Twelve
Holly
I’m still on cloud nine after my day with my men. Shit, can I call them that? They keep saying I’m there’s, so why the hell not. I keep replaying their looks and touches. I’ve been wet my entire shift just thinking about how tonight's going to end. I can feel this energy between them, and I don’t even know if they realize it’s there. I hope they give into it soon. God, I can picture the two of them together, and I just want to touch myself to that fantasy.
Shit, I need to get back to work. I just took a potty break, and I'm ready to knock out this last stretch. It’s Saturday night, at eleven-thirty and I still have an hour left to go. I’ve made some good money, and the customers haven’t been assholes, so I’m not complaining. I’m going to earn enough money soon to be able to put down payment on a rental. I need to ask the girls if they know of anyone renting a place.
I’m almost to the main entrance from the side hall where the bathroom is when a big, rough hand clamps over my mouth, digging into my cheek. He smells of cheap cologne and liquor. Something I’ve smelled a million times, back in Atlanta. I open my mouth to bite him, but he’s smart and squeezes my mouth together, hard. It’s then I feel the gun at my back and I know I’m screwed.
“One sound Holly and I’m pulling the trigger. I’m not fucking around. I’ve got orders to bring you back to Mr. Prescott. He didn’t say you had to be alive.”
I struggle against him, but I’m not stupid enough to say anything. He removes his hand from my mouth and drapes his meaty arm around my shoulder. Johnny has always been an asshole. Figures Steven would send him to get me. They always got close, but never caught me. I guess it was naive of me to believe he’d stop looking for me.
He walks me out the back to a dark sedan and opens my door for me. He stops, and zip ties my hands together, then zip ties them to the front handle on top of the glove compartment. Johnny may be an asshole, but he’s been working for Steven for so long, that he’s a smart asshole.
He gets in the other side of the car and cranks up Frank Sinatra so loud we can’t talk to each other. I decide to settle in and lean my head against the window. It was nice while it lasted, getting a taste of freedom.
I’ve never been one who cries, but I’m close to tears thinking about all that has been ripped away. I’m losing more than my freedom tonight. I’m losing out on a life I’ve always wanted. Men who would love me exactly as I am. Girlfriends that are as quirky and sweet as they are badass.
It’s a long ride back to Atlanta, back to Steven and his perfectly fucked up world. I close my eyes, knowing if I do what Johnny says, he won’t hurt me. I dream of waking up lying between Quinn and Jasper. Christmas is less than a week away, and I wanted to cook. My nana taught me how to make the best cookies for Santa, and while I know he isn’t real, the cookies are delicious. I would make them for my men. We’d get a tree and decorate it with popcorn. I’d finally have a holiday with people I loved.
∞∞∞
Johnny was able to drive straight through, only stopping for gas. I guess Pennsylvania wasn’t far enough away. Except it was exactly where I was supposed to end up.
He turns down the road to Steven’s house, and my skin begins to crawl. A feeling of dread washes over me as the seconds tick by. I haven’t seen him in over six months when I escaped, just hours before our wedding. Johnny pulls up to the gate and presses the button.
“Please state your name and business you have with Mr. Prescott,” Bernard announces.
“Bernie, you fuck, it’s Johnny. I have her, tell Mr. Prescott.”
The gate opens a minute later, and he drives up the long brick driveway to the house I never wanted to return to. He parks on the side of the circular driveway, behind Steven’s Mercedes S-Class Coupe. Johnny pulls out his pocket knife and cuts the zip tie from my wrists. “Don’t do this again Holly. I’ve been gone for six months, and the next time I have to come get you I won’t be so nice.”
I’m about to tell him to go and fuck himself when my door is opened. Steven is standing there in his expensive suit frowning down at me. “I’ve been so worried about you Holly. Come, I want you to get cleaned up and out of those rags.” He holds out his hand to help me out. I know if I hesitate it will only piss him off and I’ll pay for it later. I place my hand in his and allow him to pull me into his arms.
He licks up the side of my neck and then bites down hard. I bite my lip to stop from crying out. “Don’t you ever fucking run from me again Holly. I’ve got reach even in that podunk town in Pennsylvania. I’d hate to see those friends of yours get hurt.” He says evenly against my hair.
He pulls away and kisses my forehead, then clasps my hand in his and pulls me with him into the house. We walk in, and I see that Birgitta, the housekeeper, has been replaced with a much younger version. The way she follows Steven with her eyes tells me everything I need to know. She’s been keeping him satisfied until I returned. I wonder if he plans on keeping her here now that I’m back. God, I hope so. Maybe it will keep him away from me.
“Go to your room and take a shower. You stink. Leave those clothes. I’ll have Lana grab them to burn once you’ve finished. Do I need to go over how you are to dress? Or do you remember?”
“I remember,” I mumble and turn for the stairs.
“Don’t keep me long Holly. We have much to talk about once you have cleaned the filth from your body.”
I climb the marble staircase and walk to my room. It looks like the same white prison I left this summer. I close the door for privacy, but I’m unable to lock it. Going to the bathroom, I turn the shower on as hot as it will go and strip the clothes from my body.
I stare at myself in the mirror and look at how much I’ve changed since the last time I was in this bathroom. My body is stronger, more muscular, and my hair is much longer. Steven made me keep it cut at my shoulders, a respectable length, so I haven’t cut it since I left.
I move my hair to the side and see Steven left a red mark where he bit me. The fucker broke the skin. I don’t know why but that’s what finally breaks me. I fall to my knees, with my head in my hands and cry. How the hell did I find myself back here again?
I give myself only a few minutes to lose it and then pull myself back together. I hop in the shower and scrub myself clean using the products Steven picked out for me. He’s always liked for me to smell like lavender. Don’t ask why, because I have no clue. Personally, I think the shit stinks. If I could go another day without smelling lavender, that’d be fine with me.
I get out quickly and apply newly bought makeup and do my hair the way he likes. When I walk back into my room, I find clothes laid out on my bed. I cringe when I see the expensive dress and heels. I fucking hate wearing heels.
Once I’m dressed, there’s a light knock on my door before Brigitta’s replacement walks in. She keeps her head down when she speaks in a low even tone. “Mr. Prescott has requested you wear the jewelry that is on the dresser. He impressed upon me how important it was you wear your engagement ring. Please don’t upset him, Ms. Holly.”
“Does he hurt you?”
Her cheeks turn red, and she looks up at me, shocked I even asked her.
“Before I left, the days I would go against what he said, or he had a bad meeting with his men, he’d be extra needy at home. Is he that way with you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Ms. Holly. I’m only the housekeeper.”
“Yeah, and I’m the queen. He shouldn’t be allowed to treat you this way. Why don’t you just quit?”
Tears fill her eyes. “He took my travel visa. I have no other identification or way to get out of here. I came from Russia to go to school.”
“What is your name again?”
“Lana. I was sold to him, Holly. How do I leave? Where would I go, you couldn’t even stay away!”
If she starts crying Steven will know something is up. “Okay, okay shit. I’ll figure this out, I promise. When I leave, you’re coming with me, just be ready to go as soon as I say.”
She nods her head eagerly. I realize I’ve judged her all wrong. I should have known no one would willingly be a part of the world.