Levi stands across the room, talking to some guy who looks like the kind of guy you’d smile at in a board room only to find yourself locked in his closet with your guts spilling out a few hours later.
They said they were here to meet with someone who’s flown under the radar for the past few years, but as I look around, it’s impossible to tell who that might be. Every asshole in here is as shady as the next.
My gaze shifts back and forth across the room, constantly watching the stairs by the pedestal while keeping an eye on the boys and making sure none of us are about to get in trouble. I’m on my third sweep of the room when a man and his collared girl steps up to the pedestal.
My body goes rigid as he looks up at me with interest, his gaze roaming over my body as though he’ll be abusing it later. The woman wears skimpy lingerie similar to the ones I wear as the man drags her along behind him, a thick chain wrapped around his hand that connects to the heavy metal collar at her throat, a collar that’s a shitload tighter than mine.
He yanks her up the stairs and she fumbles after him, her eyes wide and terrified and it’s clear that she doesn’t share the same kind of relationship with this man that I share with the brothers.
Bruises cover her body, so dark that I see them through the black lace of her bra. Her thighs are the worst, clear marks from his fingers where he’s held them apart and abused her for hours on end.
My stomach turns and as she glances up and meets my horrified stare, shame crosses over her face. This poor woman. I can’t even begin to imagine the hell she’s been through. The brothers have been awful to me, especially in the beginning, but they never once touched me without my consent, and the one time I needed it to stop, he did without question. But this man … fuck, I want to feel the blood splattering against me as I slit his throat.
The podium is small, not meant for so many people so he’s forced to walk right by me as he moves around to the other half of my column. He’s tall, just like the brothers and despite still being a few feet away, he somehow manages to hover over me. I take a shaky breath as he saunters toward me and as his arm grazes past my body, a chill sweeps through me, making me feel sick to my stomach. He doesn’t take his eyes off me as he slowly strides past, pulling the girl behind him.
Darkness flashes in his eyes and there’s something so wicked and sinister, it makes my skin crawl. His tongue rolls over his bottom lip, silently telling me that I’ll be next. Finally, he moves past me and I’m able to take a deep, shaky breath.
He yanks the girl hard and she fumbles in front of me. Natural instinct has me pulling against my binds, trying to catch her fall, but it’s no use, I can’t help her like this. She slams down onto her knees and her gaze snaps up to the man who looms over her, terrified of what he will do.
Anger pulses in his eyes, furious that she’s made such a scene in front of all of these men. He pulls hard on her chain, forcing her up by the throat, but he doesn’t stop, pulling her higher and higher until her toes are barely touching the ground. A soft gasp tears from my throat as I watch his sickening display in disgust, putting on a performance for the men around him, trying to prove just how much of a man he really is. Fucking bastard.
The woman pulls at her collar, desperate for a deep gasp of air and I shake my head, the horror quickly getting to me. Just one move with that collar and he’d snap her neck. I have to help her, but there’s nothing I can do apart from watching as every second unfolds right in front of me.
My stare snaps across the room, desperate to find the brothers but not one of them are where I thought they were. Panic consumes me as my eyes go wide, scanning the room again and again. How could they leave me like this, vulnerable and afraid? Why would they do that?
The woman is finally lowered to her feet and the man laughs, looking at her as though she’s the most pathetic piece of shit he’s ever come across. He pulls her around the other half of the column and cuffs her just as I am, putting her on display for the men who stand behind me and showing off her bruises like a goddamn trophy.