“Are you ready?” Aaron asked as he placed his hand on the door knob. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready for this, so I nodded. As I followed Aaron into the hallway, I tried not to look at the armed guards and kept my eyes to the floor, although I could feel the guards’ gaze burn down my body. One part of me still expected Aaron to bring me into some room filled with men who would laugh at me for falling for Aaron’s lies, but even if that happened, it wouldn’t come as a surprise and I wouldn’t let them humiliate me further. As we passed through the long hallways with more guards, I was trying to memorize every hallway and door. An escape attempt seemed impossible right now, but you never knew.
Various murmuring voices caught my attention as we neared a big brown double door. The room had to be huge, but I kept my head bowed as I trailed behind Aaron. He took a seat in a big brown chair at the end of a huge table and pointed at the red cushion on the ground. Oh, that was my seat. Wonderful.
I knelt down on it, settling my hands in my lap. My hair shielded my face enough for me to dare to look up, but it was hard to see anything aside from the table and everyone’s legs. I counted six men, probably Roberto’s closest associates. The chatter suddenly died down and Aaron’s body tensed, so I assumed everyone was staring at him and me, at least those who could see me behind the mahogany table. I didn’t see any fancy pillows for other slave girls, and a sheen of sweat broke out on my forehead.
“My son,” Roberto said, “don’t hide your pet down there. Everyone wants to see her.” A few other voices murmured in agreement. I swallowed bile at the excited undertone in Roberto’s voice. Sick bastard.
“Ella, get up,” Aaron ordered in a cold voice, and I obeyed, finally getting a clear view of all the men at the table. Aaron had a gun tucked into his suit jacket, and as I stared at the table’s shiny surface, eyeing everyone from the corners of my eyes, I wondered how many I would be able to shoot. I could feel everyone’s gazes on me as if a fire were scorching me.
“Come here,” Roberto said, and I glanced at Aaron over my shoulder.
“Go,” Aaron said, and I made my way to the end of the table.
“Very pretty.” Roberto placed his hand on my ass, and I fought the urge to elbow him in the face. “Get on the table.” He gave me a little slap, and I looked at Aaron, who simply nodded. Wonderful. I awkwardly climbed onto the table on all fours, aware that my dress wasn’t long enough to cover anything in this position. One of the men gasped, his dark eyes glazed. Even though my brother had shown me Roberto’s known associates, none of these men were familiar. I was really glad the table was huge, so when a bald man with a long mustache reached out for me, he couldn’t do it without getting up or leaning really hard across the table.
“You have to lend her to me for an hour.” The mustached man sighed, his eyes imploring to Aaron. “Half an hour will do, too. That body...” He smacked his lips together.
“No,” Aaron said. “She’s mine. She serves only me. Get yourself your own pet.”
The mustached man’s brow furrowed and he turned toward Roberto, who only shrugged. “Don’t look at me, my friend. You heard my son.”
“Can I have her after you’re done with her then?” the mustached man asked excitedly. “I’m sure you’ll get bored of her eventually.”
“Maybe,” Aaron said, and the mustached man settled down, clearly satisfied with the answer.
“Ella, come here.” Aaron made a gesture with his hand, and I advanced toward him. When I was right in front of him, he placed his hand on my cheek and ran his finger over my lips. The man with graying short hair who was closest to us watched us with fascination. Aaron spread his arms then, and I climbed down from the table and into his arms until I was sitting on his lap.
“I have a surprise for you. True beauties to satisfy all of your needs,” Roberto announced, snapping his fingers at the guards at the door, who immediately opened it and let in a group of naked women. In front of the group was a trembling girl who was doing her best to smile, but her makeup was smeared with tears. A golden collar was clasped around her neck, her long curly dark brown hair splayed around her shoulders. The way she swayed as she made her way toward Roberto made it seem as if she was inebriated, and I assumed she had been drugged before being brought here.
Aaron gripped my arm and pulled me closer toward him until his mouth brushed my ear. “Get down on your knees in front of me and keep your head down.”
I pressed my lips together into an angry line that only he could see and slid down to the floor in front of him. His fingers wound into my hair and he pressed my head against his thigh, spreading my hair so it hid my face.
“Please...” a broken whisper reached my ears, followed by a loud smack.
“What did I say about speaking when not spoken to, slave?” Roberto barked, and I flinched. Aaron had a strong grip on my head, not letting me move or try to see what was going on. My heart raced as the girl screamed and something crashed to the floor.
“Look what you made me do. Come here,” Roberto said, and I heard muffled sobbing. The sickening sound of flesh hitting flesh made me want to get that gun and just shoot every man at this table. I moved my head slightly as the chairs scraped against the floor and I could only see one of the women on her knees as she sucked off the gray-haired guy. Aaron’s grip on me loosened, but he was idly playing with my hair, and I wondered if my presence was inconvenient for him because he couldn’t enjoy himself with one of the girls as everyone else.
