From across the playroom, Prudence nurses a drink she’s too young to have. She pretends to, at least. I haven’t actually seen her bring the glass to her lips. She swirls a tiny umbrella in the liquid, her head down and body stiff as she hunches forward on a couch.
A guy in ripped jeans and a sleeveless shirt sits beside her, his arm slung over the back of the couch while his mouth moves close to her ear. I don’t know him, but he doesn’t strike me as dangerous. Then again, I can’t see that well with these goddamn strobe lights.
I’ve been watching them for a solid five minutes, and not once has Prudence looked up. I don’t know if the guy doesn’t realize she isn’t interested or if he thinks she’ll relax. She doesn’t technically have to fuck him if she doesn’t want to, but I’m sure she’s figured out by now that making Sawyer happy is in her best interest. Sawyer’s happy when the residents are happy.
The music is loud enough that my teeth chatter, so when I feel the pulse at my thigh, it blends in with the other vibrations, and I don’t immediately reach for my phone. Not until I feel it again a minute later.
I pull out my cell and peel my gaze from Prudence to look down at the screen. I have a missed call from Chaffer and a text from him sent shortly after.
Sorry to hear about your girl.
My eyes narrow at the screen, though I don’t know why it surprises me that he already knows about Liberty. Word travels fast on the island.
I sigh and go to put the phone away when another text comes through.
You should stop by. We miss you here.
I stare at the screen a moment before putting away the phone. The invite is tempting… A cigar and a game of cards sounds a hell of a lot better than blaring music and a perfume headache, but I don’t plan on leaving the girl. Something isn’t right about her. I don’t know who she is or the true story of how she came here, but Sawyer lied to me about it, and I intend to find out why.
The guy with the ripped jeans looks to his right and smiles at a person walking up to the couch. I squint to try to make out the newcomer, but his back is to me, and it’s too dark. Ripped Jeans scoots over, pulling Prudence with him, and the new guy sits on her other side. Once he faces this way, I see the dark hair carefully styled in an undercut and the scar running along his cheek.
Eli Colley.
My eyes widen as I look between Prudence and Eli.
I know him from Chaffer’s, but I’ve never seen him here. I haven’t seen him at all for maybe a year, not since Chaffer kicked him out for severely beating his slave on Chaffer’s property.
The image of that woman sticks in my mind now, and I wince. I know some bad shit happens to women here, but the sight of half her ear missing was enough for me to bring it to Sawyer’s attention. I thought for sure he’d banned him from the island.
I guess not.
Eli puts his hand on Prudence’s knee before sliding it up her thigh, beneath her short dress. Finally, she looks up, her face twisted with disgust or fear or both, and we lock eyes. In them is a plea so innocent that the air leaves my lungs, my stomach clenching like I’ve just been punched.
Eli must sense me approaching as I walk up to the couch because he turns my way.
He dips his chin. “Mr. A.”
I give him a curt nod of recognition before addressing Prudence. “Are you ready to go?”
Her wide eyes blink. She looks between Eli and me before ducking her head.
“Do you have plans for her?” Eli asks.
I turn to him then flick my gaze to Ripped Jeans. I was wrong about him... Anyone making plans to have a threesome with Eli Colley is dangerous.
Fuck, am I really this bad a judge of character?
“Yes,” I say to Eli, then move my gaze back to Prudence. “Did you not tell these gentlemen that?”
She looks up at me, her bottom lip quivering.
I roll my eyes and look at Eli. “Sorry if she’s wasted much of your time. She’s new.”
Eli gives me a tight smile and stands, his hands raising in a ‘my bad’ gesture. “It’s no problem.” He glowers at Ripped Jeans a moment but speaks to me. “Sorry for encroaching on your territory.”
Ripped Jeans pouts as he stands and slinks off with Eli in search of another woman to terrorize tonight.
Why the fuck is he even allowed here?
“Come on.” I hold out my hand for Prudence. She stares at it for several moments before my patience wanes, and I bend to take her wrist. She reluctantly stands and follows me from the playroom.
