Page 24 of The Caged Girl

My stomach flipped. He was killing these women, then letting men rape them.

“Taylor, take Demi upstairs, and make sure she’s in her proper uniform upstairs. We can’t have our resort looking like some trashy standard all-you-can-eat bullshit.” Alister laughed as he waved us away.

Grabbing my hand, Taylor picked up her pace and turned toward a small elevator. “What were you thinking,” she shook her head and whispered as we both stepped in. Waving her badge against the pad, the golden elevator doors slammed shut and went up to the floor where our rooms were.

“Taylor, we have to help those girls,” I breathed out as my body shook with how frigid the space was.

“Why?” She shot a look of disgust at me. “Demi, the problem with women like you is that you’re trying so hard to find something wrong. It’s this whole ‘woe is me’ production that I am so tired of.” Taylor grabbed my hand as soon as the doors opened and quickly led me to the wing of the resort we resided in. Swiping her badge against the keypad, the door slid open, and I was once again blinded by the all-white aesthetic. “Kandi is waiting for you. Your hair is a mess, and you look like you just did the walk of shame.” She clicked her tongue and shoved me inside the open door of Kandi’s makeup and hair room.

But just as we walked in, I took a step back and screamed. Kandi was already brushing another woman’s hair. Taylor covered my mouth with her hand and quickly slid her badge to have the door slide shut behind us.

“No, I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.” Sweat beads began to form across my hairline as Taylor tugged me to the small sofa cornered against the wall. Kandi was completely unbothered as she began spreading makeup across the other girl’s face.

“This is sick. You all are so sick,” I cried out as I watched Kandi squint and bend over to meticulously line the woman’s eyes.

Turning to a binder, she flipped through it and nodded. “He wanted red lips.” Grabbing a tube of bright red lipstick, she looked over at me. “Do it.”

I was still wearing the black nightgown Alister gave me to wear. My mind was spinning from everything that had just happened in the past twenty-four hours. In some pathetic way, I was hoping this was just a regular resort with maybe a secret gambling lair for the men. I didn’t think I could survive another Ivory game.

“It’s crazy that you’re their daughter-in-law, and here you are, working with us. If you would just obey and accept this all, then I bet you anything Alister would make sure you were the queen of this entire legacy,” Kandi said.

“Now put the lipstick on her.” She raised her brow as Taylor shoved me off the couch and I stood. Kandi’s eyes flicked to the corner where a small camera was.

“Do it with a smile,” she whispered so quietly I almost missed her words.

My hand shook as I took the tube of lipstick from her and walked around to face the woman in the chair.

Rolling the lipstick up, I leaned forward and swallowed the lump in my throat.

But just as I was about to press the lipstick on her mouth, her head fell forward.

Sucking in a breath, I gasped.

“It’s fine. Rigor mortis and whatnot is wearing off or whatever.” Kandi sighed and aggressively pushed her head back.

“How did she…” I began as I slowly lined her lips in red. Brushing my finger against the hole in her head, I started to cry. “Russian roulette,” I whispered.

“Smile!” Kandi poked me and cleared her throat.

I forced myself to smile as I covered her thin lips and looked at the dead woman wearing lingerie in front of me.

“She was a nightingale and served the Euphoria program for an entire year. We are so proud of her. Most girls only hang around for a month before they get…” Kandi looked over at Taylor.

“How can you both support this? I don’t even understand.” I looked at the dead woman in front of me and stepped back. Her lips were now a bright red, which stood out against her lifeless, pale skin.

“Do you realize that men with money are what makes the world go round, Demi?” Taylor opened a closet and tugged out a short white dress. “Here, change. We’ve got to go tend to the wives soon.”

I walked to the binder laying on Kandi’s vanity and sniffled as I flipped through page after page. Each image was a dead woman laying in her own blood. I froze. “Oh no.” It was an image of the woman from the lobby who I had mopped up her blood.

“That one tried to run.” Kandi shook her head. “That’s why the best shot is in the head. But the guy shot her in her neck, so she was still able to run.” She shrugged.

“Are you putting makeup on them for their funeral?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

Taylor let out a laugh. “Oh, Demi, you’re silly. Alister likes to recycle here. He’s very environmentally friendly.”

“You see, Alister Ivory craves power the way an alcoholic craves another drink. Rumor has it, as a boy, he was always the black sheep of the family. Ian had created this incredible business and carried on their deranged father’s legacy. But then, Alister wanted to be even bigger and more dominant, so he created La Gabbia. The world’s first and finest exclusive resort for the wealthy to live their wildest and most obscure fantasies. Fantasies that would otherwise have you arrested if done on American soil, which is where most of our guests come from.”

I slid into the tight dress in a state of shock, and Taylor helped me zip the back. “There’s a dead woman sitting with us right now.” I looked between the four of us.

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