Chapter 10

The painI feel is nothing compared to the anguish on Gabrielle"s face.

I passed out at least four times before Liam was done with me. He"s beaten me many times before, but nothing has been as brutal as this time. Still, I think the worst feeling I"ve had since being here is being dropped onto the floor of our cell and having Gabrielle cry in pain for me.

I don"t want her to see me like this. I don"t want her to know that I"m not the superman I try to be for her. I"m the one always telling her to be strong, but right now it"s almost as if Liam has broken my very soul.

"Oh my god, Bishop. Hold on. Just hold on." Gabrielle drops down to the ground and tries to roll me over to my stomach as gently as she can.

"There"s no way he survives that," one of the other women says softly.

I know she doesn"t mean it in malice, but I snap my head in her direction and snarl. Not because she"s hurt my feelings, but because there"s a good chance that she might be right.

The cuts are too deep on my back. It"s not like this is the cleanest place in the world. Not only do I have to worry about blood loss, but I have to worry about getting an infection too.

"I"m alright. I"m going to be fine," I stutter in pain, trying to find a comfortable position while Gabrielle continues to cry and use our little resources to clean me up.

"Stop saying that, Bishop. You don"t have to prove yourself to me," she speaks gently, and I turn my head to look up into her eyes once again.

Sure, I see the pity there, but I also see a strength I thought was long gone. She"s got my back, and I know it. It"s humbling.

I drift back into unconsciousness as Gabrielle does what she can for me, getting the other girls to help out as well. The next time I open my eyes, there"s a cool rag on my forehead.

"Gabi," I croak out. My throat feels like sandpaper, and I"m grateful I don"t have to call out for her again. She"s by my side in an instant.

"Shh, don"t try to move. I got them to give us some bandages."

I nod my head, grateful that I had at least something to stop the bleeding in my back, but worried about what she had to do in order to get the things that I needed.

"Who? What did you..." I questioned, but she places her finger over my mouth and just gives me a tight smile. I know what that means. Nothing in this place comes free. She had to humiliate herself in order to get me the help that I need. If I could kill everyone in this building with my bare hands, I would. In fact, it"s on the list of shit I want to do the minute I get out of here.

"You don"t know how much I appreciate that, Gabrielle. I"m sorry you had to go through that for me," I offer up. It"s not nearly enough, but at least it"s something.

"Stop it. You give up everything you have for us, Bishop. There"s no way I could let you go through that kind of pain and not try everything in my power to help you. It wasn"t too bad, I promise."

My stomach rolls just hearing her say that. I don"t care if it was only three minutes that she had to endure someone forcing themselves on her. It was three minutes too long. Another feeling bubbling up inside me is the jealousy. I know right now isn"t the time to put my claim on her, but so far I"ve been the only person to be with Gabrielle. I don"t want anyone else touching her in any capacity.

"Where are... where are the other girls?" I look around the room and realize there"s only three out of the four other girls there.

"They pulled Uma out to entertain," Gabrielle groans and looks down, as if she could"ve done something to stop them from taking her. We both know there was nothing that could"ve been done.

"She"ll be okay. We all will," I say, cringing as I tried to move once again into a more comfortable position. With the wounds on my back, there"s no way that I"m going to be able to lay easy.

"You don"t know that, Bishop. I want to believe you, but I can"t, not after this," she gestures to my wounds, and I nod my head.

"You"re right, Liam is getting more and more unhinged, but that doesn"t mean we can"t use it to our advantage."

I shift again but realize even though I"m not comfortable, I"m not in extreme pain either. I don"t know what Gabrielle was able to get from the guards in order to soothe me, but I"m grateful for it.

"Once Uma gets back, I think we"re going to change the dressing. Hopefully the next time Liam takes you away, he won"t be as extreme," she caresses the side of my face and peers down at me with something like affection in her eyes. I tried to ignore the feelings bubbling up inside of me before. Told myself that this wasn"t the place to fall for anyone, let alone someone I"d only just started a relationship with, but I can"t help it. Maybe it"s the trauma of the situation or that she"s the only woman here that I"d be interested in in the real world, but all I know is I"d do anything for Gabrielle, here and on the outside.

"No. It won"t be better," I reply, shaking off the growing affection I feel for her. No matter what we may both want from the situation, there is one aspect of this whole ordeal I know I need to focus on, and that"s getting free. "Liam isn"t going to let up. In fact, based on what he"s already done and what I just found out, I think we may be in more trouble than ever."

Gabrielle"s eyes go wide and she gulps hard. "What are you talking about? What did you find out?"

"What Willa said earlier is true. The guys have made it out. I think the entire Faceless clan is crumbling. Liam isn"t built for this life. Without that backing, he"s flying off the handle. It"s not going to be long before he realizes that we"re not useful to him anymore. He"ll kill us."

Gabrielle"s eyes water up and I lean forward, trying to pull her in my arms, but a sharp slice of pain flashes through my body, and I can do nothing besides take her hand and squeeze. How the hell am I supposed to fight our way out of here if I can"t even sit up?

"Then the guys will come. I"m sure of it. Wyatt and the rest of them will come for us. We just have to hold on," Gabi nods her head hard, almost as if she"s trying to force the idea that the cavalry is just around the corner into her mind. As much as I want to believe that too, I"m not going to bet any of our lives on it. Liam is going to take matters into his own hands, and soon. I can tell. He"s getting desperate.

Before I can say another word, the door to the cell swings open, and Gabi jumps in fear before quickly scurrying to the other side of the cell.

Dread fills my gut not only because I know I can"t soothe her like she"s done me, but also because it"s possible that when we get out of here, instead of building on whatever relationship we might be cultivating right now, she"ll only look at me as another one of the people who hurt her. By choice or not, I"m one of the reasons Gabi is holding onto fear.

I"ve never felt this way about another woman, but that in no way means she feels the same about me. It"s time I acknowledge the fact that even though I may not be an evil man, I"m a main character in Gabrielle"s nightmare. It just hurts to know that my feelings are one-sided.