AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We are here to please him.”
Scowling, Sky stared at the woman. “How old are you?”
“I just turned eighteen last week,” Catarina said with a giggle.
“And how long have you been here a La Paloma?”
“Three years.” Catarina tossed her head, her long, silky blond hair covering her small shoulders. “I am Don Tobar’s favorite.”
“Favorite what?” Sky asked, staring at the clothes she’d carefully laid out for her.
“Why,” Catarina said, “to please him, of course.”
“How many of you are there here?”
Catarina moved to a chair and sat down, crossing her long, slender legs. “There is Arina and Elga. We live here.”
“And,” Sky rubbed her brow, feeling the fear begin to move and grow within her, “how often does this Don Tobar come and visit you here?”
She gave an elegant shrug. “Perhaps once or twice a year. It just depends upon his very busy schedule.”
“Where am I, Catarina?” Sky drilled a look into the girl’s widening eyes, her tone a low growl.
Fluttering her hands, she said, “I am advised to allow Don Tobar to answer all your questions. I will not go against any order he gives me.”
Flattening her hands against the mattress, Sky bowed he head, thinking. Who the hell was Don Tobar? She looked up.
“Are you Russian?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Where do you come from, Catarina?”
Shrugging, she said sadly, “I was orphaned at birth. I do not know who my mother or father was.”
“Then… you have parents who adopted you?”
“No,” she said, her voice taking on a sad note. “I was placed in an all-girl orphanage. I grew up there outside of St. Petersburg.” She rallied and opened her hands. “Elga and Arina were there, too. They were my best friends.” Catarina smiled. “They taught us how to walk, how to dress, how to put on make-up, and how to please a man. Don Tobar bought us, and we’re very happy here at La Paloma.” She sighed and looked around the room. “He is very, very rich. And we want for nothing. We live in unimagined luxury.”
Sky closed her eyes, unable to hold Catarina’s enthusiastic gaze. They were sex slaves? She’d heard of girl orphans who were gathered up in Asia, living together in a communal area, trained to please a man, then sold to the highest bidder. And yet, as Sky opened her eyes and gazed at Catarina, she realized she was utterly innocent of who and what she was. They had trained her from birth, brainwashed her in subtle, daily ways, orienting her young mind to always please a man, her lord, her slave master. “And you were bought by Don Tobar when you were how old?”
“I was thirteen.”
Wincing internally, Sky felt rage tunneling though her. She knew Vlad had been a sadistic, sexual monster. She had lived through him stalking her, always talking about sex to her, telling her he loved her, that he wanted to make love to her to produce his strong sons. It had scared and sickened her. Like father like son? Was Don Tobar another name for Yerik Alexandrov? Sky would bet her life on it.
“Tell me, Catarina, what does Don Tobar look like?”
She brightened. “Oh, he is a very, very tall man, very broad shoulders. He has blond hair and green eyes and is so handsome.”
Her gut tightened. She’d seen a photo of Yerik Alexandrov when Vlad had shown it to her the day he’d trapped her in her bedroom. He’d locked the door, the proceeded to tell her that he really had a father. He’d been very proud of that fact he had one. Even her foster parents, Jack and Marielle, had believed he was an orphan. Vlad had strutted over to her, pulled out the photo, and pushed it into her face, saying this was his REAL father, Yerik Alexandrov. Vlad bragged openly that his father was now king of the Russian Mafia in New York City. He’d just been invited back to his side, to fly over to Russia and join the military. Sky had stood there like a deer frozen in headlights as he’d continued to extol his REAL father, how proud he was to be his son, that they had fooled everyone.
Sky swallowed, her throat tightening with tension. “Catarina? Does Don Tobar have a scar on his left cheek, just below his eye?” Because in the photo of Vlad’s father, the scar had been prominent. Vlad had bragged he’d gotten it when he was a young officer in the Spetsnaz, in a fight with an Afghan when Russia had invaded that country.
“Why,” Catarina said, amazed, “he does! How did you know this?”
CHAPTER 11
June 17
