by T. L Smith
With a pull on the drawer, I notice an array of different dresses. Grabbing out the first one on top, I pull it over my head then pull my clothes off underneath it.
“Heels,” he stipulates when I look around. He’s not watching me, but he seems to know exactly what I’m doing. In the bottom drawer are two sets of heels. One pair black and one white. I pull the black ones out, slip them on my feet, and then comb my hands through my hair.
He turns around and crosses his hands over his chest. “You look presentable.”
Do I say, thank you? I think not.
“Where am I going?”
He waves his hand to start walking out the door. The door that I’ve been locked behind for two nights. It’s nicer than the other room, and I think if I did something, even the slightest bit wrong, I’d be back in that dungeon in a second. Especially if Amy has any say in it.
“Don’t speak unless you are spoken to. Mingle with the guys. Flirt and show an interest.” His hand touches a doorknob, and he looks down at me. “Antonio will be watching you tonight, so don’t disappoint.” He pulls the door open and pushes me through.
What I am meant to do? I have no damn idea.
It’s the same place I was in the other night. The music is loud, and it mainly consists of guys. There are few girls scattered around surrounded by men. But the men outnumber the women five to one. Stepping further into the room, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, none whatsoever.
Looking around, I see her, her eyes firmly affixed on me. Amy’s death staring me from where she’s seated with Antonio next to her. Just as I go to turn back, a small hand touches my arm. My first instinct is to pull it free, to get it away from whoever’s touching me because when people touch me, it never seems to turn out for the best.
“Smile. Don’t lose the smile and follow me.” She seems kind, but that could be a total fucking lie for all I know. This is the underworld, after all. They could all be dangerous killers, and I’m just a lamb to the slaughter. “We have a main fight tonight. All the people you see here are very high bidders. We entertain them until the main event. That’s what you will be doing. So, please, smile before you piss her off even more than you seem to be doing by just being in the same room as her.”
My lips pull up, and my smile is as fake as Amy’s boobs, but I listen to this girl anyway. “What do I do?” I ask, confused. She looks at me, and I can make out her features better now we’re away from the dark entrance. She’s beautiful, with long dark hair which almost touches her ass, and a silly red lace dress over her body.
“You smile, you laugh, you offer drinks. These men will spend up to one hundred thousand dollars each here tonight. It’s our job to make them want to spend more.”
I get it, but I don’t want to do any of it. I follow her anyway because what choice do I have? She stops at a group of older men. I would guess most likely in their late forties or early fifties. They all look up, smiling as we walk up to them. I’m the only one without makeup on. Looking around, all the other girls are done up to impress, while I had five minutes to throw something on and hope for the best. She touches a guy’s arm but doesn’t linger, just a taste. I watch what she does and realize she’s a tease.
Is that what we are here for? To tease them?
Being here at all is not something I want to do. I don’t have my medication. And each time I think back to what I had, where I was finally going with my life, it all hits me like a freight train. But not moving from a bed like I would typically do is not an option for me anymore when I’m in those moods. These people could kill me. For what? For following Ryken one night, and he ultimately ended up choosing her anyway. Livia’s the one he loves, even if he says he loves me. It was her, and it will always be her.
My mind screams at me to run, to never look back, and take what money I have left and hide. Ryken told me they would find me, and I believe him. This is my next best choice. And so far, I have all my limbs, and I’m not dead, so that’s a gigantic plus. Isn’t it?
Only five and a half months to go in this hell hole. I close my eyes, trying not to think about it.
A hand touches me. Goddamn, I’m sick of being touched. I could go the rest of my life without a single hand touching me ever again. I’m not a touchy-feely type of girl, and all this touching is really playing on my last nerve.
“How about a drink, darling?”
I look at the girl who’s showing me around, and she raises her chin at me. Turning to the guy, I plaster the best fake smile I can muster. “Of course. What would you like?” My hand touches his shoulder. I do the same thing she did and brush it away fast. Touching other people isn’t something I like to do, but owning my own business in customer service has taught me to smile when even I don’t want to. Even if my heart’s hurting and my head is pounding.
“Surprise me. But make sure you bring something back for yourself, sweetheart.” I cringe at his words and turn, looking for the bar. I’m nudged and see her walking ahead of me. I follow her and realize I really need to learn her name. “What’s your name?”
She stops, leaning her body on the bar. Another set of girls work behind the bar in nothing but a black sports bra and black booty shorts.
“Cecilia. Now order your man one whiskey straight up and use this juice to add to your glass. Don’t let him touch it, or know you aren’t taking supply of the drinks he’s offering you.” I nod my head and grab an empty glass when the apple juice is placed next to it.
“You do this a lot?” I ask, pouring the juice.
“We can’t be drunk. But we want them to think we’re having a good time like they are. So we lie. It’s also a bonus if we don’t drink the expensive alcohol the customers are paying for.”
“How often do you do this? Work here, I mean?”
Cecilia looks down to the floor, her eyes look dark when she looks back up to me. “I’m one of Antonio’s girls, so every night we’re open.”
“And Amy?” I ask carefully so as to not look back to where she’s seated.
