There was a thump on the wall and Jalisa jumped. She hurriedly stuffed the box back under the bed, all the while glancing over her shoulder in case someone was about to come in and find her snooping. She pressed her ear up to a hole in the wall where the thump came from and was able to hear into the other room. The hole had a strip of duct tape over it that was so worn out it was hardly even sticky anymore. Glancing through it, she was able to see a flash of Marie walking by. Stone had a peephole into Marie’s room.
“You better calm down. He’s not afraid to kill everybody in here, himself included,” Marie said, her voice very muffled but audible.
“Help us. If you’re so afraid of him, then help us.” Nikita’s tiny hand was seen reaching toward Marie.
“I would if I could, baby doll.” Marie sighed. “If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that you can’t fight against Stone. It just doesn’t work. Lord only knows how my life would have turned out if I never met him.”
“Just call the police. Please, I’m begging you.” Nikita grabbed onto Marie.
“It’s no use thinking about that now. Did I ever tell you what my childhood was like?” Marie ignored Nikita’s begging and continued on with her introspection.
The door opened, and Jalisa pushed the tape back over the hole and jumped onto the bed. She tried to look innocent. Stone walked in with a washcloth that was dripping all over the floor. He pressed the warm rag to her face and rubbed it around in rough circles. Her hands dug into the blankets. She could have asked to clean her own face herself, but it was probably best to let Stone do what he wants right now.
“Look, I know you hate me and all, but I promise that I’m not such a bad guy. Marie hated me at first, too, but now she fucks me for fun. One day you will, too.” Stone patted the dried beer and blood from her face. “I promise you.”
“I promise you that Marie is broken. She didn’t realize that you’re that bad of a guy: you just broke her.” Jalisa bit her lip after she said it, not knowing how he would react. Anger flared in his eyes before he looked away, jaw tensing.
“You’ll be working tonight.” His voice was ice.
“By that, I assume you’ll have a stranger rape me for money?” she asked. Tears pricked in her eyes.
“No. Well, yes. Maybe.” He paused. “If that’s what they’re into. Some of them like the nice and gentle stuff, so you pretend to be a schoolgirl or a virgin or something. Some of them like the sexy in-control type of thing, so become a temptress and a succubus. Some of them like the unwilling stuff, so you play the victim.”
“I’m going to puke.” She put her head between her knees and recited Psalm 23:4. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
“Will you give it a rest?” Stone sighed. “Now, you’re going to be taking half of Marie’s customers tonight. Had you not tried to escape, you would be taking your own this weekend. I had some good guys picked out for you. Simple wedding fantasy. Nothing too rough. But now you went and pissed me off by making my life harder. So, now I’ve got to make your life harder, too. You get that? You see how this is all your fault?”
“I didn’t ask for this.” She untucked her head.
“You’ll be taking Marvin and A.J.” Stone stood up. He walked to the door and paused before opening it. “I hope they don’t go too easy on you. You’ll need a rough breaking-in now.”
Jalisa curled up on the bed and prayed until noises from the other room drew her attention. Stone entered Marie’s room and told her to go and get Jalisa ready. Jalisa prayed for a few minutes for Nikita’s safety until Marie came in, her facial expression as wobbly as her high heels.
“If it makes you feel any better, most of the girls that we have...connected with paying customers have been willing.” Marie paused, looking away from Jalisa’s eyes. “Well, more willing than you. Most of them were addicts who needed a fix.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.” Jalisa pushed herself into the corner of Stone’s smelly bed.
“I have to get you ready for your first customer.” Marie motioned for her to get up. “Come on, I have to show you how to bathe like a real prostitute does before work.”
Jalisa followed Marie to the bath. She glanced at the door, but Marie warned her to not even think about. There was no telling what Stone would do to Nikita if Jalisa didn’t participate. The women entered the bathroom and Marie shut the door. Jalisa thought about knocking Marie out, but Marie warned her of the same thing.
