GETTING ON WITH BULLY

Bully's laughter bounced off the walls and Cassandra was surprised that he could laugh like that. His whole body shook with the laughter and Cassandra was still perched on his body. She felt so small on his massive body. Then his laughter died down gradually and he set Cassandra down.

"Next time, you don't play with things you know nothing about," he said as he walked toward the gun.

Cassandra bit her lower lip, fighting back a smile. Bully picked the gun up and turned to her. The darkness in his eyes has eased a little and they now held amusement. She played on, looking like she was still scared of the whole thing. Bully swirled the gun in his hand and smiled at her.

"Go back to your food." She stood there still looking at him, refusing to comply. He stared at her for a while. "Why are you so stubborn?" he asked.

"Am I the stubborn one here? I almost killed myself because you refused to say a word to me."

"We are not supposed to be in talking terms, Miss."

"The name is Cassandra Lopez, Cassie for short, not Miss."

Bully tucked the gun in his side this time, not ready to be played twice. He went and sat down at the table, waiting for her to come over. She moved over to the table and sat opposite him. He stared at her for a while without saying anything. She could hardly read his expression because his long beards almost masked his face. When the silence sat between them for a while, she looked away from him, resting her eyes on the plate of food in front of her.

"You know, I have never seen anyone like you before," Bully said.

"Do you have a family?" Cassandra blurted. It was the first question she had wanted to ask him. She has a lot of questions sitting on her tongue, but she couldn't just find the right words.

Bully frowned and jerked his head back a little, probably surprised at the suddenness of the question. "Eat." He said curtly and made to stand up.

"I believe everyone has a story. You might look all tough and grumpy on the outside, but today proved to me that you have a human side to you. You have feelings too and the way you watch the other men play that game, tells me you also need human association. You are not an animal, Panda"

Bully had stopped in his tracks all this while she was speaking. He turned quickly once the last word left her mouth and banged his fist on the table. Cassandra flinched. "Now, listen carefully, Miss. You don't know me, you don't know what I want or how I feel, so I will appreciate it if you keep your opinion to yourself and keep your mouth shut before I shut it for you."

"I miss my family." Cassandra ignored the warning he just gave her. "I miss my father a lot." She wiped at the tears that were now strolling down her face.

Bully stared at her; his face crunched up in a frown again. He leaned closer and sat down. "Are you crying?"

"I don't know, was I supposed to laugh?" she sobbed.

"This is what Eros has been looking for; to see you like this, to see you cry, but you are proving so stubborn. Why don't you just break down like this in his presence? maybe he would set you free."

Cassandra wiped away her tears and sniffled. The last thing she wanted was Eros walking in there and seeing her like this. She didn't even know when her emotions overwhelmed her, and she cried in front of Bully. "Set me free? Do you mean to throw me in that dungeon as a slave and use me whenever he wanted? I can work, I am not handicapped. I can work and pay him back his money, I can work outside the confines of this place and pay back that money."

Bully poured her a cup of water and handed it to her. She watched him as he stuck out his hand to her, but he turned his face away from her as if being kind was a whole shameful thing to do. She took the cup from him, and a little smile crept up her face.

He turned his face but avoided her gaze, then he shook his head. "Eros won't let you do that, and you know it. He was built that way he was built to possess and dominate. Once he has you, you are his."

Why was Bully telling her this? She could get more information from him if she pressed on. She set the cup of water down and placed her arms on the table. "What do you mean? Who built him that way?"

"I shouldn't be talking about this, especially not with you."

"I know that you would be in trouble, but I need someone to let me in on what's going on. I don't know if I have a right to it but..."

"It's not even in my place to say." Bully rose. All the softness in his face was gone and he returned to that stone-cold person he displays. "We never had this discussion."

Cassandra nodded. If she has time, she will pry him open and get everything she wanted. He was already softening up and she knew that there was a lot he wanted to say but something was holding him back, maybe the mafia rules or oaths or whatever they call it. She picked up her spoon and was about to eat her food when a knock came at the door. Her heart flew.

Bully went and opened the door and there stood Lucia. Cassandra's heart sat back in her chest. Lucia said something in a low tone to Bully, he glanced back at her and turned back to Lucia.

"Ser muy breve," [Be very brief] he said curtly and took a step back for Lucia to go in.

Lucia went in and smiled broadly when she saw Cassandra. "Oh, Cassie!" she cried and spread her arms.

Cassandra stood up and went into her arms. Cassandra might have gotten better and might have regained her strength, but she still looked skinny from starvation. Lucia hugged her so tightly that she felt her breath leave her.

"Oh, I have missed you so much," Lucia said and released her from her grip. Her eyes ran down Cassandra's body. "I am so sorry, see what they have done to you."

Cassandra sighed and rolled her eyes. "I am fine. Let's sit."

They went back to the table and sat down. Lucia sat on the chair Bully just stood up from, still holding Cassandra's hands in hers. She glanced over at Bully who was standing by the window, staring intently at them. "I feel nervous talking to you with him looking at us like that," Lucia mumbled.

Cassandra leaned closer. "He doesn't bite. Carry on with your discussion, as long as he let you in, he won't do anything to harm you. He is like a dog; he bites only when he receives instructions to."

Lucia giggled and put her palm over her mouth to muffle it. "So, what's the problem? The last we heard was that you injured Eros in bed. How?" Curiosity drew lines on Lucia's forehead.

"He almost raped me," Cassandra whispered.

Lucia looked at her in surprise. "Rape? Eros, rape? No, he can't. He can be a lot of things but not a rapist."

Cassandra hissed. "What makes him different? Look that man is heartless and doesn't respect women."

"He might be, but he has a lot of women on his feet to want to rape one." Lucia paused. "Wait, or was it BDSM you were calling rape?"

Cassandra sighed. "I know what that means. I told him I couldn't sleep with him because I was a virgin, I didn't want to lose it that way, but he shoved me on the bed and climbed on."

Lucia slowly removed her hands from Cassandra's. "You said that to him and he didn't smack the hell out of you?"

"You wished he had?"

"No. I am just talking about the typical Eros. He doesn't like wasting time with anyone and shoving you on the bed was because he pitied you. He was just trying to scare you. Eros can never rape a woman, it's unheard of."

"You know, for someone who is captured and held hostage by that monster, you speak so highly of him."

"All I am saying is that he is not a rapist. As a matter of fact, he punishes any of his men who tries to sleep with any of his slaves without consent, but that's by the way. So, why are you being kept in a room?"

Cassandra hitched her shoulders. "I don't know. Your almighty Eros wants me to break down and beg him to have sex with me before he releases me. That sounds absurd to me. I mean if he has every woman he wanted at his beck and call, why is he so particular about me?"

Lucia looked thoughtful for a while, then she looked at Cassandra. "Because he feels you are inviting him."

Cassandra stared quizzically at her. "I can't pretend I understand what you just said."

"I mean, every other girl will give it to him willingly including me, but you are proving so stubborn. It's kind of screaming, 'I want you so badly, but you have to work for it.'

Cassandra chuckled. "You are finally out of your mind."

"No, but that's what he might be thinking, but girl, it's a good thing you are doing here. If I could ask for anything, I will ask to become a virgin again. So, keep up the good work, after all, you have a good man out there."

No sooner has she finished speaking, than the door flung open and there stood the formidable Eros Castillo.