“Don’t even look her way or speak to her. You got it?” I nod my head at her words. “Because she’s pure evil, and trust me you don’t want to be around that.” Cecilia walks off with a tray of drinks. She goes back to the group we were just with, and I follow her with my two drinks in hand. The guy smiles at me when I reach him, and I offer him his drink then shoot mine the same time he does.
He pulls out a one-hundred dollar bill and slides it into the strap of my dress and kisses my cheek. “Buy yourself another and keep the change.”
My smile is fake, and inside I’m screaming at him, so much so that I want to punch his face in for touching me. Instead, I smile and walk away.
What the fuck am I meant to do with change? It’s not like I can spend it while locked away in my fucking room.
“Hey, girl,” Cecilia says, moving to the next. “Take this.” She offers me a tray full of drinks and smiles, overly bubbly.
Why’s she so happy?
Is she one of them as well?
She couldn’t be with a smile like that. I want to thank her, but I don’t, just take my tray and start walking around again.
THE FIGHT STARTED AND finished all within twenty minutes. Guys yelled, girls stayed back near the bar, apart from Amy who was glued to her position near Antonio. She occasionally eyed me.
Cecilia doesn’t live here. She said she had to get back to her cat at her apartment. It makes me wonder why she’s even here then.
The same guy that likes to pull me around is waiting at the door for me when I finish. I’m guessing he’s here to escort me back to my room.
“Saskia.”
I remember the voice attached to that dark sound. Turning slowly, I manage to offer a small smile as I face Antonio. He steps up to me, and his hand picks up a strand of hair then he drops it, looking up to me. He isn’t an attractive man. At least to me, he isn’t. He’s a dominant man, though. Someone who could kill me without batting an eyelash. That’s
how I see him, and that’s probably the best way to always see him.
“Yes, sir.”
His lip quirks up. Then drops. I notice a small scar he has on the side of his lip. “You did well tonight. What reward would you like?”
“Sorry?” I ask, confused. I did well? It felt like I was being pulled and dragged everywhere I went. Men’s hands touched me all night, and I drank so much apple juice that I had to pee so many times I felt like a baby.
“You get one reward, my dear. Choose wisely.”
My eyes drop while I think. “My pills.”
“Done! Scott, get her her pills.” He’s speaking to the man that bruises me. At least he now has a name—Scott.
“Of course, sir.”
Antonio looks me over, his head dropping to the side as he assesses me. “Does he know you’re broken?” My eyes open slightly in surprise. “I mean, his Livia isn’t broken. You are. Does Ryken know you are?”
“He doesn’t.”
Antonio’s lip lifts up in a curl. “It’s a pity you love him, isn’t it? Think of where you’d be if you didn’t love him. If you actually loved the person you were meant to be with.”
My eyes stay down as he speaks. “I don’t love him.”
Slap!
My cheek burns. Actually, it’s on fire. He hit me, and he did it damn hard. Silence falls around me while my ears ring and I blink a few times as I endure the pain.
“One thing I don’t like... is lying. Don’t lie to me again, Saskia. Got it?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I can make you not love him, Saskia. As a matter of fact, I can make you hate him. Don’t make me do that because if I do that it would involve hurting you most of all.”
A shiver runs through me, and all I do is look to the floor as he walks past.
“You would be the perfect soul to sell. I could get a high price for you. Remember that.” Then he’s gone without another word, and I’m left with a smarting cheek and a loss for words.
Chapter Six
Ryken
“It’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done, and you’ve done some stupid shit,” Quinn says, shaking his head as we walk into the club. It isn’t busy because it’s not night-time. But I know he’ll be here, he always is. Business never ends for us, unless we choose so. That usually requires us being buried with those that left before us.
“Shut up,” I reply. The lights are on, and I see Scott first, standing behind Antonio. Antonio doesn’t run his people like he’s an MC president anymore. He’s turned all business. I haven’t seen him on a motorcycle for a very long time. The money must be such a massive lure for him.
“Mr. Lord,” Scott says, making Antonio look up. Next to him sits Amy and, of course, she’s smiling up at me. Antonio doesn’t say a word but waves his hand for us to sit down. Quinn stands behind me, not taking the seat next to me. Antonio wanted Quinn to serve him. Quinn is deadly, good at his job and dedicated to those he serves. But even Quinn has some morals, and he doesn’t fucking like Antonio at all.
“You come to visit her, have you?”
My back straightens at his words. He laughs his evil fucking laugh, and sits back, his hand touching Amy’s thigh as she stares at me.
“She’s a pretty little thing. How does Livia feel about her?” Amy asks.
Both Amy and Antonio got to know me well when I was here. As I got to know them. She’s as crazy as he is, maybe even more so. Rolling my neck to the side, I try to refrain from climbing over him so I can strangle the life right out of her.
“She is... prettier than some. Anyway...” I say, staring at her. Amy thinks she’s the prettiest thing to walk this planet. Ask her, and she will tell you happily. She even makes you say it when you fuck her. Yes, I went there. Fucked her, too. Many years ago, when I first met her, she was actually the second person I ever fucked. She was trying for my father, but he pushed her to me. She was hot, attractive, intelligent, but mad as a March hare. I was young and didn’t want to say no.
