"You're up. Good."

Luke looked just as I remembered. His dark hair was longer, though, brushing his eyebrows and darkening his eyes. He grinned. The same lopsided grin that made it seem as if he knew something you didn't.

"I hope you're not too hurt," he said, closing the door behind him and turning on the light. He pocketed the keys and came closer.

I stiffened when he sat on the bed. His hand reached for my face. I pushed back against the headboard, turning my face away without taking my eyes off of him. His hand dropped.

"You've been naughty, Little Blue," he said. "Or is it Daphne now?"

"Where am I?" I asked.

"I told you to get away and stay hidden," he said in a low voice. "Why did you have to make a mess?"

"Where am I?" I asked again.

Luke sighed. "Somewhere you don't want to be."

Someone was coming up the stairs, their steps leisurely. Luke stood up, his ominous words ringing in my ears.

His face lost all humor. He leaned over me, his eyes grim. "Listen, do not tell anyone I helped you escape."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why?"

"Because they'll put a damn bullet between my eyes, that's why," he snapped. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Just don't."

"Help me, then," I said. "Help me and I won't tell anyone."

"If I help you, I might as well shoot myself," he said, glancing over his shoulder at the door when the handle turned. "Just... keep quiet and I'll think about it."

He straightened right as the door swung open. Logan stood in the doorway. His cheekbone sported an ugly purple bruise. He got in and held the door open for another man to enter. This one was dressed in an immaculate maroon suit, his light brown hair coiffed back and his features aristocratic.

I remembered seeing him around the House a few times. What was a client doing here?

"So this is the little trouble maker," the man in the suit said.

Putting his hands in his pockets, he strolled into the room. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and his eyes were an arctic blue without a hint of warmth. The muffled sound of his dress shoes echoed loud and clear in the room, drowning my beating heart.

As he approached the bed, Luke stepped back and stood by the wall, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Yes, Mr. Benne," Logan said, shooting me a triumphant look.

"Mhm." Mr. Benne sat down on the bed next to me. My heart rattled. I kept my eyes on him. I didn't like him. I didn't like him one bit.

He raised his finger to my face. I pulled away. His lips twitched and he dropped his hand.

"How did you escape the House?" he asked in a low voice as if we were friends sharing secrets. A chill went down my spine.

I didn't answer. He sighed, loosened his tie and stood up. Leaning with one knee on the bed, he faced me.

Slap.

My head whipped to the side so hard my neck cracked. I gasped, more out of surprise than anything else. It didn't hurt at first. But as Benne gripped my hair and pulled my head back, my cheek stung and my scalp felt like it was being ripped off. Asshole.

"Answer the question, you little bitch," he said into my ear in a voice dripping with poisoned honey. "How did you escape?"

"Go to hell," I said.

He let go of my hair and squeezed a hand around my throat. I raised my knees between us to push him away but he only pushed them aside and squeezed harder.

Tears stung my eyes. I gaped for inexistent air, my hands struggling to get free from the cuffs and push away the vise closing my throat. Benne's eyes were a cold, emotionless blue, his face stoic.

Black edged my vision and reality threatened to slip away.

"Mr. Benne. You're going to kill her."

Luke's voice reached me as if underwater. Through blurry vision, I saw Benne look at Luke through bored eyes. "So what if I do?"

"Go ahead," Luke said with nonchalance. "I just thought that since we went through all the trouble to kidnap her, you might want to enjoy it a little longer."

Benne hummed and looked at me. His grip loosened, and I sucked in precious gulps of air.

"How did you escape?" he asked me again.

"We just snuck into a car," I rasped, my throat burning. "We snuck into a car."

Benne threw a look over his shoulder at Logan. "All this mess because you've grown lax with security, Logan."

Logan's jaw clenched and he looked down, his hands clasped behind his back.

Realization dawned on me like frozen water. Benne wasn't a client. He was the man in charge.

Benne looked back at me. His face grew more agitated. "Do you know how much money you've cost me?" he asked. I saw his hand but there was nowhere for me to go. His slap hit my cheek like a sledgehammer. "The years of work and connections you shot down the drain all because you just couldn't keep your mouth shut!" Another slap. His voice grew angrier and louder. "You just had to open your trap like the little bitch that you are!"

Slap. Slap. Slap.

I lost count. My left cheek was on fire, and my eye burned.

It took a couple of minutes for Benne to get it out of his system. He straightened his suit and stood up from the bed, looking down at me like I was filth beneath his shoes.

"I'll come back for her after I deal with some business," he said, brushing invisible dirt off his sleeve. "Make sure she doesn't escape. Again."

"Yes, sir," Logan and Luke said as one.

"You come with me," Benne told Logan with a quirk of his finger. "We need to have a word."

The flash of fear in Logan's face was a sweet reprieve from my own pain. The two men left, but not before Logan shot me a dark look. I didn't want to be here when he came back.

Luke closed the door when their steps reached down the stairs. Scowling, he came closer and scanned my face.

He'd stopped Benne from choking me to death. Whether that excuse he gave him was real or not, I didn't know. Nathaniel's words echoed in my head. He'd thought that Luke was in love with me.

The way he looked at my left cheek right now, which I could already feel swelling, made it seem as if he cared, and I'd be an idiot not to take advantage of it.

"You have to help me, Luke," I said, coughing a little when my throat burned.

His jaw ticked. "I let you go, and they'll know it's me," he said. "I'll be dead before sunrise."

My mind ran. I had to get out of here. I would die if I didn't. I just knew it. "You don't have to let me go," I said. "Just let someone know where I am."

"Like your little boyfriend?" he said with a quirked brow, plopping down on the bed in front of me.

