Page 15 of Deliverance
"What do you want from us?"
"To make us money, of course."
"And, ladies," the woman Emily referred to as Madam called out, "take a shower and change into the robes that are laid out on the beds in your rooms."
Was I living a dream? A penthouse, my own room, a silk robe? No, it wasn't a dream, but more of a hoax. They were trying to show us that they would take care of us if we took care of the people who wanted our services.
"Now, we're going to go upstairs. None of you are to speak or try to escape because if you do, I won't hesitate to bring you back and sell you to the highest bidder. Do I make myself clear?"
One of the girls I'd come with stopped and turned to Madam. "Why are you doing this to us?"
Madam's dark eyes narrowed. "Would you rather Mr. Russo take you back to that stuffy warehouse so you can be sold and shipped to Mexico, Cuba, Thailand, wherever? Would you rather that?"
"I'd rather go home," the lady whispered.
Madam snorted. "That's not going to happen. Now be grateful you get to live in a penthouse overlooking Central Park, and go get cleaned up before I change my mind about you four."
I looked over at the elevator before we started to walk again. A man was guarding the door, and I knew in my gut that he was there to keep us inside and not there to keep people out.
We started toward the hallway just as Mr. Russo spoke. "Saffron, would you like to handle the next order of business?"
She chuckled. "You should know me better than that, Frank. I don't like to get my hands dirty."
I couldn't hear the rest of the conversation as we walked deeper down the hall. "These are the four open bedrooms. You can have your pick," Emily stated, and then lowered her voice. "It's not all bad. When I first got here two years ago, I was scared, but the clients all seem to be nice so far."
I blinked at her statement. Did she like living andworkinghere? Or was she brainwashed? Unless she chose to be here, unlike us.
"Were you kidnapped too?" I asked.
"All of us were," she confirmed.
"Then how can you say it's not all bad?" another woman asked.
Emily shrugged. "If you do as you're told, Madam leaves you alone for the most part."
"For the most part?" I arched a brow.
"We still have to do our jobs, but sometimes that can be fun."
Fun? I shuddered at the thought of having sex with a strange man or woman who paid to have sex with me. What would I have to do to them? Were there limits, or did we do whatever we were asked because we were Madam and Frank's property now?
"Anyway," Emily continued, "pick your rooms and get cleaned up. Madam will want to speak with each of you privately."
I chose the windowless room that was farthest down the hall and across from the bathroom. It was near a staircase that led down to somewhere. There was a closed door next to that—the only closed door on the floor. Emily was one of four other women, making a total of eight captives all together.
* * *
After my shower, I put my dirty bra and panties back on under the silk robe and then sat on the end of the twin bed in the room I'd picked. I wanted to cry. I wanted to curl up on the floor and bawl my eyes out. I wanted to scream and yell and stomp around. Show that I didn't want to be locked away. But I didn't. Instead, I waited on the edge of the bed, looking at the bare white walls and empty closet until Emily told me it was time to meet with Madam.
"She's upstairs," Emily advised.
I sighed and got off the bed, walking down the hallway to the living room. The man was still standing at the elevator, and I gave him a tight smile as I started up the glass staircase. How could he just stand there knowing we were brought here against our will? He could let us into the elevator, and then let us run out the main door of the building. There was a keycard to get up to the floor, so maybe one was needed to get out and he didn't have one, but why was there a guard at the door?
Once I took the final step, I came to a sitting area. Madam was sitting in a high-back chair with a martini on a side table next to her.
"You clean up nice." She smirked.
I didn't respond.