Her heels start tapping up and down, and her lips purse into a thin line. “Do you really want to make me mad, when she’s living under my roof? I already don’t like the bitch, Ryken. Would you rather I hate her and have the consequences of that on you?”
I stand in the same spot ready to reach for her neck. “You better not fucking touch her, you whore.”
Amy laughs, lying back, and her hand touches Antonio’s shoulder. “You aren’t in charge in this room. You should know that.”
Why does he even have her here? She would be so much better suited lying in a hole covered with dirt.
“Are you trying to say I have no say here? This business was built by my family. Yet, a whore thinks she can tell me what to do?” I laugh while she looks to Antonio who shrugs her off him.
“You need to shut your mouth, Amy,” Antonio speaks loudly.
Amy stands, cursing, as she walks past us leaving the room.
Antonio looks up. “I apologize. You know I don’t think the way she does. Though, your power does seem to have lessened in the past few weeks, once people heard the news I now have possession of your girl.”
My teeth grind against each other. “I followed the code. Code that was put in place by my father. A life for a life. But this one’s different. You know that.”
His teeth grind as he looks up to me. “I put her to work, she’s working here.”
I nod my head. He said that’s all she would do. It was part of the payback. But it didn’t start off that way. Livia was his first choice. He didn’t know of Saskia until Michael opened his damn large mouth, then Antonio asked for Saskia instead.
This world we live in is fucked.
Yes, I’m the king.
But a king still has to follow the rules.
And rules aren’t to be broken because then the chain of command is damaged.
If my father broke a rule, he paid the consequences, the same way he would make others pay for their mistakes. So a life for a life, I had to bargain. He could have a life but under my conditions. But all of this would ruin her innocence in the process. Saskia would see things, hear things, maybe even experience things she won’t be prepared for. But what a lot of people don’t see, is that Barbie is strong. If you look close enough, you can see it. She’s so much more than even she thinks.
“She isn’t working on others, is she?” I ask. He has to confirm it, and I need him to verify it with his own lips that she isn’t being used as a sex slave like his other girls are. I need to hear him affirm it.
His lip curls up. “No, Ryken. Your orders were unequivocal. But remember that was the only command. Whatever else happens, you can’t come after us.”
“That doesn’t sound good, Antonio. That sounds like you may be treating her very badly, and let’s hope you wouldn’t do that to someone who puts food on your table.”
He sits up straight. “Food on my table...” He laughs. “Your family may have started this, Ryken, but Melbourne is mine now. You’re always welcome, but you aren’t to rule here.”
Scott looks down.
Quinn’s stance hardens, I can feel his posture straighten beside me.
Antonio looks up at me. “Are you thinking you can take over from me, Antonio?” His hand wipes his mouth.
“I’m not really thinking it. Can’t you feel it happening, Ryken?” Quinn steps around, so he’s now next to me. Antonio makes a clicking sound with his mouth as he finishes talking. Antonio eyes then look up to Quinn. “Why you follow him, I have no idea. You know you should have been the next in line after the old man kicked it. Ryken wasn’t in this world, only briefly, and he didn’t want it either. You were this world, Quinn. So why don’t you take it?” Antonio stirs.
I laugh at his words. Quinn doesn’t move or say a word. But Antonio looks to me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have.
“You’re trying to poach one of my men right in front of me. You have some motherfucking balls.” Now it’s his turn to sit back. “So, I was thi
nking... maybe business practices need to change. Maybe someone needs to change it all.”
Antonio has no smirk on his face now, he knows what I’m talking about. He knows what I will do.
“No one can do what I do. Remember that fact, Ryken.”
I look up to Quinn, to whom I’ve offered Antonio’s place, and he smirks. When I knock him from power that is. “You think no one can, hey?” I question.
“You forget I have your girl trapped in one of my rooms, Ryken. Is now the right time to actually threaten me?”
Antonio knows who I was thinking of. People respect Quinn more so than me, he’s been around here longer. But I will never find anyone more reliable and honorable than him. His allegiance is firmly in line with me.
“Yes, about that... I’ve come to get her back.”
His head shakes. “You know not to back out on a deal, Ryken. People will talk.”
I rub my hands together. “I’m not here to back out, I’m here to bargain.”
His eyebrow perks up. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”
“I’ll fight your best fighter on fight night. If I win, I take her with me, and my payback is done. If I lose...” I look up to Quinn, his eyes are now on me, “... you can have Quinn.”
Antonio smiles widely. He wants Quinn as much as he wants my power.
“Done.” He claps his hands together and shouts for some drinks. A bartender drops them in front of me. Shots. I take one and hand one to Quinn who already knew what I had planned. That’s why I’ve let him beat the fuck out of me the last few nights. We’ve been training, and not to toot my own fucking horn, but I’m already a fucking excellent fighter.
“Two nights from now,” Scott says.
My hands rub together in anticipation. Scott looks away. He doesn’t hold eye contact for long.
Then Amy walks in, a smile on her face as she sits near Antonio. “I just had to get something out of my system, I feel better now.”
Scott looks up at her then looks to the door. The smile that’s on her face I don’t like, not one little bit.