A second set of chains and cuffs dangled a few feet in front of me, empty now, but I feared they wouldn’t be for long. Those things made me nervous. It was too easy to imagine them restraining Alex there, where they’d force me to watch them do their worst, so close but unable to stop them.

Fuck. I couldn’t let this happen.

Clenching my hands, I glared at Cleft, wishing I could rip into his smug grin. “What the fuck do you want?”

He took another drag, and a door creaked open. His gaze darted behind me.

“Rafe!”

I jerked my head and watched two men bring Alex in. “Let her go!” I struggled against the restraints, my eyes never leaving her ashen face. They hauled her to where the other set of shackles swayed.

Waiting.

Taunting.

“Strip her,” Cleft ordered.

I lurched forward and the chains strained from the ceiling, metal cuffs gouging my wrists, but my feet wouldn’t budge another inch. They’d fully anchored me to the ceiling and floor. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”

Cleft grinned, and the guy I’d punched earlier snickered.

“This is Brock,” Cleft said, slapping his buddy on the back. “He’s got a real hunger for pain, dontcha, Brock?”

His nefarious gaze, no longer hidden behind dark glasses, roved over Alex’s shaking body. He removed his hat and tossed it to the floor, revealing his closely-shaved head. She seemed so small next to his massive frame, so breakable under the strength of his muscles. They were going to rape her. The certainty of it gnawed in my gut like a parasite. I almost vomited at the mental picture.

“If you hurt her—”

“You’ll do what?” Cleft interrupted as Brock and the other goon he’d come in with slid the tank top over her head. The other men in the room hung back, arms crossed in casual observation while Brock and his asshole accomplice tore her panties free. She squeezed her green eyes shut and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. She didn’t even try fighting them as they strung her up and locked her into the same position as me.

“Damn, girl,” Brock said, swiping a palm over Zach’s carving on her belly. “Someone marked you up good.” Brock circled her then slapped her ass hard.

“You don’t need her,” I said. “You have me. Let her go.”

Cleft dropped the cigarette butt and ground it out with his shoe before closing the distance between us. He dragged a finger down my chest, his eyes alight with something close to glee. “I have you and her.”

“What the fuck do you want?”

“Didn’t we go over this on your piece of shit island? I want you to suffer.” He gestured to Brock. “Make the bitch scream.”

“No!” I sprang forward again, mindless of the chains trapping me.