The waiting was its own kind of violence.
When the doctor finally appeared his expression carried the particular neutrality of someone trained to deliver news without inflection. "He is stable for now. You can see him in about two hours."
Tesni exhaled for what felt like the first time all night. "Thank you."
She sat down in the chair beside her mother and said nothing else. There was nothing left to say.
Cold water hit her all at once.
Aine gasped, her eyes flying open into a sudden, brutal brightness. She squeezed them shut again, blinking against the light until her surroundings slowly assembled themselves into something she could read. Stone floor. Bare walls. Her wrists had been bound and her ankles too, the rope rough against her skin.
She had been tied to the floor.
The door clicked open and several men filed in. They untied her without a word, pulled the blindfold away and marched her down a corridor and into a different room entirely.
A man stood with his back to her, facing the far wall.
"Sir. She is here."
"Aine." Ravi did not turn around. He said her name the way someone might confirm an item on a list. "Is that right?"
Silence.
"Speak when sir is speaking to you," one of the men said sharply.
"Leave her." Ravi's voice did not rise. The man went quiet immediately. "All of you. Leave us."
"Yes sir."
The room emptied. Ravi clasped his hands behind his back and began to speak at the wall.
"Aine, there are conditions for your stay here. You would do well to listen." He paused, giving her space to respond.
She gave him nothing.
"You are a substitute," he continued, unhurried. "Nothing more and nothing less. Remember that." Another pause. Another silence from her. He turned his head slightly. "Hayland."
The door opened instantly. "Sir."
"Blindfold her."
"Yes sir."
A figure appeared at the edge of her vision. Young, close to her age, moving toward her with a strip of dark cloth in his hands. He covered her eyes and stepped away.
"You can go."
The room went quiet again. She stood completely still and waited, her breathing even, her face unreadable beneath the blindfold.
Then footsteps approached. Slow and deliberate.
And without warning her hair was seized in a sudden, vicious pull.
She did not make a sound. But behind the blindfold her eyes burned with something cold and absolute.
What is wrong with this man.
"You still won't speak?" he murmured, his voice low and dangerous, laced with dark amusement.
Without warning, he grabbed the front of her expensive purple dress and tore it apart with one brutal yank. The delicate fabric ripped loudly down the middle, exposing her body to the cool air. He didn't stop there. His large hands roughly pulled her bra up and over her head, freeing her full, bouncy breasts. They spilled out heavily, nipples hardening instantly from the sudden exposure. Ravi's eyes darkened with raw hunger as he drank in the sight of her.
"Fuck… look at you," he growled. "Crazily hot."
Aine barely had time to react before he snatched her wrists, twisting them behind her back. He used strips of the torn dress to bind her hands tightly together, knotting the fabric with cruel efficiency. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, he dragged her across the room like a ragdoll, her knees scraping the floor until he threw her down onto the cold, tiled surface of the jacuzzi area.
The floor was abnormally slippery. Her whole body struggled to find balance as she slipped and slid against the smooth tiles. He poured a generous amount of thick, scented oil all over her it smelled expensive and obscene, coating her breasts, stomach, thighs, and dripping between her legs. The bastard wanted her completely helpless, unable to gain any traction.
The shower above her head suddenly turned on full blast. Ice-cold water crashed down on her, mixing with the oil and making everything even more slick. She choked and gasped, water flooding her mouth and nose as she tried desperately to turn her face away. With her hands tied behind her back, she couldn't even wipe her eyes. She was completely exposed, drenched, and utterly at his mercy.
Ravi stood over her, his little brother already rock-hard and straining painfully against his pants. For the first time in many years, he felt truly alive. This wasn't just another girl he'd dragged to this house this one was special. The daughter of the man who owed him everything. Watching her writhe helplessly on the floor, oil and water glistening on her naked skin, her full tits heaving with every panicked breath, made something primal and vicious surge inside him.
He slowly crouched down beside her, his fingers tracing her slick, oil-covered body with possessive entitlement. He squeezed one heavy breast hard, rolling her nipple between his fingers until she whimpered. Leaning down, his hot breath ghosted over her wet skin as he latched his mouth onto her neck, sucking and biting hard enough to leave dark marks.
He wasn't going to fuck her tonight not yet.
But he would break her. Piece by piece. Until she begged him for everything.
He shoved her roughly onto the bed. Aine's back hit the mattress hard, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs. With her hands still tied behind her, she felt painfully exposed and vulnerable as she tried to twist away from him.
Sir…" she whispered, voice shaking.
A slow, sinister smile spread across Ravi's lips the moment she spoke. That soft, trembling voice sent a fresh wave of arousal surging through him.
"You finally spoke," he murmured, his tone dark and pleased. "You have such an angelic voice, Aine."
"Don't do this," she begged, her voice cracking. "This wasn't part of the conditions you spoke about."
Ravi let out a low, cruel chuckle as he climbed onto the bed. The mattress sank under his weight as he moved over her like a predator stalking prey. Before she could scramble away, he grabbed her ankle and yanked her toward him, forcing her legs apart.
"You thought I was going to keep you locked up like a pretty little trophy?" he taunted, looming over her. "Just sit patiently and wait for your daddy to bring my money?"
"Yes…" she whispered.