Page 89 of Hawk's Sapphire

I shake my head, chancing a glance up at him.“I needed a job.At the nightclub where I’d applied to dance, he was there.He owns it,” I say quietly.“He insisted I be a hostess, not wanting another man to see me undressed except himself.He seemed nice and took me on a few dates to places I’d never seen before.”I smile softly.“He treated me well and took care of me.Then he showed me what it meant to be his.It was easy to be what he wanted when he took such wonderful care of me.”

“Matteo seemed to be smitten with you from what I’ve been told.At least, he was, until your drunken display the other night.But even then … he wouldn’t have parted with you if he didn’t owe me a debt.So, I must wonder, what is it about you, hmm?”His finger brushes my neck, pulling back the collar of my shirt before plunging his hand down the front, into my sports bra and gripping my breast hard.I make no sounds.Don’t flinch in pain.I remain perfectly still.

“You certainly have a nice body.But there are millions of young women with bodies like yours.”He pulls his hand out, tilting his head as if to study me.“Though most of the women we encounter are either broken easily or fight to their death.But you seem to be trained to submit to authority.Is that it, perhaps?Or maybe your cunt is made of gold, huh,pet?Does it grip a man’s cock like a vice?Is that it?”His hand grips my chin firmly, forcing my eyes to meet his.His have darkened, but it’s not desire I see staring back at me, it’s depravity.I grit my teeth to hold back my retort.

Breathe and survive.They’re coming for you.

When I refuse to answer, Cusenza steps back.“You two,” he calls over his shoulder.“I need a few minutes alone with our guest.Wait outside.”His hand goes to his waist, and he begins to unbuckle his belt.My mind is racing.I need to find a way out of this situation.And quickly.

Just as his men open the door, Eleanor comes swooping in.She eyes Cusenza, taking in the scene before her.She sees his hand on his loosened belt, and I see the flash of anger in her eyes.

“You are needed upstairs.There’s a situation that requires your …finesse,” she says tightly.

“What is it that can’t wait ten minutes?”He snarls back, clearly upset to have been interrupted.

“The child we brought to the island, her new owner is upset and demanding a refund.It seems she has family, and they’ve posted pictures of her all over social media.He’s afraid it will cause issues for him in the long run and wishes to back out of the deal until another child can be found that suits his specific requirements.”Eleanor looks from Cusenza to me, waiting for his answer.When he remains silent, she continues.Placing a hand on his cheek, which he doesn’t seem to mind.Interesting.

“Amor, this one deal is worth nearly three million dollars and the court case against the McAllister campaign will be dropped.We cannot afford to lose this client.Prove to him we can make the child disappear without a trace and settle his nerves as only you can.”

I keep my head down and act as though I’m not paying them any attention, but I’m taking note of everything.I’m pretty sure thechildin question is the little girl his asshole soldiers were fucking with earlier.

Cusenza sighs, buckling his belt.“I’ll handle it.Where is he?”

“Upstairs in the lounge,” Eleanor says, smiling sweetly.He kisses her cheek and leaves the room with his goons in tow.

“You think you can bat your eyelashes and convince him to make you his?”she snarls at me.“He only uses girls like you as a temporary fuck.A momentary thrill.He likes to break the pretty young ones and then send them on their way to the next man who will do far worse than Marco, I can assure you.Your new owner has taken a special interest in you.It seems your paths have crossed before and he’s looking for a little revenge.”She smiles, tapping her finger to her chin.“Poetic, isn’t it?You helped Avery destroy me, well, you tried.And now, I get to hand you over to the person who most wants to destroy you.”

I don’t respond, but my mind is racing with ideas of who it could possibly be.Who would know me well enough to know I had fucked up their life?I’m always careful.Never leave a trail.So, it has to be someone who has me confused with someone else.

“Oh, don’t worry so much, sweetheart.You’ll find out soon enough.He’ll be landing on the island later this evening.But first, we need to get you ready.”She turns to the door and shouts, “Armand!”A large man in a wife beater and jeans enters the room.He’s fucking huge, and if I’m honest, a little intimidating.I immediately start assessing weak points, places I can attack, tactics I can use to get free.

“Take this trash to the prepping area.I want her stripped, cleaned, andthoroughlyprepared for delivery this evening.”The way she says thoroughly makes me think this is not going to be a bubble bath and spa treatment day.

“On it.”Armand grabs my arm tight enough to bruise and drags me down the hall.I take note of the other rooms, the locks on the doors, how many guards there are, and how they all use a passkey to get in and out of the hallways.

When we reach the end of what seems like a mile long stretch, we enter a large, open concrete room with drains in the floor and showerheads mounted to the wall.Armand shoves me into the room and orders me to strip.He leans back with his arms crossed over his chest, nudging his chin toward the showers.

“There’s no curtain,” I state, as if I’m naïve enough to believe there would be privacy in a place like this.There was no door on the bathroom in my cell, so I know there won’t be here either.But I have to look the part.

“Nope.”He pops thepat the end.“Strip and get clean.This is only the first stop on our little tour.”

I move to the farthest showerhead and strip out of my clothing.I’m not ashamed or embarrassed by my body, but being leered at by an overgrown gorilla isn’t high on my list of things to do.I reach for the showerhead and turn it on, turning the nob all the way to hot.I wait a few seconds and hear Armand chuckling over my shoulder.When I look back, narrowing my eyes at him, I wonder what’s so funny until I reach my hand under the faucet and find out.

There’s no hot water.It’s ice fucking cold.

I both curse and thank Matteo under my breath for everything he trained me for.He must’ve known—or at least had an idea of what to expect.

Or he tortures traitors for a living and knows what works to break a person.

I step under the spray, grab the vanilla scented body wash and proceed to clean myself, ignoring the asshole in the room.Once I’m done, I shut off the faucet and turn with my arms covering my chest.

“Where’s the towels?”I ask.

Armand grins wickedly and shrugs his shoulders.“Guess we’re all out.Move.”He points toward the door, and I make my way through it with him following too close behind me.My instincts are screaming at me to run, but I know what I must do.

This was always the plan.

I play the part of a skittish young woman as we trek through the halls.I take inventory of every room, every door, until we pass the one I’m looking for.

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