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Small acts of kindness are one thing, but I have no idea what kind of man Atlas really is. All I know is that I was kidnapped in front of him, and he clearly didn’t call the police or anything. After that, I was screwed by him at an auction on a stage, not that I minded as much as I thought, but it doesn’t really set a good precedent. Then he comes back to tell me he’s not a good man, that he even works with the jerks who put me here, but he’ll get me out of here. And I still throw myself at him like a horny school girl.
I’m a really stupid girl sometimes.
When the lock on my door clicks open, I don’t move from my perch on the bed until a fist banging has me jumping to my feet.
“Coming.”
Stepping out of the room, my eyes go across the hall like always, but for the first time, I don’t see Jaime’s friendly face looking back at me. I shift on the spot as a frown crosses my brow. I look over toward Reyne and dart my eyes back to Jaime’s door, and Reyne only shakes her head with a small shrug.
There’s no opportunity for me to ask about her until we get to The Middle. I’ve gotten more used to some of the guards now and which ones are more lenient with us, and today’s crew are of the lesser variety. The other girls and I exchange a few furtive glances and soon as we’re left alone, I turn to them.
“Where were you yesterday?” Reyne asks in a low voice, pulling me aside gently.
“I-I had a visitor, they didn’t come back for me. Was Jaime here yesterday?”
Reyne nods. “Yeah, other than you not being around, it was a normal day.”
My brow knits together and I look into Reyne’s eyes.
“Eli visited me yesterday,” I tell her and see her eyes widen a notch, the understanding and worry evident. “Do you…do you think that maybe Jaime…”
“He’s never been interested in her before,” Reyne admits, though the way she chews her lips belies her worry. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before meeting my eyes.
“Jaime can take care of herself, okay? She could be anywhere. Any one of the Masters could have requested her earlier. But…don’t tell the other girls about Eli, okay?”
I pause a moment before nodding.
I meet Liz’s eyes and she gives me a small smile which I return.
No point in getting anyone else worried.
The day isslow and there are few clients so I end up spending some time teaching Liz, Zee, and Terri how to do a few different pole moves I learned during my dancing days. Most of the stuff I did when I was young was forms of ballet and more formal dance, but so much of it translates that adjusting the style to the sultry flow of erotic dance wasn’t a huge stretch.
“And if you hook your foot like this, you can sort of swing yourself in this manner,” I demonstrate before moving away and letting Terri step up and try.
“I used to work at a strip club, back in the day,” Liz tells me. “But I was never really a stage girl, I just didn’t have the moves.”
“I did dance when I was a kid for a long time, none of it around a pole though,” I admit with a hint of a smile. “Push your hip out a bit more,” I tell Terri.
“That musta been fun,” Liz replies. “You obviously remember a lot of it.”
I nod. “Yeah, well, my mom was pretty set on me being the best so I practiced a lot.” I think back to my childhood and shake my head with a small chuckle. “No wonder I had so few friends as a kid.”
Terri steps off the stage with her skin glistening slightly from exertion. She grins and gives me a wink before throwing her arm around me.
“Good thing you got us now, girl. Now, show me that funny upside down thing again.”
I manageto distract myself for most of the day, but small worries at the back of my head don’t completely go away. Every time the door opened, I looked up hoping to see Jaime, but she never came and none of us were bold enough to ask where she was. A small part of me hoped Atlas would visit again, but the image of the burned down house is seared into my mind. There’s always the chance that Eli was messing with me, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. But somehow, I think he’s smart enough to know the truth would scare me even more.
A man like him doesn’t need to lie to elicit fear. Reality is terrifying enough.
27
Atlas
Rescue
It’sclose to a week before I find myself at the familiar doors of the Iron Elite facility again. Looking up, I take a final puff of my smoke before stubbing it out under my boot. I give the guard a short nod as I pass, and he doesn’t stop me.
