CREWE'S POINT OF VIEW
I moved closer to the bars, finally able to study her more carefully. She had a beautiful mouth, wide with soft lips. I had a crazy urge to run my finger across her bottom lip, though not to kiss her. I just wanted to touch her, to pet her like a house cat.
"I'm getting out of here. And when I do, I'm going to rip your eyes out and shove them up your ass."
The threat was so unexpected that I burst out laughing.
"Wow. I like women who aren't afraid to speak their minds."
She didn't let my amusement discourage her.
"Trust me, you won't like me."
She was trapped in a prison with nowhere to go, yet she still refused to lower her guard. Neither her hostility nor her pride weakened. She could have easily dropped to her knees and broken down crying. But she remained standing, stoic.
"I think I already do."
Naively, she thought I wasn't watching her every movement. She waited until my eyes were fixed on her before slipping her hand through the bars and trying to grab my throat.
I expected it, so I dodged to the left and caught her wrist. I pinned her arm down, twisting it at an angle that must have caused intense pain. With a little more pressure, I could have snapped it in half.
She breathed hard but didn't grimace. The fire still burned in her eyes, refusing to let me believe I had power over her.
In a strange way, my respect for her grew.
"Don't play games with me, London."
I pressed my lips close to her ear, listening to her ragged breathing.
"I swear to God, you're going to lose."
I released her arm, allowing her to keep it intact for one more day.
She immediately pulled it back inside the cage and moved to a distance where I couldn't reach her anymore.
"Good girl."
She let her arm hang limply at her side, refusing to rub it despite the pain she had to be feeling.
"The better you behave, the easier your life will be. We're on an island in the middle of the ocean. There's nowhere to run and hide unless you plan on throwing yourself off the cliff."
She stared at me with that wicked gaze.
"That doesn't sound so bad."
The corner of my mouth curled upward.
"If you behave, you'll get to see the rest of the house. But if you'd rather act smart, you can stay here."
"I'm not going to act like some obedient bitch. So I guess I'll stay here."
She sat down on the cot and leaned against the wall, pulling her knees to her chest while glaring at me with pure hatred.
"It gets very cold down here," I warned.
"I'd rather freeze than be anywhere near you."
When I saw Ethan carrying her out of the helicopter, I imagined her as a completely different kind of girl. I assumed she was like everyone else, weak and pathetic. I assumed her spine was as soft as her cheek. But she kept surprising me, and that was saying something.
"In case you haven't noticed, there's no shower in here."
Her expression didn't change.
"And I won't let you take one until you start behaving."
"In the past, people only bathed once a year," she shot back. "I'll survive."
I laughed, liking the fact that she had an answer for everything I said.
"In a week, we'll see if you still feel that way."
She pulled the thin blanket over her legs to keep warm.
"If you're done taunting me, you can leave."
Was she dismissing me?
"You don't have any questions?"
"No."
"You don't want to know why you're here?"
"It's obvious."
Was it?
"Oh really?"
"I don't live under a rock," she said coldly. "I know I was kidnapped to become some sex slave. But I'm not worried because there's a solution to every problem. And I'll find one."
My smile faded.
"You're not in school anymore, London. There isn't a solution to every problem. Life isn't as simple as a math equation. I'm one of the biggest criminals in the underworld. I'm the kind of problem that has no solution. The kind of problem that can't be fixed. And the situation you're in is far worse than sexual slavery because you belong to me."
---
I walked into Ariel's office.
"What's on the schedule?"
She remained behind her desk, her black-framed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. She twirled a pen between her fingers and pressed her lips together.
"We've got a new buyer in Ireland. He wants to place a huge order of Highland whisky. And when I say huge, I mean massive."
"How massive?"
I dropped into the chair and unbuttoned my suit jacket.
"We'll have to hire an additional team just to oversee production. You wanted to expand the business anyway. Maybe now's the time."
If a business wasn't growing, then it was dying. That's how I saw it.
"Let's do it."
She jotted down a few notes.
"Very well. I'll handle it."
"Anything else?"
"Yes. Her Highness Wilhelmina is hosting a ball next week. Naturally, you're on the guest list."
"Excellent."
