The door handle turned slowly. Julia held her breath. Moments later her boss’s face appeared in front of her. She gave her him most submissive smile. He glared at her. His gaze could have burned a hole in her head.
“Mr. Sterling, I am so glad that you’re here. I came here to see you. Can you please untie me? I think that this is all one big understanding.”
Mr. Sterling slowly walked towards her. He didn’t say anything but he kept his eyes fixed on her. There would be hell to pay for this security breach.
He walked to within about a foot of Julia and stopped. He looked down at her and smirked. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he seemed to be enjoying the sight of Julia’s curvy body tied to the chair.
“I think I like that look on you,” he said.
It took Julia a minute to figure out what exactly he was referring to.
“Have you ever been tied up before?” He asked.
“Please, Mr. Sterling I only came here to—”
“Silence!” He yelled. And it felt as if the whole room shook. Julia stopped talking. “Don’t open your mouth until I tell you to. Is that understood? First of all, I didn’t instruct anyone to tie you up. But I rather like the work that they did. Second, I want to know right away who sent you here. If you reveal whom you are working for then your life may be spared but if you refuse this will be the last day of your pretty little existence. Is that understood?”
Julia stared at Mr. Sterling with her mouth open. She was trying to digest what he had just said. But it didn't quite make sense to her. Had he really said something about her being sent by someone?
“I’m not sure what you mean, Mr. Sterling.”
“You know exactly what I mean. Playing dumb won’t help you so I suggest you tell the truth now while you still have time to save yourself.”
“Save myself?” Julia said, her eyes wide with fear. This was all too much. Was he actually accusing her of being sent there by someone?
“What I really need to know is whether it was a rival real estate company. Or was it another pack? Who do you work for?”
“But Mr. Sterling I only work for you. That’s why I brought the file here.”
“Bullshit!” He yelled. “If you refuse to talk then I will be forced to hold you hostage in my mansion until such time as you see fit to start answering questions.”
“No, please. I’ll do whatever you want. I promise. I made a foolish mistake and I’m sorry for it. I was afraid that you would fire me. If that’s what you want then I completely understand. But please let me go. These ropes are digging into my flesh. They’re going to leave me with deep bruises.”
Mr. Sterling snickered. “Trust me,” he said bending down and bringing his face close to Julia’s. “Deep bruises should be the least of your worries right now. You don’t seem to understand that for all of us this is a matter of life and death. But I guess that would be too much for a spoiled brat like you to understand.”
Julia was stung by her boss’s words. She could feel anger welling up inside of her. She knew that I would be wise to hold her tongue. But that wasn't going to be possible. She wasn’t the type of woman who allowed men to speak to her anyway they pleased. She wasn’t raised like that.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said angrily. “But I do know that you’re a real asshole. You must take a lot of pleasure seeing young women suffer. That's probably the sick stuff your into.”
“I think it would be best for you to hold your tongue.”
“I don’t care what you think is best,” Julia said. She knew that she had already said too much. But she was in no mood to back down. “You won’t get away with this. You won’t. You and your stupid pack will eventually be discovered and you will pay for whatever you do to me.”
Mr. Sterling stepped back and crossed his arms against his chest. He couldn’t help admitting that he was impressed by Julia’s unwillingness to submit. Most young women would have broken down and begun pleading for mercy by now.
“I see you’ve got some fire in you,” Mr. Sterling said. “It was hard to tell during the interview. You kept blushing and looking away. But I still felt like you had something that could be valuable to the company. It seems I was right. It’s a pity that you’ve gone and messed everything up.”
And with that Mr. Sterling turned his back on Julia and walked out of the room.
Chapter 5
For the next fifteen minutes, Julia contemplated her fate and she wondered what she had done to end up in this predicament. It would have been perfectly natural for her to feel sorry for herself or to resign herself to her fate. But she wouldn’t do any of those things. And then she remembered what Mr. Sterling had said about her being a spoiled brat. That really pissed her off because it was so untrue. She’d been living in the city for five years and she had fought like hell to be able to make it here. In that time she had seen a lot of friends and acquaintances give up and move back to their small towns. And some had even gone back to live with their parents. There had been times, plenty of times, when she had considered giving up. And on many occasions her parents had tried to convince her to come back home. But deep down Julia knew that they were proud that their little girl had gone across the country to the big city and had found a way to support herself. And she knew that they would be somewhat disappointed if she returned home.
No, whatever happened to her from here going forward, she wouldn’t have any regrets. And she wouldn’t submit meekly to whatever punishment that Mr. Sterling and his associates dished out to her. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing that they had broken her sprit.
With those thoughts buzzing around her head, she realized that she wasn’t scared any more. She was angry. This was no way to treat an employee. This was no way to treat anybody.
The sound of footsteps approaching the door snapped Julia backed to the present. She braced herself for whatever was to come next. The door opened and three large men dressed in black suits entered the room. They were all wearing dark sunglasses.