I lifted my head a little, expecting to see him turned on, but there was not even a trace of arousal. In fact, his body was completely rigid, and I dared to lift my eyes even more to make sure he was still breathing. His lips were uplifted into a smile, his eyes the coldest blue I had seen and focused somewhere across the table, but I was certain he wasn’t really seeing what was going on around him. It was as if he wasn’t here at all. That surprised the hell out of me. Surely, a Viteri wouldn’t be bothered by what was going on. He was raised to think having people as sex slaves was a wonderful idea, but... I pinched his leg, hard, just to prove my theory, and he gasped, his eyes snapping to me, and I was sure he was back to reality.
“Come,” he said, getting to his feet and heading for the door, not even looking at anyone in the room. I got up too and followed him, keeping my head down, because I knew that if I looked, I’d want to paint this room red with blood. Once we were in the hallway, Aaron’s shoulders relaxed and he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He went in the opposite direction of where we’d come from, and I ignored the guard who was watching me as I trailed after Aaron.
Aaron tilted his head as we were passing a big black door with a keypad next to it and two guards on each side. I assumed that was his father’s office. With all the protection, it was no wonder Aaron needed special help to pull off his plan. We emerged onto a small terrace, and Aaron lit a cigarette, gazing at the night as he leaned on the railing. The cigarette was burning, but he didn’t even bring it to his lips. It must have all been a pretense so the guards wouldn’t be suspicious because we’d been going in the direction of Roberto’s office. I had no idea if Aaron actually smoked or not.
I wrapped my arms around myself, but that did nothing to warm me up and protect me from the chilly night air. I squinted my eyes at the darkness, but all I could see were endless trees and fields. Where the hell were we? If I miraculously managed to get out of here, I’d never find my way back home. I couldn’t even tell in which direction the city was because the sky was incredibly dark. Unfortunately, there weren’t any stars that could offer me some guidance. I glanced down and saw multiple guards watching the perimeter with their dogs. An electrical fence was visible through the first line of the trees, behind a huge garden.
Shit. It didn’t look like I would be getting out of here. And even if I found Katya, how would I get us safely anywhere? I bit down on my lip so hard that I tasted blood. If I found Katya, I’d have to come up with something. Maybe steal someone’s phone and get a message to my brother. He’d find a way to track the signal and then my family would come save me... if they found a way to infiltrate this fort.
My family was probably looking all over for me. Maybe they thought I was already dead or worse... being tortured somewhere for days and not allowed to die. Aaron’s cigarette had burned out without him taking a single smoke, so he just threw it to the floor. He took a deep breath, straightened his suit jacket, and turned toward me.
“Shit.” His warm hand caught my arm, making me shiver, his face distraught for a fraction of a second. “Let’s get you inside.” His voice was so low that I barely heard him. “Sorry.”
Was he actually upset that he’d let me stand there in the cold? I couldn’t quite believe that and yet... it was happening. As soon as we were in his room, Aaron double checked to make sure the door was firmly closed. I was about to sit down on the bed when I noticed a big blue bag next to it that hadn’t been there when we left.
“What’s that?” I pointed at the bag.
“More clothes for you,” Aaron said calmly. “Pick something and go take a shower.”
“You’re going to order me around again?” I arched an eyebrow at him.
“Just do it.” He snapped his fingers. “You need to get warm, and I don’t want my father’s stench all over you. Throw that dress you’re wearing in the trash.”
“Have a lighter so I can burn it, too?” I said jokingly, but Aaron’s face was serious, and he tapped his foot impatiently as he untied his tie. “If you didn’t want him to touch me, you could’ve told him no.”
“Go!” he said, raising his voice.
“Alright! It’s not like I liked this non-dress anyway.” I’d love to scrub my mind clean too, but I didn’t think that girl’s sobbing would ever leave my head completely. Focusing on the bag, I opened it and found a pair of comfy pants and a decent looking black shirt. As I kicked off my shoes and padded toward the bathroom, I glanced over my shoulder at Aaron, who was running his hand through his hair, and I wondered why exactly he hated his father so much.
Was he bothered just because he couldn’t control everything or was there more to it? Maybe the Viteris weren’t all the same, and I was probably just being delusional. He was still a Viteri and his father’s son, he grew up with him and lived with him his whole life, and if he didn’t like it, he’d have left already. No, maybe he was just trying to get me to like him and was pretending to be better than he was so I’d drop my guard around him. But why? I wasn’t sure yet, so I just closed the door behind me and decided not to think about that for now.