Jalisa had stripped in front of someone only a few times in her adult life. There was her doctor when she was receiving a physical. There was Nikita when they shared a room. There was Erik when they were making love. This didn’t feel like any of those times.
Marie refused to turn around, saying she would have to get used to her private parts not being so private anymore. Jalisa toed out of her shoes and socks first in a thinly veiled attempt to give herself more time to adjust to what was happening. She folded her socks and put them in the corner. Sadistically, Marie forced her to strip down completely before even plugging up the tub and turning on the water.
“I know it seems like I’m being hard on you, but trust me. You’ll thank me later.” Marie stuck her hand under the water and then cranked it up to maximum hot. “I had a woman who brought me into this lifestyle just like I’m doing for you. She did the same things for me, and thought I thought her cruel at the time, it helped me down the road. It’s easier to have your humanity stripped bare in front of only one other woman and not have it ripped off by a group of men.”
“Is there any way out of this? Please, I’ll do anything.” Jalisa was shaking so hard her knees were knocking together.
“Girls have been asking that question since men figured out they can make money from our lady parts.” Marie ran one manicured finger over the surface of the water. Her eyes flashed to Jalisa and Jalisa understood.
“At least tell me how I can make this easier on myself. Stone said I was to...service? Entertain? I don’t know the polite word for it. I was supposed to ‘be’ with Marvin and A.J.” Jalisa dipped her toe into the scalding hot bath water before yanking it out.
“You have to bathe in water as hot as possible. You’ll start to crave it that way after a while. Makes you feel clean.” Marie took off her heels and threw them over next to Jalisa’s discarded clothing. “As for Marvin and A.J., you’re going to have trouble with Marvin.”
“Why?” Jalisa made herself shin-deep in the water for a moment before kneeling down.
“He’s kind of weird.” Marie pulled out a tube of body oil and dumped some in the bath along with a salt soak. “His fetishes change every week, so I can’t really give you any forewarning on what it might be. The only thing he consistently enjoys are blowjobs and touching feet.”
“And A.J.?” Jalisa kneeled in the water.
“He always does a breaking and entering fantasy. Typically, you sit in a chair facing away from him and put on a necklace and pretend to put on makeup then he grabs you from behind. You struggle. He throws you onto the bed and has his way with you. I always use it as a chance to freshen up my lipstick. You’re going to want to watch out because he gets pretty rough. Just try to rub your clit a lot and put a bunch of lube inside of you beforehand. Do that with every customer. Nothing hurts worse than a man going in dry. ”
“I really don’t want to do that.” Jalisa sunk into the water, the harsh heat being twistedly soothing.
“You’re really going to regret having your hair that way. It’s a target. Men will grab it, and some may rip some out. You’re going to want to get it as silky as possible and soon.” Marie handed her some soap and let her start lathering herself up.
“I can’t really get it as smooth as yours in a snap of a finger.” Jalisa thought about how long it would take to relax her hair and style it before considering just wearing a wig that wasn’t secure. If a man pulled too hard
on it, it would come off and maybe he would be satisfied with that.
Over the next hour, Jalisa was scrubbed, shaved, moisturized, and had a pound of makeup applied. She hated to admit it, but she looked good. Marie had stuck on fake eyelashes and given her a ruby smoky eyes with wings so sharp it could cut a man. The cut on her forehead was covered with a bandage that was disguised with makeup. Marie said that that was how she never looked injured.
Marie wrapped her up in a towel and sent her outside. Stone was waiting on the couch and rose upon seeing her. He walked over to her with a look of determination.
“Can I free peek? They always give me a free peek.” Stone started to reach for the towel, but, thankfully, Marie spoke up.
“You leave her alone now. I’ve got her all prepared and you’re going to ruin it.” Marie walked out with Jalisa’s clothing in her arms. She thrust it into Stone’s chest. “Why don’t you go put these in the laundry room and I’ll get her into some lingerie?”
