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And then another set of hands was on me, leading me past Seven and away from the room. It was only seconds until I was going through the door we’d come through to get into this room, but instead of taking a left and heading toward the room I’d been sleeping in, this man took a right.
I wanted to ask where we were going, what was going to happen from here, but no words would come out of my mouth. They were trapped, just like I had been for…how long had I been here now? I tried to do the math in my head, counting on my fingers the best that I could.
Fourteen weeks. It had been fourteen weeks since I’d been snatched from the street. Two weeks since I’d been moved from the cages to the club. It felt like so much longer than that, but then I supposed when you were in a living nightmare, it always did.
The man’s hand gripped my arm harder, then suddenly let go and pushed me into a room as small as a janitor’s closet. “Put the clothes on. You have one minute.”
He turned his back on me, leaving the door wide open, and at this point, it was normal for me not to be in a room with the door closed. In fact, I preferred to know what was through the doorframe. I didn’t want to be at a disadvantage and not know what was coming. It had happened too many times since I’d been thrown into the back of that truck. The fear of the unknown was crippling, so little things like this were my saving grace at this point.
“Forty-five seconds,” he clipped out.
Shit. I grabbed for the piece of clothing hanging directly in front of me, realizing it was a dress at the last second. It hit just below the knee, the fabric smooth against my skin. It was the kind of dress that I would have chosen for myself, as well as the denim jacket and the baby-pink Vans.
“Ten seconds.”
I rushed to do the laces on the Vans, then grabbed the denim jacket, trying to push my arms through it as I stepped toward the man. I couldn’t see a reflection of myself, but I knew that the dress was my usual size, yet was loose on me. I shouldn’t have been surprised with the small amount we were allowed to eat here.
I wondered if I’d be able to eat wherever I was going. This small luxury of seeing my clothes from my old life had reminded me even more how I was stepping into something else, something new, something that I had no idea of. Would it be worse than here? What would I be made to do? I felt tears prick at my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I had to keep it together, for now at least.
Needing something to center me, I gripped my neck as the man grabbed my arm again, then proceeded to march me down a hallway. The farther from my old bedroom we got, the more the decor changed, turning to a clean white.
A door came into view but the man just marched right through it, his grip getting harder as he pulled me through behind him and then into a square space with a huge window.
My eyes widened, seeing the outside for the first time in months. I could practically feel the fresh air on me and I wasn’t even out there. Freedom was only feet away, yet I was still trapped inside something that the monster Mr. Pozzi had created.
“Your package,” the man grunted, still holding on to me.
“I’m gonna say this once, and once only,” a new voice said—a voice I recognized all too well. “Get your motherfuckin’ hands off of her before I break every bone in your hand and then chop it the hell off.”
I gasped, my gaze snapping to Romeo as he slowly stood from the seat he was sitting on. His expression was murderous, and I had no doubt he meant every word that he’d said. It scared me, but…in a weird way, it comforted me too.
The man huffed, not saying a word as he let me go. My arm throbbed where his hand had been, and even though part of me wanted to rub it to alleviate some of the soreness, I didn’t. Instead, I just stood there, my feet glued to the floor as the man turned and walked away, leaving us alone.
Blinking, I tried to look away from the man standing there in a black button-down shirt and black jeans, but I couldn’t stop staring at him. Romeo had done what he said he would. He’d promised to help me and that—
“Come here, now,” he ground out, his tone not changing as his gaze focused on me now. Wait…if he was here to help me, then why was he talking like that? I frowned, not adhering to his command right away. I didn’t understand what was happening, I didn’t—my stomach dipped as a thought occurred…maybe Romeo wasn’t here to help me, maybe he was here to do exactly what all the other men in there were here for: to buy a sex slave.
My blurry vision focused back in on Romeo as his fists clenched and his nostrils flared. “Here. Now.”
His voice sent shivers down my spine, and not the good kind. My body knew what to do before my brain could process it, and I stepped toward him. One step. Two steps. Three steps. His signature woodsy scent invaded my nostrils and stole the oxygen from my brain space, lulling me into a false sense of security.
He grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers together within seconds, then maneuvered us toward the door. He paused, waiting for something, and when a sound clicked, he opened the door, pulling us out into the street. The cool air smacked me in the face, whipping against my cheeks. There was no doubt they were bright red from the force, but damn, I liked it. I hadn’t breathed a lungful of fresh air in such a long time. A privilege that I didn’t even realize was a privilege.
“Romeo,” I whispered. I didn’t know what I was asking, what I was saying, but I knew he needed to hear my voice.
He shook his head, his lips in a straight line, silently telling me no. I didn’t understand, I couldn’t comprehend what was happening. His hand enveloped mine, his fingers and palm so much bigger than my own. It comforted me, making me feel a little safe, but the rest of him…the rest of him just reminded me what he did that first night we met. How he stole from me.
It didn’t make sense how I felt safe with a man who had done that to me.
A burst of defiance sprung free and I tried to pull my hand away from his, but he just held on tighter, squeezing it so hard it made me yelp.
“Just wait,” he murmured. “Trust me, Bailey.” His eyes begged me to trust him, begged for me to believe him but… “Please.”
My stomach rolled at his final word, and all I could do was nod. It didn’t matter if I didn’t trust him or not, there was nothing I could do at this stage. I was a lamb to the slaughter, already taking the final few steps. Everything was happening way too fast and I couldn’t process any of it in time.
Lights flashed and then Romeo veered to the left, opening the door of a shiny dark car. “Get in, Bailey.”
I stood there, not wanting to do as he said. Glancing around, I tried to spot an exit, somewhere that I could escape to if I made a dash for it.
