I've realized that I failed miserably with making Patricia feel better, calmer. I've told her everything I know about what's going on with these kidnappings, and I've made it crystal clear about my feelings towards Nick. With other words; I've told her about how much I hate that disgusting, annoying, obnoxious, possessive maniac, and I said it out loud along with a list if curses, in case he could hear it through the door or camera.

Now, Patricia is whispering something in my ear, covering her lips with her hands - making sure no one can't hear or figure out what she's saying.

Her breath almost tickles against my ear, but her words make my eyes go wide and I stare at her with open mouth.

"You serious?" I whisper-yell, not caring about if someone hears, it's not like they know what we're talking about anyways.

But I know, and my heart feels lighter all of a sudden. She told me something that gave me hope, that lit a fire in my heart.

She told me Lindsey know about her being kidnapped and Peter being a part of the kidnapping in the school. Patricia just said that she's almost one hundred percent sure that Lindsey heard the short conversation she had with Nick right before she got kidnapped, that Lindsey heard it through her phone.

We both know for a fact that Lindsey never hangs up on a phone call if you've told her you'll be back in a few minutes.

I'm so happy right now, that I can't stop a smile from cracking onto my lips, and right then, a key twist in the door lock and Nick steps in.

"Time's up", he says, "you better say goodbye and..." His words died out as he got his eyes on me, and he then managed to breathe out one word, barely above a whisper; "wow..."

I give him a look full of confusion, and then I remember the smile on my face, the smile of pure happiness, and it quickly fades out.

He seems to finally get himself together and find his voice again, and his eyes show something I haven't seen before.

Could it be... love?

No, I push the thought away, it couldn't be.

"The smile of yours is breathtaking, gorgeous", he says with a smirk, fully recovered from the surprise, "you should wear it more often."

He almost succeeds with ruining my good mood completely, but I hang on to it like if it was my most precious belonging.

"Then give me a reason too", I say in a high pitched tone.

He takes the few steps that're laying between us, and Patricia instantly pulls back.

"I'm working on it", he says and caresses my cheek, "but now it's time to get out of here and get something to eat, and maybe tell me the reason for the sudden change of mood?"

I bite my lip, thinking, and then glance at Patricia.

"What about her? You just gonna leave her here?"

Nick shrugs and his face has gone to completely blank.

"Yeah, why not? Someone will come down and give her food later, she'll be fine."

I give him my best puppy eyes.

"But-"

"No buts", he cuts me off and takes a gentle but strong grip around my arm. Knowing I can't convince him, I give Patricia a quick hug and then follow Nick outside. As the door is about to close with her on the inside and me in the outside, I flash her a weak smile, which she returns.

Nick then move his hand from my arm to my waist and leads me to the kitchen.

Nick's POV

I look at Alex as she eats the last of the food I've warmed up to us. My own plate is empty, the food long gone, and all my focus lays on her.

I can't seem to get the picture of her smiling out of my head. With that smile on her face, she looked like a completely different person. She looked cute, not hot or sexy, but extremely beautiful and adorable, and it melted my heart.

But along with the picture, I can't stop thinking, wondering, what's the reason behind it. I've asked her, but all she did was saying she's happy to talk to a real friend again. I know she's lying, and I gonna figure out what.

If she won't tell me, Patricia will. It doesn't matter what I have to do to make her talk, if I want something, I get it.

But right now, I'm going to work on the thing I want most, Alex.

Like the bad boy I am, it's hard to admit it, but I think my liking for Alex has gone a step further.

Before, I liked her because she was hot and feisty, but now, I'm not only falling for her looks, but also for her personality.

It sure as hell is annoying, but I like her attitude.

It sure as hell driving me nuts, but I like how she never gives up, even though it might seem like it.

I love how she responds to my kisses, even though I know she's only doing it to get what she wants, but it's fine by me. I love her stubbornness, I think it's cute that she's trying her best even though I'm in control.

And most of all, I've fallen head over heels over her icing blue eyes and adorable smile.

Too bad for her that I'm not one of these guys who changes when they fall in love. I will remain as I am, and I will continue doing what I want, to get what I want.

And right now, I want her. Every part of her.

I want her heart, body, and trust.

And I won't give up, but continue trying until I succeed.

Alex's POV

I put my fork down, my plate now empty. Nick has stared at me for minutes now, and his gaze is really disturbing, but I try my best to ignore it.

I look around the kitchen, my own eyes flickering over the table to the sink, and then on Nick.

He smirks at me and stands up, putting both of our dishes in the sink and turning to face me.

