Page 143 of Their Ruthless Sadist

“Just this one time. I want to feel like I’m with him again.” His eyes, so much like John’s, were pleading.

I found myself giving in.

Lee seemed pleased by my response, so he pulled back the blanket and fluffed the pillow.

“Lie down. On your stomach.” He smiled sadly. “I just want to remember the days when I would come in and wake him up for school.”

It felt weird, but my grieving mind understood his pain. I figured it couldn’t hurt anything, so I did.

“The next thing I knew,” I told Brax and Zeke, “Lee had overpowered me and I found myself restrained to the bed, facedown.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I hadn’t realized it right then, but John’s father had abducted me that day.”

CHAPTER 37

Zeke

I could feel the pain radiating from Case with every word he spoke. He was reliving the memory.

“What happened after that, baby?” Brax prompted, his hand sliding over Case’s back.

“Lee kept me locked in that room for two straight weeks. At first, he acted normal. Well, as normal as he could for a man who had abducted me and tied me to a bed. Each morning, John’s alarm would go off the same way it had when he was in school. Lee would come into the room and make sure I was awake. He would talk for a few minutes, and I would beg him to let me go. He said he would eventually, but he had to see it through first.

“He brought food into the room three times a day. He cooked a meal, delivered it to the room, and literally fed me because he kept me tied up. The only time I was allowed out of bed was to use the bathroom and to shower. Lee remained with me at all times, including watching me in the shower.

“On the fourth day from when he’d first tied me up, Lee came into the bedroom, and he was angry. Not at me. At the situation. At losing John. That was the first time I’d felt the pain of a belt. Wearing only a pair of boxer shorts, I was strapped facedown on the mattress, my wrists cuffed to the headboard, my ankles to the footboard. I couldn’t move, so when he began hitting me with that belt, the only thing I could do was cry. It hurt more than anything I’d ever felt. And he didn’t let up.

“While he did it, he cried and yelled, cursing God for taking his son away. I begged him to stop, but he didn’t listen to me. After that, he came in and whipped me at least three times a day. I think it helped him in some way. He even said it was therapeutic. I thought he was crazy.

“I begged him to let me go home, pleaded for him to untie me. I promised never to tell anyone. That would only make him angrier. He began using other things to hit me with. He had a whip, a crop, a flogger. I don’t know if those were things he had before or if he bought them because he wanted to hit me with them.”

Case’s words were coming out in a rush, his anguish apparent. My heart fucking ached for him. I wanted to go back in time and strangle that bastard with my bare hands.

Knowing what I did of Case, I could see how that situation had changed him. It was likely the reason he was as big as he was, as strong. He ensured no one was capable of hurting him ever again. Unless he allowed it.

“For nearly two weeks, Lee beat on me,” Case continued. “The pain was brutal, and it stuck with me even after the session was over. I began figuring out when he would come in. When I was allowed to shower, I could see the bruises and marks on my skin. He would clean the wounds and focus on a different area of my body the next time.”

Case sucked in a harsh breath, and I put my hand on his shoulder, wanting him to know I was there.

“Until he didn’t.” Case shuddered. “At one point, he took every bit of his pain out on me, hitting me all over. The back of my head, all the way down to the soles of my feet. He didn’t stop until I passed out from the pain.”

For fuck’s sake. Case had been abused by a man who never should’ve touched him. A man he should’ve been able to trust.

“It was never sexual with Lee. He didn’t touch me or try to fuck me. He simply beat on me, wearing himself out as he cried and begged God to bring John back. Nearly three long, painful weeks I’d spent like that until finally, the police showed up. I wasn’t sure who told them I was there, but I was grateful all the same.”

That was the article I’d read. It had mentioned how his parents began a search, asking anyone and everyone for help. By the grace of God, someone had figured out where he was.

“I didn’t press charges against Lee, and I convinced my parents not to, either. While I didn’t approve of how he handled it, I had understood his pain. I even forgave him, but it’s not something I will ever forget.”

“And now you need pain to deal with that,” I stated, gripping the back of his neck gently.

“And that’s the reason you panicked at the apartment,” Brax noted.

“Yeah,” Case said on a rush of air. “I hadn’t realized it at the time. Didn’t put two and two together, because for the most part, I’ve blocked out the memory.”

But not the pain.

“Zeke?” Case’s voice was hoarse, need threading through the single word.

I stepped around in front of him again.