BONNIE
Bonnie blinked several times, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She’d never been good in the dark. She always used a nightlight.
Her heart beat faster as her eyes didn’t adjust. How long were they going to keep her here? Was it just going to be a couple of hours and then they would come back, or was it going to be days?
The little she saw before they turned the lights off, there were no windows. There was nothing that allowed her to see what time it was or how many hours had passed. Right now, she knew it hadn’t been long, but she knew she was going to lose track of time.
“Please,” she begged through her sobs. Her whole body shook. Her wrists pulled against the handcuffs, making them dig into her skin even more.
She cried out and put her hands against the chair, trying in vain to ease the pain. Nothing worked, there was no way for her to get them to stop digging into her skin. Bonnie couldn’t reach over and pull them off.
Bonnie started to cry even harder as the pain continued to throb. Not just physical pain, but emotional pain as well. She was hurt by her own stupidity and shortsightedness. There was no way out of this, not one she could see right now. How could she have been so foolish to think this was a good plan? The only thing on her mind had been to get away from Ethan so she didn’t have to marry a stranger, but she hadn’t thought about the consequences.
“Please,” she begged again, praying someone would hear her and help her. “Please. Let me go. I didn’t do anything.”
She was met with silence. There wasn’t a soul down in the basement with her. If there had been, they probably would have spoken up by now. Maybe when Rogan and his men came down to talk to her, they’d at least let her explain before things got bad. Maybe she would be able to tell them it was all a mistake.
Part of her felt like it wasn’t going to happen no matter what. She was stuck here until they got tired of her or killed her. If Rogan was anything like her brother, it wasn’t going to end well for her. She’d heard some of the gruesome stories about her brother torturing people for hours and hours.
They were all just rumors, of course, but rumors had to start somewhere. And now she could believe it. Her brother wasn’t someone to mess with. He’d gotten hard and ruthless over the years and it seemed to get worse with each day that went by.
Overcome with emotion, Bonnie screamed and pulled against the handcuffs. Tears ran down her face as the pain became unbearable. Maybe if she made enough noise, they would have to come down and do something.
She moved her legs and felt the same metal around her ankles. She didn’t even remember them cuffing her ankles.
Forcing herself to calm down, Bonnie relaxed into her chair, taking heaving breaths of air as reality came crashing down on her. How was she going to get out of this? Ethan had never taught her how to get out of a situation like this. He’d made sure she was guarded from everything and now she wasn’t.
She’d asked him a couple of times to teach her self-defense, but he always told her it wouldn’t be necessary. Now she wished she’d gone around him to figure it out herself. Maybe then she wouldn’t have been so helpless in this situation or would have thought things through before getting into Rogan’s car.
She shouldn’t have come to Rogan for help. Or if she could do it over again, she would have walked up to him and not hid in his car. That was a stupid idea.
One she was going to regret for the rest of her life. However short her life was going to be now.
Bonnie moved her arms into a more comfortable position. She could feel the blood dripping down her wrists. Well, she assumed it was blood since there was no other logical explanation for what it could be.
“Please,” she weakly begged. “Please let me go.”
A little light filtered into the room, and she closed her eyes when it started to hurt. How long had she been down here for light to hurt her eyes? Bonnie whimpered and tears pooled in her eyes once again as the room went dark.
“Quiet!” a loud voice yelled.
It wasn’t Rogan, and whoever it was sounded angry. Livid even. Had he come down to torture her? Try and get information out of her? Or was he here to let her go since she hadn’t done anything wrong?
Bonnie whimpered again as fear coursed through her. She didn’t think the person was going to let her go. Why would they stick her in a basement only to let her go a couple hours later? It didn’t make sense.
“Shut the fuck up or you’re going to get hurt!” the man yelled.
Scrunching her eyes shut, Bonnie tried to keep as quiet as possible. She didn’t want to get hurt. She opened her eyes and tried to scan the dark room, but she couldn’t see anything. Were they trying to disorient her so much she would confess more easily?
The lights flashed on and she let out a louder whimper as it stung her eyes. She closed them again to try and alleviate the pain, but it wasn’t working. She could see how bright the room was through her eyelids.
“Open your fucking eyes,” the man said.
Bonnie didn’t obey right away. Hot searing pain went across her cheek as the man slapped her. She opened her eyes and looked at the man in front of her. His face was angry but his eyes held the most blatant hatred she’d ever seen.
“When I say to fucking do something, you fucking do it,” he said. “Do you fucking understand?”
Tears ran down her face, but she nodded her head. She knew she was going to mess up and get hurt by this man. If he told her to stop crying, she wouldn’t be able to and that scared her.
Before she could do anything, another slap went to cross her face. Her ear started to ring as the man stepped back. Tears streamed down her face as the ringing and stinging continued. What did she do to deserve this kind of treatment? She hadn’t hurt any of Rogan’s men. All she did was sneak into his car.
