He hasn’t said a word since I’ve been seated next to him. The girl on his right is continually leaning into him and touching his thigh, or his hands. The food in front of me is the only thing I can concentrate on. My stomach growls loudly, and I feel him turn toward me. His breath tickles my cheek, and I try my hardest to not scowl away.

“You’re hungry.” His voice is dark, deep, dangerous, and it sends shivers all over my body. Not the good kind either.

A nod of my head is all I can muster up to give him.

“Eat. The food is here to be enjoyed.”

My hand twitches to touch it, but I can’t seem to move. He could be lying, and I don’t want to eat in front of him or these people. I don’t know who they are, or what they even want from me. Then there’s the whole issue of if I can actually keep it down or not.

“Eat, Saskia.” His words make me sit up straighter. The music seems to become lighter as his voice becomes louder. That doesn’t happen but in my head it does, because his voice is so deafening. Reaching forward, my hand touches a small piece of bread with some tomato on it. The minute it touches my lips my stomach growls in appreciation. Forgetting how good food tastes is something I’ll never forget or take for granted again.

“Good, right?” the girl to the left of me asks.

A simple head nod is all I give her. Turning to look at her, I notice that she has long blonde hair also, except she isn’t wearing white. Her lips are painted a very bold matte red. “You must be new, I’ve never seen you before.” Her eyes focus in on mine as she studies me.

“New...” I mimic her words—try them on my lips. New isn’t something I’d use to describe myself to her.

“This is Ryken Lord’s property, which we are renting,” the guy next to me, Antonio, says.

Renting? Is that how they describe taking someone who has no say in the matter?

“Ryken’s... that’s interesting,” the girl says, pursing her lips. Then her hand touches me on my thigh, and she squeezes it. “You’re awfully skinny. Is that what he wants these days?” Her hand moves from my thigh then touches either side of my chin. My eyes bulge at her words.

“That’s who he wants, Amy. Now hands off,” Antonio says.

Amy’s hands drop from my chin, but her eyes don’t leave mine. “You’re a pretty little thing, though.”

I don’t have words for her. I don’t know what’s right or wrong, or what could get me killed.

“We don’t like mutes. So you better learn to speak soon, little one. I’m not sure why Ryken wants you. I’ve seen that brunette he has with him, she’s gorgeous. Even I’ve had Ryken. He doesn’t like the silent type,” Amy states.

“You’ve had him,” I reply, finally speaking.

She smirks at me, happy to get a reaction. “Several times actually. Definitely more than once.”

My mouth stays shut to that little revelation. Then the music goes silent, and people begin to leave as the lights turn on. She smiles at me and leans back on the couch.

I can feel his eyes on me now, the boss. “Your arm is bruised.” His words come from next to me, and without looking I know it’s him. Everyone else is silent and watching us. The guy that bruised my arm is the only guy that’s standing here. His eyes find mine, but he doesn’t move an inch or say a word.

Two girls are still on the couch with us, and the food is still in front of me. I can feel all eyes on me, so I don’t reach for sustenance even though my stomach wants it more than anything right now. Pulling my arm close to my body, I stay still.

“Stand up.” His voice is still close. When I don’t move or do as he says straight away, he demands again, “Stand up.”

My arms start to shake, and I know if I tried to stand on my legs right now they wouldn’t hold me up. I’m too weak from lack of food. So I stay where I am until I see black boots in front of me. Hands scoop up under my shoulders, lifting me up into a standing position. The one that bruised me currently has his hands on me. They’re gentler this time, but forceful all the same. My feet manage to hold me in position when he steps away after pulling me up. I feel my knees shaking, my legs feel like Jell-O. My head bows down, afraid to look up.

What does he want from me?

Why am I even here?

“He asked me to not hurt you, but I could have you. Do you see how confusing that is for me?” he asks.

I look up to see him staring at me. His eyes are hateful, angry. His top lip is curled up. The girls next to him watch me, but they all look drugged off their faces. Except for the one sitting near where I was. She’s watching me with interest.

“I could sell you or keep you for myself. Tell me, Saskia? What should I do with you? Since I can’t fuck you.”

“Let me go.”

He shakes his head then sits back further into his seat. It’s then I notice the vest he’s wearing, and it reads ‘President.’

That’s interesting. It’s the same type as the guys who took me in my hometown. Are they all connected? Linked in some way?

“That isn’t something I can do. But I do plan to get my money’s worth. Now get on your knees.” He leans further back, if that’s even possible, then his hand touches the back of the girl’s head who’s sitting next to him. He pushes her face into his crotch, and she automatically undoes his jeans pulling his cock free. “Knees, Saskia.”

I look at the girl who was watching me, who touched me, and she’s watching me back. My knees hit the tiled floor, and I look down.

“Eyes up.”

