy and fall for him.
The thought of my parents immediately makes me wonder if they’re still safe with that man Jaxon has taking them around Italy. Are they still there? Or did Victor find them too?
Squeezing my eyes closed, I try to will myself to not think about my father being murdered by one of Victor’s hit men. I don’t want to cry in front of him, but it’s so hard to keep my emotions in check.
“She’s just a girl, Victor. Leave her alone. She’s never done anything to anyone.”
My eyes fly open, and I turn to look at Kaia as she says that. Why is she speaking up? Doesn’t she realize what this man is going to do to us if we piss him off?
He turns his attention to her, and for a moment, I’m relieved. Then he grabs her face and squeezes it between his fingers, making her cry out in pain, and I’m instantly back to being scared to death.
“Are you telling me what to do, Ryker’s bitch? You should watch what you say. My brother may be nice to you, but now you’re dealing with the real head of the Varens family, and I don’t put up with mouthy bitches.”
I watch as tears begin to roll down her cheeks and hate that she’s suffering because of me. “Please don’t hurt her. She didn’t mean any harm. She’s just worried about me because I’m so scared right now.”
He looks over at me and once again doesn’t seem to understand what he’s looking at. I can’t be that different from any other person he’s ever seen, so I don’t know why he stares at me so oddly.
“You know, I think I get why Michael and Jaxon liked you. It’s that innocent girl thing. It’s actually quite appealing.”
I’ve never wished I appeared more worldly in my life than at this very moment. I want to look like a badass instead of some virginal thing he may want to try out. God, please don’t let that happen.
Finally, he lets go of Kaia’s face and pushes her head back hard. “You? I don’t understand your appeal at all. My brother keeps you as his pet, and he ends up falling in love with you? I swear there’s something wrong with that man. You use women like you. Use them and then throw them out when they don’t please you anymore. You don’t marry them and have a fucking kid with them.”
As I listen to him detail what he thinks Kaia is useful for, I can’t believe this man could be related to Jaxon or Ryker. How could they come from the same family yet he’s so cruel?
Kaia continues to quietly sob as I try to figure out what’s going to happen next. I don’t want to let my mind go to a place that includes him raping one or both of us, but it’s impossible not to think of that considering he sees us a disposable things worth nothing to him.
Finished with us for the time being, Victor walks back over to the table and eases himself back up onto it. His heavy breathing tells me he’s not only fat but completely out of shape, so maybe if we could get loose, we might be able to run away.