He sighed and with a nod set down the needle. “You know, you’re right. What am I thinking? Truth serum!” He laughed loudly. “Sleep, dehydration — those are even better — but why don’t I inject you first, cloud your vision, cloud your logic a bit before we begin, yes? Oh, and I do hope you enjoy the heat.”
“What?”
He clapped his hands.
The fireplace turned on.
And a loud noise sounded.
“Hear that?” He cupped his ear. “The heat has just been turned on in this glorious state-of-the-art prison. The walls are triple insulated, the door lets no air in or out, by this time tomorrow morning, you’ll be begging for release. You’ll be so dehydrated you can’t see straight, and the best part? Just when you’re ready to take a nap, to escape the hell I’ve put you in…” He pulled a black collar from his pocket and fastened it around my neck.
I tried to bite him, but he was too fast.
“…I’ll simply shock you awake. Let the games begin. I imagine it will take them at least twenty-four hours to locate you. Another twenty-four to form a plan, and by then, well, let’s just say by then I’ll have you eating out of my hand. Just think!” He started waltzing toward the door. “In the end, you will betray them all, just like you should have a month ago.”
“I won’t,” I vowed.
He didn’t turn around. He simply answered, “We’ll see.”
I was trying to figure out why I was strapped next to the piano, facing the door, when the heat started searing my back.
I was backed against the fireplace.
My kidneys.
“Shit,” I hissed. He really was trying to dehydrate me. I closed my eyes and tried to meditate on keeping my breathing even.
The guys would come; I prayed they wouldn’t.
I prayed they’d stay and just let me die. Funny, this morning I’d dreamed about following Andi into the afterlife, and now, I would be preceding her.
“Don’t,” I whispered. “Don’t come for me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Sergio
MY HEAD WAS SO HEAVY IT didn’t even feel like it was part of my body anymore; it hung forward. A beeping sounded, and then I was zapped twice around the neck, stunned so hard that I had to clench my teeth.
The fire continued to lick at my back. Sweat drenched the borrowed shirt and jeans they’d put me in.
I was thankful they were larger than I needed, at least providing some vent for the air to come up my back.
I was tired, so incredibly tired that my eyes were having trouble focusing. It didn’t help that the bastard had injected me again with whatever the hell was in that syringe.
Voices sounded down the hall.
Either that, or I was truly going insane.
The door opened.
“Twenty-four hours have passed…” Petrov had two heads.
I blinked, trying to clear the image. Nope, still two heads.
“…and your friends have not come.”
“Told you.” Sweat dripped into my mouth.
“The room is over a hundred degrees, the fire still roaring. I bet water sounds like a slice of heaven.”
I ignored the thirst burning my throat. My mouth was sandpaper; the desire to drink so strong I couldn’t recall a time I’d ever been so thirsty.
“She betrayed you.” Petrov stood in front of me and crossed his arms.
“She wouldn’t.” My voice was weak, unconvincing.
Petrov laughed. “Oh, to be in love. Tell me, did she give you the sob story about her sickness? Did you feel sorry for her? That was part of the plan you know. The easiest way to infiltrate is through the heart — through pity.”
I shook my head.
“You’re an idiot if you think she loves you. She feels nothing — she’s my flesh and blood, after all. She hates Italians. I imagine you saw that hate quite often.”
I ignored the voice in my head that said he was right.
“Haven’t you wondered how we were able to get into your house all those times?”
“Luck.” I clenched my jaw as the fire seemed to roar against my back. I arched and let out a little cry. So. Damn. Hot.
“Ha.” Petrov wagged a finger at me. “She gave us the alarm code.”
My head started to hang.
“You’re a smart man, Sergio. I bet you even suspected her, but, because of your love, you ignored that voice in your head, that voice of logic — reason. She’s good. I’ll give you that. Many a man would fall for her blonde hair and innocent act. Didn’t she tell you? She was trained in the art of manipulation.”
“Stop!” I roared, lunging against the rope that was chaffing my wrists. “Stop!”
“She played you…” Petrov leaned down and slapped my cheek. “…like a fiddle.”
He grabbed me by the hair and slammed his head against mine. Pain sliced through my forehead. I fell forward, and another zap hit my neck.
“Admit it,” he whispered, his eyes black with hatred. “She bested you, and now… you are nothing.”
“You won’t win.” Why was I still fighting when I knew he was right? When I knew— What did I know? The images were blurring more; I saw her snapping a picture of the code with her phone. Was that real? Did that happen? Memories replayed; they all seemed right, but they didn’t fit.
Her kiss had been real.
Our love was real.
“Ah, the doubt.” Petrov stepped back and nodded. “That’s the first to happen, and then the images… the images your brain stored up suddenly float to the surface. Take your time, Sergio. I imagine a man like you will come to the same conclusion.”