by Sam Crescent
“And now you own Stonewall.”
“Yes, I do. People bow as I pass.”
“And my dad?”
“He’s your dad now?” Draven chuckled. “You called him out of the blue a few days ago. What makes you think he’s your dad?”
“He told you about the phone call?”
Draven burst out laughing. “No. Not until I was at his home, asking him. Hannah, his trusty little whore, told me. You know how she works for me. Poor guy though, she’s let herself go, and well, I wouldn’t want to ride that.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“Be careful, Harper. It’s nearly winter. It’s getting a lot colder. I leave you in here too long, well, the outcome would be what I want but a little different.” He winked at her. “I’m going to go now. It’s a little too cold for my taste. I like something warm.”
He turned on his heel, and even as she yelled his name, he ignored her.
Stepping back in the direction he came, he walked into the kitchen and found Axel, eating a sandwich.
“She’s out in the cells?” Axel asked.
“She’s where she belongs.”
Axel laughed.
“You knew where she was all this time?”
“No. I didn’t. I recognized the number, and I recalled Stephanie going on and on about a chick she employed. To be honest, unless it involves my dick, I didn’t pay attention.”
“So, what happened?”
“I was fucking the shit out of her, and well, Harper returned with their lunch, and now we’re here.” Axel took a bite of his sandwich. “Her bag’s in the car. I’ve also dealt with the fiancé.”
“How did you manage that?”
“Got her to break up with him over the phone.”
“I’m going to need more information,” Draven said.
He didn’t like that she had a fiancé. That she’d had a chance at a happy future.
“Like what?”
“Does he know where she comes from? Does he know about Stonewall? Will he be coming here to find her?”
“Shit, I didn’t find out any of that information. He was a persistent fucker.”
Draven clenched his teeth but didn’t say a word. He was pissed off. Of course he was.
“I’ll deal with her tomorrow. I’ll find out what I need,” Draven said, heading back to his office. He finished off his whiskey in one gulp. Without another look, he headed upstairs to his room.
He took a quick shower and went to bed naked. As he lay down, he stared up at the ceiling, curious.
Getting to his feet, he moved to his window and opened the curtains. Axel’s father had built the cells so that he got a perfect view from his bedroom—the room Draven now had. Everything had been fully refurnished, and it was his space now.
Staring at the building, he knew she had to be freezing.
The cells were not a kind place. The point of them was to break the women who still had a spine, who still hoped to escape and get help.
One night, even two, it helped them to see the error of their ways. If the cold didn’t get to them in the height of the summer, the heat did. The sun was always beaming down on the building.
Then if they could handle the extremes of the weather, there were the rats. One or two, just enough to freak them out.
The stench was another thing.
Of course, there was nowhere for them to go to the toilet either.
Draven closed the curtain.
There was a time he’d intended to knock that building down.
Axel never went near the cells. Too many memories and his friend wouldn’t talk about them. He stayed completely silent about the entire experience.
Draven hadn’t used them in years either. Harper was the first cellmate in a long time. Kind of poetic.
He climbed back into bed and continued to stare at the ceiling. She was back, and he had big plans for her, lots of plans.
He thought about this fiancé. The one who she left behind.
Did she love him? Did she care about him? Was she heartbroken to have left him?
Buck and Jett entered his mind, and along with it, the spark of ice that spread within him, threatening to consume him just by their memories alone.
Whatever Harper had coming to her, she deserved it.
He was going to have a lot of fun.
Chapter Four
Harper lost track of the time.
There was no blanket.
Nothing.
Just the icy chill of the night.
She sat on the mattress. From the moon shining into the room, she knew it had stains on it.
Blood? Piss? Semen?
She didn’t want to think about what went on here.
All she could see was Draven’s face, his eyes. He was dead inside. The boy she once knew was long gone.
Resting on the edge of the mattress, she watched the rat that had entered her cage. It scurried along the edge of the walls as if it didn’t have a care in the world.
Alan was gone, which meant she was alone now. There was no way of knowing what he’d said to them or made them all believe about her. Draven didn’t know she’d been forced out of Stonewall.
Forced to run so that he and the others could have been safe. Her suffering hadn’t stopped there. Alan controlled everything, what she did, where she went. There was no freedom. When he told her to look happy, smile, and stare up at a certain guy, she did it. Every single instruction, from each vulnerable innocent girl to each guy he asked her to look at happily, to look proud of what she was doing. Those girls didn’t deserve to be taken, to be fooled into thinking they were living better lives, but Alan had made her do it, to keep her guys alive. His threats hadn’t stopped there. If she didn’t do as she was told, he soon had enough evidence to send her to prison. No matter what, Alan held all the cards, and he relished it.
She didn’t see Buck and Jett anywhere. Were they waiting to take their pound of flesh?
She wiped away the tears and closed her eyes. Sleep didn’t come. The cold kept her awake. The time passed though.