Surprisingly, the room where this would take place was not on the upstairs floor. Clad only in a towel, Jalisa made her way downstairs with Marie. She was nervous about someone seeing her, but also hoping some random bar patron would put two and two together and call the police. The bar room was empty and there was a chain wrapped around the door handle from the inside. Jalisa figured this wasn’t to keep people out, but to keep her in.
Marie lead her into a room near the break room that Jalisa was lead to believe was unused. Stone told her it just housed pipes and a water heater. It was instead set up like a porn room set. Dark blue walls, black laminate flooring, and shelves and shelves of sex toys. In the middle was a huge bed. A chair sat inconspicuously in the corner, but Jalisa knew what it was for. Soon A.J. would be pulling her out of it in the middle of his home invasion fantasy. Marie walked over to a squat little dresser and pulled out some red hot lingerie.
“Here.” She laid it out on the bed. Jalisa hand no idea what the name of this scrap of lace was, let alone how to put it on.
Marie helped her into it. The red lace corset required two people anyway. Jalisa put her hands up against the wall as Marie squeezed the breath right out of her. The outfit was completed with a tiny pair of black panties and black thigh highs with garter belts.
“Now, there’s a board of sanded wood underneath the bed. If he wants to pretend to fuck you somewhere hard, like on a road or chained up in his basement, have him pull it out and put it on the bed. You can place a thin blanket over it to prevent splinters.” Marie gave her one last look and pulled her in for a hug. Jalisa’s eyes welled with tears and she tilted her head back to keep them in her eyes. This was reality now. All that was left to do was wait for first man.
Chapter 10
His coffee was getting cold. Erik pushed it away and checked his phone one more time. No new calls. No new messages. Nothing. He gestured for the waitress to bring him another coffee before stepping outside to make a call.
“Front desk? How may I help you?” a woman’s voice answered. He had the front desk of the hotel on speed dial.
“I need to see if my girlfriend has checked into our room yet.” He tried not to sound worried.
“Of course. What name is the reservation under?” Soft typing echoed through the line.
“Erik Petrov. E-r-i-k P-e-t-r-o-v.” As an immigrant, he had gotten used to having to spell out his name.
“She hasn’t checked in, yet.” The woman paused. “Is there anything else I can help you with, Mr. Petrov?”
“No, thank you.” Erik hung up and went back into the diner. His coffee sat at his table, and he poured cream and sugar in it before taking a sip. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he knew he couldn’t just sit here and drink coffee. There was no way she would take three hours to pack.
Ten minutes later, he had a plan. Erik zipped back home, breaking the speed limit many times. The sun hung lazily in the sky, ushering in twilight. A light rain pattered down from the heavens. There was no telling where Jalisa was, who was with her, and what was happening. All he knew was that Jalisa would not skip out on him, no matter what.
The guard disguised as an old man nodded at him when he zipped in. Jogging up the steps, he paused and looked over at him. It was a long shot that the man had seen anything, but his post did give him a good view of the road, and it was probably better if Erik covered all his bases.
“Did Jalisa come by here?” Erik asked.
“The black girl?” The man said before he remembered he was speaking to his boss. “No, sir. Ms. Jalisa did not come by here. Even if she did, I wouldn’t have let her past. No one gets by me and my Beretta. No, sir.”
“I don’t have time to dissect everything that is wrong with what you just said. I’ll leave it at this: if you ever shoot or threaten Jalisa in any way, I will flay your flesh off of your body in the worst way possible.” Erik tilted his head down and spoke with a heavy Russian accent. “Now, I will ask you one more question: Jalisa or no, have you seen anything unusual going on?”
“No, sir.” He lowered his head. Erik brushed past him, no longer having a use for this conversation.
He stomped around, yelling in Russian at his men to rally. With his anxiety building, he descended to the basement. He hadn’t been the demon he was in the mafia in a long time. Erik pushed that part of himself down, but as he reached the bottom step, he felt that part of him rise up and cloak him like a shroud.
