As the two of them quietly chat, reality comes crashing to me – why we’re here, what we’re doing – our goal and exactly who stands between us and that goal. Can we go against people like this? And still live and breathe to tell the tale?
Someone screams to my left, and I whip my gaze in that direction. Nix lays a hand on mine, the one still in the crook of his arm, and squeezes to keep me from moving from his side.
A woman is being dragged out of the nearest boathouse by her hair, and since she’s not wearing a mask, I can tell that she’s a worker. One man has her arm while the other has a fist full of her hair, and they force her in the direction of the cars.
“What’s happening?” I ask no one in particular. “Where are they taking her?”
Andre’s chuckle makes me whirl to face him. “Oh, that’s not uncommon. Chances are she refused to be fucked. Our clients are allowed to take what they want from our employees.”
Rape. They’re taking her to the cars to rape her.
Bile rises in my throat, and I want nothing more than to puke on Andre’s shiny shoes, but Nix’s hand makes meswallow it down, a reminder of why we are here in the first place.
I close my eyes to the sounds of her screams getting farther and farther away, and when they’re cut off, I grab onto Nix’s arm with all my strength to keep me in this spot instead of going after the men and giving them a taste of their own medicine.
“Delightful,” Andre says as though that didn’t affect him at all. “I’m sure you have a million questions, little Charlie.”
I grit my teeth to keep from lashing out.
“Go ahead.” He flourishes a hand.
Still, I keep silent and just grind my teeth back and forth.
“How about I answer the ones I know you have.” He points to a particular boathouse. The dock stretches out farther into the river than the rest. It’s a two-story house, the bottom half baby blue and the second story a stunning cream color. The windows are large, and there are many of them. I’m sure the view is stunning from the second floor. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Sure,” I grump.
He chuckles under his breath. “That one is mine. I don’t spend a lot of time here; I rent it out to our clients mostly, but I still call it home from time to time.”
“Good for you,” Nix grunts. He’s still holding my hand on his arm with a death grip.
“I can’t tell you the names of the other boathouse owners, but most are clients of mine.”
“And they often get filled with employees of Nix’s.” I try like hell to keep the anger dripping from my tone. I don’t know if I failed or not, but Andre keeps his grin anyway. His teeth reflect the purple flames.
“Exactly,” he says, clapping his hands together. “It’s a secluded place. It works for what we need.” He spares Nix a little glance before looking back at me. “I’m sure you’ll get well acquainted with this place before your career is over.”
I feel Nix stiffen beside me, but I say, “Good to know,” anyway because that’s the sort of obedient response he’s looking for. I can’t say what I really want to because that will bring down repercussions to both Nix and myself, so I bite my tongue to keep the words from leaving my mouth.
“Shall we go inside?” Andre asks, rubbing his hands together as if the night’s chill just can’t be chased away. I stopped feeling the cold the moment the woman was taken to the car. “I can introduce you to some people.”
“What’s the point if I don’t know their names?” I ask sarcastically. It slipped out before I thought it through.
Andre doesn’t notice the sarcasm. Plainly, he says, “Well, that’s true, isn’t it? Still, they’ll want to meet you.”
“They did that at the gala,” Nix growls.
“Not all of them,” Andre interjects as he slides his hand over Nix’s shoulder again and starts guiding us to the first boathouse. “Remember? You two love birds slipped out before the party really got started.”
We walk across the short dock in silence, the party growing louder the closer we get. And when we reach the door, my stomach does a flip. I just have to keep reminding myself that there are more places to run and hide at this location. Not that I would, but it makes me feel calmer knowing so.
He opens the door, and the scents of perfume and cologne bombard me. That’s not the only thing. There are far more people in here than I realized. Most have a cocktail in their hands; almost everyone is laughing, but in theshadows of the dimly lit living room, women and men without masks are being fucked. Right here. Out in the open. They’re working out in the open like this, and no one is batting an eye.
I avert my gaze because that could very well be me before the night is over, and Nix won’t be able to do a damn thing about it. Not if we want to keep our secret, not if we want to work this party the way we want to.
Puke threatens to make a return. It stings the inside of my throat.
“Welcome,” Andre says over the noise. He lets go of Nix’s shoulder and opens his arms, embracing the party as a whole. Then, as a waiter wearing absolutely nothing walks by, he grabs two cocktails and passes each one to Nix and me. I take it with half a mind to down the entire glass. But I know I can’t. I have to stay sharp.
