Relentless (Option Zero #2) - Christy Reece Page 0,76

me to the wall. When he walked away, I was able to pull the hood from my head. That’s when I saw the other women.

“There were eight of them in there with me. They didn’t speak and I was in too much pain to say anything. I don’t know how long I was there. Maybe a day or two, I’m not sure. I think a couple of the women tried to talk to me but I was in shock. Then I got sick. When I started coughing continuously, they moved me to a cell by myself.

“I don’t know how long I was there before you came. Maybe a couple more days. No one would talk to me, tell me why I was there. One of the men would just shove food into my cell once a day and then leave. I thought I would die there.

“I was in the midst of crying and praying for a miracle when I heard the most beautiful voice I’d ever heard say, ‘Hello.’”

Tears filling her eyes, she turned to him. “You were the answer to my prayers, Liam. I never told you that and so regretted not telling you before they took me away that day. You saved my life. Without you talking to me, encouraging me, giving me hope, I wouldn’t have survived.”

“And yet I almost got you killed.”

“What do you mean?”

Now it was his turn to tell her what he knew about her last day. The guilt he’d carried with him would never go away, but she deserved to know everything.

“I knew they would use you against me. I shouldn’t have made a connection with you. I should’ve kept my distance.”

The hurt on her face was painful to see, but he had to make her understand that what she went through that last day was his fault.

“When they took you, I could only imagine the horror of what you were going through. A few hours later, one of the men—the British guy—came back. He had a recording. It played for two days straight.”

“A recording?”

“Of your…assault. I heard you screaming and crying. You were calling out for me, and I couldn’t do a damn thing but listen as they tortured you. All because of me.”

“No.”

“Yes. If I hadn’t gotten close to you, you would’ve been spared. I fell into their trap. I knew what they wanted, to use you against me, and I let them get away with it. What you went through was my fault.”

“Listen to me, Liam, it wasn’t.” She held up her free hand to stop him from talking. “They never asked me anything about you.”

“Don’t try to make me feel better, Aubrey. I heard what they did. For two damn days, I listened to it. Even after the batteries ran out, I could hear you in my mind. I know what they did.”

“No, you don’t, Liam. They probably wanted you to think that, but that’s not what happened.”

His frown darker than any she’d ever seen from him, he said, “What do you mean?”

“They put a hood over my head and took me to that same room as before. I know it was the same, because it smelled like garlic, like the first time. I think that’s where they must’ve eaten their meals. Anyway, they threw me around. Mostly to scare me, I think. I cried and screamed. They laughed and called me names. And yes, I’m sure I did scream your name. I couldn’t help myself. You were my only anchor, so I called for Lion numerous times, I’m sure.

“Finally, one of them pushed me so hard against a wall, the blow knocked me out. When I came to, I was on the floor. They were a few feet away from me, talking about what they should do with me. Two of them wanted to sell me to some man in Austria. But the British one thought they should take the ransom that was offered.

“I was dazed, in pain, so it never really hit me that someone was going to pay my ransom. They argued for a while, and finally the British guy convinced the other two that the man in Austria would likely be disappointed that I wasn’t a virgin. He said he wouldn’t pay as much for me, so the ransom money was a safer bet.”

“Are you sure they didn’t ask what you knew about me, what I told you?”

“I promise you, Liam. They never mentioned you. At all.”

“The recording was explicit, Aubrey. I heard them.” Even