December 20th

Hestia's point of view

"3...2....1....and the 48 hours is up," the formidable man in front of me said as the devious smirk he'd worn for hours refused to move, "But Achilles is nowhere to be seen. How heart-wrenching it is to see such a young and pretty life wasted," he added with a pout.

"Do you find this entertaining?" I asked as a tear ran down my cheek.

He looked down at me and let out a short laugh.

"Sweetheart, going to the movies is entertaining," he said taking his back off the wall and slowly approaching me. "This is exhilarating."

"You're a repulsive man," I spat trying again to break free from the tight ropes around my wrists.

He crouched down to my level and placed his harsh hands on my cheek.

"The other man warned you not to touch me," I hissed turning my face away from him.

In retaliation, he grabbed my neck in his huge hand and jolted it painfully back so that I could once again feel his warm breath on my skin.

It was clear that the other man, Leonardo, was the one in charge between the two of them and although neither of them really had any form of emotion, Leonardo at least realised my innocence in this and took some kind of pity on me. He had kept Luciano away from me for the past two days and had left with orders for him to continue not to touch me.

"Leonardo isn't here right now so I don't think we will worry too much about him..."

He slowly trailed his fingertips from my cheek to my neck and then down to my shoulder before pausing. My heartbeat rose with every passing second as he continued to glare at me. I refused to be the first to break eye contact despite the spine-chilling darkness swirling around like some kind of evil potion in his irises. Eventually, his lips curled into that terrifyingly malevolent smirk, transforming his stony emotionless expression into something straight out of a nightmare.

"Please stop touching me," I said which seemed only to amuse him more.

"And why would I want to do that?" he questioned before suddenly moving his hand down to my chest and using the other hand to toy at the buttons of my shirt.

I squirmed in the chair he had tied me to and put all of my energy into getting away from this monster.

He held my shirt tightly and as I used the little freedom I had to turn my torso 90 degrees to the left, it tore leaving an 8-inch rip across the front.

"You bitch," he growled grabbing my neck tightly.

The tear was blindingly obvious. If Leonardo were to come back, he'd see it immediately.

"He was going to find out anyway," I said, struggling to breathe.

"Well, I guess now that I have nothing to lose there is nothing holding me back."

He reached forward and delved his hand through the rip inside my shirt.

"You're fearful of him aren't you?" I asked, hoping if I could get him to stop and think twice, he would dare do this, "Leonardo was clear about the consequences of you touching me."

But I was now fighting for air. My vision was clouding and my head spinning.copy right hot novel pub