"Let's go and change, we gonna work out again", he tells me, and I know by the look on his face that's not worth arguing about.

I follow him down to his room and quickly take the clothes he gives me and lock myself in the bathroom, and groan in frustration. It's the same clothes that I was given the last time I was going to train and I reluctantly strip out if my clothes and put on the new ones. I hate the length of the short and the fact that I was only given a sports bra as a top, and I do exactly as last time. I put on my old shirt over the bra and examine myself in the mirror.

I thought I would look somewhat different, less living and with dull and puffy eyes, but I don't. I look normal, like always. My icing blue eyes that seem to see straight into your soul are as captivating as before, and my plump lips do still have the same strawberry red shade. It's fascinating how something can seem to be so normal on the outside when it's the straight opposite.

With a sigh, I put my hair into a messy ponytail, not caring about how it looks, and I suddenly freezes. On my neck, fully visible to anyone, is a hickey.

He's given me a freaking hickey.

I quickly put on some makeup to hide it, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing it, and then I step out from the bathroom.

Nick's head immediately snap towards me and I realized, both shocked and horrified, that I just walked in on him changing.

I stare at him for a couple of seconds, startled, until he speaks up and I snap out of it.

"You know, you don't have to watch it from afar. You're even allowed to touch it", he smirks and I feel a blush heat up my cheeks.

"Sorry, I just gonna-"

"Stay", he cuts me off and I shake my head and start to back into the bathroom but he quickly throws the shirt in his hand onto the bed and walks up to me. I try to slam the door shut in his face, but he puts his hand on it and forced it wide open and drags me out.

He traps me between the wall and his body, again, but this time I'm not in the mood to play, and I dive under his arm to get away. I don't come far before his arms slip around my waist and my back is slammed into his chest.

"It's not nice to run away like that", he mumbles into the crook of my neck before gently pecking it.

"It feels like a setback, you know?" He says, "it went so good earlier today."

I sigh and stop fighting against his grip.

"Nothing is going well around here", I say harshly, "the fact that I have to kiss you is a proof of how everything's gone to hell."

He chuckles darkly, his chest vibrating.

"You said yourself that you didn't care about it."

It feels like I'm going to explode any second. I didn't know everything I kept inside of me, all emotions I'm trying to hide, would come up to the surface at the same time.

"I lied, okay?!" I squeal and start fighting against his grip again.

"Sch..." He hushes and turns me around, do that my face is facing his chest.

"Calm down..." He caresses my cheek and then brings me into a tight hug. I don't hug back and I don't move back. I just stand still until he finally pulls away.

I've managed to push away all of the emotions that were laying on the surface but I wish that I would be able to push Nick away too.

"Gorgeous..."

"Leave me alone."

That was probably the wrong thing to say because Nick suddenly takes a leap towards me and a surprised shriek escapes my throat as I feel my body launch backward together with his. And then we land onto something soft that sinks down under our weight. The bed.

"What the fudge?" I groan and tries to get up, but Nick is faster and manages to straddle himself over my waist.

He takes my hands in one of his and keeps them pinned down, and then he starts tickling me with his free hand.

He. Is. So. Dead.

A bubbling laugh escapes my lips as I squirm under his touch, and a smile cracks onto his lips.

"I-I... h-hate... y... ou..." I managed to breath out between my laughs, and he chuckles.

"Love you too", he says and finally removes his damn fingertips from my stomach, only to quickly lean in and kiss me on my lips.

He still holds my hands in s death grip, and he pushed me down with his own body weight. I can't do anything, and he quickly moves down to my neck.

"You shouldn't hide the beautiful mark I gave you", he says and wipes the makeup off, exposing the hickey he made.

"Much better", he smirks, "but there's still one thing left. Your shirt. I don't recall telling you that you could wear it."

"You didn't tell me not to wear it either", I reply and he gives me a glare.

"Don't try to be smart with me", he spits, "either you take it off, or I take it off for you."

He releases my hands, but all I do is placing them on his chest in an attempt to push him off of me, but I fail and am just about to take my hands off of his chest when he placed his own on top of mine.

"You can't say that you don't like what you see", he says and I shake my head.

"You got abs, so what? It's not like I'm going to start liking you because of the fact that you got a hot body."

His lips turn into a smirk and he gives me a wink.

"You think my body is hot?"

I mentally faceplant myself. Okay, I admit that he got a good looking body with abs and a six pack, but so what? That doesn't change anything.