The basement was the center of their operations. Walls lined with guns glinted in the light. Storage crates identical to the ones in The Semya clustered in the middle. Men crowded around them with crowbars, loudly prying up their tops to reveal their contents. Bulletproof vest, brand new. It had been a long time since he himself was in the middle of the action, but only he could do this.
“I want six good men ready to go in ten minutes.” He shrugged out of his suit jacket and strapped on a vest. The familiar weight brought him back and he smiled devilishly.
Six of his best men fell in line at the door. They stood with their feet apart, weapons down at their sides, and their eyes facing forward. Erik felt like a military commander as he walked up and down their ranks. Three from Russia. Three from the US. All trained by the mafia and ready to attack at a moment’s notice.
“Men,” Erik barked. “I do not know what has happened. The only information I have is that the love of my life has not checked into our hotel.
“Now, I know that in and of itself does not mean that something bad has happened or require such an...intense response. There could be a computer error, a typo, the cab could have broken down, she could be checking in right now as I speak…I know that, but something inside of me tells me that she is in danger.
“We’ll be dealing with Stone, and as most of you know, he is a formidable enemy. He seems to have zero sense of self-preservation. Stone will throw himself at you through a hail of bullets. He doesn’t care. If he doesn’t care about himself, you can imagine how little he cares about you.
“There are many times we have physically fought where the only thing keeping me alive is Stone having fun. He likes to fight; it’s a game to him. He has many opportunities to shoot me, but he prefers to stab. Stone is the kind to play with his food.”
“Will it just be Stone or will he have backup?” One of the men raised his hand politely.
“He will most likely have friends with him. If you see a woman in a bright colored dress, don’t kill her. Even if she shoots at you, don’t kill her. Find a way to subdue her peacefully. I’m assigning you two,” Erik pointed at two of the Americans, “to find this woman and, oh, I don’t know, tie her up to something. Keep her peaceful until after the fight. Stone has been abusing her for years and years. She’ll most likely feel some sort of twisted sense of loyalty to him.”
“Yes, sir,” the two said in perfect time.
“The other four of you will have other jobs. Two of you,” he pointed at the last American and a Russian, “will search for Nikita and protect her. She is a
bout five foot, ninety to one hundred pounds. 14 years old. Black. Little colorful streak in her hair. Looks like Jalisa because she is her little sister. The other two will be with me. We’re going in the front.
“I want you all to blend in. We look like normal people, okay? Cover up your vests with jackets. Don’t wear your weapon in plain sight.”
“Yes, sir,” they all called down the line.
“You have three more minutes to locate your jackets, hide your weapons, and pile in the car.” Erik watched them all scurry away before slipping on a lumpy, unattractive jacket. He got into the car with a heavy sigh. In total, there were eight of them. Six men with him, a medic, and Erik himself.
The air in the car was thick. No one spoke and no one dared to suggest they turn on the radio. Erik drove one car, with an identical one, driven by the medic, following behind him. Each move Erik made, the medic copied. Soon enough, they were pulling into the potholed parking lot of The Semya.
The only cars in the parking lot that Erik could identify were Stone’s shitty truck and Marie’s BMW. There was one red four door that Erik thought belonged to a ‘customer’ of Marie’s, but Erik couldn't be sure. The Semya was not a booming business by any means, but it was still strangely quiet.
“Those assigned to locate Marie and Nikita, go in through the employee’s entrance. You two with me. We go in the front,” Erik told them all after they had gathered round him.
The men went on their way while Erik and his group paused in front of the bar. Erik pressed his face up to the glass on either side of the door. All the lights were off online except for the neon sign on top of the bar. It’s pink light blinked into the darkness, but still illuminated nothing of note.
“Closed?” Erik questioned. The bar closed when the last customer left. It didn’t even keep government regulated hours. He made a motion with his hand and one of his men tried to open the door. It jiggled uselessly over and over, no matter how hard the man pushed.
Her Russian Millionaire (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 10