“Damn, it really is a mansion, isn’t it?” We pull into the circular driveway of a three-story white palatial building with an extended portico that runs the full length of its front.
“Yeah.” We each have our own rooms on the third floor.” Eddie tells me.
Thomas grunts and gives off an evil sounding laugh. “You gotta earn your room though.”
“What does that mean?” Shit, hope this isn’t like pledging a fraternity.
Thomas turns and grins at me like a Halloween pumpkin. “It means, you have to do something to prove you’re loyal. I did it by killing a man who wouldn’t join us.”
Eddie chimes in. “I brought Marco, a brand-new Mercedes.” He points at the champagne colored car parked next to a now defunct fountain.
“So, where will I be staying until Marco approves me?”
Thomas gets out of the car and opens the backdoor. “You get a mattress on the floor in the basement.”
The inside of the house is as impressive as the outside with a foyer so big, sounds echo through it.
Thomas puts my hands against the wall and frisks me. He finds my ankle gun and my dagger. He already has my rifle over his arm. “You’ll eventually get these returned after we know we can trust you.”
“Take care of my dagger, it is a family heirloom.” It really isn’t, but I love that knife.
“Sit there.” Thomas points at a fancy gold gilded chair then he heads up the stairs. He yells back over his shoulder, “Eddie, guard him.”
Eddie rests his rifle over his arm but keeps his eyes on me.
“I’m not stupid enough to run away.” I say snidely.
“You don’t understand, Thomas and me will get rewarded for bringing you in.” His smile grows wider. “Marco already owes us a favor for catching his woman. Now he owes us two.”
My heart beats faster, he’s talking about Shelley. “A woman?” I need to cover my tracks here and act like a fellow creep. “Wow, does Marco share?”
“No, I do not share.” The words come bellowing from the top of the stairs and echo through the room. Thomas is standing on the landing with another man. Marco. I can tell, not only by his answer, but by the way he carries himself. He has Boss written all over him.
“Only kidding, Sir. I was just making small talk.” I answer as I stand to meet him.
He walks downstairs, his eyes continually on me. When he gets in front of me, he scowls, and sucker punches me in the stomach. “That’s for your small talk. Do. Not. Do. It. Again.”
Grabbing my stomach, I grunt and bend over as if in pain. To be honest, his punch was nothing; he hits like a girl. “Sorry, Sir.” I straighten up and stand at attention.
“What’s your name, boy?”
Boy? I’m a Marine, asshole. God, I want to kill him. “Ben Rivers.”
“Where you from, Ben? You talk funny.”
“The Midwest, near Chicago. Out here going to school at UCLA.”
“Oh, we’ve got us a college boy.” Marco says as he walks around me. “You look a little old for school. Why’s that?”
“I was in the military, Sir. Going to school on the GI bill.”
He claps his hands and then slaps my back. “Perfect. I need trained men.”
“Welcome to the Leones del Valles, the lions of the valley. My goal is to take over the entire valley and then, when we’re strong enough, the rest of Los Angeles.” He puts his hand on my shoulder. “Your job, is to help us grow, protect what is ours and collect up what we need to get the job done.”
“The guys told me I have to prove myself. What’s that about?”
“I need to know you’re loyal. You can choose how you prove it to me. You just have to do it within the first week you’re with us.”
I nod that I understand. “What happens if I don’t?”
He snickers, and Thomas joins in. “You don’t want to know.”
Another man walks into the foyer carrying an assault rifle. He’s a large bear of a man built like an NFL linebacker. He looks me over like I’m a disgusting little ant. “Hey, Boss, who the hell is this?”
Marco, introduces us. “This is Ben. He’s new,” then nods at the big guy. “This is Adam, my second in command. You’ll take orders from him.”
I nod. “Yes, Sir.”
“Well, my Princesa is upstairs waiting for me. I better go. Don’t want to keep the little lady waiting.” He chuckles and then addresses his second, “Adam, show the man his room and work out a loyalty plan.”
