I’d been awake the majority of the night listening to Maggie whimper and cry in her sleep. Her nightmares must’ve been horrible. A couple times I tried to wake her without being too loud, but it didn’t work. She slept right through me saying her name. I hated that she was not only dealing with the reality of being here, but also the horrific scenarios that were haunting her dreams. No sleep is better than a restless sleep that traumatizes you.

One of Clover’s men brought a tray of pancakes in and slid it through my door. I wanted to jump for joy from the smell of them alone. Syrup already poured across the stack, and a tiny plastic fork was tucked beneath them. I quickly shoved a bite into my mouth and moaned from how delicious it was.

Maggie was still sleeping when he tried to leave her tray, so he kicked the door with his heavy boot, startling not only her but myself as well. “Grab your food before I toss it on the floor.” His statement reminded me a lot of how Joel treated us.

Where had he been?

Not that I missed him or anything. I was thankful he hadn’t been around because he could be worse than Clover most of the time. More of a vile individual who loved torturing, whereas Clover simply loved the kill, not that either one was better than the other.

Maggie scurried to the cell door and took her tray. From the angle I was sitting on the floor, I could easily see her through the hole in the wall. A confused look settled on her face as she took in her food and glanced back at the door, but the man was already gone.

“You okay?” I spoke through a mouthful of pancakes, which was something I’d never usually do.

“They feed us this good?” Her eyebrows were dipped low as she held the tray in her hands, staring back at me.

“Not always, but sometimes.”

“Why?” She shook her head, “Why would someone kidnap people, house them in a cell, treat them like shit, but feed them properly?”

“Like I said, they don’t always give you proper food.” I glanced down at my body. “I’ve lost a good fifteen pounds since I’ve been here; my muscle tone has faded too. So, eat up while you can, because it won’t last.”

She took a seat on the floor, much like me, and began to eat her food. A silence fell over us as we both devoured our breakfast. It was by far the best I’d had since being held captive, and I wished I could ask for seconds. I slid the paper tray to the door for the man to retrieve later; they always came back for them.

“Put your tray by your door, they’ll pick them up later.”

Once Maggie did as I said, she went back to her slab and curled up in a ball facing the wall. I knew the pain and fear she was feeling, I’d felt something similar myself, although being trained by the FBI made it a little easier to swallow the pill of being taken. It was something they tried to prepare you for in case it did happen, but all the preparation for what might happen to you still wasn’t enough. Her body began to shake as she silently cried. I wished I could hug her, but the wall between us prevented it.

I hugged my legs and stared forward to the nothingness of the wall across the room from my cell. There was nothing on it, just boring blocks that were dingy and cracked. The thought of where I was located crossed my mind, which oddly enough hadn’t before. Like my physical location in the world—was I still in Nevada? Las Vegas? Or some other part of the country? My guess was still in Nevada and close to Vegas since that was where the bodies kept turning up. As long as Clover was the same person responsible for them, which I assumed he was.

I’m not sure how long I was staring at that blank wall when heavy footsteps sounded and the cries of Maggie filled my ears. I hadn’t noticed she was full on sobbing, and loudly at that. Before I could tell her to pipe down, Clover’s voice filled the room.

“Oh, darling,” Maggie’s cell door creaked open, “Why are you crying?” He knelt down beside where she laid on the concrete slab.

She didn’t bother to face him, or answer for that matter. Instead her body shook even harder as heartbreaking sobs ripped from her chest. I watched in astonishment, and horror, as Clover pulled her from the slab onto his lap and held her tightly to his chest. Maggie’s blotchy face lifted to his and tears ran down her face with each confused blink of her eyelashes. Her cries began to fade as her body jerked slightly from sharp intakes of breath. Clover smoothed his hands across her cheeks, wiping away the tears as his fingers pushed deep into her hair. If you were watching this anywhere but from an adjacent cell, you would’ve thought they were two lovers who had a spat and were on the verge of making up. But I knew what was happening, even if Maggie didn’t.

My heart slammed within my chest as I watched Clover’s vulnerable side come into focus, his navy eyes full of sadness and love. Yes, love. It was an odd thing to see coming from a man like him. His mind was making him believe that he was with Juliana, I was sure of that, and I was afraid of what might happen when Maggie broke the moment. Clover wasn’t one to be kind when things weren’t how he wanted them to be. Hell, ninety-nine percent of the time he was far from kind, who was I kidding?

“What can I get you, darling?” Clover’s voice was low and laced with pure consideration.

I couldn’t believe my ears.

“I want to go home,” Maggie instantly replied.

As if a switch flipped, Clover shoved her from his lap and quickly pushed to his feet. Towering over her, he slammed his foot into her ribcage repeatedly. “You selfish bitch! Can’t you see that I care about you?” He screamed so loudly I covered my ears.

