Page 59 of Kneeling to Candy

“After we finished, Lorenzo dropped a ton of cash in my lap—more than I was used to. The money blinded me. He asked if I’d consider a permanent position working for him as a high-end call girl. Stupid me, accepted. I assumed I’d make bank like this all the time. Had I known I was contracting myself into sexual slavery, I’d have stuck to the streets. As soon as I said yes, he had his two goons—Luca and Paolo—transport me to Il Nido.”

Piero scrunches his nose, making a sound of disgust at the back of his throat. “The brothel was called The Nest?”

I give a slight shrug. “Your cousin thought it sounded romantic. He wasn’t selling cheap pussy. He was selling the whole girlfriend experience. Men would reserve us for whatever length of time, and we catered to their needs. Sometimes it was a fast hour. Others were a week-long excursion, where we’d be paraded around at galas or private parties on their arms like a trophy. We did as told, pampering and submitting. The women Lorenzo offered his clients were not your average person. We were waxed, botoxed, and styled to look like runway models. Nothing was off the table.”

I wave my hand between my large, augmented breasts. “My natural A-cup wasn’t enough for one of Lorenzo’s clients. That’s how I ended up with these ridiculous things. Whatever a client wanted, they got with a price.”

Piero shakes his head with revulsion, falling silent.

Atlas brings the conversation back on track. “Tell us about Il Nido.”

“From the outside, it looked like any other warehouse in the Denver Central Business Park—plain cinderblock building. Nothing about it screamed ‘brothel.’ There wasn’t even the name of the brothel on the outside to identify the place. The inside was a different matter altogether—lavish style with dark hardwoods, red velvet furnishings, and crystal chandeliers. It screamed ‘money.’

“Each sex worker was assigned a room to service our clients. There were bigger rooms available to entertain clients who wanted to watch others while being taken care of or engage in an orgy. Everything was on the table as long as you could afford it, whether the workers wanted it or not. There were also rooms to accommodate those who preferred more sadistic deeds.”

A horrid memory rushes to the surface, one where I’m restrained to a bondage horse bench while Luca and Cú Sidhe take turns having their way with me.

No. I will not go there. I shake the memory clear from my head, shuddering.

Butch rubs my shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

“You good?” Gauge asks me.

There’s no way I’m going to let anything stop me from helping their investigation. “Yes.”

Atlas presses on. “How was security?”

“Security was tight. Not Mercy Ravens tight, but enough to keep the workers in check. Anyone who tried to escape was punished, some were killed.”

I pause, recalling what happened to those who made it further than the threshold of the exit.

Breaking out in a sweat, I continue. “Those who made it too far were returned to the brothel. They would file us into the main room, make us watch as they raped whoever it was, and then some they’d execute in front of us. Few were stupid enough to attempt running when they knew what the punishment was.”

The guys curse, repulsed by what the enslaved sex workers endured.

“How many were in the brothel?” Piero asks.

“A dozen. If a woman wasn’t attracting enough clients, Lorenzo had her transported to auction.”

Atlas perk up. “How were the women transported, and where was the auction house located?”

“The women Lorenzo sent were loaded into a windowless van and taken to the auction house. The perk of being Lorenzo’s highest grossing call-girls was getting out of the brothel to go to events as arm candy with him or his clients. Only the women he trusted not to run were allowed out of the brothel. It was a reprieve from hell most of the time.”

I lick my dry lips. “However, one time Lorenzo escorted me to one of these auctions. We traveled for a few hours—maybe three or four. I was blindfolded on the way there, but my blindfold was removed when we arrived on-site. I remember being scared to death, thinking I was being auctioned off. Lorenzo, keeping me close to his side, was the only thing reassuring me I wasn’t up for market.”

“What can you tell us about the auction site?”

“I don’t think we left the state. Breathing was a little harder, like the elevation was higher. We were near these two angular peaks that towered over a lake below. Snowcap mountains surrounded us. The auction site was a massive three-story stone manor with a circular driveway where the other auctioneers were being dropped off in the mansion’s front, leading to the solid wood front doors. I didn’t see any other homes or buildings in the area. I learned later, while eavesdropping on Lorenzo’s conversations with another bidder, that the manor belonged to Lorenzo’s most frequent brothel client.”

“What was the name of the client?”

I swallow the hard lump in my throat. “Patrick Duffy.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

BUTCH

Blood rushes to my head when I hear the name of one of the two remaining men on my hit list.

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