Page 17 of Stolen Compliance

I don’t answer, merely helping dump him into the back of the van before I grab my seat. I don’t take off the sunglasses, not wanting Dominic and Teo to see the pain and conflict there. Instead, I glance at my watch.

“That was less than half an hour,” I state as I stretch out my legs.

I’m sure this whole game was rigged against me, that Dominic will come up with some bullshit to say I failed. And hell, that’s fine. Teo can keep him occupied tonight. All I want is to find a way to live with myself—and the quiet to do that in.

“You are both boring,” I tell them as we head to where we keep the new merchandise. “But Luca gets points for not chickening out. The kiss was a nice touch, and for that alone, I’ll give you this win.”

The sunglasses hide his eyes, but the way his mouth downturns tells me he’s not pleased. I’m sure he would have preferred to lose, but if that was the case, he should have taken Teo’s route and been less entertaining. Ah well, he will learn, and he’ll learn well.

We get to the warehouse, and the men drag the new merchandise out. Rather than doing a drop and go, I get out of the van. Teo and Luca quickly follow behind me, and I watch Luca carefully, seeing how he masks his reaction to being let inside. It won’t save him, but knowing he’s struggling with being here? That’s a nice boon to this day.

The checkpoints here are similar to the other warehouse, tighter even, as the merchandise we house in this location can be more…volatile before they learn the rules and their place.

Rather than leading them to the office, we end up in the welcoming room. Luca finally takes off those ridiculous sunglasses, revealing wary brown eyes that can’t quite hide his apprehension and displeasure.

Teo leans against one of the far walls, as not only did he lose, he can make an educated guess about what’s coming.

They bring in the girl first. She’s groggy but starting to jerk in her bonds as the men tie her to a chair. She moans and squints her eyes as she looks around the room. I can tell she recognizes Teo by the way she jerks again. “Y…you…”

Teo smiles blandly at her. “Hello, Amanda,” he purrs, sounding dark and dangerous and far from the kid I met a year ago.

The boy is brought in next. He’s slower to wake as the drug to reverse the effects of the sedatives take a few minutes to work.

I look between the two, noting that even if I didn’t know they were siblings, their connection would be obvious. They have the same shade of light-brown hair, along with similar face shapes, though the girl—Amanda—has rounder cheeks and is tiny compared to her more well-built, classically handsome brother.

Standing in front of her, I run my fingers down her face. “You’re prettier than your pictures, but really not much to look at, are you?”

She tries to struggle, crying out when I squeeze her cheeks and get her to open her mouth. Stuffing my fingers inside, I sweep the contours of her mouth, imagining my cock buried deep inside the small, warm cavern.

There’s a groan from the other side of the room, and I release her, turning to watch as her brother shakes his head and his eyes roll back and forth before squinting against the lights.

“Oh, good, welcome back,” I tell him.

“Wh…at.”

Moving away from the girl, I stand in the center of the room, making sure to position myself so I’m not blocking their view of each other. “Luca, since you won our little challenge, you get to choose. Which one should we start with? You get to be the one to disrobe and inspect. Teo will take notes, but you get the fun part of finding all the identifying markers. After all, the buyers will want to know their attributes, whether they’re renting for the night or buying for keeps…”

“Please…” the boy says, and he really is a boy, no matter how filled out he is by hard work. “D…don’t hurt her.”

I chuckle. “Are you volunteering? This is Luca’s reward, not yours. Normally, we don’t let the newbies touch the merchandise, but he’s earned a treat for not dying yet.”

The girl whimpers at my words while her brother uselessly tries to fight his bonds, but the drugs still working through his system make the movements sluggish and uncoordinated.

“Time’s ticking, newbie,” I tell him. “Do you want the girl or the boy? Both have to be done, but your cooperation will make it easier for one of them.”

I look at him expectantly, blood thrumming with anticipation of him either passing or failing… Either way, this will be fun—for me.

Fucking smug asshole who needs to die. If my thoughts could kill someone, Dominic would be dead. Only problem? I’m not sure if my hatred for him is also because I hate myself. Fuck, it probably is…

Alright, I’ve gone through shit before. It’s time to lock in and get this done. The sooner it’s taken care of the sooner I can get out of here.

Straightening, I shrug nonchalantly. “I’ll take the girl this time. I got a taste of the boy already.”

“You fucker!” the boy shouts.

Snorting, I glance over toward him. “I know you want my hands on you. But right now, this lovely young woman has my attention. Perhaps if there’s anything left of you before you go to whatever your final destination is, I’ll win another reward. Until then… shut the fuck up.”

Coldness pours into me, and I’m unable to stop it. Part of me doesn’t want to. The slight pinpricks of memories of forcing Lio to submit rush forward, and I dive into them. I follow that pathway with glee. It may have been what helped break me the first time, but I will not falter here.