“Ms. Abbot we’ve been instructed to untie you. It is in your best interests to obey all of our orders. Is that understood?”
Julia hesitated before answering. She didn’t want to agree to anything until she knew what exactly she was agreeing to. So many questions swirled around her head.
“What does that mean exactly?” She asked. “Are you going to let me go?”
“Ms. Rache, we are not here to answer any of your questions. You will find out your fate soon enough.”
“Fuck you!” Julia blurted out without thinking. It certainly wasn’t the smartest thing to say in such a situation but she’d been unable to contain herself.
The three men snickered. They seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the spectacle before them.
“You are a foolish woman. I’m not surprised that you have put yourself into such a perilous position.”
It only took the men a few minutes to untie her. She almost started crying when she saw the marks that the ropes had left on her skin. But there was no time for her to rub her wounds.
Two hands gripped her arms and lifted her up from the chair.
“Where are you taking me? Put me down!” Julia screamed, as she twisted and turned from side to side, desperate to get free. But it was no use. She was their captive and there was nothing she could do about it. But that didn’t stop her from fighting back. She continued to twist and squirm as the men led her down a long hallway. The next thing she knew a bag was put over her head.
“What? Stop! Help!” She yelled desperately but it was no use. She heard what sounded like car doors opening and then she felt herself being lifted off the ground. She was put down on what felt like carpet. She heard two doors closing very close to her ears. Then she noticed that her arms had been tied behind her back. This was too much for her. She was certain that they were going to kill her. She started sobbing uncontrollably. Why did they have to be so cruel? Why did they have to make her suffer? I
f they were going to kill her anyway, why not just get rid of her now?
As these thoughts rattled around her brain, the car engine started and she was thrown off balance as the car pulled off.
Thirty minutes later the car came to a stop. During the ride Julia had cried her eyes out. She was too tired to cry anymore. She just wanted this nightmare to be over. She heard doors opening and then she felt two strong hands gripping her arms.
“I hope the ride wasn’t too bumpy,” she heard a voice say. “And I hope that you were able to breathe all right. This whole ordeal, at least this part of it, will be over in a few minutes.”
Julia was too scared to think about what exactly that meant.
She was relieved when the sack was finally taken off her head and the restraints were removed from her wrists. She didn’t think that she could tolerate that horrific treatment for much longer. And she was very surprised to discover that she had been taken into a luxurious room. She had no idea where she was. But she figured that she must still be in the city. It had to be either the Upper East Side or the Upper West Side. Those were the only areas where you find a room like this. She had a strong feeling that she was in a mansion. And those were the only two areas where you find such large, opulent homes.
All she could do was wait. She had no way to communicate with the outside world. She was completely cut off from society and she feared that things were only going to get worse for her. After tossing and turning in the bed for an hour or so, she was finally able to get to sleep.
Chapter 6
Mr. Sterling paced around his office angrily. He still couldn’t figure out how this situation had come to pass. But he was determined to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. The survival of the pack might be at stake. He had to figure out how this woman had learned about the secret back rooms in the restaurant. If the hostess was telling the truth, then it was Julia who had mentioned the back rooms. This was a very serious matter. If she knew about the existence of those rooms, it was possible, even likely that she knew much more. He shook with anger. Why hadn’t he picked up on this energy when he was interviewing her. Was he already losing his sixth sense, his primal instincts? He was only 29. Could he really be on the decline at such an earlier age? He had seen and lived and done a lot more than most men his age. That was of necessity. When his father had died suddenly in a plane crash, he had been forced to take control of all of his family’s endeavors. He had welcomed the challenge. He thought of it as his way to repay his parents, to show his gratitude for all they had done for him.
There was no way that he would allow anyone or anything to jeopardize the survival of the pack or his business. He would have to organize a meeting with the senior members of the pack, the men that his father had trusted more than any others. Then he would go speak with his young secretary. The thought of seeing her later that evening sent an electric charge through his body. That surprised and alarmed him. It would be best for all involved to keep any sort of feelings out of this. But he couldn’t help admiring how much spunk and fire she had shown earlier. Most women didn’t dare talk to him that.
What possessed her to be so brave? He wondered. But he had no more time for such wandering thoughts. There was serious business to attend to. Because of the breach of security that business would have to be done elsewhere. It wouldn’t be safe for pack to meet in the restaurant until they figured out who exactly this secretary was. And who she was really working for.
Mr. Sterling arrived at the secretive downtown location hungry for answers. Maybe it was someone in the pack, one of his trusted advisers even, who was leaking information to their rivals. That thought made him red with rage. That was a capital offense and would be punished accordingly. How had that girl been tipped off to their secret meeting?