“What is your name?” he barked out.
Fear went through her as he raised his hand again. “B-Bonnie!” she rushed out. She didn’t want to get slapped again or worse, punched.
“Bonnie?” he asked. “Really, that’s your name? That is the weirdest name I ever heard.”
Tears filled her eyes and she sniffled. When her mother realized she was having a girl, she chose a name she loved, Bonnie. Sure, it was a little oldfashioned, but Bonnie loved the name. It was unique and different.
“Such a fucking stupid name,” he spat out. “Just like you, you stupid bitch. So stupid.”
Bonnie looked away from the man. She knew she could be stupid sometimes, and she felt especially stupid right now. She was book smart, not street smart. That was another reason why Ethan kept her sheltered, and shielded her from the reality of his chosen lifestyle.
“What do you want with Rogan?” the man asked, stepping closer to her.
Her eyes went wide as she stared at him. His right hand was balled into his fist and he was hitting it into his left. Was he going to hit her again?
“Nothing,” she whispered.
Before she could close her mouth, he punched her face, catching her cheek. A cry of pain escaped past her lips. Her jaw ached.
Groaning and whimpering, Bonnie pulled her head up straight again and stared at him. She could taste blood in her mouth. “Please,” she whimpered. “I’m telling the truth.”
“Shut up, bitch!” he yelled. “Only talk when I ask you a fucking question!”
Another punch straight to her jaw sent her head flying to the right side. Searing pain went across her face. If he kept this up, she would no doubt have a broken jaw.
“What do you want with Rogan?” he questioned. “I’m only going to ask once more. If you make me ask again, you won’t like the consequences.”
She cracked open her eyes and looked at him. Pain was overwhelming every one of her senses. Tears were flowing down her face with every passing second. Everything in her was regretting her decision to get into Rogan’s car. Why did she have to be so stupid?
“To stay safe,” she said through her sore jaw. She could feel her cheek starting to swell up with each passing second. No doubt half of her face was going to be bruised from this.
“Safe from what?” the man barked. It was clear he didn’t believe her.
Bonnie sucked in a breath. She didn’t think she was going to have to give this information out. But if it would save her from more beating, she’d tell everything. “My brother,” she replied.
“Stop making me ask so many fucking questions!”
She closed her eyes then clenched her jaw, trying to keep everything tight for when he punched her. But the blow never came. Bonnie slowly opened her eyes. Her gut twisted when she saw the wicked smile on the man’s face.
Nothing good was going to come out of that smile. The man slowly took a step toward her and bent down. He cocked his head to the side and looked into her eyes. “Who’s your brother?”
Even more dread filled her stomach as he asked his question. She was hoping to not give her brother’s name up. She was hoping they would just take her word that she was in danger and keep her safe.
Hot searing pain went through her stomach as another punch landed. Bonnie doubled over, coughing several times, trying to get a breath into her lungs.
“I asked a question, you stupid cunt.”
A sob broke from her lips as he called her names. No one deserved this kind of treatment. Why couldn’t he just ask like a normal person? She would have explained and answered his questions if he wasn’t being so violent.
“Who is your fucking brother?”
She looked into his eyes and saw a glint in them. Did he know something? Did he know who her brother was? Was he waiting to see if she would tell him the truth?
Bonnie didn’t want to say Ethan’s name. She just wanted to hide from him until he would come to his senses. She didn’t want to bring him into a war or into something he didn’t want.
You shouldn’t have gotten into his car then. Her brother’s voice rang inside her head. She knew it was stupid after she did it. It was too late by that point.
“Tell me!” the man yelled.
“Ethan,” she whispered. And when the man’s face went cold and his eyes narrowed, she rushed out his last name too, for fear of getting hit again. “Ethan Montgomery.”
His eyes went wide as the name registered in his head. It wasn’t going to end well now. They were known enemies and Bonnie knew that. She knew when she went into Rogan’s car. She was just hoping he wouldn’t ask who her brother was. Wishful thinking.
The top of his lip curled at the side and fear went through Bonnie. She knew all possibilities of her not getting tortured or killed were out the window now. They could use her against Ethan.
The man’s fist went up and came crashing down on her. Blow after blow to her face and stomach came down, erupting pain all over her body. She begged and cried for him to stop, but her screams fell on deaf ears.
“Ah, so you really aren’t here for safety, but to spy on us for your brother,” the man said. She opened her mouth to say something, but his fist slamming into her jaw stopped her. “We’re going to have so much fun torturing you for information. Getting every little secret out of you.”
Bonnie’s eyes went wide and she shook her head. She knew nothing about her brother’s work. He kept everything separate because he didn’t want her involved.
“I’ll be seeing you tomorrow,” the man said.
Before she could say anything, his fist went up and hit her right in the temple, knocking her out.