I curl into a ball and sob, just like I do every fucking night. When I hear my door open a few minutes later, I jerk up in surprise. I’ve never had two visits in one night, and when I see Ruby standing there, I can tell by the look she’s giving me that that’s about to change.
“Hurry up and shower. You have one more appointment for tonight.”
Numb, I get up and walk to the bathroom. When I’m done, I step out and feel bile rise up in the back of my throat when I see the black dress she’s holding out to me.
“No,” I whisper, wishing I could burn that motherfucking dress.
“He requested it. Put it on or I’ll have Bruce come in here and dress you.”
So far she hasn’t sent Bruce into my room, but I know that could change any day now. This night is bad enough, I can’t add Bruce pawing at my naked body on top of it. I take the dress and slip it on.
“Is it the same man?” I ask, terrified of the answer but needing to know.
“It is. Seems you made an impression on him.”
“I can’t imagine how. All I did was lay there and cry.”
She arches a brow at me. “You’d be surprised at how many men love that.”
The thought sickens me. I remember what Ruby said about my dad being a frequent customer here, and I can’t help but wonder how he treated these women and if my mom knows about it. I’m guessing she does. She may choose to ignore it or pretend she doesn’t know, but nothing much slips past her.
Ruby leads me to the same room as before, and this time he’s waiting for me, sitting on the edge of the bed with the ski mask already in place. The cold smile he gives me has my heart racing as I struggle to breathe. The door shuts behind me, leaving us alone, and when he gets up and walks towards me, my whole body starts to shake.
By the time he’s finished with me, I can barely move. He’d been even more brutal than the last time, like he was pissed that I was no longer a virgin, even though it’s his goddamn fault that I’m not. At one point, he’d smacked me across the face so hard that my lip had busted open. After that, I’d felt my mind drift far away from this place. When he finally leaves, I stay on the bed, waiting for Ruby to come and get me.
She gives a heavy sigh when she sees my split lip and then eyes the bloody bedding. “If those stains don’t come out, I’m charging you for new sheets.”
I can’t even bring myself to be upset by her callousness. What’s another hundred dollars on top of the mountain of debt that I’ll never be able to pay? Instead of arguing, I pull my dress up to cover my breasts and slowly limp behind Ruby. I brace my hand against the wall, ignoring as much as I can the grunts coming from behind the closed doors, only looking up when I hear heavy footsteps heading our way. My eyes widen and I freeze when I see a tall man barreling towards us with a pissed-off look on his face. He towers over the two of us, and his chest is so broad he makes the narrow hallway seem even smaller than usual. The suit he’s wearing must be handmade just for him because I’ve never seen a suit fit someone so perfectly before.
“I told you to wait downstairs,” Ruby tells him, crossing her arms over her chest and stepping slightly to the side so she’s standing in front of me.
“And I told you I didn’t want to,” he says. His accent is thick, and my stomach clenches at the thought of this man coming into my room. My body can’t take any more tonight. A whimper escapes before I can stop it. I clamp a hand over my mouth when Ruby looks back at me, the threat obvious in her narrowed eyes.
My eyes dart to the man when he growls, “What the hell kind of place are you running here?”
I expect to see disgust or lust or just a pure, hard anger, all the things that the other men show on their faces when they look at me, but he’s not looking at me like that. His blue eyes run over me, and I nearly weep at the sympathy and concern I see in them.
“This is none of your fucking business,” Ruby growls at him.
He ignores her and when I take a step forward and lose my balance, he pushes Ruby aside and reaches out for me, catching me before I hit the floor. Instinctively, I wrap my arms around his neck, and using all the courage I have, I whisper, “Please help me,” in his ear.
Still ignoring Ruby, who’s now yelling for Bruce, the man makes sure I’m steady on my feet before pulling back and standing up to his full height, putting him at least a foot taller than me. His eyes are a vivid blue, and the tattoos on his neck and hands should intimidate me, but the kindness and worry in his eyes is what I hold onto.
“Are you here by choice?” he asks me.
I dart my eyes past him, tensing when I see Bruce headed our way with an angry look on his face and his hands clenched into fists.
“No,” I whisper, meeting his eyes again.
“Do you want to leave?” he asks, and then he adds, “You may not like how I have to do it.”
I look at Bruce again and then focus on the pain racing through every part of my body, and I know I don’t give a flying fuck what he has to do to get me out of here as long as he gets me out. I quickly nod my head. “Yes, I’ll do anything, just please don’t leave me here.”
He looks at me and sighs, and I can tell he’s not entirely thrilled about what’s about to happen but that he’s committed to it. Grabbing my hand, he pulls me closer to him and turns to face a very angry-looking Bruce.
“She’s coming with me,” he says, not seeming even remotely concerned about the wall of fat covered muscle in front of him.
“You’re out of your goddamn mind,” Ruby spits out. “She belongs to me. We have an arrangement.”
