Page 28 of Sinful Lies
Chapter 17
Dia
Ilisten to Celinatell her story. My heart breaks for all she’s been through. What all of them have been through. My stomach clenches at the thought that this was happening right under my nose. Ben is responsible for all this pain and until this moment, I didn’t grasp how evil he really was. The tears stream down my eyes. I push off the floor, inspecting the cage surrounding us.
“Stop. You need to be quiet.” Celina begs, tugging on my leg.
“Or what? What else can they do? I can’t just sit here and wait.” I pull away from her grasp and creep around the cage, running my hands along the bars until I reach the door. Feeling the slight give where it’s chained shut. There must be something I can do. I can’t let this happen to them. Or to me.
My trembling hands rattle the bars. The clanging sound they make echo around the large space. I shake it hard to get someone’s attention. When the guard continues to ignore me, I scream, “I want to talk to Ben now.”
He ignores my demand. I don’t know what I expect to happen, I’m nobody to them. Just another woman being sold off into God knows what. Just another plaything. “Don’t pretend you can’t hear me. If you don’t get the boss here now, I’m going to scream until you do.” If they expect compliance, I’ll give them anything but. “Now. I want Ben now.”
I continue to yell, but the shadowy figure guarding the warehouse door doesn’t budge. I let out a frustrated scream when I hear the heavy footsteps moving outside the cage. My heart hammers in my chest as they move closer. I squint, trying to bring him into focus in the dim light that cascades over every inch of this place, except the cage. The lights above us are bright and hot, displaying our turmoil for them so they can hide in the shadows and take pleasure in our pain.
“Stop hiding, you coward. Face me. Why are you doing this? Ben, please.” As his name stings my lips, the figure steps into the light. I gasp, shuffling back a step. It’s not Ben. I stare into a pair of steel gray eyes. I blink rapidly when my sight falls to the scratches below his eye. It’s the man I attacked by the van. The man who threatened to kill me. I swallow hard, holding fast to my courage with the bars separating us. “Where is Ben? I need to speak to him.”
“Ben’s busy right now,” he chuckles, scanning my body with a disgusting smirk on his lips. “You’ll have to barter with me.”
I swallow hard, “Barter? I have money. Lots of it. It can all be yours if you let us go.”
He draws a key from his pocket and unlocks the gate. I step back as he moves forward.
“It’s not money I want.” The way he looks at me turns my stomach.
“I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last man on earth.” Celina gasps behind me. Maddie is just a child. No one can blame her when she cries. Andrea doesn’t make a sound, just wraps her thin arm around Maddie and draws her close to her chest.
He taunts me, laughing that sinister laugh, that crooked grin over his stained teeth. “You will be a fun one to break. I will be the first of many men to fuck you.”
The bright light reflects off the silver metal blade as he flicks it open in his hand. His quick movement knocks me off balance. I jerk backwards, tumbling to the floor. My elbow scrapes across the rough texture of the concrete floor. The warmth of my blood from the gash oozing down my forearm as I brace myself up.
“You might even enjoy it. That young thing had my dick down her throat this morning.” He tips his head toward Maddie, who’s now fully curled into Andrea’s side, sobbing uncontrollably as Celina strokes her hair in a calming fashion.
I crawl backwards as he stomps towards me. Surrounded by bars, there’s nowhere to escape, but at least I’m drawing him away from the terrified child that doesn’t deserve any of this. I won’t let him hurt her again. He closes the distance faster than I can move, snatching me up by my arm in one swift move. He’s stronger than I expected. My arm hurts from the force of his hand crushed around it. “So do you want to barter?”
I don’t. Of course, I don’t. Not like what he has in mind, but I squeak out a “Yes.” If I can keep him distracted, the rest of them can make a run for it. At least try.
He slams me against the bars, pinning my arms behind my back. His steel gray eyes bore into me as he looms over me, his broad shoulders blocking my struggle to break free of his hold. His grip tightens. His cold fingers cup my chin with his thick hand, forcing it to the side. He presses the sharp blade against my skin. Warm, foul breath blows across my neck, sending shivers down my spine. I swallow hard, trying hard not to throw up. I squeeze my eyes shut while his tongue uninvitedly invades my body. Dragging his rough tongue up and down the crease of my neck along with the blade.
He grabs at my shirt, tugging it up. The steel bars are cold against my back, pressed firmly against them. The cage door is open wide. I don’t understand why the others won’t run. Why are they just huddling together on the middle cot? Are they so broken they won’t even try?
“Pavel!” A booming voice stiffens my body even more than it already is under the assault of his hands and mouth. “Don’t touch her.”
Pavel pulls his mouth off my skin and twists his head to the side to look at the man Sam called D earlier. If he didn’t have my hands pinned, it would be a good time to twist that knife into Pavel’s ear drum.
“Get out of here. I don’t take orders from you.” His voice is rough and gritty.
“You do, if you want to keep your dick. The boss ordered her not to be touched.”
“That old man is not my boss. I take my orders from Mikhail.” He drops his hold when gunfire erupts outside. They look at each other as confused as I am as more shots ring out.
Pavel quickly exits the cage, not forgetting to secure the lock. Trapping us inside. Drawing a gun, he rushes toward the chaotic sounds ripping through the front of the warehouse. The man they called D moves in behind him, lifting his gun and firing a close range shot to the back of Pavel’s head. I gasp loudly as I watch his body crumble to the floor and D slips into the shadows. More gunfire breaks me from my stunned state. I rush to the side of the screaming women. The cots are flimsy, but it’s the best protection we have available. I push the cots onto their sides and pull the others down behind them.