“Sure thing, Boss.”
Marco goes back upstairs. I watch as he turns left at the landing. Shelley’s some place up there. I send her a mental message. “I’m here to rescue you. Hold on.”
Thomas walks in from outside and throws me my pack. “It’s clean.”
“Not the underwear.” I respond back.
Neither Adam or the rest get my joke. They’re a bunch of idiots.
The basement is not what I imagined. My mind thought dungeon, leaky stone walls, hard floors and rats. This basement has a fully equipped gym, and a family room with a competition worthy pool table in the middle plus many other amenities.
Adam leads me to a door back by the machinery room. “This is your room. You’ll be locked in here at night and when not assigned to work duty. Someone will come get you for meals and take you upstairs.”
“So, this prisoner thing only lasts till I prove myself, right?”
“Yeah.” He pushes me inside. “Think about something you can do to prove yourself. I’ll talk to you later.”
The door slams shut, and I hear the deadbolt slide in place.
The room is a simple. It was probably a storage closet at one time. It’s square, maybe ten by ten with tile floors and two tiny two by four horizontal windows about six feet off the floor. A twin-sized mattress is tucked against one wall. The only other things in the room are a wooden nightstand with a candle and a book of matches on it. There’s also a bucket in the corner with a sign over it that reads, ‘Toilet’.
I roll my sleeping bag out on the mattress and lay down. I need to figure out how to prove myself to Marco. I need access to the whole house, plus, the longer I’m in this box, the longer Shelley is with that bastard.
Chapter Thirty-One
Shelley
Nine days trapped in Marco’s room.
My only contact to the outside is through the bay window in the reading nook. It looks out on what once was a manicured backyard now overgrown and drying from lack of watering. There’s an Olympic size pool and hot tub built off to the right side. Every day, a man with brown hair, tests the water and makes sure it stays clean. Sometimes, I see the men sitting by the pool and hear their laughs. There’s also a possible escape route; a wooden gate opens to a dirt path that appears to run the full back length of the property.
Twenty-one sexual encounters. Each one satisfying for him and for me, he makes sure of it.
I’ve come to grips with things. I’ve stopped feeling dirty and guilty about enjoying it. This is a new world and to survive in it, I need to use all my skills, all my weapons. Right now, my body is my strongest weapon and my ability to please him, my greatest skill.
Zero; the number of times he’s hit me or treated me unkindly.
I’m finding him hard to hate. He brings me whatever I ask for, feeds me well and treats me like royalty but I do hate that he keeps me locked behind a stupid door. He’s such a dichotomy. The Marco he is with me, is not the Marco he is to everyone else.
Nine days away from Hank and my family.
I miss the kids, the guys, Mala, but most of all, I miss Hank. I need to be back in his arms again, hear his laugh, feel his strength.
My thoughts are interrupted by the dead bolt being opened. Marco’s back. Good, it’s time to make a few demands. Time to get my flirt on.
I turn toward the door and put on a welcoming smile. “Papi, I’m glad you’re here.”
He chuckles as he approaches and kisses my forehead. “Oh, my Princesa
, you missed me?”
“Yes, I missed you. It’s lonely up here by myself day after day.” I put my hand on his chest and lean in close. “When are you going to let me out of this prison of a room? I promise I won’t run away, I just want to go outside for some fresh air.”
He surprises me with his answer. “If you promise to be good, I’ll take you outside and you can start eating dinner with the guys downstairs every night.”
Playing along, I clap and give him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, thank you.” I take a step back. “I could cook for everyone. I’m pretty good at it.”
“The guys would love it. Tim’s food sucks.”
“Good, something to do. Thank you, Papi.”
He holds his arms out and I walk into them. “Princesa, show me how much you appreciate me.” He walks us backward until my legs hit the bed.
Number twenty-two.
After we’re done, I ask for favor number two. “Do you think we could find a way to bathe? I know I’m stinky and Papi, you are, too.” I haven’t seen him bathe since I’ve been here, but neither have I. I smell especially below the waist.
