hia

ng cell was a tomb of

n the concrete floor,

med on my arms from where the guards

open, spilling a harsh rect

bed my arms without a word, a

ete stairs and shoved me in

ged me through the back entranc

the walls as they pushed me through a set o

ldiers, and their women, the air thick with

r sofa, Dominic and

his lap, her arms wr

up as I stumble

ed as he took i

kin stretched taut over my b

wned d

operty?" he demanded, his voice cu

coffed

play the victim and guilt-trip you,

of concern morphed i

inst the leather s

to Lila," h

t up st

or of my bloodline,"

wn at me with

red. "A pathetic orphan nobody ever wan

ad, the fight d

rry," I

d, a sharp,

e cheap,"

a bottle on t

that raw moonshine as p

fire the Soldiers used to cle

nic, searching his

lume of cigar smoke and gav

lear liquid into a heavy glas

o my lips and swallo

of fire seized my empty stomach. A wave of acid reflux

ward, dropping

iled wi

ow of high-proof bottle

em all," s

at the

f-destructive defiance, a

o grasp the heavy crystal decanter filled with amber l

the liquid burning l

hands lost

m my numb, zip-tied fingers and fell t

pasm seized

t red blood onto the broken glass, the sounds o