My heart rose to my throat. Nathaniel.

"Is he alive?" I asked, afraid to know the answer.

Please let him be alive. Please, please, please.

Luke looked at me for a moment, then he nodded. "We didn't take him, but he's alive as far as I know."

I closed my eyes, my relief so vast it numbed the pain. He was alive. Thank God. Thank God.

He must be raising hell right now. The image of Nathaniel's angry face flashed in my head. It gave me power. I sat up straight and looked at Luke. "You need to tell him where I am. He'll help."

He chuckled. "They'll raid this place, too, and I'll be rotting in some jail cell by the end of the week."

"Not necessarily," I said. Surprising both of us. Luke narrowed his eyes. I gulped to wet my throat. "Look. We can get you some kind of... deal, or something. If you help me, I'll make sure Nathaniel helps you. He's powerful and rich, and he has friends in high places. Let him know where I am, and I promise I'll do my best to get you a good deal."

Luke cocked his head to the side and regarded me for so long.

"Well?" I said.

"You've changed, Little Blue," he said.

I shook my head, immediately regretting it after the wave of nausea. I regretted eating so many of those sweets right now. "What?" I asked.

"You've changed. You never cared what happened to you as long as your little brother was safe," he said. "He's safe now, isn't he? Your little brother. He'll be safe without you, I reckon."

"Yes," I whispered. "He's safe."

Luke was right, too. Mark's life had always mattered more than mine. Months ago, if I'd been in this exact situation, I wouldn't have tried so hard to stay alive. I might even have welcomed death.

Even now, it would be so easy to just give up. Mark was taken care of, the House was in ruins, so why was I clinging to life so hard? There was no reason for me to fight anymore, was there?

No. There was. Me. I was worth fighting for. I deserved a shot at life just like any other person. I would fight for myself until the bitter end. Whether that meant luring Luke with empty promises or making empty threats, I would do it. I deserved it.

"Will you help or not?" I asked.

Luke sighed. "I don't know, Little Blue."

"He'll find me, Luke," I said, leaning forward, loading every drop of belief I have in my words. "Nathaniel will find me. Whether it's today or tomorrow or a week from now. He will find me, with or without your help. If it happens without your help, then you better believe you'll pay the same as Logan and that bastard."

"Threatening?" he asked, humor in his eyes. What did he find so humorous? I would never understand this guy.

"Yes," I said, leaning back. "You have a choice. Do what you will."

Luke rubbed a hand down his face. He stared at the door for a couple of minutes then rose. "Be careful. Don't make him kill you," he said.

"Who is he?" I asked.

"He's the big boss," Luke said. "Someone your little stunt didn't make very happy."

I frowned. "Isn't he too young to be the big boss? The House had been going on for decades."

"He inherited the whole thing from his father, from what I know." Luke shook his head. "You don't need to know this. Just be careful."

He walked to the door. His hand was on the handle when he looked back. "Do you promise to get me that deal?"

"I do," I said, hope blooming in my chest. "I can give you Nathaniel's number. Or if you have my phone, it should be there."

"We'll see," he said. Then he smiled a little. A genuine smile that lit up his eyes. He winked. "Good to see you again, Little Blue. Stay alive."

Then he was out of the door.

I blew out a breath and looked at the closed door. Luke. I never understood him. At times, he'd seemed too good to be working somewhere like the House. But other times, he was as bad as the other guards. I guess no one is black or white.

Mr. Benne, on the other hand, was pure evil as far as I was concerned. He was the big boss, the person at the top of the pyramid. He was the reason for my misery and the misery of dozens of people.

The left side of my face throbbed with every pulse of my heart. I tasted blood on my tongue. My left eye was already squinting. I must look a fright. My ribs hurt every time I drew a breath. I must have bruised something in the car accident.

I closed my eyes and prayed, hoping Nathaniel would find me before Benne came back. He looked like someone who held grudges, and I was his least favorite person right now.

My heart raced, fear of what was to come quickening my breath. Stop. I was no longer alone. Nathaniel would look for me. Chris would help him. Luke looked like he was seriously considering my offer. I didn't know whether I could get him that deal or not. But I would lie through my teeth to get out of here. I just hoped Luke would get help in time.

The night waned on. The sounds outside my door made me startle every two minutes. From the voices outside, there were other people in this place, other than Luke, Logan and Benne. And they were all men. Every time one of them got close to the door, my heart would jump.

It had been so long since my body was last used that way. The idea of it happening again made a heavy rock settle in the pit of my stomach. I never had this debilitating fear of sex in the House. I never liked it, to say the least, but I got used to it. Somewhere after I left the House, that aversion had turned into fear.

I didn't know what I would do if someone decided to touch me that way. Just the thought made me sick with panic.

Night gave way to dawn, then the sky brightened to a clear blue. It was criminally beautiful outside my window. My arms and wrists hurt. As the day brightened, an illusion of safety washed over me. As if evil did not exist in daylight.

Exhaustion took over and I dozed off in fits of restless shut eye.

The door banged open.

I woke up with a start, my heart beating so hard I thought it was going to stop. Benne entered the room, Logan behind him. Logan was about to enter when Benne waved him off and closed the door in his face, locking it and pocketing the keys.

I was so sick with fear I couldn't enjoy the affronted look on Logan's face. Benne was dressed in a dark blue suit this time, sans the jacket.

His eyes looked colder under the light of day. He approached the bed, his eyes raking over my body in a way that made me want to vomit. I tucked my legs closer to my chest, wishing I had more clothes on me.

Benne's lips twitched, his eyes knowing. He stood by the bed, looming tall and strong over me, and began unbuckling his belt.