Damaged (Boys of Winter #2) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,4

ragdoll. My strength is laughable against theirs.

A hand slams into my back and I’m pushed roughly through the cell door. I fall forward, my body crashing down to the hard concrete ground with a loud thud, a pained grunt tearing from between my lips. My elbows scrape against the concrete and instantly sting as my mom’s silk gown is torn.

Wicked laughter echoes through the cells, and as I go to push up onto my hands and knees, the door slams shut with a deafening BANG. The men walk out and all that’s left is a dead silence that seems to go on forever.

I stare around the dimly lit cell, my breath coming in short, sharp pants as my eyes flick around the shadows. This world has destroyed me. I used to be so strong, but the second I came to Ravenwood Heights, everything changed. Some good and some were so fucking bad that no one should ever have to live through it.

I pull myself to my feet and look over my elbows to find them scratched up and bloodied, but it’s nothing compared to the raspy soreness pulsing through my throat from the way Carver strangled it. Sure, I didn’t think before pulling that knife on Carver’s father, but I sure as hell didn’t get the impression that he gave a shit. I thought he hated the guy. I thought he was on my side.

My gaze drops over my ruined dress and I quickly realize that it’s not just my blood covering it, but Carver’s father’s from when his furious son dropped me on the ground. Disgust sinks heavily into my stomach and I reach around myself, desperately feeling for the flimsy zipper.

I drag it down my body and allow the ruined material to fall off my shoulders, leaving me in nothing but a black strapless bra and a pair of panties, that read ‘It’s not going to lick itself’ across the front. I hate that the last time I was in a cell, I was also in nothing but underwear, but right now, it beats sitting in someone else’s blood.

I kick my heels off and watch as they slam against the concrete wall, the sound echoing through my cell and down the long hallway, where no one will hear me screaming.

I’m in the underground world, and if I had to take an educated guess, I’d say that my cell is directly beneath Carver’s property. Fucking perfect. Just my goddamn luck. I bet he’s sitting up there with his moronic mother laughing about how they put me away so easily.

God, I want to hate him. Why is it so hard?

They’ll fucking pay for this, especially Carver. I’ll never be able to understand how he did this to me. Were the last two months all an act? Does he not care even a little bit? Because if that were true, then why the hell would he go out of his way to save my ass so many times? Why would he let me sleep in his arms, and live inside his home? It doesn’t make sense. There’s got to be something more going on here, something I’m missing.

I drop onto the small, hard bed and use the rough sheets to wipe away the blood that had seeped through the thin silk gown to my skin, desperately wishing that I could get out of here and take a shower. Hell, even the hose attached to the side of my house would be enough. I’d do anything to get rid of the stain of that man on my body. I’d guess for guys like Carver and Grayson, wearing the blood of their enemies is like wearing a trophy, but for me, it only goes to remind me just how low I’ve sunk.

I curl into the hard bed, my eyes wide-open as I fear the faceless men that will come to haunt me the second I allow myself to fall asleep. It’s got to be only six or seven in the evening, but it’s been such a long, exhausting day that I feel as though I could sleep for days on end. But I won’t dare; not here, and certainly not now.

An hour ticks by and quickly turns into two when I hear the distinct rhythmic sound of someone creeping down the hall. I suck in a breath, my heart thundering heavily in my chest.

There’s only a small number of people who know I’m down here, and even a smaller number of people who