She saw it was getting light, and as it did, it lit up the room, and she saw the filth that surrounded her. Staying perfectly still on the mattress, she couldn’t stop shaking. She was so cold.
Time still passed.
No sign of Draven. How long would he keep her here? Would he make her freeze to death?
She didn’t want to die.
Still, no one came.
Harper got to her feet and moved toward the window against the wall. She saw men milling around. They were smoking cigarettes, talking. None of them were looking toward her.
Stepping away, she went to the cell door. Wrapping her fingers around the bars, she tried to pull, to grip them, to get herself to freedom, to do something, anything, that would help her get free.
“It’s pointless.”
She released the bars and stepped back as Axel stood in front of her.
He’d changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt. The jacket he wore looked the most inviting of all of his outfit. He placed a finger against the metal. “You think you’re the first woman to try these bars?”
“You keep a lot of women here?”
“Surprisingly, no. This is new for Draven. My father loved these cells. They put women in their place. Most of the women serving Draven here are happy. The women we buy, he has places for them that are not in his home.”
“You’re a pig.”
“I’m a pig? Is that all you’ve got? I’ve not been here in over five years, maybe even longer, and you think I’m a pig. I’ve seen what these cells do to a woman.” He touched his back. “I got a whipping because of trying to help them.”
“What?”
“My dad, he traded in blood, guns, drugs, and pussy. All kinds of pussy in all ranges. You know what I’m saying.”
“He traded kids?”
“You got it, princess. He didn’t mind at all. You see, Harper, there are a lot of sick people in the world.
The kids, a few slaps got in line. Some women had a lot of spine, teenagers too, and he’d send them here. As you know, it’s freezing cold in the winter, and in the summer, wow, you are losing water in sweating. One day, I couldn’t stand to hear the cries anymore. I was having to train. My dad, he wanted a good, strong son. A fighter. Someone to rival Draven.” Axel chuckled. “So I trained. I fought. This one day, their begging got too much. I couldn’t stand the noise, so I went inside, grabbed some bottled water and some food, and brought it out.”
She knew this wasn’t going to be the end of the story.
“Anyway, my trainer was loyal to my father, so, he did no more than alert him to what I was doing. I got caught. I was dragged to the whipping post.”
“The whipping post?”
“Oh, yes, my father loved these cells. Then we’ve got the whipping post, and then he’s got an entire dungeon of tricks to train the women to take a cock, a beating, whatever he wanted to give.”
She felt her stomach turn as she looked at him.
“I was locked into place, and he gave me ten whips. They cut my back, and because of my insolence and kind heart, he kept me on that post for three days until I was close to death, then he finally let me down. After that, I never came in here again. Until today. There you go, princess, I’m breaking my own rules for you.”
“I had no idea you went through that,” she said.
“Not a lot of people do. They see the big house and assume that we’re privileged, and living the best life imaginable. They don’t know what is expected of us. What they want from us. Draven’s the same. We’re all the same.”
“What about Buck and Jett?” she asked.
“Don’t you say their fucking names.”
“Axel?”
“Don’t. You have no right to say them. You speak them, and I’ll have you up on the whipping post, praying for death.” He slammed his hand against the cage, and she gasped, stepping back.
The violence of it scared her.
“You better hope Draven just lets you freeze to death. It would be a kindness you don’t deserve.”
He turned on his heel and walked out of the cells. She watched him go.
Gripping the bars that contained her, she wondered if it was at all possible to get out. If after years of women tugging at them, was there any way they were weakened or would she be wasting her time? Her breath? Her everything.
Wrapping her fingers around the bars, she tried to give them a tug and failed.
“Come on.”
They didn’t give. They were held in place, designed to stay there.
Stepping away from the bars, she sat down on the mattress and drew her feet up to her chin, holding her legs close to her, watching, waiting. Even as she heard men and women laughing, she didn’t go and look out the window.
Time passed, and then she heard someone rushing inside the cells. Getting to her feet, she was surprised to see her father on the other side.
“Harper, honey.”
She got off the bed and stepped up to the bars. “Hey, Ian.”
“No, what the fuck? Why are you doing this?” Ian turned his head, and Harper saw Draven was there, a key in his finger, twirling it around as if he was a madman.
“Be careful there, Ian. You know I don’t like any attitude.”
“You’re going to have her freeze to death.”
“I’m teaching her a lesson. If you want, I could have beaten her last night. I wouldn’t have stopped at one hit either. I’d have probably sold her to Lucas, and you know what he likes to do to women.”
Harper watched her father pale. She stepped away from the bars. “You knew about this place.”
Ian couldn’t lie.
He didn’t say a word, but one look and she knew. He’d known about this place, and still he worked for them, taking money, ignoring that men and women were dying. They were being tortured.
Draven laughed. “You really think your old man made his living by being a good guy? By doing the right thing? He doesn’t have a clue how to do that. He’s rotten from the inside out. Just like us.”
