Chapter 2

Julian had laughed then, a harsh, ugly sound that echoed in the cold basement.

"Let you go?"

He picked up a small, chipped ceramic bird from the dusty mantelpiece, a relic of some long-ago summer.

He turned it over in his hands, then, with a sudden, violent movement, smashed it against the stone wall.

Shards flew.

"You're never leaving me, Mia. You belong to me. You owe me."

Hope, a fragile thing, shattered with the bird. There would be no release. Not from him.

He'd crossed the room to her then, his eyes dark with a possessive fire.

He'd pulled her to her feet, her body too weak to offer much resistance.

His hands were rough, his touch degrading.

She was an object to him, something to vent his rage and frustration on.

"No, Julian, please," she'd cried, the words lost against his mouth.

He took what he wanted, again and again.

Her struggles were futile, only seeming to fuel his anger.

The world tilted, darkness seeping in at the edges of her vision. She was close to unconsciousness when he finally let her slump to the floor.

Another day, another tormentor.

Mia was jolted awake by a sharp kick to her ribs.

Olivia Vance, Julian's younger sister, stood over her, face twisted in a sneer.

She was beautiful, like Julian, but her beauty was sharp, cruel.

"Look at you, gutter trash." Olivia's voice was venomous.

She kicked Mia again, harder this time.

"You think you can ruin my brother? Ruin our family? And just get away with it?"

Mia curled into a ball, trying to protect herself.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mia choked out, pain lancing through her side.

"Liar!" Olivia shrieked, grabbing Mia's hair and yanking her head back. "You plotted against us. You tried to destroy everything. And you broke Julian's heart, you manipulative bitch."

The accusations were the same as Julian's, just as senseless.

Mia's world was a vortex of pain and confusion.

Olivia's assault continued, vicious words and sharp blows.

Mia was fading, her body a mass of agony.

She saw Julian appear in the doorway, his face unreadable.

"Julian... help..." she whispered, a last, desperate plea before the darkness finally took her completely.

Her last thought was confusion. Why was he there? Would he stop Olivia? Or join her?

When Mia regained consciousness, she was in a bed. Not the damp basement floor.

Clean sheets. The faint smell of antiseptic.

Her leg throbbed with a deep, searing pain. She tried to move it and cried out.

Julian was asleep in a chair beside the bed.

His head was lolled to one side, his dark hair messy. There were shadows under his eyes. He looked... exhausted.

For a fleeting moment, a strange, unwelcome flicker of something akin to pity stirred within her. He looked almost vulnerable, not the monster who had tormented her.

Then she remembered the pain, the fear, Olivia's sneering face.

The pity vanished, replaced by cold dread.

She lay still, trying to make sense of it.

He tormented her, then... what? Saved her from his sister? Brought her here, wherever 'here' was?

A clinic, she guessed, from the sterile environment.

His actions were a confusing storm of cruelty and something that almost resembled care.

Olivia's words echoed in her mind. "You broke Julian's heart." "You plotted against us."

What had they convinced themselves she had done?

What terrible 'debt' did they think she owed?

The mystery of their shared past, the one she thought she understood, deepened into a terrifying unknown. Her head ached, not just from Olivia's blows, but from the crushing weight of not understanding why this was happening to her.