Page 59 of Ruining Vanessa

I wish he wouldn’t.

“I’ve got one more punishment, and then I’ll be done.” Giulio starts swiping through his phone again. “You want to thank me now, or after?”

Dread pools in my gut, and I hesitate for a long moment. “I… It’ll be done after this?” I ask, though I hardly dare to hope. “Things will go back to… to how they were?”

“Yep. Just one more small thing. I won’t even touch you. Then you’ll have my usual cheerful self back.” Giulio grins at me. “So, do you want to thank me now, or wait until after I’ve punished you? You’ll have to say it either way.”

I have a feeling I won’t like what this last punishment is. It’ll probably be easier to thank him now, when there might even be a modicum of sincerity in my words. “Thank you,” I say carefully, though I’m still wary. I don’t know what I’m getting myself into, but I’m just so ready for things to go back to normal. I didn’t even realize before how good I’d had it. “I’ll do better now. I promise.”

Slayer squeezes me tight, kissing the top of my head, but he doesn’t chime in.

Giulio smiles at me. “Nice. I’ll even let you hang out with Damien after we’re done, then.”

Not that that’s really a reward.

Then he extends his phone to me. “Here, the last punishment.”

I don’t know what I’m looking at, not at first. The photo is a little bit dark, but I can sort of make out a figure.

A woman in chains, I realize with dismay. She’s gagged, too. Small, skinny, with blond hair and… and…

It’s Stef.

Giulio swipes to the next photo, where somebody—his face is out of shot—is carrying Stef over his shoulder.

“What?” I look up at Giulio, my body going cold all over again.

“Yep. The sale just went through.” Giulio sits back again, removing the phone from my view. “Bye, Stef. Only lasted… what, four months? Her tears will be better served in private, anyway.”

Sale.

He said… sale.

My heart hammers in my chest, and I sit upright—or as much as I can with Slayer’s arms around me. “No,” I say, my breathing uneven as I start to understand. “No, Giulio. No. She didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t try to run. You told me I had to!”

“Oh, that. The sale was happening either way. But if you hadn’t cooperated, we’d have gone to watch it in person. This way, Stef won’t ever know it’s your fault she’s now in the hands of… well, I don’t share client names.” Giulio opens the beer on the table and takes a long gulp. “Ah, this is a great brew! I’ll have to buy from them more often.”

My eyes are locked on him, even as tears start to blur my vision. “Giulio,” I whisper. “Please, don’t do this. I didn’t try to run. You said that if I tried to run, you’d sell her. I didn’t! You have to get her back!”

“What kind of business is that? There’s no take-backsies in this world.” Giulio snorts in amusement. “And I sold Stef, Vanessa, because you tried to avoid pregnancy. But we’re all over that now! Unless you want me to get mad at you all over again?”

Slayer is quiet behind me, and I don’t dare risk glancing at his face. I’m sure he doesn’t care about Stef. None of them do. Only me, only Elena, probably, and—

The thought hits me hard, all at once.

Elena.

I haven’t let myself think about it before, how Giulio found out what I’d been doing, but now I realize it had to be her. She had to have guessed, and her offer to take the trash out… God, I was so fucking stupid!

A sob catches in my throat, and I shake my head. “Please, Giulio, I’m sorry,” I beg, looking at him so desperately I hope it can sway him.

But it doesn’t. He just keeps grinning at me.

“Hey, at least she doesn’t know it was your fault,” Slayer points out. “That would’ve been pretty bad, huh? Her going off knowing her bestie is the reason she got sold off to the highest bidder?”

“God, that would have been a riot. Stef’s already a crybaby on the best of days. She would have been inconsolable if she’d known you were involved.” Giulio laughs and drinks more of the beer. “Anyway, we’re over it all now. In fact, why don’t you come sit on my lap, Vanessa. We can play… What’re you in the mood for, Slayer? You haven’t gotten your dick wet yet today.”

Slayer helps me to my feet, which is necessary because I’m shaking so hard my teeth are chattering. I feel ice cold despite his body warmth, despite the fire, and the knowledge that this is all my fault just makes it worse and worse.

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