Nicoli laughed again and I flipped him the finger, only making his eyes brighten further. Shit, if I gave any of The Five the finger, they’d have had me over a table for it and leave me with more scars to brighten my pale skin. They’d played tic tac toe on my back once, I’d passed out before I found out who won.
“Help me out here, baby doll,” he pleaded. “Point at something you like.”
I gave myself to the game as I gazed around the cabin; it was nice to be asked questions which weren’t what is the code, you piece of shit?
I took in the soft blankets on Nicoli’s huge bed then the fur rugs on the floor and the bare walls. My gaze strayed to the window where snow was piling up against the pane. I didn’t know why, but I knew I liked snow. It had been the first thing I’d seen the second I’d stepped out of my prison and had looked like the fluffy clouds of heaven. Even if it had almost killed me…
I rose to my feet, keeping the knife concealed in my sleeve as I headed to the window and pointed at the dark, snowy landscape beyond.
“You like winter?” Nicoli asked.
Winter…it was dark, the end of everything, the death of the old in preparation for the new. It was perfect. It was me. It was my revenge.
I turned to him, finding he’d risen from his seat and I gazed up at his towering height, gripping the hilt of the knife in my palm. I nodded to him and a smile pulled at his mouth.
“Winter it is then,” he decided and warmth filled my chest. I’d never had a name before. Well, I probably had. Maybe I was once called Judith and had lived in a convent with a bunch of nuns. Couldn’t really picture me being so pious though. I’d thrown plenty of colourful curse words at The Five before I’d stopped speaking.
Nicoli’s gaze scraped over my hair. “I’ll run you a bath. Would you like that, Winter?”
The sound of my new name again made sunshine spill into my veins. Which was weird considering I wasn’t called Summer. I nodded keenly, thinking of the hot water and the soap and being clean. It was almost enough to make me cry.
He headed away through a door beside the bed and the sound of running water set my pulse hammering. The closest I’d come to being clean with The Five was the weekly ice-cold bucket of water thrown over my head. Orville loved to be the one who threw it after he made me strip off my clothes. I shuddered, wrapping my arms around myself as his gruff voice echoed in my head. “One day we’ll get the truth from you and Duke won’t care what happens next. He’ll let me have my fill of you.”
That was a good enough reason on its own not to tell them the truth even if I did know what they wanted from me. But Orville had never seemed like the brightest button.
Nicoli returned from the bathroom after a while, leaving the door open behind him. “You can use any of my wash stuff. It’s not much, baby doll, but it’ll get you clean.”
I nodded, moving forward, hoping he might back up a few steps from the door, but he remained in place as I approached.
He caught my arm suddenly and a gasp escaped me a second before he prised the knife from under my sleeve with deft fingers. “I don’t want you hurting yourself.”
It was you I was protecting myself from, mountain man.
“Or me,” he said with a dark laugh that made my toes curl.
I didn’t want to admit he was handsome. I mean, beneath the miles of hair on his face, I supposed he could be hideous, but I didn’t think so. His powerful body only made me wary though. Farley had used his muscles against me and this guy had used them to take a weapon from my hands. So I wasn’t about to let my guard fall. Especially as he twirled it between his fingers with a skill that said he knew exactly how to use it.
I slipped into the bathroom, pushing the door shut behind me and practically jumped for joy when I found a lock on the other side.
I slid it into place, then back out again before sliding it back in as I beamed. I mean sure, that