He sniffs under his arms and makes a face. “You’re right.” Then he laughs and sniffs himself again. “Life’s not the same without running water.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Just so happens the new guy, Ben, set up a shower system at the house next door. Very smart guy. He hooked up two black solar water bags to the roof of the garage and then McGyvered a shower head. We fill the bags in the morning from the pool and by afternoon, we have enough warm shower for several people to shower. He also set up solar panels and a generator. We now have a working coffeepot and a small refrigerator. Like I said, he’s real smart.”
Sounds like what I set up at home. I wonder if this Ben guy found our set-up. “Can we use it, I need to wash my hair and bathe and put on clean clothes.” I put my hands together in a beg complete with batting eyelashes. “Please.”
“We both can.” He gets out of bed and dresses. “Let me go arrange the showers, and clean clothes for both of us.”
“Don’t forget shampoo, soap and a hair brush, please.” I call out as I turn over on the bed.
He slaps my ass. “Anything for you.”
An hour later, Marco shows up with a huge smile on his face. “Everything’s set. Clean clothes, shampoo, soap. I even ordered the men to stay away so you could have some privacy.”
“Thank you.”
He takes my hand and leads the way. Ten feet from the bedroom door, a man sits on a chair with a shotgun in his hands.
“Guard?” I ask.
“Si, Princesa. I take care of what’s mine.” He pokes me in the arm.
The foyer and the living room are disgusting and smell nasty. There are food wrappers, liquor bottles, beer cans and ashtrays full of cigarette butts everywhere. I hold my nose. “Papi, would you be upset if I cleaned this place up. It is nasty.”
The smile of his face gives me his answer. He thinks I’m settling in. I want to bathe, cook for his men and clean his house. He’s a happy bad guy. “That would be wonderful, my sweet girl.”
I kick it up a notch. “I want you happy, Papi.”
Hand in hand, we step through the hole someone made in the fence. The next-door neighbor’s house is almost as big as Marco’s, but the backyard is nicer. It even has an orchard. “Look, Papi, lemons and oranges. We can make fresh orange juice and I can use the lemons when I cook.”
He beams at me. “Whatever you want, Princesa.”
Just for good measure, I add, “Look,” I run to one of the trees “this is an apricot tree. Next summer we can have fresh fruit.” Now he really thinks I’m staying.
I grab his hand. “Show me this shower.”
The setup is exactly like mine. Whoever made it, copied mine.
“You go first, Princesa.” Marco tells me.
I shake my head no. “No, both of us at the same time. It will use less water.” I take off my clothes but stop when I get to my bra and panties. “Papi, you sure no one will see us?”
“I’m sure, Princesa. I ordered them to stay away.” He slips out of his boxers as he says it and I slip off my underwear.
The shower is only lukewarm, but it feels wonderful. We shower military style. Wet down. Turn the water off. Shampoo and soap up. Turn the water back on. Rinse.
When I’m done rinsing, I run to the pool and dive in. It’s freezing but refreshing. I love it.
A minute later, Marco dives in, grabs me around the waist and moves us to the underwater steps. “I can’t get enough of you, my beautiful girl.” He has me straddle his lap.
Number twenty-three.
The clean clothes Marco promised are in the attached pool house. Wrapped in a fluffy towel, he leads me to a chair with two bags on it. “These are for you.”
“Thank you.”
He waits impatiently for my reaction.
In one bag is a blue sundress with thin spaghetti straps and an empire waist. The other bag, from Victoria’s Secrets, contains several pairs of sexy tong underwear. That’s it. Nothing practical, but I should have known he’d get me a dress. He wants me to be his domestic goddess, a woman who cooks, cleans, makes babies and dresses like a feminine sexpot. I give him a big smile making sure it shows all the way to my eyes, but there’s no way I’ll ever be his Stepford wife. “Oh, thank you, Papi. I love the dress.” Gag me with a spoon, this is going to look silly with my hiking boots.
