Page 42 of Lost In The Dark

“You know you don’t mean that. You couldn’t cope without me. You’ve said it yourself,” she purred.

“Don’t be so sure.” Asher moved his arm away and her hand dropped back to her side. I didn’t miss the hateful glare she immediately looked to me with.

“Fine, I’m going, since this girl seems to have you acting so irrationally, but you need to call me tomorrow. Things are getting backed up at the office.”

Asher almost dragged her to the door and I heard her raging at him, up until the second the front door was slammed shut.

Asher looked exhausted and guilty when he walked back in and looked right at me.

“I’m so sorry, Addy,” he sighed. Before I could utter a word to reassure him, Eli started talking. When I looked to him I realized he was on a call.

“Kane, make sure that bitch leaves the property, then change the access codes. She is not permitted in this house again,” he snapped. “Thanks. I appreciate it,” he added, then he hung up and looked right to Asher. “What the fuck were you thinking giving her codes?”

“I needed some paperwork. I had no choice, but I never thought for one second she’d just let herself in again,” Asher explained.

“Of course she just let herself in. She thinks it’s only a matter of time before she lives here as lady of the manor,” Adam chuckled as he walked in with a huge bowl of popcorn and two sodas.

“Is she y-your girlfriend?” I asked as I looked between Asher and Adam with surprise. The idea of her having her claws into my kind brother had me feeling strangely protective.

“No! Definitely not. She’s just my P.A.” Asher said vehemently.

“Tell her that!” Adam laughed as he sat on the sofa, leaving an empty seat between us.

“He’s right, Ash. You need to get rid of her. She might be good at her job but she’s a raging bitch. The things she said to Addy…” Eli told him.

“It’s f-fine. I’ve definitely heard worse.” I shrugged and lowered my eyes to my lap.

“It’s not fine and it won’t happen again. I’ll take care of it. Are you sure you’re okay, Addy?” Asher asked.

“I’m sure. You guys should go or you’ll be late,” I told them both.

“She’s right. Go. Addy and I have cooking shows to watch,” Adam agreed as he looked to me with a smile.

Asher and Eli were both studying me, so I smiled, then reached into the bowl that Adam had put on the sofa between us, to grab a hand full of popcorn.

“Call us right away if you need us,” Asher said as he pointed to me playfully.

“I will. Have fun.”

“No chance of that,” Eli grumbled as he leant over the sofa to kiss the top of my head. I looked up at him with a genuine smile. I loved it when he did that. It just felt so comforting and cemented the thing I was coming to realize slowly – Asher and Eli really were my family.

***

I leapt awake and gasped desperately for breath as a huge amount of freezing cold water landed over me. My eyes shot up as my body instantly started to shiver. My heart was racing and I had to swipe the water from my face to see anything. Then I locked eyes on him. He was stood over the cage, which I was trapped in, with an empty bucket in his hands, glaring at me as I fought to catch my breath.

“Lazy little pet, aren’t you?” he sneered. He was dressed in black slacks and a sickly shade of green colored shirt, his large stomach hanging over the top of his pants. His flinty eyes locked on mine, but he no longer looked annoyed. He looked excited. I may have only been his possession for a week, but I knew enough to know that could not be a good thing.

I’d been sold at an auction. An illegal auction where plenty of other young women like me had been held in cages and dragged one by one to the stage, so rich, sick monsters could bid on us. There had been kids there too, but I refused to allow myself to think about them. I couldn’t. I was barely holding onto my sanity as it stood. Worrying about those innocent children I’d seen in a separate cage and knowing there was nothing I could do to help them would be my end.

A deafening bang against the top of the cage had me cowering, then he was yelling, “Why are you not in position yet, pet!?” he roared.

I could barely think straight. It had been days since I’d eaten and he wasn’t allowing me more than small sips of water between what he called our ‘sessions.’ I shuddered at the reminder of the reason my entire body throbbed like one huge angry nerve.

I dare not move, even if I could make my body cooperate. I knew what he wanted. He’d already explained to me that I was to be kneeling with my hands laid palm up on my parted thighs every time he walked into the room – my prison. I guessed it was in a basement, judging by the fact there were no windows and a definite damp and musty smell. The room my cage sat in was small and consisted of rough concrete walls. The cage was locked with a digital keypad and there was no escaping it. I knew that after two solid days of trying.

“It seems we have some work to do, little pet. I’m so glad I have a session scheduled this morning,” he told me as he typed in a code I had no chance of seeing, then pressed his thumb to a scanner. I heard the loud beep of the lock disengaging, then he grabbed my ankle and ripped me from the cage. I screamed and tried to kick at him, but who was I kidding? After six months of hell in the club, and no food for days, I wasn’t strong enough to fight my way out of a paper bag.

He just laughed at my fight as he dragged me from the room and into a narrow corridor. I knew where he was taking me and to say I was anything other than petrified would have been a lie.

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