“Let me make this simple for you, Six. Either way, you coming with me, bitch! Not only did I lose money behind you, look at my fucking face!” he growled, orbs swirling wild like an animal. “You think this nigga fuck with you enough to pay up? Because that’s the only way you walking away from this. I got plans for you, baby.”
Fighting against the firm grip he had on me only angered him. Skully swung me around, pinning one of my arms behind my back and fisting my hair. He slammed my face into the brick wall ahead, leaving me temporarily blindsided as something warm and wet dripped from my nose and down my lips and chin. Dizzy with blurry vision, I tried to focus onwhat was happening, but Skully whistled and one of his men appeared.
“Take her to the car,” he ordered.
“No! Son of a bitch!” I screamed and swung my fists at his henchmen’s back.
Unfazed, he slung me into the back of a black SUV and slammed the door shut. It locked automatically, and I couldn’t undo it as I yanked at the door handle and beat on the glass with my fist. Skully hopped in beside me with a chrome pistol aimed in my direction as his boy got behind the wheel. Cowering into the leather seats, my chest heaved anxiously.
“Take us to the location,” he told the driver.
He shifted gears and the car smoothly pulled off, leaving the Guardian Lodge behind me. I prayed to God that somehow he pulled me from this situation, but with my luck, some new horror awaited. Not sure how long we’d been driving, I faded in and out of consciousness, blinded by headlights flashing against the window of the car when I occasionally came to. We came to a final stop and the engine shut off but still ticked for a few minutes. A splitting headache held me hostage, nearly blinding me when my eyes flickered open. The driver got out and pulled on my door, and only the illumination of the moon glowing in the sky lit up the night.
“Bring that bitch out of here so we can get this shit over with,” Skully commanded.
Although I was awake, my entire body was limp. Snatching me out of the car, Skully’s man carried me over his shoulder once again. His shoes crunched against the gravel on the ground, and I listened to metal scrape against metal when a door opened ahead.
“Skully, you’re late,” an unfamiliar voice with a Middle Eastern accent announced.
“Ran into a little issue or two. As promised though.”
“Bring her in. Let’s get her cleaned up.”
Cigar smoke and expensive cologne immediately struck my nose. The maroon carpet stood out to me as I hung off Skully’s henchmen’s shoulder. Classical music played in the distance while people chatted and laughed in conversation. Another door was propped open, and we started down a winding concrete staircase. It grew colder the further we traveled, causing me to shudder as the hairs on my arms and neck stood tall.
“In here,” the man with the accent directed. “Put her there.”
Slowly, I was placed on a soft surface, and my head rolled from one side to the other to observe my new surroundings. The walls were concrete, like a basement. There was a bed where I’d been placed, a sink in one corner, a vanity with a matching chair in the other, and a full-length mirror beside it. A clothing rack full of dresses was on the other side of the room. Palettes of makeup and hair utensils and products covered the surface.
A very dark-skinned man with round brown eyes and a slim nose stepped closer, surveying every inch of my body.
“I thought we talked about not harming her face,” he noted with a frown.
“Nothing a little MAC foundation won’t cure,” Skully chuckled. “What about my payment?”
Sighing, the well-dressed man with warm, soft hands straightened up.
“I’m taking ten thousand off for the face.”
“The fuck?—”
“Take it or leave it.”
“She’s a fucking virgin! How many of them you got in here?”
“Our doctor will determine that when he comes in to clean her up and check her hymen. Until then, you may have a drink upstairs in the lobby until the exam is over. I’ll have your payment when he green lights everything.”
“With all due respect, Saleh, where is Tariq?” Skully growled.
“You say with all due respect and then ask for my father,” Saleh chuckled. “What kind of shit is that? I’m running this. What I say goes around here, and if you don’t like it, you can take the girl and leave.”
“I’ve done business with the Abduls for a long time?—”
“Would you like that to continue? I am not my father,” Saleh challenged.
Silence filled the room, and I almost smiled. It was nice to hear someone check Skully.
“Fine. I’ll go get a drink.” I heard his feet scuffle toward the door.
