Little Doll

by Melissa Jane

  “So, you play a part in what they do?” It was a daring question. I wasn’t even sure why I asked it.

  He simply nodded before continuing. “I do, but not how you may be thinking.” He studied me as if looking for any sign of doubt in my eyes.

  “So how does this all tie in?” I gestured to the images around his room that had been the focus of our conversation.

  Aiden massaged his neck with one hand while contemplating the nude I had deemed my favorite.

  “Well, it all stems from my fathers’ less than desirable business choices, I guess.” He shot me a quick glance. “Hector… he has been sitting on the golden throne of one of the largest international cartels for a long time now. In fact, he inherited the business from his own father.”

  “Such a long time to not get caught.” I should have perhaps filtered that thought before saying it out loud.

  Aiden shrugged his shoulders, seemingly unfazed by my comment.

  “A bloody Mexican history has been a good lesson for him. He has created a system that has him virtually untouchable by all government organizations. Hector’s power and money status enable him to control people, not just groups here and there, I’m talking about in the masses.

  "Over the last twenty years, it had been him alone who has created total dominance of the production and trafficking of cocaine and meth in both Mexico and Colombia. He is a figurehead for those who need to know him and nothing more than a myth for those who want his blood, but that doesn’t stop the layers upon layers of people who want in on his world.”

  He wasn’t gloating about his father's ‘achievements’, it was as if it was a story he had never told another soul before.

  “What is it like having him as a father?” I could only imagine the sick and twisted lifestyle Juan and Aiden had endured growing up.

  “He gave us everything we ever wanted. As boys we were ignorant of his occupation until he thought we were old enough to start learning the ropes.

  "One of the advantages of being raised by Hector Florez is that no one fucks with you. Fearing death is one thing, but fearing death at the hands of this man is a complete other story. You would think that being the kingpin of the drug world would be enough for him, but it doesn’t even come close.”

  I nodded as a way to encourage him to keep talking, although a part of me was still trying to comprehend his words. I had no idea that the asshole was someone of that magnitude. I guess I could find solace knowing that even Kings can be killed. History had proven that much.

  “Doesn’t he feel the slightest bit of remorse for the lives he destroying?”

  “A good business man doesn’t concern himself with the consequences. He saw and understood the cycle involved in the drug world.

  "If you provide the stuff people want they are always going to buy it. Take it away and they are still going to crave it and find it elsewhere.

  "Hector thought the same about women. But instead of taking it away, he saturates the market with them just like he does with his drugs. No point in letting some other fucker come into the game to steal your glory, he always said.”

  “How do these images come into play then?” I didn’t want to talk about Hector anymore.

  “Replacing the ugly with the beautiful,” Aiden said, shrugging his shoulders.

  “You don’t agree with what they do?”

  “They? Laila, I am just as immoral and corrupt as the next person under this roof.”

  “But you are different, I can see that.”

  Why had I felt the need to convince him all of a sudden?

  Aiden didn’t respond straight away. Instead he looked at me as if he was seeing trying to break down the walls of my soul. Had I upset him?

  “We are not blood-related,” he said, without a hint of agitation toward my prying.

  I was at a loss for words at what seemed a complicated life for someone brought into this hell.

  His eyes twinkled as he turned towards the bar. I was perplexed not only by his candid confessions, but also the depth of relief in his eyes when I made the distinction between him and the others.

  Setting out two crystal glasses in front of him, Aiden poured tequila from the genie bottle. Turning back to face me, I saw the twinkle gone, replaced instead with a distant melancholy. Handing a glass to me, we clinked and drank in silence.

  The whole time his eyes avoided mine.

  Coughing immediately after swallowing, my gut protested violently against the jet fuel. It clearly didn’t get better with experience and I knew I would have to build the courage to refuse more.

  “Can I ask how you came to, um…”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “It is ok?” I was asking permission to continue with my question.

  “Go ahead.”

  “How did you end up being at this place, living with Hector and Juan?”

  For a long time, he remained silent. His jaw was set in a firm line, eyes distant as if recalling a troubled memory.

  “I lost my parents when I was young, both in the same night. I was only seven when Hector brought me here. He had heard what happened to my family and he and Rosa, his wife, took care of me as if I was one of their own sons.

  "Then of course there was Juan. He was only young when he inherited me as his new brother. At first he was fine with the divided attention, but when Rosa died twelve years ago, he became a man hell bent on hurting and destroying people, even animals.”

  A cold chill possessed my body at Aiden’s unexpected and deeply personal insight into his life.

  “What’s going through that mind of yours?” Aiden asked curiously, startling me from my thoughts. His demeanor had changed. He seemed guarded so, erring on the side of caution, I opted not to share what was racing through my mind.

  “I hadn’t expected such a history, that’s all,” I partially lied.

  “You asked for honesty,” Aiden said flatly, though his eyes were now smiling. “You think I am like them, don’t you?” His gaze penetrated mine, a challenge evident which unnerved me.

  “I expect the same from you.” Aiden said.

  “The same, what?”

  “Honesty,” he said simply.

