“Get up,” Rocco said to Bianca then threw her dress at her.
Bianca looked at him, puzzled. “All this pussy right in your face and you’re not going to do shit with it? What will everyone out there think when I tell them you passed up all this?” Bianca nodded between her legs while giving Rocco a sensual look. “They’ll probably think you’re gay or something. Are you a homo, Rocco? I mean, it’s okay if you are. Back home I have plenty of gay fr—”
Rocco snatched Bianca up off that floor with one hand, by her throat, with a quickness. He squeezed while he stared her in the eyes, wanting her to say some shit like that one more time, so that he could watch her take her last breath.
It hurt. Bianca couldn’t breathe worth a damn, but she stared back at him without even blinking. She didn’t even try to pry his hand from around her neck. She was just going to take it.
Rocco tightened his lips. Bianca held her own breath, not willing to accept the fact that someone else was responsible for her lack of oxygen. Things in Miami would be on her terms, even if it was her own death.
Back in Virginia, both Bella and Caesar wanted her to handle her situation on their terms. It’s not to say that their way wasn’t the right way. It just wasn’t Bianca’s way. When she said things would be different in Miami, she meant it.
Jesus, please let him stop. Bianca prayed to God, but she would never beg a man for anything in her life. The entire time, she talked to God, all the while staring Rocco down, keeping the tough girl persona up, not knowing how much longer she would be able to hold her breath.
Looking into Bianca’s eyes, a very subtle smirk flirted with his lips. This girl was not going to bow out of this power struggle. She was not going to beg him and plead for her life, like so many people before her had done. There would be no groveling on her part. It was almost like the young girl in his grips was begging him to take her life. It was like she was begging him to end the story for which she couldn’t care less about the ending. There would be no pleasure in such on his part. He wasn’t used to giving people what they wanted, at least not without a fight. His smirk now turned into a full-fledged grin as he opened his hand, releasing Bianca.
Bianca fell back to the floor in a coughing fit. She managed to crawl over to the sink and pull herself up. She fiddled around for the faucet, before remembering that the pedal to turn it on was on the floor. She pressed the pedal, and as the water shot up, she cupped as much in her hand as she could. She guzzled until her throat was no longer scratchy and the coughing had stopped. Afterward, she looked at herself in the mirror, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and then walked back over and stood in front of Rocco.
Once again, the two were eyeballing each other, only this time he didn’t have his hand around Bianca’s throat.
After a few seconds passed, Rocco spoke. “I let you live. Aren’t you going to thank me?”
Bianca paused for a moment before allowing a smile to grace her lips. She then took a step closer to Rocco, closing in the previous one-foot gap. Her vision fluttered between Rocco’s left and right eyeballs then all of a sudden, she spit the mouthful of water she’d been holding in her mouth right into Rocco’s eyes.
There was darkness, even before she hit the floor.
CHAPTER 17
Bianca woke up, grabbing her throbbing forehead. She was in so much pain that she couldn’t even open her eyes. She was afraid that would make the pain worse. Why was she in so much pain? What the hell had just happened? She moaned, burying her face into her hands while using her fingers to massage her head. She put one hand down on the ground, prepared to force herself up off the bathroom floor. No matter how many times Rocco kicked her down, she was not going to stay down.
When Bianca put her hand down on the ground, she was thrown off by the softness beneath her hand. The last thing she remembered was spitting water in Rocco’s face, his fist coming toward her, then after that, nothing. The blow must have instantly knocked her out. Since the last place she recalled being was in the bathroom, that’s where she expected to still be, but unless Rocco had been so kind as to make her a nice, soft spot on a mound of toilet paper and paper towels, that’s not where she was.
With her head down, Bianca opened her eyes. She could see that she was now wearing a grey T-shirt with the word “Security” on it. It was about four times her size. She was swimming in it. Noticing a huge red spot down the front, she immediately wiped her hand underneath her aching nose. She then looked at her fingers. It didn’t appear as though there was any blood. Perhaps it had dried up. She massaged her head. She felt a huge lump on the side, but when she looked down at her hand, again, there was no blood.
She looked to see what she was resting on. It was a double bed with bronze-colored bedding. She twisted her body to look behind her and saw that she’d been lying on four thick pillows. Grabbing her head again, she began looking around the dimly lit room. The only lighting was coming from a lamp on the table
