Page 34 of Traitor
“She needs a doctor,” I said.
Lorenzo sat back down. “Good thing I have one in-house then, yes? Robert, take her to see the doctor, then put her in her room. And strap her to the bed for good measure once you’ve got her in some decent clothing.”
And as I watched that massive lumberjack of a man carry her away, I promised myself one very important thing.
I promised myself that, when this was all said and done, I’d treat Char exactly how I knew she deserved to be treated.
A life she could be proud of.
15
Charlotte
The visitto the doctor was a blur, and just as quickly as I found myself ripped away, I was back in the kitchen. I felt more confused than ever before, mostly because I didn’t know what kind of game Lorenzo was playing. But, I went along with it anyway. I knew just how drastically his moods could rubber-band, and I didn’t want him doing anything to me that made Teo lash out. I was painfully aware of just how much Teo was staring at me. I was acutely aware of how many times his jaw clenched whenever Lorenzo touched me and how many times he white-knuckled the chair he sat in whenever Lorenzo commanded me to do something.
This was killing him.
And I needed to make sure it didn’t get us both killed tonight.
“Feeling better, butterfly?” Lorenzo asked.
He slid my hair off my hurt shoulder and softly kissed it. Which made me wince, since my fucking arm was in a sling thanks to this asshole.
“Of course, it’s feeling better. Thank you,” I said softly.
His nose traveled up my neck. “Such good manners. Seems like you learned your lesson well enough.”
My eyes met Teo’s. “I always do what I need to in order to survive.”
Lorenzo stopped moving. “What the hell did you just say to me?”
Teo jumped in. “She was simply stating the premise you’re attempting to teach her.”
Lorenzo gripped my hair, forcing my eyes to his. “And what premise is that?”
Teo shrugged out of the corner of my eye. “That she needs to listen, or you’ll kill her.”
He sniffed my scent deeply, causing me to shiver with fear. “Fear doesn’t smell very good on you, butterfly.”
I blinked. “I like the new nickname.”
He ripped my head back. “Of course, you like it. I gave it to you.”
I whimpered out in pain, afraid he was going to break my fucking neck. But then, I heard Teo’s voice again, as strong as it was calm.
“Or, you could stop with the power plays and understand we’re both equals so we can get these plans in the works,” he said.
Lorenzo shoved me out of his lap. “Very well. Let us continue. And butterfly?”
I sat on my ass and looked up into his face. “Yes, Sir?”
He grinned. “Be a good girl and sit there at my feet, would you? I might need a massage here in a bit.”
I forced a smile. “Of course.”
As I sat beneath the table like some feral animal, I tried to come up with a way to get a message to Teo. I knew he got my first one, which was to trust me and understand that I was doing everything in my power to stay alive here. Hopefully, he caught the undercurrent of that message, which was ‘get me the hell out of here as quickly as you can and I’ll suck your dick every night for the rest of my life.’ But, I needed to communicate more.
There was so much I knew that he also needed to know in order to stay alive.
