hallway. Their shouts carried to us in the main sitting room. Even now, she was a handful.
“It’s a goddamn circus.” I slammed my glass down and joined the men, needing to saddle this wild bronco. I jogged through the hallway and followed the sound of their voices. A dead soldier lay on the ground from a stab wound to his chest. I kept going until I reached the entrance hall.
The woman tried opening the window, but it was locked. All of them were locked. The front door was bolted shut. The men tried to lunge at her when she got too close. They didn’t use their guns because we couldn’t kill her—yet.
I pushed through the men and reached the front of the mob. “Enough.”
Her eyes scanned the room, searching for something she missed. Desperation marked her face. She needed to leave but couldn’t find a route. Her eyes quickly turned to the knife, and I knew what her next thought was.
“Stop,” I ordered.
She grabbed the hilt and aimed the knife right at her heart.
“None of these men will touch you. I give you my word. Stop.”
She pressed the knife against the neckline of her dress. She lacked any ounce of hesitation. She accepted her death as an old friend. She wanted to leave. She wanted to bleed out and die. It probably sounded better than the alternative. “Like your word means anything to me.”
“It means the world.”
“You told me to never trust anyone.”
“I’m not asking you to.” I held up my hand then slowly lowered it. “Drop the knife. Come on.”
“I’d rather die than be a slave. I’d rather die than live another moment in this hell.” Her bottom lip quivered from the emotion, the destruction of her life. Her eyes still carried their fire, their hatred. But she’d had enough. She’d been pushed too far, and now she cracked. Her wrist moved for the blow, ready to say good-bye to the world.
My thick legs propelled me forward and got me there just in time. I threw her wrist down and knocked the knife out of her grasp. It clanked against the nearby window then dropped to the floor.
“No!” Her knees collapsed underneath her as the anguish took over. “Just let me die. Have you no mercy?”
I caught her as her body slackened and crumpled. She fell against my chest, aiming right for the floor. I wrapped my arms around her then scooped her into my arms.
She lay there as a limp corpse, no longer caring what happened to her. She didn’t care about anyone or anything. I could hold a knife to her throat, and she wouldn’t blink an eye over it.
I carried her into the main room.
“You knocked that bitch out?” Cane poured vodka on his cut then bandaged it up.
I walked into the bedroom and set her on the mattress. There was one window in the room, but it was covered with metal bars. The room lacked any decorations and didn’t have any furniture. The bed was just a mattress on the floor. A bathroom connected to it, but it was just as plain. It was a prisoner cell—with some privacy.
The second she was on the mattress, her body came back to life and she crawled away from me, sitting as far away as possible. Her arms crossed over her chest for protection, and she refused to look at me. She eyed the window with heartbreak. Her tears never fell, but I knew they formed. “I’m not a slave.” The strength of her voice reverberated off the walls, amplifying in my ears. “I may be a prisoner, but I’m not a slave. You can try to do whatever you want to me, but I’ll fight back—every single time. When you least expect it, I will kill you. And that’s a goddamn promise.” She finally turned her gaze on me, and her eyes were colder than the arctic winter. Her promise burned bright like a star. She wasn’t afraid of me. She wasn’t afraid of my men. She would get her retribution one way or another.
“I’m a man of my word.”
“You’re a criminal. A kidnapper. A rapist. Your word means horseshit.”
My body tensed in response. My heartbeat quickened, and I felt the burn course through my blood. Her fight, her ferocity, shined like a beacon right into my soul. It set my body on fire, making my cock hard in my trousers and my hands desperate to touch her.
I pulled out the syringe.
She eyed it, immediately turning cold.