Page 46 of Soros
“Let’s hope Tania still has her phone,” Lios said with a stern expression.
When the car took off, I looked back at the dark façade with a bad feeling in my stomach.
CHAPTER 17
Disrespect
Tania
The man who opened the large metal door looked like a biker with his leather vest. Seeing Ko’roz, he stepped aside and let us in.
I was still trying to process Ko’roz’s joke about playing a game of prostitution with Star and me. Prostitution wasn’t something to joke about and despite my deep admiration for him, I sensed a conflicting emotion in my gut. Star didn’t understand what the word meant and asked questions about the game.
“It means that there will be lots of players for you to play with. The rules are that you’ll play with anyone, and do as they tell you to… because I said so.”
Star gave him a bright smile. “I’m always nice to others.”
The man with the leather vest made a sound that was somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle. “Seriously, where do you find these women?”
Ko’roz didn’t answer his question, but instead he said, “Just give me the money.”
“In a minute. First, the boss has to approve the purchase.” Swinging his hand, the man with the vest gestured. “This way.”
“Walk,” Ko’roz told Star and me. Eager to please him, we followed the man with the vest.
The night club was empty except for three men who sat around a table. They stared at us with hungry glances, but stayed silent as we walked past them.
I didn’t think too much of it when the biker opened a curtain and walked into a secluded area. Several night clubs had a VIP section.
Once inside the dimly lit room with the sofas and tables, the biker stopped by one of five framed floor-to-ceiling panels with graffiti art. I didn’t see what he touched, but the mural slid aside and revealed a staircase going down.
Stepping aside, he pointed. “Ladies first.”
Grabbing Star’s wrist, I held her back. Something about this made me uncomfortable. But Ko’roz was right there to calm me. Placing a hand between my shoulder blades, he encouraged me. “Go ahead. I would never allow anything bad to happen to you. You can trust me.”
Soothed by his assurance that we would be okay, Star and I walked down into what seemed like a storage room. In there the biker found another hidden door and took us into what appeared to be a waiting area. There were two warn leather couches and magazines lying around. It seemed like another red flag that it was porn magazines.
“Boss, do you have a minute?” the man with the vest called out while pointing to one of the couches and telling Star and me, “Sit there.”
“Boss?” the man with the vest repeated and this time it only took a few seconds before one of the three doors opened.
A man with a pointy beard and a snake tattoo running up his neck and face appeared in the door opening. He wore jeans and a tank top that showed off his hairy chest and gold chains. As if he just had a workout, his forehead and shoulders were wet with perspiration. My glance fell to his right hand where I saw a black whip. Leaning to the side he put the whip away and it gave me a glimpse of what was behind him inside the room. What I saw was so disturbing that I mentally blocked the image before he had closed the door. The man with the snake tattoo wasn’t as tall or well-muscled as the man who had led us here, but he scared me way more.
If not for Ko’roz’s assurance that nothing bad would happen to us, I would have run as fast as I could. This wasn’t a place I wanted to be, and these people weren’t anyone I wanted to associate with. I didn’t take a seat as the man with the vest had told us to. Now that I looked at the boss, his eyes gave me a strong sense that I was standing opposite a violent psychopath.
Smirking, he began circling Star and me. “What do we have here? A little older than I asked for, but classy. These are even better than the three German girls you brought us yesterday.” Touching Star’s wrist, he let his finger run up her arm. “And what a lovely change that you get them to volunteer. Normally, we have to drug girls and use force.”
“My girls are eager to serve me,” Ko’roz said and widened his chest. With another of his charming smiles, he asked us, “Isn’t that right, girls?”
“Yes, of course,” Star said, but her smile wasn’t as bright as before and it made me think that maybe she was a little uncomfortable as well.
“Yesterday, the Germans said the same thing, but this morning they were giving us trouble.” With a thumb over his shoulder, he pointed to the door behind him. “That’s why I’m spending time disciplining one of them now.” The short glimpse I had gotten came back to me of a blonde woman hanging on a large black cross, tied with rope around her wrists, ankles, and neck. Her mouth had been pressed open wide by a gag-ball with leather straps. And on her body, there had been brutal whip marks with blood running down her pale skin.
“Do you want me to talk to my girls?” Ko’roz offered but the boss made a grimace with his upper lip lifting in a sneer.
“Your girls? You meanmygirls. You sold them to me.”
Run, a voice called out in my head, but my body didn’t move.