"Aren't we supposed to train or something?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Well, yeah we are, as soon as you taken off... this." He grips the hem of my shirt and I open my mouth slightly, but no words come out and I just shake my head.

He flashes me a crooked smile and starts tugging at the hem, exposing my flat stomach.

I find my words again as I start squirming under him.

"No!"

"Oh, yes", he chuckles and pull the shirt upwards towards my face.

"Please don't..." I plead, for nothing.

All I got is a kiss from Nick because he suddenly stops with undressing me off my shirt and kisses me on my lips instead.

The kiss doesn't last long, but still long enough for me to lose patient and bite his bottom lip to get rid of him.

He pulls back, smirking.

"Feisty now, aren't we?"

"Just stop! I do it myself, okay?" I shout, not able to take his slow torture anymore. He releases my hands from his grip and gestures for me to start.

"Go on then, we don't have all day."

I glare at him.

"Would you mind getting off of me?" I spit.

"Yes, I would", he answers and I groan, knowing that getting him off of me is as easy as pushing away a wall, with other words, nearly impossible.

Slowly and with slightly shaking hands, I grip the hem of my shirt. I know it may not seem like a big deal to only wear a sports bra as a top, a lot of people do it, but with Nick forcing me to, it feels completely different.

I take a deep breath and get it over with as fast as possible. I pull it over my head, messing up my hair even further, and throw the shirt on the floor.

"Happy now?"

Nick moistens his lips and looks at me, but not on my face, though.

Ugh.

"You, gorgeous, got an amazing body."

I sigh.

"Yeah, everything with me is amazing. My eyes, my body, my personality and blah blah blah", I say with every single word dripping of sarcasm.

Nick starts trailing his fingertips down my side, causing shivers to send down my spine, and with his free hand he gently strokes some hair away from my face.

"You are amazing", he says and then, once again, kisses me.

I don't know why, but the fact that he said I was amazing, instead of something like hot or sexy, made my heart feel warmer for a short, short second - before I remembered who it was that said it.

"This will all be over sooner if you kiss back", he says, but I don't.

I can feel his body heat radiating off on me and he presses his tense body against mine. If he wouldn't be a psychopath, if he wouldn't have kidnapped me, this would all be completely different. I might've actually liked him then, but too bad his whole personality ruins it.

When he finally pulls back, he also gets off of me and I quickly get out of the bed.

"Why do you always seem to be in such a hurry?" he asks as his arms slip around my uncovered waist and lead me towards the door.

"Because I always have something to run away from", I answer as we walk through it.

His only response to that is a dark chuckle and I throw a wistful glance at the door to where Patricia is kept as we pass it.

I thought that we would go back to the room I was in last time I trained, but no, when Nick opens up the door leading into where we are going to be the coming hours, my jaw drops.

I honestly have no idea of how big this house is, but I've just stepped into a freaking climbing room, with several meters high climbing walls.

"Seriously?" I breath out, "climbing? When will I ever need to climb like that?" I ask, nodding at a person who's currently taking on the hardest wall. I think it's Vince, but I'm not sure.

"You never know when it might come in handy", Nick whispers in my ear and pushes me further into the room.

Even though the room isn't that big, I'm still surprised that they have it. I mean, who got a full set of climbing walls in their own house?

Clearly they do, but still.

This room must reach up to the floor above, at least, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is three floors high in total.

"Put this on", Nick tells me and hands me a sit harness.

I put it on, not in the mood to fight since I know I will lose, and as I'm done I realize Nick has put on one too, and my lips curl upwards at the sight.

"Kirk will secure you", Nick tells me, "and Zeke secures me. I hope you know how to climb and if you don't, I'll teach you."

I sigh, still not understanding the point of this.

"Just tell me why I need to know how to do this? Your answer about how it might come in handy is too vague."

"Let's just say that we don't only kidnap girls to get money. And with all the other things we do, climbing might come in handy."

We walk to Kirk and Zeke who secures us, but I keep the conversation going.

"And your point is what?"

Nick shakes his head with a smirk playing on his lips.

"You don't get it, do you?" he says, "you're not going back home, ever. You're gonna stay here with us, you're going to be a part of us."

I almost choke at his words.

"A part of you?" I shriek, ignoring the surprised stares from everyone else in the room, "I will never be a part of you guys. I will get home and I will get you guys arrested."

Nick smiles at me as he leads me to one of the easier climbing walls.

"It's cute how you still have fate, but you should just shut your gorgeous mouth and start climbing."

And so I did.

* * *

I don't know how long time we climb but every muscle in my body is aching when we're finally done.