  “I don’t know what to say, I don’t even know what to think right now.”

  He watched, studying my features for tell-tale signs.

  “I don’t do what they do, Laila,” he switched from challenge mode to soft and humble. “I don’t prep girls for sale.”

  I almost choked. He held up both hands in defense after seeing my eyebrows shoot up in disbelief. Really? What the hell did he call this? A romantic rendezvous?

  “I have never been a part of grooming, prepping or selling. That is Juan’s job and has been since he turned fifteen.

  “Hector employed his birth son to carry out the dirty work and that included training the girls to not only meet the criteria of the men wanting to buy them, but be able to pleasure a man in such a way that the buyer would keep coming back for regular business.

  "Hector wasn’t interested in one-off sales, like I said, he wanted to flood the market with his branded girls. As for Juan, he didn’t care about the lives he was destroying, he only wanted Hector’s approval.

  "In a way, because he started so young, he knows no better. When I left to be a marine, the Florez family was only a coke and meth empire; when I returned, buying and selling women had been thrown into the mix.

  "And since Hector established his name in the human trafficking business, this place has required constant security to protect the ‘important’ men and woman who come to pick their girls and complete the transaction.”

  “So, you trained as a marine and then you came back here? Why?”

  “It was all part of a plan. I was the level-headed child who got sent away when I was old enough. Hector needed someone who could protect his kingdom if ever the walls were penetrated. So here I am.”

  “Why do you stay here if you detest it so much?”

 
Aiden remained lost in thought as he contemplated my question. “Perhaps I feel some form of obligation toward him. I could have become an orphan after my parents were murdered. To be lost in the system somewhere. But Hector… he saved me from that fate and cared for my wellbeing for most of my life. For that I am eternally in his debt.”

  Aiden’s obliged loyalty wasn’t sitting well in my gut. If he knew what his father and brother were doing stemmed from evil then how could he possibly feel the need to back them?

  “Isn’t Hector afraid he will be caught? I mean, surely he isn’t invisible to the DEA?”

  I didn’t want to believe Hector was of a magnitude that rendered him completely impenetrable. The more powerful he was, the weaker I became.

  “Like I said, he is a smart business man. He distances himself from the production of the drugs. Most of it takes place south of the Mexican border.

  "Hector has a strict rule that no drugs are ever to be on the premises. He produces, but never uses. Not that he would have any trouble if the authorities did turn up on his doorstep. They are all on payroll and have been for many years.

  "But when it comes to women, he keeps them close. Hector believes in using women as a means of networking, to entice and entertain his associates as well as profiting directly from them.”

  “Like me?”

  “You are a special case, but yes, like you.”

  “Why have you told me all of this?” I asked, confused.

  The incriminating information he divulged was significant enough to send everyone in this place straight to prison. Perhaps he figured I was a dead woman anyway so it didn’t matter what he said.

  Aiden folded his arms across his chest, an element of regret flashing across his face from the one-sided confession.

  “So that you understand the magnitude of the situation you are dealing with.”

  “I understand.”

  “Do you?” he sounded doubtful.

  “I understand that right now I am just a girl who is being trained to be a whore for some rich guy.”

  Aiden visibly cringed at my description and his jaw set in an uncompromising hard line. Silence settled as the weight and gravity of the situation played before us.

  “Perhaps,” he said indifferently.

  That stung. There was no sugar coating.

  “You were right about what you said last night.” In a blink of an eye, Aiden turned so cold I felt the arctic chill engulfing me.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t recall.”

  “While you are here under my guidance you will refer to me as Master. You will speak only spoken to you and follow all instruction. Understand?”

  He spoke as if the last half an hour had not even happened, like he hadn’t just told me his life story and dished the dirt on his father or whoever the hell he was. I felt crushed and belittled. The lump expanding in my throat became difficult to swallow and my eyes prickled with tears of frustration and sadness.

  “Yes.” My voice was distant and defeated.

  “Yes?” Aidan closed the space between us with two easy strides until our bodies collided. The feel of his hard, sculptured body against mine left me flushed and breathless. He cupped my chin roughly with his right hand and pulled my face to his, leaving our lips only a breath apart. “Yes what?”

  His lips brushed mine and my knees threatened to give way. His green irises now blazed with fury, fingers digging deeper, yet I was almost certain he wouldn’t hurt me. Aiden’s intensity came from restraint, whereas Juan was more 'smash and conquer'.

  “Answer me, damn it!” he demanded, his breath tantalizing as it worked over my skin.

  “Yes, master!”

  Aiden’s hand relaxed around my chin, but his hardened gaze remained locked to mine. There was no hint of satisfaction or victory in his eyes which I was thankful of as it would have wounded the last ounce of pride I had left.

  A knock came from the double doors, allowing the hypnotic pull between us to be broken. We both turned to see Sophia standing in the doorway waiting to take me back to my room.

  My lesson was over and I was walking away having learned a great deal, but unsure what I was expected to do with the knowledge as it wouldn’t help me at all in surviving Alexsonov. I stole a quick glance at Aiden, but he was pouring himself tequila at the bar with his back to us.

