Jackal doesn't know I'm trying to help you but... I can stop anyone from hurting you. I can get them to leave you alone until I can get you out."
I blink at him.
Maybe my brain is too damaged but that makes no sense to me at all, the chances of a decent man being the right-hand man to that nasty Jackal... it just doesn't make any sense.
He blows out a breath and slowly moves to guide me to sit on the bed. He doesn't actually touch me, just motions at me until I am where I need to be and then he cuffs one of my wrists to the bed frame.
He leaves my legs alone. That helps me to believe him a little more.
"Are you friends with Illi?" I murmur.
He shakes his head and glances over his shoulder at the door again. "That man hates me but it doesn't matter. I'm not helping you because we're friends... I try to help whichever of the Jackal's victims I can. It's... a long story and I can't tell you half of it. Just know that I'm trying to get you out."
My heart thumps in my chest. He sounds so sincere, so gentle and kind, that there's some part of me that doesn't want to trust him at all. He sighs again and nods, walking back to the door swiftly and opening it sharply.
There are three men waiting there, one of them with his hand raised like he was about to shove the door open himself.
Luca's back tenses and one of the men in the door adjusts himself suggestively, cupping himself. I squeeze my eyes shut. I need to prepare myself to fight back if one of them tries to touch me. I have to remember all of the things le Loup taught me.
Aim for the weak spots. Try to get hold of a weapon. Never stop fighting.
"Get the fuck outta here, Reggie. Did the boss tell you to fuck her? No? Then leave."
My eyes snap open again at Luca's words. He's shifted his stance and now he's blocking the doorway completely, his arms hanging by his side. I can see the weapons he has under his jacket, something I've gotten good at thanks to watching Illi get ready each evening.
Reggie doesn't like that answer,. the sneer on his face shows his yellowed teeth. I can smell the cigarettes from here on the bed, as if he chain smokes and never brushes his teeth. "Boss always lets us sample the goods, don't be fucking greedy."
I do not want that man anywhere near me but I prepare myself in case Luca lets him. I'll aim for the eyes.
Luca doesn't move an inch. "Get your ass outside and keep watch. I'm not having us hacked to fucking pieces by the Butcher because you're too busy being balls-deep in his favorite toy. Move. Your. Fucking. Asses."
All three of them mutter under their breaths but at the mention of Illi and what he'd do to them they start moving. Clearly he really is as infamous as he says.
It doesn't make sense that the Jackal would still want to betray him... to take me away as if mon Monstre would just forget about me. He would never forget me, I know that the same way I know the sun will rise again in the morning, no matter what happens to me.
The sun will rise.
I sit alone in the room for three hours.
I know this for sure because there's a clock on the small bedside table, the flashing red lights meaning I'm sure the time isn't correct but it shows the passing of time all the same. The door is open and I can hear the men moving around the house, laughing and joking with each other. The little snippets of their stories that I hear chill me to the bone, the things they say are so horrifying... I don't understand why Luca is with them at all. Does he stay so he can help people? Would it not be better to take out the Jackal than to clean up after him?
It makes no sense.
I think about this the entire time I'm stuck there watching the minutes tick over. My head hurts enough that I want to sleep but I force myself to stay conscious. Finally, when I'm ready to scream in frustration, the Jackal walks in again. The pleasant mask he keeps over his features has slipped away and the evil that lurks underneath shows now he's not