Page 123 of The Heir
"I'm keeping your ass alive for now," he says, snapping his fingers at the other men who point and have Claudio removed from the room. They hoist him by his ankles and drag him out the door. The sound of his head hitting every step barely does anything to make me feel better about my situation.
"King," I whimper, tears well in my eyes making him momentarily blurry.
Snapping out of it, his eyes lock on mine again."Baby!"His voice is hoarse.
The desperation in his tone causes me to sob. My fingers clench as I jerk my wrists against the ties holding me down to the stretcher to keep me from grabbing at my wounds.
He runs over to me, reaching out for my face before drawing to a dead stop about a foot away. His hands raise and then he looks at them with a rather distraught expression. Pain, anger, and worry are etched in his face as he turns his eyes back to me.
"I need-get me something!"he shouts at the others in the room.
"Uhm, Hendrix there's nothing here clean…there's no running water," Mr. Scognamiglio says softly from where he stands to the side of the door against the wall, his face tight in a pinched expression. I can't blame him; it smells foul in here.
I'mfoul; I haven't touched clean water since I've been taken.
King's eyes roam the tiny room, before seeing the bucket I've been forced to use as a toilet. Time crawls to a stop as the other men and Gypsy see it too.
"Oh my God," Gypsy whispers, breaking the silence. "You poor,poorgirl."
I shake my head at her, feeling my teeth chatter with anger, pain… sickness even. But I don't want pity at the moment. I don'tneedthat, not right now anyway. I want my husband, need to know he's okay.
King loses it, leaping forward to snatch the gun out of Gustavo's hand and points it directly at Mr. Scognamiglio's head. "Did you know about this? Did you know what he was doing to her? How he was treating my wife?" he says, deadly quiet.
Mr. Scognamiglio holds up a hand to halt his guard who stepped into a room with a gun trained on King. My eyes go wide.
"No, please!" I plead, but what little strength I had was taken away at how loudly I screamed at Gypsy to move so I can watch Claudio be murdered. My vision begins to waiver and my head lolls."Baby…"I whisper.
Gypsy turns her face to look at me. "What?"
"The… baby…help my baby."
Gypsy's eyes flit down to my stomach before widening in understanding."Go!"she shouts, standing up hastily. "She's pregnant! Get her up and to the ambulancenow!"
The men raise me off the floor, and for a second my world spins and I turn my head, vomiting pass the stretcher and onto the floor. The adrenaline is gone now, and the pain is washing over me in waves. I tremble, feeling my head begin to pound almost unbearably.
My action apparently causes everyone to snap out of it, because suddenly everyone is moving.
"Gustavo, find me some clean water. I can't touch her like this with that-that man on me,"King shouts as I speed by.
Everyone is moving in a rush of blurred hair, faces, and gesturing arms. I feel myself tilted, going up the stairs in small measured jerks. The sounds of the men's footsteps pounding on the stairs war with the pounding in my head, and I know it won't be too long before I pass out.
And let me tell you, I am ready. But I need to feel him first.
As we proceed down the hallway of what looks to be a run down house, the front door is open and I see an ambulance pulling into the drive. Beyond that is a wooded area, signifying we're in the country. There's a lurch as they haul me over a dead body that I recognize as the man who guarded the basement door and who brought my me daily sandwich.
"I'm coming, baby!" I hear King shout from the powder room off the hallway. "I'm just cleaning my hands for you real quick."
"Oh Goddd, you and your hands…"I gasp, rolling my eyes with difficulty. He's acting like I'm not covered in a month's worth of yuck and grime.
As I'm brought out into the fresh air and the sunlight which I haven't seen in so long it almost drove me insane, I feel myself succumbing to the blissfulness of unconsciousness. The last thing I feel before going under is King's hand slipping into mine, and his lips on my forehead.
"I'm here, baby. I got you."
Relief washes over me in waves. Keeping my eyes on him, I fight to stay conscious until I can't anymore and the blackness envelops me.
Chapter thirty-one
Never