"I admit", Nick says with a heavy breathing, " that you're pretty good for being untrained."

Ignoring what Nick just said, I take off the sit harness. I did make it pretty far on the harder walls, but I didn't succeed climbing all the way up on any of them when I had to follow a certain track, like only gripping the red grips.

Now, my hands are sore and full of blisters.

Everyone from the climbing room heads into the kitchen, where someone already ordered pizza for us to take, and we all start to eat.

I'm not really having that much of an appetite, and only take one slice which I'm slowly chewing on as everyone else of the guys seems to throw themselves over the pieces.

On the opposite side of the room, I catch a glimpse of the other girls but as stand up from my place on one of the sofas to go to them, Nick holds me back.

"Hey!" someone shouts and I snap my head into the direction of the voice and recognize it as Will, "you guys gotta make some space for me too, don't think I will stand when I know that I can get a place to sit."

"Sorry, but it's full", Zeke replies with amusement in his voice and Will turn his face towards Nick instead.

"You", he says, "get your girlfriend to sit in your lap or something."

"I'm not his girlf-" I start to protest but Nick cuts me off by sneaking his arm around my waist and practically lifting me into his lap.

"Oh, yes you are", he smiles and everyone in the room laughs at my reaction, except for the other girls.

I notice that Peter's not here, but I don't dare to ask why.

These guys do scare me, even though it might not seem like it at all times, and now when they are all gathered together my fear only increases.

After all, this is the guys that ruined my life.

I hate them, and I hate how they can seem to take all of this so damn normal.

I hope, with my whole heart, they Lindsey will find a way to get us out of here.

Nick put his hand on my thigh, and I quickly slap it away, only to find him doing it again moments later. He seems to be amused by my reaction and continue to do so and right as I'm about to explode, telling him to stop along with a long list of curses, Zeke speaks up.

"We're going to the black market next week", he says and immediately catches my attention even though his talking to the other guys, and not me.

"Aubrey has been here almost a month now, and we still haven't gotten any money for her. You guys already knew that we would go there, but now it's settled that we do it on Wednesday. The other girls do still have some time left before we need the ransom money, but it seems like Nick already made up his mind about Alex."

My body tense up as everyone's eyes dart towards me and Nick, and I can feel him tighten the grip around my waist.

"You gonna keep her?" Zeke asks as if I'm some stupid toy or puppy.

Nick nods, "yes, I'm gonna keep her."

His words send chillers down my spine.

I know that he'd said it many times before but now, with everyone listening, it almost feels like he confirms it.

"Lighten up, buttercup", I hear Kirk say, "you should be glad that you're not getting into the black market as Aubrey."

As he mentions Aubrey, she whimpers loudly and starts to cry. I understand her. They are talking about selling her to who knows.

"You're terrible, all of you", I say slowly, not believing myself to have the guts to.

"What did you say?" Zeke asks and I gulp, trying to gain as much confidence as possible. I can feel Nick tense up underneath me, but I don't care.

"You are talking about her life like if it's nothing", I say. "You are going to sell her for freaking sake! Can't you see how wrong and completely sick that is? Don't you have a heart at all? Look at her! She's just a girl, she has her whole life in front of her but you're ruining it. You are a monster, you all are."

"Alex..." Nick says in a warning tone but I keep my head held high and stare at Zeke. I don't like him the slightest anymore. Not after what he just said.

"If you think it's so wrong, then why don't you take her place?" he suggests and before I have time to say anything, Nick speaks for me.

"No! She's not going to do anything. Alex, if you don't shut up right now, I swear I will make you."

Zeke arch an eyebrow at me. "You better listen to your boyfriend before you get into serious trouble. You know, Alex, I've seen from the start that you got an attitude, but you really gotta watch it before you take it too far."

"Or what?", I say with a challenging tone, "you gonna hurt me or sell me? Go ahead, it's not like it's gonna be worse than-"

"That's it!" Nick snaps, quickly standing up and almost causing me to fall down to the ground if it wasn't for the hard grip he'd taken on my arm.

"What has gotten into you?" he shouts angrily as he drags me out of the room and down the stairs, "you're practically begging for death."

"What has gotten into me?" I shout back, "is that I'm tired of being stuck here. Don't you see? This, being here, isn't living. It's surviving. I can't do or say what I want and I'm being treated like a damn dog! Not being able to be myself is driving me crazy."

"But still you're having it much better than many others", Nick says through gritted teeth and opens up the door into his bedroom.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I snap and rip myself arm out of his grip.

