After the thick, dark blindfold was finally removed from my eyes, we were at what I assumed was Roberto’s secret residence. The hallway in front of me was long, with thick red carpet and ornamented walls. Marco led me forward, and as we passed each set of doors, there was yet another armed guard. We went up the white stairway with painted black flowers on each side and ended up in a hall with dark blue carpet and blue walls full of war paintings. There were more guards posted at every corner. I couldn’t see any cameras, but it didn’t really matter. This place was a fort, and there was no way in hell I was getting out of here easily.
“Marco!” one of the guards yelled, and Marco turned toward him, still holding my arm. “Who’s that?”
“Boss’ pet,” Marco simply said, and opened the door to a large room. He shoved me inside and closed the door, leaving me alone. A king size bed was in the middle of the room. Aside from a bunch of shelves with neatly placed books and a few closets, there was also a huge mirror, a desk with a chair in the corner, a plasma TV on one of the walls, and a nightstand that had a lock on it. I couldn’t see any windows, only an air vent that was too small for a person to go through. An open door led to a bathroom.
I looked around for a weapon of some kind, but I didn’t see anything, unless I decided to improvise with a chair leg. The door opened with a whoosh, making me jump. Aaron strode inside and shut the door firmly behind him, his face contorted with anger. In a few quick steps, he was in front of me, his hand shooting out and wrapping around my throat. My back hit the wall, making me gasp.
“You were staring at the guards!” he yelled, furious, his face only an inch away from mine. “You were supposed to be a well-trained pet! But if you keep acting like a hostage and trying to find your way out, everyone will figure out the truth about you real quickly, and I assure you, you don’t want that to happen.” It was hard to breathe as the pressure on my throat increased, but I ground my teeth together, glaring at him. I grabbed his wrist, but getting him to let go was mission impossible.
“You’re going to follow my rules if you want to live, do you understand?” His eyes bored into mine.
My free hand collided with something solid, and before he could realize what I was planning to do, I reached into his pocket and snatched what turned out to be a small knife, which I flipped open. The knife was at his throat a moment later and his grip on me loosened.
“Let go of me,” I said, and his arm dropped to his side. I pushed myself off the wall and advanced toward him as he took a step back and then another.
“What are you going to do?” he asked, his anger turning into slight amusement, and raised his hands in the air. He backed away until his legs collided with the bed, and I pushed him down, getting on top of him and pressing the knife to his neck.
“Go ahead,” he said calmly, those blue eyes taunting me. “Do it.” He lifted his head, the knife denting his skin, but not enough to make it bleed. “Do it. You know you won’t get out of here alive. No one can escape this place.” There was an undertone in his voice that made me pause. I leaned forward, my hair falling down and forming a shield around us. I lowered my head to his ear, the knife still in place.
“If you really want me to do this, then we’ll agree on the rules. I’m not your slave and I’ll never be one. If you even think about treating me like one, I’ll kill you or die trying. Don’t you ever put your hands on me like that again.” I finally moved the knife and tossed it aside, pushing myself off him.
When I got to my feet and swung my hair back, I looked down at Aaron, who was staring at me with his lips parted, his eyes filled with something like fascination. His chest was moving up and down rapidly, and he made no move to get up. He hadn’t been afraid to die when I had the knife to his throat; he’d almost wished for it. I turned my back to him and ran a hand through my hair. No, I must have imagined all that. He must have known I wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually go through with it, although even I hadn’t been sure what I’d do.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and I turned toward him, my eyebrows shooting up. He was sitting on the bed, his messy hair making him look even younger than he was. Innocent somehow. What a lie appearances could be. “But even the tiniest slip can jeopardize the whole plan, and we both depend on it. You have to be careful. When the others are around, you have to be a perfectly obedient slave who will be able to move invisibly around people and get them to drop their guard around you. But if my father sees something’s off, he’ll send you to someone else or worse. You don’t want that, and I don’t want to go through the trouble of finding a replacement for you. I believe you’ve seen how sex slaves act. Your family...”
“Don’t talk about my family,” I snapped. “They’d never own slaves.”
He made a face, as if he didn’t quite believe me. My father would never allow anyone to have any slaves, but he couldn’t forbid his business partners from having them. I’d seen the footage of the meetings and parties my family had gone to. It was my family’s way of showing me what their world was like since I couldn’t really reveal my face anywhere, so I’d seen slaves and the way they behaved around their masters.
