AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll see you tonight.”
“I expect an answer, and soon. I have a sizable sum coming due.” That gives me pause, considering I’m the reason he is losing money little by little.
The bastard grins. A hideous, power-hungry grin.
I look at myself in the mirror. My hair hangs in curls down my back, giving me an old Hollywood glamour, lips painted in red, the dress hugging my body, leaving nothing to the imagination. I feel too exposed and not at all comfortable.
“You look spectacular.” The hair and makeup team compliments me. But all I can think about is I am not wearing underwear. They air-kiss me and leave. I walk around trying to hide my leg, but the slit is touching my hip bone so I give up. Maybe if my father sees me, he will think it’s too revealing. But when he comes to check on me, his eyes glisten with satisfaction and my hopes burst.
“I want you on your best behavior. Or you won’t like the consequences.”
“Yes, Father,” I say through a whisper of irritation.
When the clock strikes seven, I drag in a lungful of air. I check my phone, but there are no more phone calls or messages from Chiara. How strange. Tonight she faces her future, while I find out why I came back. The feeling of foreboding terrifies me and my knees weaken with every step I take.
I grip the banister and my jaw drops at the group of mengathered at the end of the stairs. Their leering eyes scan me approvingly and with a gleam of something more. Something I don’t want to know for sure. I search for other women, but when I reach the last step, I confirm I’m the only one. It’s just me and ten men. I push through, wanting to hug myself and run back and lock myself in my room. Something tells me my fear would only entice them, and I’m tired of living in a permanent state of fear.
My father locks my elbow around his as he parades me around. Cattle for show, and my insides curl in disgust. Each man takes my hand to kiss the back of it. Two showers and ten liters of bleach wouldn’t rid me of the filth that now feels like it’s caked on my skin.
“Smile, and stop being stiff. These are my friends. Let them see you.”
This is wrong, but I steel myself. He takes a step back as if inviting them to take a better look, and the hair on my arms rise in disgust.
“I would keep you locked in a room. Your beauty is spectacular.”
I glare more than anything else because I won’t validate that with a thank-you. That was not a compliment, it was an assertion of just how Delaney Jackson would rather enjoy me for himself. His name has been chanted like he’s a damn god among immortals between the other guests. His meaty fingers graze up my arm, and I take a step back at the gleam I see in his cold, almost black eyes. With every second, my stomach churns with disgust.
“Can’t wait to sample that innocence,” he says with glee.
My insides churn at the thought of him touching me. I would rather slit my own wrists than let this man have me.
Instead, with a fake smile, I say, my words as sharp as a sword, “That will never happen.”
“A little fire under all that innocence. I can’t wait to show you how wrong you are.”
He tips his head toward my father, and the glimmer in my father’s eyes tells me this is not a game. Dread fills every crevice of my body.
The other men circle me, a bunch of hyenas rounding up their prey, one after the other, all of them eyeing me with blatant desire.
When the front door opens, the breath I was holding bursts from my mouth. My brother is the first to appear, his movement coming to a sudden halt. Kieran follows, wrath flashing in his eyes.
“My mistake, boys. I said eight. I meant seven, actually.” My father smirks at his admission.
“Go to your room,” my brother says through gritted teeth.
I mouth thank you and turn, but my father steps between me and the stairs, blocking my exit.
“This is my house, and she will stay right here.”
“You heard your brother,” Kieran says with a clenched jaw. He jerks his chin upstairs, giving me the last bit of courage I need to openly disregard my father’s order. I flee past him up the stairs and collapse on the floor inside my room.
I can’t stay here any longer. I might be innocent, but I am not stupid. My father just offered me like a prize up for auction. Yanking the nightstand open, I send a message to my uncle.
Please hurry.
I breathe in and out. Opening the doors to my balcony, I step outside onto the terrace. Violets, oranges, and blues strike the sky in symmetrical lines. I lean my forearms over the banister and inhale. In and out.
After a while, whispered voices sound between my brother and Kieran under my balcony. I lean over the railing tohear what they’re saying. Kieran steps back and catches me eavesdropping.