Mr. Sterling stood in front of his most trusted advisers. He didn’t want to shift into a lion. He needed to keep control of his emotions. It would be much easier for him to do that in his human form. He would need his clear rational human mind to get through this. But he was still attempting to channel his animal instincts to pick up on any signs of dissent or betrayal amongst his men.
“Gentleman, I think we all know why we are gathered here tonight.”
There was a bit of murmuring and whispering amongst the men. There seemed to be a few contrasting opinions about how they had ended up there. But Mr. Sterling was in no mood for even the slightest bit of dissent.
“Silence!” He bellowed. The room shook with the sound of his voice. His men stared at him with alarm. It had been years since he had raised his voice like that. It was never a good sign.
“As I just said. I think we all know why we are here tonight. There was a serious security breach tonight. The matter will be thoroughly investigated over the next 24 hours.”
One of the senior members of the clan asked for permission to speak. Mr. Sterling motioned for him to stand up.
“Thank you for the opportunity to speak,” the member said. “I know that we are all very disturbed by what happened. Of course, the matter will be investigated. But we would like to know that the girl has been taken care of. And by taken care of we mean permanently removed.”
There was a loud collective roar from the men. Apparently they all had a similar concern.
Mr. Sterling wasn’t ready to say what exactly he planned on doing with his secretary. Before speaking to her when she was tied up he would have agreed to permanently removing her. But after talking with her for bit, he was now not nearly so committed to that solution. But he wasn’t completely against it either. It was something that would have to be considered. But there were probably other options as well.
“I assure you that all options are currently being considered in regards to the young woman who walked into our meeting. Our first priority will be to thoroughly interrogate her and find out how she learned about our secret spot.”
There were a few groans and snickers from the men. Mr. Sterling did not like the way the meeting was going. He could feel a prideful anger welling up inside of him. He had a strong desire to roar and shake the entire building. But he figured it might be smarter to take a more diplomatic approach. Whatever decision he made, he wanted his men to have their input. He wasn’t going to be able to get to the bottom of this alone. He would need each and every one of his men, especially the senior members. These were the men who had supported him from the first days of his reign. These were the men who had helped him purge the rebellious members of the pack who had refused to submit to his rule. If he couldn’t turn to them in a time of need whom could he turn to?
Another one of the senior members asked for permission to speak. Permission was granted.
“There is some confusion amongst the pack,” the member said. “It was assumed that the interrogation already took place. But it seems as if that isn’t the case. Would you please clarify? The member sat down. And it seemed like all of men gave their assent to his question.”
Mr. Sterling did his best to keep his calm. There was no sense getting upset with his most trusted men. Their concerns were legitimate. Their confusion was understandable. But he still wasn’t quite sure how to frame his response.
“Gentleman, I appreciate your concerns. For now I have said all that I can say. There was an initial interrogation with the young woman. But right now she is being held in a secret location and she will be interrogated again shortly.”
“Kill her!” One of the members blurted out.
“Yeah, kill her!”
“Bring us to her, we will do it! Your hands will be clean.”
“Silence!” Mr. Sterling roared. For several seconds the entire building shook. The men stood up, afraid that the ceiling might collapse. The shaking eventually stopped and the men sat back down.
“I will not tolerate any more dissent. I have heard your concerns and I will take them into consideration. This meeting is now adjourned.”
The men began to slowly file out of the room. They spoke in low voices and
no one dared look at the pack leader.
When the entire room had cleared out, Mr. Sterling stood alone shaking with rage.
Chapter 7
The next morning Julia was awoken by two loud knocks on her door. For a moment she forgot where she was. She looked around the room. Nothing looked familiar. She thought that she might have been dreaming. But when the door opened and she saw the face of her boss Mr. Sterling she sat straight up in the bed and pulled the covers up by her neck.
“I hope you slept well, Julia. I have a lot of questions to ask you.”
“Yeah, well I have a bunch of questions for you too,” she said. She could see her hands trembling. She didn’t want him to know just how afraid she was. But she seemed to have no control over them.
“I’m afraid you’re not in any position to be asking questions of me,” Mr. Sterling said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. As he walked towards the bed, he kept his eyes fixed on her.
Sophie’s whole body trembled. She was terrified about what he was going to do to her. No man had ever looked at her like that before. She found it both frightening and exciting.
Mr. Sterling continued, “You have put yourself into a very precarious position. I am sure that you were well compensated. And that is why I absolutely must find out who sent you to our meeting place.”
“You did!” Sophie blurted out.
Mr. Sterling’s mouth gaped open. He looked dazed. “What did you say?” He took a step closer to the bed. Sophie recoiled. She had the sense that he was about to attack her.
“I heard you talking in the office about having a backroom in all of your restaurants. I think you were making a joke about some woman you dated. But I figured that the part about the room was true.”
Interracial Romance: Gay Romance: Bound By His Own Desires (MMM Endowed Black Men Bondage Threesome Romance) (A Billionaire's Freedom Book 3) Page 111