There was no way I’d have been able to watch Paige looking at another man as he consumed her, devoured her, abused her as his.
I clicked back through to the schedule screen and checked out the booking dates. Five days. I had five days before Paige’s first batch of in person client visits were scheduled. And that was crazy. That in itself was crazy. I always had thirty days straight with the girls to break them in hard enough to stand up to the pressure. There was no client that set foot into a room with them before they were well and truly ready to take their punishment.
Paige wouldn’t be ready for that scheduling in five days, even I was on side to push her to her limits. Without me would be insanity, brutality, enough to drive her so beyond her limits she’d never recover.
And neither would I.
I’d never recover either. Not from watching the girl who’d come to mean so much destroyed at my business partner’s hands.
I needed a plan. My brain ticked, focusing hard on the task in front of me.
If reaching Drake was a thankless task until he decided to give me air time, then I needed another option. And fast. I needed it fast.
Five fucking days fast.
When it came, my stomach was churning, lurching. Cursing against everything I was willing to stand up against and risk decades of work in the process. Cursing against what it could mean for my future with my network of contacts so entrenched in this seedy business venture.
What it could mean for my future full stop. If I was going to have one.
I smiled at the crazy irony.
I’d spent my entire adult life convincing myself that life was nothing more than money, love be damned. What a laughable turnaround that I’d be willing to give mine up for a girl I’d purchased just a few short days ago.
I fired off another ping to Drake via the encrypted portal, thankful it was me with the technological control and not him.
Call me. Believe me you’ll want to. Call me before the hour is up, or you’ll seriously regret it.
And then I got the notification announcement ready for our entire client base.Chapter ThreePaigeI sat with her for what felt like ages, holding her hands as she tried to calm herself down enough to get the words out. It was a weird mix of fear and relief to find her there in some crazy location.
“It’s ok,” I said, even though I had no idea if it was or not. “I’m here too now. You’re not alone. We’re not alone. Just tell me how you got here. Tell me what’s going on.”
“They came for me,” she managed finally. “They came to my apartment and barged their way in right after Carolyn left that night. The night on the pier. The night with you… and him…”
Him.
What I’d give to see him right there and then. What I’d give to see him and tell him I wanted him and not this place, whatever the cost.
“They barged in?”
She nodded, and her lip trembled. “Yeah, they barged in. Three of them. They came right in and told me I was in breach of my sixty-day contract and needed to answer some questions.”
“And is that what this is? Questions?”
Her eyes said it all. The shake of her head wasn’t even necessary.
“They’re different here,” she told me. “This isn’t like the original sixty days. Those sixty days were hard but they were ok. They felt ok. He made it ok. But these people… these people are different.”
I didn’t doubt it. Not for a second. Not from them bursting into Brandon’s bedroom. Not from them bustling me downstairs. Not from the drive, or the talk here, or them throwing me into this room.
“They told me he knew about it,” I shared with her. “They told me he knew they were taking over my contract for the rest of the sixty days. Do you think that’s right? Do you think he really knows that?”
I was hoping she’d say no. I was hoping she’d shake her head and say no fucking way, there’s no way he knows you’re here.
But she didn’t.
She shrugged. Looked out of the window.
“I dunno, Paige. He could be laughing his head off right now that we’re both caught up in this place.”
Her fingers were trembling, even locked in mine.
“What have they done to you in here?” I asked, and her eyes teared up new.
“They told me I could renew my sixty-day terms and dedicate myself to a whole new pay out situation if I value the one I’ve already earned. They said I need to prove to them I knew the meaning of obedience all over again, and maybe then, when I’ve shown them I really understand the confidentiality terms, I can go back to my normal life with my bank balance still healthy enough to account for it.”