  An impatient cough sounded from the door. Turning on my heel, I headed toward Sophia while trying my hardest to ignore the heat wave of humiliation swamping my body. Why my lessons always ended so quickly and on a bad note left me confused.

  Sophia eyed me with mock pity as I passed by her. I ignored the taunts and at the same time tried to ignore the pain in my chest brought on once again by Aiden’s split personality and blatant dismissal.

  Chapter Twenty

  Laila

  The next few days passed by without incident partly due to the shame I felt and because I had fallen into a dark place in which I sensed no return. My time was divided into two areas of the house, my room and Aiden’s room. When I was alone, I couldn’t save myself from the depression that ate away at my sanity. Sophia visited my room infrequently to drop off food and water. She was pleasant enough, but her scowl quickly returned when she retrieved tray after tray with the food untouched. The need and desire to eat had all but abandoned me due to the constant knot of anxiety that twisted my gut.

  Although I performed all my lessons as if I were a robot, seeing him every night and listening to his deep calming voice became an unexpected comfort. Outwardly, I had become totally void of emotion. Inwardly, I still cringed at the instructions he delivered. The time we spent together, with him teaching me the rights and wrongs of etiquette, were not what I had expected.

  Aiden touched me when required, but often stoically, his eyes lacking all emotion. He resembled a man battling his own demons while maintaining a controlled persona. There were times I was rendered motionless by Aiden’s hypnotic gaze, his eyes penetrating mine with such intensity I could feel my soul shaking. He would watch me, his jaw set in a strong line, the veins in his neck twitching.

  I continued to address him as master and obey his every word until the simplest tasks became second nature. The lessons lasted longer than the first two, I guessed because of my silent compliance. There was nothing overtly sexual about the lessons, continually reinforcing it was more about teaching me discipline and the rest should follow suit.

  While Aiden had not ventured into the practical side of the subject, he had made himself explicitly clear that if I refused or protested against Alexsonov’s sexual needs I would, without doubt, be punished.

  The penalty for disobedience frightened me beyond all hell and, while I knew it would be a struggle to allow my body to be used and abused the way I knew was coming, I was still scared of being beaten and tortured within an inch of my life.

  Although I was doing everything within my power to ensure I was making him happy, Aiden became increasingly agitated as time passed. He didn’t acknowledge my achievements or comment on my continued compliance, which upset me for some reason I couldn’t decipher. Perhaps it was because I needed to hear some praise, some form of positivity when my days were filled with the knowledge I was about to become a whore for some disgusting pig. But there was no praise and soon my emotions became fragile to the point of shattering. The words Aiden spoke to me became insults in my head and I wanted nothing more than to lash out both verbally and physically.

  In one lesson, I was instructed to sit on the lounge the entire two hours while Aiden worked at his office, furiously scanning through information that seemed more important than teaching me anything that day. While a part of me was grateful for the reprieve, I was stricken by a few plaguing thoughts. Self-doubt had taken a hold of my mind from the moment I woke up in this hell hole, but now it was running rampant with being ignored. Had Aiden lost all hope in my progress and no longer thought my lessons would pay off? Did he not care about ensuring I was treated right?

  I had f
ailed him, I knew that much. The look of indifference that often tarnished his fine features told me his heart was no longer in it. The lessons for him were a waste of time and I was becoming nothing more than a burden. In fact, the lack of knowledge Aiden had bestowed upon me had left me feeling ill-equipped to go out and face this Alexsonov.

  My time in training was drawing to a close and soon I would be handed over to a man who would own me and I would have no idea how to handle the situation.

  ***

  Sophia led me to Aiden’s door six days before the inevitable trade. My body was growing weak from lack of food and I knew I looked gaunt. Aiden, while still incredibly handsome, had developed dark circles under his eyes and a permanent frown creased his brow. I followed him inside and he gestured for me to sit on the lounge while he sat opposite.

  “Good evening, Laila,” Aiden said, lacking any sincerity.

  “Good evening, Master,” I replied, my tone mirroring his.

  “I am going away for a few days, so you won’t have any lessons during that time.”

  My eyes shot to his, but I quickly averted them, knowing I would be reprimanded. I felt tears cascade down my cheeks and I had no idea why I was getting so emotional over his proposed departure.

  “I have employed a man of my accord to protect you from the others in the house,” he said with forced calm as he leant forward. “His name is Jorge and he will be here permanently until I return. You have no reason to fear him or feel as though you can’t discuss any concerns with him. He acts for me, not them.”

  “Master?”

  I still hated saying that word.

  “Yes?”

  I steadied my breath. “It has been a while and I was wondering if you have heard any news,” I said cautiously.

  “News?”

  I suspected he knew what I was referring to and I also knew I was being baited. I would take the bait if it meant I could have some peace of mind.

  “Of Ethan. Has he been found?” My voice was small and filled with apprehension.

  Aiden leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he ran an exasperated hand over his face and through his hair. The silence was screaming in my ears as he remained unnervingly quiet. I had grown to understand this trait about him. He said nothing when he was at his maddest.