Maggie wailed with each kick of his foot. My mind raced with ways I could get him stop hurting her, because the look in his eyes was pure evil. Clover had snapped, he’d gone to the dark place deep in his mind that held all of his evil tendencies, and if I didn’t do something fast he just might kill her.

“Clover, stop!” I yelled as loud as possible.

His foot stopped mid-air and lowered to the ground. His head turned toward the hole and I quickly moved away so he couldn’t see me.

“Blair?” His voice was a low rumble.

“Please stop kicking her,” I nervously begged.

A moment later and he was unlocking my cell, stepping inside, kneeling before me, and gripping my chin so hard in his hand I was afraid the bones would break.

“Don’t you ever tell me what to do again, you hear me?” His tone was stern as he rested his forehead against mine.

Labored breaths heaved his chest and blew directly into my face; the faint smell of whiskey lingered. It made me want to puke, but I choked back the feeling and pushed the thought from my head, nodding the best I could with my chin secured tightly in his grasp.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Clover’s eyes softened just a fraction and he let go of my chin, not bothering to move his head. Instead his hands found my hips and scooted me closer into him. I wasn’t sure what was happening. I had no choice but to let it play out however it was going to, afraid he’d snap on me like he had Maggie, only worse.

His fingertips curled into my hips as he bit down on my bottom lip. My hands stayed planted in my lap as his grip on my hips loosened and his hands roamed up my sides, his thumbs resting beneath my braless chest on top of the thin linen shirt. Clover wanted me, or Juliana, whichever his mind was actually focused on, and I was afraid he would fully take me since last time he hadn’t. But I’d allow him to if it meant keeping Maggie safe, and securing my own safety a little bit longer. When stuck in horrendous situations, you learn how to survive, and I was doing just that…trying to survive.

Clover's hands covered my chest and I did my best not to jerk away. Thankfully my shirt was between his palms and my breasts, even though it didn’t make much difference without a bra. He gently massaged them with his eyes closed. His breathing hitched as the pads of his thumbs smoothed across my erect nipples. They weren’t hard from being turned on. No, they were hard from how cold it was in the cell. They stayed that way most of the time, but he believed otherwise.

His mouth meshed against mine and I knew if I didn’t grant him access to kiss me, he’d most likely go ballistic. I closed my eyes and pretended it was Gavin wanting me, not some sick delusional psychopath who thought I was his lost lover.

But the way his mouth moved against mine wasn’t anything like Gavin used to do. No matter how hard I tried to block out the fact it was Clover, and not Gavin, I couldn’t. His tongue massaged mine and I choked back a gag. The remnants of the whiskey he’d downed left a bad taste as he gently pulled away and began to lift my shirt.

“Boss?” A man’s voice broke the moment.

My body was shaking as I opened my eyes. Clover dropped my shirt and hastily turned toward the cell door. One of his minions was standing there, gawking like he’d walked in on something he shouldn’t have. I was thankful, Clover was not.

“What?” he yelled.

The man cowered as Clover stood to his full height, which was intimidating in itself.

“There’s a phone call for you on the main line.”

“Who in the fuck would be calling me?” He growled.

“Joel.” He stepped out of the way as Clover stalked out the door without glancing in my direction.

I exhaled slowly as the man I’d never seen before looked at me with sympathy etched across his face. It was something the others never showed; he had to be new. My eyes stayed on him as he slowly shut my cell door and locked it back, pulling Clover’s key from the door and sticking it in his front pocket. His eyes never wavered from mine the entire time. I’m not sure why, but a calming sense washed over me before he turned and left me sitting there with my thoughts.

“Blair, I’m so sorry,” Maggie’s strained voice pulled my attention away from the spot where he’d been standing.

I turned my face so I could see her, blinking a couple times. Maggie was leaning her side against the concrete slab while clutching the ribs Clover had kicked.

“Are you okay?”

She shook her head, her bottom lip quivering from the onset of tears pooling in her eyes. “I think a few are broken. I’m so sorry about what he just did to you.”

“Don’t be.” My voice was stern, but not angry. “I’d do it again if it would stop him from continuing an assault on you.”

“But why? You don’t even know me.”

“I can take a lot of pain and suffering, but I can’t take sitting back and watching it happen to others without doing something. He’s a psychopath, Maggie, and he probably would’ve kept kicking you until you were unconscious. I couldn’t let that happen.”

“Thank you,” she mouthed as silent tears ran down her blotchy face.

A small smile tipped one corner of my mouth before I pushed up from the floor and stretched out on my concrete bed. I needed some alone time to clear my mind. But as I closed my eyes, what had transpired continued to play out behind my eyelids. The one thing that stood out, and caused me sit up almost instantaneously, was the fact that the man had said Joel was on the phone for Clover. Not a cell phone, but a main line, like a landline maybe. That meant the front of the place had to have a phone line run to it, electricity run to it, and who knew what else. The thought of having electricity in the building never dawned on me before. Where I was being kept wasn’t completely off the grid, and someone’s information was tied to those utility bills.

But whose?