I pick some lemons and oranges on the way back. “Can you show me the kitchen and your food supplies?”
The kitchen was a designer’s dream, too bad none of it works. Someone has set up a camping stove on top of the range. Dangerous. Maybe they thought the overhead hood would work to ventilate the place. “This setup is wrong, Papi. These little stoves require ventilation, or you could get carbon dioxide poisoning. We need to move it by the back door and cook with the door open.”
His face turns dark and he yells into the living room, “Tim, get your stupid ass in here.”
An older man with brown hair laced with gray enters the kitchen. He’s wearing a ‘Just Say No to Drugs’ t-shirt with grease stains on the front. “Yeah, Boss.”
Marco slaps him on the back of his head. “You could have killed someone, you fucking idiot.”
Tim stammers, “What are you talking about?”
“The camp stove, you fucking fool. You could have filled the room with poisonous gas.” He hits him again.
“But Boss, I put it under the vent.”
Marco growls and points at me. “Shelley, tell the idiot what he did wrong.”
I’m determined to be nice to the men. Maybe I can make a friend, a person I can trust. Someone who might help me escape. I speak softly. “Tim, you had a great idea putting it under the vent, but without electricity to turn on the fan, the hood won’t suck out the fumes.”
He looks at the ground and his face turns red. “Sorry, Boss.”
I take over the conversation. “Listen, Tim, I could use your help, please.” I point at a waist-high metal cart with a butcher-block top that holds a KitchenAid Mixmaster and baking pans. “Let’s clean that rolling bakery cart off and put the camping stove on it. Then, when it’s time to cook, we’ll move the cart in front of the open door.”
Tim’s face lightens up and he gives me a half-smile. “You want me to set it up for you?”
I turn to Marco and step into his chest, bat my eyes, and whisper, “Papi, could Tim help me in the kitchen? I really could use the help.”
He just growls but doesn’t answer.
I add, “Just look at this mess. We need to clean, wash these dirty dishes, organize the food storage and figure out menus.”
Another growl. He grabs Tim by the neck and pushes him up against the wall. “I warn you. Do. Not. Touch. Her. Show her respect. And if anybody tries anything with her, you’re to defend her to the death. Understood?”
“Yeah, Boss. I promise.”
Marco pulls me up against him wrapping his arms around me. I feel his hardness, not only in his pants, but in his eyes. “Princesa, I’m gonna trust you and leave you here with Tim. Remember who you belong to.”
I whisper, “Yes, Papi,” in his ear and place a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”
The minute Marco’s out of earshot. I smile at Tim. “Relax. I’m not gonna be a bitch to you, I promise.”
Tim’s face turns red as he mumbles thanks and goes to work cleaning off the bakery cart. When’s he’s done, he tells me. “Just want you to know I didn’t put the camping stove over there. I’m not that stupid.”
I can tell he’s speaking the truth. “Why’d you take the blame?”
“Cause, it was Adam who did it.”
I roll my eyes and pat his arm. “I understand completely. He’s a scary man.”
“A deadly one.”
I hand Tim an extra-large plastic bag and point him toward the living room. “I want the garbage, everything nasty thrown away. We will not live like pigs in this house. I’ll start to work on the kitchen.”
He smiles and gives me a Yes, Ma’am and we both get busy.
First thing I do is go through the drawers and find a pad of paper and a pencil. I need to make some lists.
The pantry is loaded with snack food but nothing worth eating. I know I shouldn’t care what these guys eat, but the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and I want to win them over.
Just as I’m finished making a shopping list, Marco comes in the room and looks around. He grins at what he sees. “My sweet girl, look at how clean this place is.” He steps behind me and places a kiss on the back of my neck. “A woman’s touch. It needed it.”
Leaning back into his chest, I tell him, “Tim helped a lot. I can’t take all the credit.”
“Maybe not, but you supervised and made sure it got done.”
Starting Over (Starting Over 1 Page 18