My teeth grit thinking about Eli. If he’s here, it probably isn’t to play. The island is divided into two camps, those who like Sawyer and those who like Chaffer. It’s possible his fallout with Chaffer resulted in him becoming interested in the manor, but I doubt it, especially considering I haven’t seen him around.
He must be here to buy.
I stop abruptly as a thought hits me, causing Prudence to run into my back. I spin and rake my eyes over the crowd, searching for Naomi. I don’t see her, which isn’t surprising in a crowd this big.
I told Lib I wouldn’t protect her friend, but I can’t let her be sold to that man. I don’t know how I can let anyone be sold to that man.
I’ll have to figure something out. But first…
I face forward and start toward the exit, dragging Prudence with me. We don’t stop or speak until we’re two stories up and in front of an empty bedroom the guests use with the whores.
I turn the ‘in use’ sign around on the knob and lead Prudence inside. Once the door is shut, I let out a groan and turn to her. Her head is predictably lowered, and her hand grasps her wrist with enough force for both her arms to appear flexed.
“Sit,” I say, waving a hand toward the bed.
She flinches at my voice and squeezes her eyes shut, making no move to obey the command.
I should be gentle. Patient. Kind. I know these things, but I feel my confusion bubbling over into irritation. I roll my neck to ease the tension, then walk to the bed and sit on the edge, leaving Prudence standing several feet away, facing the door.
“I want you to sit,” I say, my voice deceptively calm. “Please.”
Prudence shuffles her feet but finally comes and sits as far away from me as possible, her shoulder rubbing against the headboard.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Prudence. I just wanted to get you away from the men you were talking to in the playroom. They’re… They aren’t nice.”
She wrings her hands and doesn’t respond.
I move my gaze to the door and clear my throat. “Has anyone told you I’m not nice?”
No response.
“They would probably be right,” I say with a sad excuse for a chuckle, deciding not to defend myself against the rumors, especially considering I need people to believe the latest lie that I killed Lib. “But I still have no interest in hurting you.”
Several seconds pass while I wait out the silence.
“Please,” she whispers. I turn my head her way to see her tears falling onto her lap. “I don’t want to have sex with you.”
Her eyes hesitantly peek up at me through a curtain of hair. Jesus, she’s young.
“I don’t want that either. I only want to know a few things about you, and once I do, I’ll leave you alone. Okay?”
She bites her lip and nods.
“How old are you?” I ask, bracing for the answer.
She lets go of her lip. “Eighteen.”
“Truthfully?”
She nods, and I feel some of the tension leave my shoulders. That’s one thing Sawyer didn’t lie about.
“Were you a whore before you came here?”
Her lips pinch into a scowl, and she wraps her arms around herself. I’m not sure what that means.
“I’m not judging you,” I go on. “It’s just a question.”
“I’ve only had sex with two guys.”
I open and close my mouth, looking away. After a few moments, it hits why her irritation suddenly appeared. She thought I was asking her if she was a slut.
She’s not a prostitute. She was never a prostitute.
“I don’t suppose you got paid by either of them?” I ask, not looking at her.
“No.”
I grip the bridge of my nose. “Were you addicted to drugs before coming here?”
“No.”
My bile in my throat creeps higher with each passing second. “Were you given drugs when you got here? Is that why you looked sick before?”
She doesn’t reply, just stares down at the carpet.
“It’s okay. You can tell me.”
“I’m not even supposed to be talking to you.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “What?”
No response.
“Prudence.”
She sucks in a choked breath and covers her mouth, but it doesn’t suppress the sob that follows. I itch to scoot closer, the instinct to comfort overwhelming, but I stay put. I’m not the right person for this. She needs one of the other women, someone who truly understands what she’s going through. Hell, she needs Lib.
But I need answers… Right? It feels less and less necessary the more time goes on. I needed to know if I’d been betrayed. I have my answer.
Sawyer lied to me. This girl wasn’t a junkie whore before coming here. Being here isn’t ‘helping’ her, and it’s obvious she doesn’t want to be here. She doesn’t belong here. That should be enough information for me to kick Sawyer’s ass.