“But yeah,” I added. “I know about slaves and what is expected of them, but I’m holding you to your word that you won’t let anyone get any ideas about doing with my body whatever they want.”
“Good, then you better act accordingly once we’re in the presence of others, especially my father.” He clasped his hands. “You’ll be staying in this room with me. And when I’m not here, no one will enter without my permission. The walls are soundproof, so no one will hear you. Just don’t do anything stupid like try to escape or set the room on fire.”
“Right,” I mumbled. “I want that side of the bed.” I pointed at the left side where he was sitting.
“What? No. Take the right one. It’s my bed. I get to decide.”
“Be glad I’m not insisting that you sleep on the floor.” I lifted my chin.
“Are you seriously arguing with me about this?” He scowled. “I could just put a bullet in your head if you annoy me too much.”
“Ah, you’d just love to have a setback in your perfect little plan now, wouldn’t you?” I grinned at him. If things didn’t go his way, then it seemed like his world would crumble. I planned to use that to my advantage. “The left side is mine. End of story.”
He looked at me with a hard expression on his face, but I didn’t even blink.
“Do you have something to eat and drink in here?” I asked before he could complain.
“Yeah, in there.” He pointed at the black cabinet under the TV. “I have drinks and some snacks. I’ll bring you some real food later.”
I went to the cabinet and opened it, looking for something strong. My eyes settled on a bottle of whiskey and I snatched it, taking a big gulp that burned through me like fire. God, what had I gotten myself into? Aaron took the bottle from me, sighing, then took a sip. A small smile played on my lips as I met his eyes. The fact that I’d managed to unsettle him was quite pleasing, actually.
A dull knock sounded at the door, startling us both. Aaron immediately pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and checked the screen. I leaned toward him and saw an image of his father in front of the door. There was a hidden camera somewhere outside. Great.
“Shit.” Aaron looked around the room. “He rarely comes here himself.” There was an accusatory look in his eyes. “If someone reported to him what they saw...”
I placed a finger across his lips, which made his brow furrow, but at least he shut up. “So what if I looked around? Maybe you told me to do so. Doesn’t matter.”
The knock on the door sounded again and Aaron haphazardly ran his hand through his hair. “You need to...”
“Just get outside and talk to him in the hallway. Don’t let him into the room.” I assumed he was worried his father would be upset at seeing me dressed again. I took Aaron’s phone out of his hand, slipped it back into his pocket, and placed my hand on his belt.
“What the fuck are you doing?” His fingers clasped around my wrist.
“Making it look like you were busy with me, silly.” I unbuckled his belt and tugged at his zipper. “You never had a slave before, did you? And you want to make your father believe this is real, so we have to make it look real.” I looked at him up and down. “There. Perfect. Buckle it back up as you open the door and I’ll be hiding in the bathroom just in case your father decides to come in.” I winked at him, and on my way to the bathroom, I grabbed at the bed covers and pulled them slightly off the bed. Aaron looked mildly disturbed by that, which amused me to no end, but he finally went to open the door. I kept the bathroom door slightly ajar.
“What took you so long?” Roberto’s voice was filled with impatience and annoyance. “Oh, I see.” His tone softened and was laced with amusement, probably because he saw Aaron. Predictable old piece of shit. “Come with me. I want to show you something. Where’s your pet?”
“Cleaning up. Let’s go,” Aaron said quickly, and closed the door behind him, locking it. Maybe I was fooling myself, but I just might get out of this whole thing alive if I could play this right. I turned around, leaning against the door, and took a good look at the bathroom. It was huge. There was a see-through glass shower that was as wide as the wall. Everything seemed to be in its place and perfectly clean.
Aaron hadn’t mentioned a maid would be coming in, so I hoped the cleaning crew that was needed to keep this place so shiny wouldn’t catch me snooping around. He couldn’t have planned for me to come to his apartment and hide everything in his room, so maybe I could find an old phone or a weapon somewhere. I couldn’t exactly carry weapons around here, but at least I could hide it somewhere only I would find it in case I needed it. Maybe I could find out more about Aaron too; something that I could use against him. There just had to be something, and I was going to find it.