Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
On the odd occasion my father decides to sell them on quickly, he starts their training as soon as they arrive. This depends on several factors, including where they’re from, what mindset they’re in, and how much he thinks he can get for a particular girl. I’ve seen his emails to clients, sending photos and asking for the highest bidder.
All that matters to my father is making sure his customers get what they need. Some buyers like their pets to put up a fight while others prefer their toys’ minds to be broken first. The better the fit, the bigger the paycheck for Malcolm.
“Well, Dante,” Malcolm responds, and as I look at him, I don’t recognize the man standing in front of me. He’s a stranger to me. I don’t mind that he is, because I would never want a devil for a father. “It seems you’re going to be the one punished tonight.”
He gestures with his head, and before I have time to react, two of his guards have moved in on either side of me and have got my arms in their grip. I attempt to tug away, to escape, but I can’t.
There is no way out.
I’m dragged to the end of a bench and shoved forward onto it. There’s no fighting what’s happening, because the men who have hold of me are twice my size, even though I’m tall for sixteen. That’s when I feel my black cargo pants being ripped from me. Then my limbs are bound to the legs of the bench while my torso is lying flat along the length of its surface.
The crack of the whip on the cold concrete floor sends revulsion and fear racing through me. I shove those feelings down. The fear, I need it gone. As much as I’m scared, I don’t want my father to see it in my eyes. So instead of begging for mercy and apologizing for not wanting to hurt the young girl, I bite my tongue as the first lash comes down swiftly on my back.
The only reprieve I have is the two seconds between each lick of leather as my punishment is doled out. Thankfully, it’s not on bare skin. Malcolm strikes me repeatedly, and I fight back the tears that are threatening to fall. I don’t want him to see me cry.
I don’t know how many times he hits me, but when the whoosh of leather ceases, I take in a deep breath to disguise my sigh of relief. If Malcolm Savage thinks for one moment he can break me, he will. I’ve learned how to play his game.
“Now, tell me. Would you rather take this whipping than do the work I’ve taught you?” my father taunts, then standing beside me, he remains silent while they unbind me. I push myself off the bench and rise to my full height. I’m almost as tall as the asshole, so I’m looking him right in the eye when he says, “You continue to disappoint me, Dante.”
“That’s not my intention. I’m not like you,” I tell him then.
I don’t know where this false bravado comes from. He’s just whipped me, and I know I’m bleeding, but I can’t bring myself to cower. I refuse to be broken. Malcolm Savage will not see me break.
“You’re more like me than you want to admit, Dante. Remember that when you’re older. When you’re all grown up and wanting to live a life outside of this world,” he tells me. Then waving his hand in the air, he says, “This is where you belong. And what you see here, Dante, is what you will become.”
Shaking my head, I force the memory back into its box. After my father had finished his speech, I was put in the cage he kept in his lab and he made me watch as the girl paid for her non-existent sins. There was blood everywhere, and her screams echoed so loudly I’m not entirely sure when my ears stopped ringing from the sound.
“Are you okay?” Rayne asks me as she enters the office.
She’s staring at my hands that are resting on my desk, and I realize I’m gripping a stapler so tightly the plastic has cracked.
She silently slips her lithe frame onto my lap and leans against my chest. Her long blonde hair falls down her back, and I can’t help but tangle my fingers through its silky strands.
“Just thinking,” I tell her as I tug her head back, and leaning in, I run my nose along the nape of her neck and inhale her sweet scent. “I’ve received news from Falcon.”
“Oh.” The word is a mere whisper as I bite down on the soft skin of her throat.
“They’ve found some more information on who’s running the trafficking out of the States,” I inform her while trying my hardest to distract her so I can delay telling her the truth. “It’s going to be one of the most difficult jobs we’ve done in a long while.”