But I still want to know more.
“Did Sawyer ask you not to talk to me?” I ask, already knowing he must have.
With a hand still covering her mouth, she nods. She lowers her hand and takes in a shaky breath, tears spilling onto her cheeks. “He said you’re dangerous, and I should stay away from you. He said…” She chokes on a sob. “He said you killed both of your slaves and that you’d hurt me.”
My face heats, and my jaw tics. I look away, my attention already moving to Sawyer and what I’ll say to him. What I’ll do.
There’s a hell of a lot that needs explaining.
“He lied about that. I’m not going to hurt you,” I repeat. I wait for her to digest that before speaking again. “Did he drug you?”
She hesitates, then, “Yes.”
I force my jaw to unclench. “With what?”
Her shoulders lift in a shrug. “I don’t know. Something that made me tired.”
Something that made her tired…
She means she was sedated?
That’s a lot better than what I was thinking.
“You didn’t feel any euphoria from it, did you? You’re not having any withdrawal symptoms?”
She shakes her head.
Good.
“Please,” she says, her voice low. “I don’t want to get into any more trouble. Please don’t tell.”
“I’m not going to get you into any trouble,” I say, and it takes a second to register that I’m lying.
If I confront Sawyer … would he hurt her?
A week ago, I wouldn’t have questioned that. Now…
Now I don’t know what he’d do.
Which means I can’t confront him. Not yet. Not until I wrap my head around all of this.
“Prudence, did you ask to be brought here?” I hold my breath.
“No,” she snaps. “Why would anyone ask to be brought here?”
I close my eyes and let out the breath.
Fuck.
“You were kidnapped,” I say, voicing the revelation out loud. She doesn’t bother verifying it.
Lib was right.
Her voice flits into my mind, and I flashback to when we were in the hotel parking lot, back to her telling me the reality of the island and how oblivious to it all I was. I remember feeling the doubt creep in but ultimately shrugging it away. I thought she didn’t know what she was talking about. That she didn’t know Sawyer.
I’m the one who doesn’t know him, aren’t I?
This girl was kidnapped and brought onto the island to be sold to men like Eli Colley. Sawyer plucked her from her home, destroyed her life, all to feed the sadism he brought here.
She’s only eighteen. Fucking eighteen years old.
I can’t do this anymore.
I stand, rubbing my hands over my face while my head spins out of control. I want to go home. Call Peter. Get on a plane, get the fuck away from this place, and never look back.
But I can’t do that, can I?
I did this. I helped build this place.
Now I have to tear it down.
I take a step toward the door, my throat too full to stomach any more of this conversation, but I stop before leaving to turn back to her. I’m probably the last person she wants comforting her, but I can at least point her toward help or support. There’s only one woman I know here who’s brave enough to vent about Sawyer.
“There’s a woman here named April who’s gone through something similar to you. You should talk to her. She can help you work through this. And if anyone tries to hurt you, tell them I’m going to buy you. That should discourage them.”
She looks at me through her wet lashes. “I thought you said you weren’t—”
“I’m not interested in you like that, no, and I don’t believe I actually have the power to buy you even if I was. But I’ll help you as much as I can.”
“Thanks.” I expect her to break eye contact, and the second she does, I plan to leave. I’m surprised when she continues staring.
“It’s too late for me to talk to April,” she says as an afterthought. “She was sold the day I got here… She was nice.”
I feel the blood drain from my face, and my lungs tighten. “Do…” I clear my throat. “Do you know who she was sold to?”
She shakes her head.
I scratch my cheek, thinking for a moment. I need to make sure she’s okay. If she was sold to Jasper… I shudder at the thought.
I can’t ask Sawyer who he sold her to. I don’t think I could look at Sawyer right now without giving away everything I know, and that can’t happen until I know how to handle all of this. I could ask around in the playroom…
No. There’s someone better who might know.
I pull out my phone and text Chaffer back.
Save me a cigar. I’m on my way.