A migraine formed in my head as I watched them leave. What a fucking mess.
Chapter 36
Dani
Ittookmeawhile to fall asleep, but once I did, I wasout. I didn’t spend a lot of time at home, but I needed to stay close because I wasn’t done with Dad just yet. I still needed to get some alone time with his laptop in his office–but I honestly didn’t know how I’d do that without him knowing.
I also waited for my punishment. If Dad knew that I’d been talking about that night three years ago, the night of my rape, there was a punishment coming. I just didn’t know when.
That was part of Dad’s game. It could be in a day, in a week, or fuck, even a year. But it would happen, and it’d be brutal. There was one thing Dad didn’t stand for, and that was a loose trap.
“What the fuck were you thinking last night?” Dad asked as he blasted through the door without knocking.Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
My eyes were barely open as he ripped the warm blankets off me. I was still wearing the dress from the night before because I was too exhausted to worry about changing when I got home. My hands flew up to cover my chest as he sneered at me.
“You’re supposed to work every weekend. What the fuck were you doing?” He ripped my hands from my chest, squeezing my wrists and putting his knee onto my stomach. I tried to get away from him but he was too strong.
“Bash wasn’t there last night, so I spent some time with my friends. Why do you care?” I gritted, trying to keep my anger down and not let him see how much he was hurting me.
He pushed down harder. “That’s not your fucking decision to make. You’re there to work, not fuck irrelevant men in hallways. Get up.” He released me and brushed himself off, like I contaminated his suit.
I sat up slowly, my head still swimming from the night before. It wasn’t fast enough for him. He yanked my arm, pulling me from my bed and dragging me down the hallway. We reached the basement door and I knew what was coming. I hadn’t been down here in over a year–the first time I negotiated my way out. I wouldn’t be able to do that now. I didn’t have anything to bargain with this time.
My limbs were heavy as Dad forced me down the stairs to the basement. He flicked the lights on when we reached the landing, and I observed that all the cages were empty. He’d set it up to look like a jail, with four cells that each had a pad for a bed and a bucket in lieu of a toilet.
“You’ve been a disrespectful little bitch for too long. Need I remind you of what I can do to you?” He asked as he opened one of the cell doors.
I didn’t respond. It irritated him when I ignored him.
He tossed me inside and I landed on the cold, hard floor. It was dirty and stained from whoever was here before me. Dad liked to bring people down here to taunt and torment. Sometimes he would bring his friends to watch it happen. The pain of innocent people was entertainment for him.
He slammed the door shut and laughed. “Where’s the smart-ass comeback? Got nothing to say to me? I know you’ve been running your mouth. That spoiled bratKaneconfronted me about the masquerade ball in front of Gio. You’re lucky I’m quick on my feet.”
“I didn’t say anything to him.”
“Well you told someone! So until you can learn to follow my orders and keep your mouth shut, you’ll be down here. I have a shipment coming in later, so you won’t be alone for long,” he smirked before turning off the light and traipsing up the steps.
There was a small window that let in a fraction of daylight, but other than that, I was cloaked in darkness. My stomach rumbled because I’d emptied it a few hours ago at Ethereal, but I couldn’t eat anyway. The damp, rotten smell of the basement permeated my nose and made me nauseous.
I leaned against the bars and curled up into myself, closed my eyes, and waited for it to be over.
Muffledscreamsandgruntswere the first noises I heard as I woke up. My eyes opened slowly as I took in the scene in front of me.
“Stop it!” I screamed as I jumped up from the floor and yanked on the cell door. Ice ran through my veins as the girls looked at me.
There were two of them. Twins. Close to my age, maybe a little older if their wary faces were any indication of age. Wearing nothing but ratty underwear. They were skinny, bones protruding from their bruised, dull skin. Their sandy blonde hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed or brushed in weeks.
“Fucking stop it, you pieces of shit!” I yelled as I pulled on the door in another futile attempt to open it, like I could somehow loosen the lock and save the girls from their fate.
“I thought you’d like to watch, Danica,” Dad smirked as he stood by two of his men groping the girls. Their hands and ankles were duct taped together, and there was a piece of tape on each of their mouths. “Don’t worry, we won’t hurt them too badly. They wouldn’t sell at the auction tomorrow if we broke them in completely, but we have to check the merchandise.”
“You’re so fucking sick! Leave them alone,” I cried. I knew nothing I said would stop what was going to happen, but I had to say something.
“That’s funny coming from you, dear. You’re just like your old man.Sick.” He laughed, the sound something reminiscent of an evil dictator about to massacre innocent people. Hethrivedon this.
“Let them go! Wherever you got them from, they’re emaciated. No one at the auction will want them!” I pleaded, my eyes flashing to the girls for a moment. One had her eyes shut, the other stared at me, eyes full of fear.
“You’d be surprised how many of my clients like this look,” Dad said as he reached into my cell and gripped my throat. I didn’t fight him. “Now you’re going to watch as we do an inspection. And remember, this could easily be you if you decide to open this mouth again. It’d be hard to talk with a cock filling your pretty mouth, wouldn’t it?”