I look up, just as her mouth wraps around his cock. His eyes stay on me as her head bobs up and down. Taking him in her mouth with each thrust. His hand tangles in her hair, and he forces her to take him deeper. My eyes attempt to drop, to look away, but he shakes his head at me. So there I stay, watching a man I don’t know, getting head from a woman I don’t know. His eyes stay on me until the very last minute. Until he comes in her mouth then pushes her away like she’s a rag doll, like she didn’t just suck his cock.

“You do that for him, Saskia? Do you suck Ryken’s cock, like a good little girl?”

“No.”

“Pity. That mouth of yours is very fuckable.” He stands, doing himself up. He looks at the girl called Amy then he walks straight past me, leaving me on my knees on this dirty floor. I go to move, but Amy tsks at me.

“I didn’t say you could move.” Amy stands, her heels clicking as she steps up to me. Her hands touch my shoulders, then she moves them down until she pulls my breast free from the dress I’m wearing, exposing me. There are only the girls in the room, apart from the guy who brought me in here. But he’s not paying a scrap of attention, his head is down, and he’s on his phone. Her hands are rough as she squeezes my breast. The pain is almost to the point where I want to scream.

“He likes to piss me off by fucking other girls in front of me, or letting them suck his cock,” she says, removing her hand as my dress drops even further, so now my whole chest is exposed. I want to pull it up, but I have a feeling she’ll stop me if I do. She seems to like having power, and in some ways, she reminds me of Livia.

“Yes, I can tell by your face you have no idea. Antonio’s my husband. These women aren’t in his bed. They’re just here to please him. Now, what I can’t quite work out is... what does he want with you?” Her hand lifts, and I see it before it comes. My stomach clenches as her hand comes down and slaps my face. Hard. My body falls backward, and I just manage to catch myself before I hit my head. She doesn’t care, though, because she reaches for me and pulls me up by my hair. Then she pulls it so hard I have to lean up on my knees to match her in height as she bends slightly.

“If you even think about fucking him, I’ll slice you fucking open. Do you hear me, whore?”

I want to nod my head to answer her, but I can’t move it with how tight a hold she has on me.

“Yes,” I cry out.

Can I do this?

Can I live like this?

What kind of person will I end up being when this shit is over?

“I didn’t hear you, whore.”

“Yes,” I scream out again.

She pulls my hair tighter, and I can feel the strands being ripped from my scalp. After she has a handful, she lets me go, pushing me back with her heel. Honestly, it’s almost to the point of kicking me. So, this time I do fall back, hitting my head on the floor, and I’m unsure if I should even move. She steps over me, a leg on each side. Her long blonde hair falls down on each side of her head, much like mine does when it’s down. Her facial expression is mean, though. She doesn’t like me one bit, I can tell by the blood I can taste in my mouth.

“I’m going to play with you. Every time he even looks at you in any sort of way that makes me mad. Do you understand me, Saskia?” I nod my head. “Good.” She stands up straight, but she’s still over me. “Because he’s mine,” she roars. “And one day... maybe even Ryken will be, too.” She smiles at that then steps over me and walks out, leaving me on the floor.

Pulling my dress up is the first thing I do to cover myself. My keeper’s boots come back into view, and I know he’s about to take me back to that room without any food again. Quickly, I reach out to grab some food, clutching it in my hands, as his hands come around my arm, pulling me up.

“Are you that hungry?”

Looking down at my hands, the food is scrunched and doesn’t appear very appetizing. But I bet it’s better than nothing. “I’ll fucking feed you, woman! Fuck. Only Amy hates you so far,” he says with a laugh. “But she hates everyone. Get used to her cruelty. He’ll never stop it. He secretly loves her jealous streak.” He walks me back to the room, but this time it’s the white room and not the room with only a toilet. I breathe a sigh of relief and instantly relax when I see what’s on the bed—a tray full of food and water. His hand lets go of mine as I take a step forward into the room. “I don’t think I have to tell you what happens if you try to escape, right?”

Turning to face him, I see him in a new light.

Is he as bad as I first thought?

Shaking my head, I tell myself not to see the best in people. Some are just better at hiding who they really are than others. And I bet everyone here is as evil as the next. Or so I want to tell myself.

“Good, I wouldn’t recommend leaving. Not until you are asked to.”

I nod my head this time. He takes one last look at me as he closes the door. I hear it lock from the outside. I run on wobbly legs to the bed, dropping the food that’s in my hand and eating the muffin that sits on the tray with some other sweets. I’m careful to only eat small portions, even though I want to wolf down every morsel on the tray. There’s a bottle of water, and I drink it slowly, letting the liquid slide down my throat. It cools my dry, parched, insides. The water coats my cracked lips, and I lick them, feeling the moisture soak in.

Pulling my dress free, I let it drop to the floor, and see a looser fitting dress on the bed. Putting that on, I crawl into bed wishing and hoping when I wake up, that this is all just a nightmare.