Page 22 of Bound in Obsession
She eyes me suspiciously but finally relents with a warm smile. “Alright, go on then. But make sure to come down for lunch.”
I thank her and slip out of the kitchen.
Daniel is in the hallway, deep in conversation with another guard. They’re both facing away from me. Not wanting to be locked up in my room again, I decide to slip away before any of them notices.
I move quietly in the opposite direction. I know I can’t make a run for it now, but I might as well explore the house. As I walk around, I memorize hallways, note exits, count doors. Eventually I find a wide staircase leading down. The lighting is dimmer down there, colder. A basement, maybe.
I know I should turn back, but I don’t. I descend the stairs slowly. The air grows heavier with each step I take. Then I hear it, a low, pained groan, followed by the sickening sound of flesh being struck.
I freeze for a second. I should go back upstairs right now. But curiosity wins and I keep going, my bare feet silent on the cold steps. The groans grow louder. Another brutal hit. A muffled cry.
I reach the bottom of the stairs, and find the heavy metal door is ajar. Again, against my better judgement, I peer inside.
The sight hits me like a punch.
Nico is still shirtless, sweat glistening on his back and shoulders, muscles flexing with every movement. His tattoos look darker under the harsh basement lights. He’s pummeling a man who’s strung up by his wrists from a chain hanging from the ceiling.
The man’s face is already swollen and bloody. Every time Nico’s fist connects, the sound echoes wetly off the concrete walls.
Blood drips onto the floor. Nico’s breathing is controlled, powerful, almost rhythmic as he lands another vicious punch to the man’s ribs.
I can’t move. I can’t look away.
Horror and something darker twist inside my chest as I watch the dangerous, half-naked man who kissed my nightmares last night beat a man half to death without mercy.
CHAPTER NINE
Eleonora
I should turn around and run. Right now. Bolt up the stairs and pretend I never saw this.
But my legs can’t seem to move. They feel bolted to the concrete floor. And I can’t look away from Nico either.
His back is turned to me, powerful muscles flexing and shifting under sweat-slicked skin as he continues to drive his fist into the man hanging from the chain. Every brutal punch lands with a sickening crack of bone. The man is sobbing, blood dripping from his split lip and broken nose onto the floor in dark, wet splatters.
“Please… please, Mr. Lombardi… I have kids,” the man begs, voice hoarse and broken. “Two little girls… they’ve got no one else, please don’t kill me. Please…”
Nico lands another punch, a wet crunch, and the man screams. I should be horrified. Iamhorrified.
He suddenly pulls a gun from the waistband of his shorts and presses it to the man’s forehead.
The man starts sobbing harder, snot and tears mixing with blood. “No—no, please! I’ll do anything! I swear on my daughters’ lives! They need me… please don’t?—”
Nico pauses.
The gun stays pressed to the man’s head for a long, terrible second. Then, slowly, he lowers it. He unhooks the chain, and the man collapses to the floor in a whimpering heap.
Nico crouches beside him, voice low and ice-cold. “Today happens to be your lucky day. I’m not going to kill you.”
The man sobs with relief, babbling thank yous over and over.
“But now I own you,” Nico continues flatly. “I own your life. I own everything you have. When I call, you fucking answer. Understand?”
“Yes, sir… yes, thank you, sir…”
Nico grabs the man by his shirt and hauls him up like he weighs nothing. He slams the man’s hand down on a metal tablecovered with tools. Before I can even process what’s happening, Nico picks up a pair of pruning shears.
And cuts off two of the man’s fingers. The scream that rips out of the man is inhuman. Blood sprays across the metal table and onto the concrete floor in bright, horrifying arcs.
