TORMENTED_ Jani Kay - Jani Kay Page 0,62

arms, and clean towels.

“Hello Sofia,” I said, smiling for the first time in days.

“She doesn’t speak English. She’s here to help you, not be your new best friend.”

Asshole.

I shrugged. “Okay.”

“There will be a photographer. Senator Parker will release the photos to the press. Do your best to look good.”

Did Nolan really expect me to get all dressed up? This farce was becoming ridiculous. Yet the only other alternative was the crumpled clothes I’d been wearing for days. My hair felt a tangled mess and my skin was dehydrated. It was going to take considerable effort to just look half decent.

Once Jones left the room and locked the door behind him, I repeated my greeting in Spanish, thankful that I’d learned another language and hoping that the girl would understand me. Maybe, just maybe, and if I was very lucky, Sofia could help me escape this madness.

Excited to see another female, I started asking her all kinds of questions. At the very least, I needed to figure out exactly where we were.

Sofia looked at me with a perplexed expression. She didn’t answer my questions or offer any explanation. Despair crept into my soul. She isn’t going to help me. Either she was linked to one of Nolan’s men or she’d been paid a lot of money for her silence. Or both.

Sinking my head into my hands, I allowed the built-up frustration to run its free course. Sobs shook my body, and I slumped forward where I sat on the edge of the mattress.

Filled with dread and gloom, I wished for a way out of this mess.

A warm hand on my shoulder was the closest thing to comfort I’d felt since being abducted. Shocked, my head snapped up to look at Sofia. She gestured to her ears and made a gargling noise.

Oh my God. No wonder she didn’t answer me.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Sofia rubbed my back. Her small gesture of kindness only made me cry harder. She wasn’t unsympathetic, just unable to communicate in the traditional way.

Trust Jones to thwart thoughts of escape this way. It reminded me to never underestimate him.

Sofia patted my hand and pushed me back against the pillows, then took the basket and went to the adjoining bathroom. I heard water running and soon afterwards the aroma of jasmine filled the air. Funny how such a small thing could lift my spirits. Kindness from a stranger and a hot bath weren’t things I’d usually even register in my busy life or feel such deep gratitude for.

Guess it’s the simple things . . . the things we take for granted that can mean the most.

Sofia appeared in the doorway and gestured for me to come. I rolled off the bed, but as soon as I stood up, dizziness and nausea caused my knees to buckle under me, and I dropped to the floor with a heavy thud.

An animalistic sound emitted from Sofia, and within seconds she was by my side. She stroked my arm gently, a strange mix of anger and confusion on her face. I pointed to the bruises on my arm and the back of my hand where the drip had been inserted. She nodded, understanding and empathy showing in her dark intelligent eyes.

With the support of Sofia, I got up off the floor and slowly made my way to the bathroom. Sofia helped me undress, not even flinching when we got to my naked ass—as if not wearing panties were totally normal.

Sinking under the water, I relaxed my body and leaned against the bath with my eyes closed, just soaking the warmth into my aching bones. I slipped under the water for a few seconds to wet my hair. God, it felt so damn good that for a while I forgot all my worries.

Sofia soaped up a sponge and indicated for me to lift a leg. Besides my mother bathing me as a child, I’d never been washed by a woman, yet it didn’t feel awkward because of the way Sofia just went about it as if it were perfectly normal.

“Oh, Sofia, you have no idea what kind of trouble I’m in, do you?” I said, more to myself than to her. She just smiled at me and kept scrubbing my skin.

As I emerged from the bath, another curt knock on the door startled me. I didn’t want Jones to burst in and see me naked. I grabbed the towel from Sofia and held it in front of me. She swung around