I rested my fingers against my lips as I listened.
"What else?"
"We still haven't heard anything from—"
"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt."
Finley stepped into the office wearing pressed trousers and a collared shirt.
"London refuses to eat anything I bring her. It's been three days, so I thought you should know."
I tried not to smile when I heard that.
"I'll deal with it, Finley. Thank you."
"She hasn't had anything to drink either."
He gave a small bow before leaving the office and quietly shutting the door behind him.
Ariel removed her glasses and placed them on the desk. She was a few years younger than me, but those reading glasses made her look ten years older.
"Our guest is causing trouble, I assume."
"She's interesting…"
There was no better way to put it.
"She's got more backbone than Joseph."
"Unlike most people," Ariel mocked.
I chuckled and stood up, buttoning my jacket again.
"I'll break her soon enough. That's when the real fun will begin."
Ariel smiled before I walked out.
"We'll finish this conversation later, sir."
I crossed the house toward the basement entrance. It was a two-story mansion, but it felt a mile long from one end to the other. I descended the stairs and found her sitting on the cot, untouched plates of food stacked at the far side of the cell.
When she noticed my presence, she turned toward me, tracking every movement I made.
"Not hungry?"
"Maybe your servant just can't cook."
I had rarely met someone so smart-mouthed.
"I could make you something myself. I'm an excellent cook."
"No thanks. I'd rather avoid being poisoned."
I leaned my elbows against the bars and studied her inside the cell. A quiet laugh escaped my throat, soft enough that only I could hear it.
"What's your plan, London? Starve yourself to death?"
"Starve myself until I find a way out of here."
"You think you'll stand a chance against me after three days without food?" I asked in disbelief.
Even at full strength, she wouldn't stand a chance against me.
Her silence told me she had nothing to say back for once.
"Eat."
"I'm not stupid. I'm sure you put something in the food to drug me."
"And why would I do that?"
She looked away.
"Let's not pretend."
I understood exactly what she meant.
"Sweetheart, if I wanted to fuck you, I'd pin you down and do it. I wouldn't drug you first. That would take all the fun out of it."
The color immediately drained from her face.
"So shut up and eat."
She didn't move, probably waiting for me to leave before touching the food.
"You got any questions?"
She still didn't know why she was here, on the other side of the world, far from the life she knew. I wanted her to understand that her brother was responsible for her downfall, that if she wanted to blame someone, it should be him.
"No."
Her stubbornness confused me. She was worse than I was.
"So I guess you don't want a shower either?"
"No thanks."
She stared toward the left side of the cell, ignoring me as if I wasn't even there.
I didn't expect her to take this long to cooperate. I expected her to be terrified once the initial shock wore off. But this girl was too brave, too proud to surrender to fear.
So I would make her fear me.
Quickly and silently, I unlocked the door and slipped into her cell. The lights were off and she was lying on the small cot while the freezing air filled the room. I leaned over her, ready to grab her by the throat.
But she must have heard me because she attacked first. Her hand shot upward, aiming straight for my eyes.
I was irritated that she was so alert to every tiny sound. She trusted nothing around her, not even for a second. For a medical student, she had the instincts of an assassin.
Still, I overpowered her easily, trapping her hand and the rest of her body beneath me. I pressed my full weight against her, pinning her firmly onto the hard cot so she couldn't move. I looked down at her as she twisted beneath me, doing everything she could to break free.
But nothing worked.
Eventually, she stopped fighting when she realized I wasn't budging an inch. Like a mountain, I couldn't be moved by sheer determination alone. Her hands relaxed and she stared up at me with defeat in her eyes, not fear.
"Let me go."
My voice came out as a whisper.
"Make me."
Rage flashed in her eyes as she tried to throw me off with her hips.
Useless.
She tried to shove me away with her legs, but that failed too. She hissed through her teeth, sweaty and breathless from the pointless effort. She was far too small and weak to overpower someone like me.
Still, I liked watching her struggle.
TO BE CONTINUED...
💔 This episode is getting more and more intense… but the story is only just beginning.
Tell me your thoughts in the comments 👇
Do you think London will manage to keep resisting Crewe without eating?