Page 3 of Hidden

Drip, drip, drip, her blood spilled from the bed.

The knife as Nico plunged it into her stomach, over and over.

The frenzied, almost manic way he cackled as he forced his bloody fingers into her mouth, choking her.

The anguished howls as his knife was shoved between her legs, Nico’s menacing voice when he told her whores shouldn’t feel pleasure, the slicing through her flesh as he…

Stop!

I internally screamed, shoving that memory into the farthest, darkest corner of my mind.

I straightened my spine and hardened my gaze.

I would talk her through this when all was said and done. I would comfort her, help her wash off the stench, the blood, and dress all her wounds. But for now, she needed to know I would not—could not—be her saviour.

Laughing down at her, Nico grabbed her jaw and forced her gaze up to his. “You’re pleading to the wrong woman. Gabbyhere is my old lady. She’s not going to offer you any help… will you, darling?”

I didn’t answer.

“See?” he laughed, licking up the side of her face before slipping his tongue between her lips when she gasped. I closed my eyes and then snapped them open again when I heard her scream.

He bit down on her tongue, blood spurting from her lips and down her cheeks. His teeth released her with a sickening squelch, and he disappeared into the connecting bathroom, leaving me alone with his victim.

“Why won’t you help me?” she whispered. “Why won’t you do something,stophim?”

I fuckingcouldn’t.

I was under my own test. There was a reason Nico hadn’t restrained me like he usually did when he brought his playthings in here. I was usually bound to the bedpost and forced to watch. This time, I was free.

“Free.”

That word was a joke.

Nothing was ever free. Not in this world. Every action had a reaction.

If I moved a muscle, I knew what the consequences would be. For both me and her. I had paid the price far too often. As bad as things were for her now, I was saving her from something far worse. But she couldn’t see that, and I couldn’t say I blamed her. The bigger picture was hardly her priority right now. And after tonight, if she survived, she would no longer look to me for help. She would just become another name on the long list of women—the ever-growing list of women—who hated me for loving a monster.

If only they knew…

“If you help me, we can both leave this place,” she sobbed, pulling at her restraints.

“Please stop,” I whispered, my lips barely moving.

“We can both escape. We can go to the police and—”

“What did I fucking tell you about talking to her?” Nico snapped suddenly, making us both jump. My eyes flicked to the bathroom, and my stomach immediately dropped when I saw that not only was he still naked, but his cock was also already thickening once more.

“Youwilllearn to fucking listen to me,” he hissed, marching across the room and grabbing hold of the woman’s legs. Before any of us had time to react, he was pushing her knees up to her chin, raising her ass high in the air.

He held her legs together with one hand, gripping her ankles tight. Spitting on his other hand, he gripped his cock and lined up with the entrance to her ass.

“No!” she screamed, flailing wildly beneath him, desperate to get out of his control.

With one well-timed arch of her hips, she managed to free one of his legs, kicking him in the nose with the heel of her foot.

The crack of his nose had him laughing, clicking his fingers to signal his vice president. He came over without a word, standing at the girl’s head, grabbing her knees and pulling them even tighter up her body. Wrapping his arms around her, he kept her locked in place just as Nico thrust inside her ass in one swift movement.

Not even her screams could drown out his noises of pleasure. She was giving him exactly what his monstrous heart desired.