Page 16 of Captured Beauty
“Your daddy here can end all of this if he takes the deal.”
“Not my daughter!” His voice held a little more bass.
A crude grin formed on Kairus’s face while his friend chuckled.
“Then I guess she’ll have to watch the life drain from your body.” Again, he lifted my dad’s head and went to slice his throat.
“No, no! I’ll do it. I’ll do it,” I cried out in a rush. “For six months I’ll be yours, just please. Please don’t kill him.” My body trembled as I cried and my head fell. My throat felt raw. “I’ll do it.”
“Azeira. No,” my dad pleaded.
Slowly I dragged my head back up and stared at him with a shaky smile. “It’s okay, Daddy. Mommy needs you. I need you.” I locked eyes with Kairus. “I’ll stay with you.”
One corner of his mouth lifted in a wolfish smirk. He left my dad and walked to me. Grabbing me by the hair, he yanked my head back and stared me in the eyes.
“Agreeing means Iown you. Whatever I say, youwill do. You try to run,your fatherandmother are going to die.” It felt as if he was going to rip my hair from my scalp. I winced in pain.
I clenched my jaw. “I get it.”
My stomach felt like a pile of bricks had been dumped inside of it. My body shook with fear, breathing became difficult to manage.
“Good. But just in case you think this is a game. I think I should have some insurance to make sure we have an understanding.”
I was about to ask him what he meant when he forced my head straight to face my dad. I watched in horror when his friend grabbed my dad’s hand and pulled a blade out.
“Wh-what?”
My dad squealed in pain as the knife went down on his hand. This time I couldn’t hold my insides in. When I eyed the pinky on the ground I emptied my stomach all on my lap.
My dad’s cries pierced my ears.
“You try to fuck me over and it’ll be the hand next.” Kairus let me go.
My tears continued to flow and my stomach rolled. I had heard rumors about Kairus’s wrath and even saw glimpses when he came and visited the room he locked me in. The last thing I expected was for my dad to lose a limb in the process. The more I was around Kairus, the more I saw the beast he truly was.
“This will be your new room.” Kairus pushed me away, causing me to stumble. I eyed the room. It was bigger than the one I was held in. There was a dresser, nightstand, and lamp inside. It also came with a window that had a window seat under it.
“Your job is to take care of the manor and keep it clean.”
I glared at him, cowering toward the wall. “This place is huge. You expect me to clean it all?”
I hadn’t seen the whole place, but on the way back I wasn’t blindfolded or anything. I was amazed when we pulled up to the house, seeing how large it was. There wasn’t another house for miles away. Trees surrounded the long driveway leading up to the house.
“You’ll do as I say.”
I bit down on my bottom lip. “So you want to make me your maid? Are you kidding me?” I stood straighter.
“If there are complaints I can go back to Daddy and we can end things here.”
My eyes cut to slits. He flashed me a taunting grin.
“I thought you would agree. For the next six months you’re mine to do whatever I please with. If I tell you to clean, youclean. If I tell you to bark like a fucking dog, you bark. Your ass is mine, it’s best you remember that.” With that, he turned and left the room, slamming the door shut behind him. I jumped and sank down on the floor with my back pressed against the wall. Pulling my legs into my chest, I burrowed my face into them and released my tears. The smell of my vomit hit my nose. My sobs grew and my body trembled.
I couldn’t believe how quickly my life had changed. I didn’t know how much my dad had saved toward his debt, but I was determined to help and get it paid off sooner rather than later.
“It’s time for you to learn to be a man, Kairus. One day you’ll be in charge of the family business and in the business we have one primary rule.” He turned and stared down at me, his eyes as remote and cold as they’d been my whole life.
My father was known for his cruelty, not only in the streets but at home too. Since I was born I never knew him to be a nurturing person. He was gone most of the time, handling business. When he was around, he was ignoring me or teaching me a lesson. My mother was out of it most of the time, leaving me to face his wrath alone.