“I’m not rotten,” Harper said. “I know right from wrong, and what you’re doing now, it’s fucking wrong.”
“Look at you, one night here wasn’t enough to break you.”
“Is that what you’re wanting to do, Draven? Break me? Is that what Axel hoped to achieve by hurting me?” She held the collar down.
“Harper, don’t,” Ian said. “You’re finally back. Just let this pass. Okay? You can come home and I’ll take care of you.”
“Stonewall is not my home. It hasn’t been my home for a long time.” She looked at her father, and she saw how he’d aged. “You want to punish me for leaving, fine. Do it.”
She walked back to the mattress and lay down on the surface. There was no point in fighting with them.
“Harper, please, just do as they say.”
“I didn’t need you ten years ago, and I certainly don’t need you now.” She shouldn’t have called him.
She heard him sigh, and in the next second, his footsteps disappeared. Harper didn’t move.
“So, you’re still hating dear old daddy?” Draven asked.
She tilted her head down so that she stared at the cell doors. “You’re still here?”
“Why not? I own these cells.”
“A visit from you and Axel, this must be my lucky night.”
“I want to know about your fiancé.”
She gritted her teeth. He wasn’t going to find anything out about Ethan. He had no right to know anything.
“I want to know about him.”
“I’ve got nothing to tell.”
“Come on, you were going to marry the guy.”
She rubbed her finger where the ring had been. It was empty now. No ring.
“Are you going to let me go?”
“You want to stay in these cells?” he asked, instead of answering her.
“Why would I want to stay in these cells?” She sat up and looked at him. “What is it you want from me?”
“Me? I don’t want anything from you. What I want right now is for you to answer my questions. You do, and you’ll get to go to the house to wash.” He winked at her. “Come on, Harper. I know how you like to negotiate.”
“You don’t know a thing about me.”
“Do we have a deal?” he asked.
“Fine. What do you want to know?”
“Your fiancé, does he know your history?”
“No.”
“You were going to marry someone and he didn’t know who you were?”
“It’s not like I could tell him, is it? I didn’t want anything from Stonewall to come back here. Do you know what your father did?” she asked.
“I’m not here to answer your questions. You’re here to answer me.”
“Damn it, Draven, I’m not a monster here.”
“Don’t worry, I am. Does your fiancé know how to get in touch with you?”
“No. Axel broke my phone. Any means he had of getting in touch with me is long gone. He doesn’t know where I lived as a child, or what I did. I lied to him about everything so he wouldn’t come hunting, or expect me to want to go back home. I lied about absolutely everything. If you’re expecting him, don’t.”
She placed her hands on her knees, waiting, watching.
“You were going to marry a man, and he didn’t even know that you’d given yourself to four men?” Draven asked.
She couldn’t help it. She touched the base of her back.
Draven burst out laughing. “You still got the ink?”
Harper kept her lips pressed shut. This wasn’t going how she thought it would, if this ever happened. What did she expect? For Draven to welcome her home? She had no home. Draven was doing this because he felt betrayed. He believed Alan, just as she had.
“How did he fuck you seeing other names?”
“I let him believe I was going through a morbid phase and they were my dead
pets.”
This dropped the smile from his lips. The anger was back.
She got a small glimpse of the old Draven, but now, he was gone, and all that stood in his place was a monster.
“I answered your questions.”
“That you did.”
He flicked the key around his finger, and finally, he opened the door.
She got off the bed and took a step toward him, and another, and another. Just as she reached out to grip the door, he locked the cuff he had on his own hand around hers.
She stopped and tried to pull away from him.
“Draven, what the hell?”
“Axel has the key. You’re stuck with me until he comes back. Let’s go.”
“No. I don’t want this. Send me back to the cells.”
“Too late for that.”
He pulled her out of the cells. She didn’t look at anyone as she passed, or at least, as Draven dragged her past them, into the house.
She wanted a shower. To relieve herself during the day, she’d pulled her jeans down and squatted in the corner of the cell. It shamed her to know she’d done this, but it was all she could do.
No amount of begging stopped Draven. They entered his home, and as he dragged her upstairs, men and women who were there stopped to watch.
Draven didn’t stop.
No one spoke to him. No one stopped him. He was a force to be reckoned with.
She saw the fear in others’ eyes as he passed. Everyone was afraid of him. This stopped her from fighting. She was fighting with a man she didn’t know, not anymore.
He opened a large door at the end of a long corridor. Once they were inside, he closed and locked it.
“What was that?” she asked.
“Don’t worry, that doesn’t concern you. You stink.”
“Is this your bedroom?”
“You want to fuck me already, Harper? You are a little slut, aren’t you?”
He didn’t make a move to touch her, and in the next second, they were in the bathroom. He turned on the lights, and seeing the toilet, she felt so much relief flood her.
“Draven, please, I need to use the bathroom.”