“Hi,” I said in a cold voice. “I don’t believe we’ve met. You may call me Thorn.”
I shook her hand, her eyes darting between Harlow and me as she motioned for us to follow her inside.
“Daddy?” she cried out, and her father came strolling down the hallway, his eyes glinting as he drew closer.
Out of the four of us, he’d been the only one filled in on what was about to happen.
“Hello,” he said pleasantly. “Why don’t we all sit down in the living room and you can explain what’s going on. We have some tea ready for you.”
The girls seemed tense, worried, and they had every reason to be. Their lives were about to be changed forever.
“Is Amber here?” I asked Carina, and she nodded hesitantly, to which I responded with a kind smile. “Please have her join us.”
I took off my gloves and smoothed Harlow’s hair as we waited. Carina disappeared down a hallway and came back a moment later, just as the three of us settled on the expensive leather couches in the living room. Amber looked pale and unharmed, and I gave her an icy smile that I hoped told her everything I knew of her actions back at home. She was the only one out of the three girls that would finally get what she had wanted to all along.
Amber reached for some tea, but Carina’s father stopped her, shaking his head. Instead, he poured a cup for his daughter and passed her the beverage. Carina looked confused, but took several long sips of the hot liquid anyway, which pleased me.
“Harlow,” I told my girl gently. “Why don’t you tell Mr. Van Acker what’s going on here.”
She stared at me, obviously bewildered, reaching for a cup of tea to prolong the moment. I watched her stir in the sugar and milk and waited until she drained the whole cup before she finally started to speak.
“I…” she started, her voice weak. “I will be leaving with Mr. Thorn.”
“I see,” Carina’s father said pleasantly, smiling at my woman. “I’m sorry you’ve cut your stay a little short, Harlow. It’s always so lovely seeing you.”
She nodded numbly and looked at me for further directions. I assumed she thought this wouldn’t have been so easy, that someone would have stopped me. But Harlow had always underestimated the extent of my power. She still didn’t know exactly what I was capable of, the poor little girl. That wouldn’t last long, though.
“I believe Amber also came with Harlow,” I said pleasantly as the other two girls sat down, Carina close to me, and Amber in an armchair next to Carina’s father.
The man and I exchanged smiles. We were the ones heading the game here. We would be the ones calling the shots. And I couldn’t fucking wait.
The tension in the room was palpable, so thick you could cut it with a knife. We were the only ones who looked comfortable, while the three girls fidgeted nervously.
“Now, Mr. Van Acker,” I went on. “The girls might not be aware of this, but we’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“Indeed,” he said, chuckling. “I came to you looking for something.”
“A girl, if I recall correctly,” I added, feeling the tension grow into something that almost felt like a living presence in the room. “And at the time, I declined. Can you explain why?”
“I believe you called my methods… unorthodox,” he grinned.
He was lying through his teeth. I’d told him I’d never do business with a man like him. A man who was not only married but had killed his last submissive in cold blood.
You would never be able to tell what a monster he was by looking at him. He was handsome despite his age, older, with dark hair greying at the temples. He worked out regularly and was almost as tall as I was. But if the rumors were true, his looks barely mattered. He was a fucking monster.
“Well,” I said. “I have changed my mind. And since I have so many to choose from…”
I pointed at all three girls who looked frozen to the spot.
“You may pick the one you want,” I went on through gritted teeth.
The girls didn’t need to know this had been discussed in advance. Even Van Acker wasn’t twisted enough to take his own daughter, and he would touch Harlow over my dead body. That only left one girl behind.
“Amber,” he said pleasantly. “You know I’ve always liked you, don’t you?”
Her eyes were the widest I’d ever seen as he reached over, stroking a strand of hair from her face.
“Excellent!” I clapped my hands together in the utter silence of the room. “Amber has actually expressed an interest in being sold, Mr. Van Acker. And while she isn’t trained, I’m sure you can take her on, can’t you?”
“Of course,” he replied with a cool smile. “As long as she’s a virgin.”