Page 1 of Traitor
1
Charlotte
“Knock knock.”
The sound of his voice turned my stomach as I heard the metal grated door swing open. His footsteps coming down the stairs made my heart leap into my throat as I scrambled to get to the furthest end of the dungeon he’d tossed me into. Lorenzo lied to me. Through his straight, white teeth, he had lied like the snake Teo told me he was.
And every time I came face to face with him in my chains, I felt like an idiot.
“You look well-rested,” Lorenzo said as he pulled up a chair.
I pressed my back against the damp, grimy cement wall as I heard something scatter off into a corner. And I forced myself not to theorize as to what kind of animal could be down here with me.
Waiting for me to die so it could feast on my flesh.
“What do you want?” I asked.
Lorenzo spread his legs wide, as if he were giving me a look-see into what I could have if I were his ‘good little girl’.
Every time he called me that I wanted to claw his damn eyes out.
“I wanted to see if you were ready to eat, is all. It’s been two days, you know, and the human body can only go so long without nourishment.”
I spat at him. “I’d rather starve than eat with you.”
His eyes locked with mine. “You really are as feisty as he said you’d be.”
I blinked. “Who?”
He grinned. “Mateo.”
“You’ve—spoken to him?”
He nodded. “Oh, yes. On several occasions over the past forty-eight hours. He really doesn’t like the fact that you’re gone.”
My eyes watered. “He—he doesn’t?”
Lorenzo spread his legs wider. “Sure you aren’t hungry?”
His words snapped me from my trance. “I’d rather eat the rats that are down here with me than share a meal with you.”
He grinned. “Actually, it’s more like snakes.”
I blinked. “What?”
He stood. “Anyway, you’ve got maybe another day in you before your body starts to give out.”
I started tugging at my chains. “There are snakes down here with me?”
I hate snakes. I hate this place. I hate this man, and I have to get out of here.
“Lorenzo!” I exclaimed.
He slid his chair back into a corner I couldn’t see because it was so dark. “Yes?”
I swallowed hard. “Can I at least come upstairs? Please?”
He cocked his head before he took a step toward me. I gazed up at him from beneath my eyelashes, hoping and praying that he might have a bit of mercy on me. I knew he was trying to break me, though. Just like Teo had attempted to do.