"That means", he shuts the door loudly and locks it, "that you're having it a thousand times better than many others. I don't hit you, instead, I protect you from those who want to. I don't rape you like many other guys do to their girls, and I give you food and a nice place to sleep. But you're too damn stubborn to see that. All you see when you look at me is a monster, but I'm the one who's currently keeping you safe. If there would be any other that would've chosen you, like Will or Kirk, you would've been beaten blue and bloody by now if you kept that attitude of yours."

"So what you mean is that you're not the devil, but my guardian angel?" My voice is dripping with venom and I'm glaring daggers at him.

"What I'm saying", Nick sighs, "is that you should rethink your situation and be grateful."

I give out a dry laugh. "Grateful? For what? Being kidnapped? For being ripped apart from my life? Yeah, you're right, I should be grateful. So thank you so so so damn much. You have no idea of how glad I am that Patricia fou-". I choke on the last word, realizing what I'm about to say. My eyes widen and I press my lips tightly together and mentally curse myself over and over again.

Shit.

I lost control of my thoughts, I snapped and almost gave out my only hope of getting out of here, and now I've caught Nick's fully attention.

"Glad that Patricia what?" Nick asks, slightly amused at my shocked facial expression but at the same time extremely determined to find out what I'm hiding.

"Nothing", I say way too quickly for acting normal.

"Alex..." he warns, "I know you're hiding something and I want to know what."

I look him dead in the eye.

"But we don't always get as we want, do we?" I can see him clench his fist together at my words.

"Alex, seriously. Lay off with that attitude. I know I said I don't hit you but you are seriously getting on my nerves right now."

My anger has gone far too long for be to being able to control it and I spit, actually spit, Nick in the face.

"Screw you."

The next thing I know is a stinging sensation in my cheek.

I slowly lift my fingertips to the sore spot and then look at Nick with hatred. His one hand is lifted, the other one still clenched.

"Fine", he says with absolute no emotions at all, "if you won't tell me Patricia will. And I won't hesitate to hurt her if I need to. Or maybe I'll do it anyway, to teach you a lesson. Ever heard of the term 'whipping boy'? A person who take the punishment for someone else, a scapegoat? Maybe Patricia should be yours. "

I stare at him in disbelief.

"No! You can't... you wouldn't..."

He flashes me a sinister sneer and starts to walk towards me.

"Oh yes, I can and I will."

For every step he takes forward, I take as many backward but I soon hit the wall and he gives out a dark chuckle.

"Not so feisty anymore, are we?" He places his head on either side of my head, trapping me, and I look down at my feet.

"Look at me", he whispers in my ear and starts nibbling on my earlobe for a few seconds before pulling back, allowing me to raise my head up - which I don't.

"The more you defy me, the more pain I'll inflict on Patricia."

My head snaps up and my piercing blue eyes meets his cold and dark ones.

"Good girl", he whispers, "now kiss me. The better you do it, the better it will be for Patricia."

I hate him. I hate him with every bone in my body, for every beat my heart takes, hate flows through my veins.

"Why are you doing this?" I whisper, not being able to hold back a few tears from filling my eyes. He takes my chin in his hands and caresses my cheek, wiping away the few tears that fall down.

"Because I like you. I like you so damn much and I don't want you to escape. And I want to win the bet. I told you I would break you, and I think I just figured out how."

I think so too.

More tears fill my eyes as I lean into the few centimeters that lay between our lips. Right as I'm about to kiss him, I take a shaky breath and breath in his cologne.

"Please don't hurt her", I plead, my lips brushing against his. Before he has time to answer, I press my lips, salty because of my tears, against his completely.

For the first time in what feels like forever, I imagine myself kissing someone else instead of Nick.

I imagine myself kissing Shane, my latest ex, because even though I despise him, he's a thousand times better than Nick.

When the kiss is over, Nick pulls away with a smile and leaves the room, heading to Patricia with the sound of my heart breaking screams filling the air.

I bang at the door until my hands are sore and bloody, and I scream at the top of my lungs for him to not hurt her until my throat is too sore for me to utter a single word, and I cry until I no longer have any tears left.

My screams become mixed with Patricia's for a while, before I slide down the wall completely dried out of energy.

Her screams do luckily not last long and I figure she's told him our secret, my hope.

Congrats, Nick. You're going to win. You found a way to break me.

Unless Lindsey and the police work really fast, it's time for be to say goodbye life and hello hell.

But it's not game over quite yet.

I'm going to fight until the end.