Page 54 of Cruel God

She nodded.

“Good. I’d hate to have to sever his fingers from his hands for not taking care of my girl.” I took her chin between my fingers, urging her to look up at me. “You did well tonight, my pet. Really, really well.”

“Thank you, master.”

I placed a tender kiss at the corner of her mouth, knowing she needed my approval almost as much as she needed air to breathe.

Stepping back, I straightened my bowtie and placed an arm around Hope’s waist. “Rules for tonight,” I started. “Piper, you will stay at least two steps behind us. You will not speak, and you will not eat or drink. You will be nothing more than a fucking shadow for the entire duration of tonight’s party, do you understand?”

Piper’s throat moved as she swallowed hard, and her gaze fell to the floor. “I understand, master.”

Hope stiffened as Piper called me master, and I secretly relished in her jealousy.

When I ushered Hope toward the front entrance, Piper fell into step next to Hope.

I immediately stopped, glaring in her direction. “What in the name of fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Sir, you said that I have to stay two steps behind you.”

“Behindus,Piper. Us.”

Piper stared at me confused, and when she turned to Hope, her gaze turned into a glare.

“I didn’t realize that you meanthertoo.” Piper did not attempt to hide the sneer in her voice.The disrespectful little slut.

I didn’t waver. Abruptly I let go of Hope, stepped forward and slapped Piper right across the cheek. As she instinctively reached for the burning skin on her face, I grabbed her sleek ponytail and jerked her head back hard. Piper shrieked, and I felt a shudder spread through her body when I leaned closer, bringing my mouth to her ear.

“If you ever refer to the woman standing before you now in such a way, you will pay with your life. You will respect her just as you would me.”

I let go of her hair and shoved her to the side, causing her to stumble until she hit the wall. “You keep your fucking mouth shut tonight, my dear Piper, or you will lose your tongue.”

Tears caused Piper’s eyes to gloss, but I didn’t give a shit. One wrong move from her toward Hope or me, and I would put an end to her time here at the Cain mansion. No matter how impressed I was with her skills and obedience as a submissive, I would not fucking hesitate to get rid of her.

I turned to face Hope, and when I saw the look on her face, I recoiled. Hope was staring at an almost crying Piper, the corners of her mouth curved up slightly. Her autumn brown eyes were gleaming with what seemed like wicked enjoyment.Fuck me. My little Butterfly approved of me manhandling Piper. This was just another clear indication that Hope had a taste for this lifestyle, even though she had been forced into it. Maybe it was in her blood, too. She might be a submissive and a slave I could bend and manipulate into obeying my every command, but she was strong.

Hopefully, she will be strong enough to survive tonight.

* * *

Sittingin the back of the limo with Hope next to me, and Piper across from us, the atmosphere was nothing less than palpable. Piper sat with her head bowed down like the good little pet she was, and she didn’t dare to glimpse up even once. I knew Piper better than she knew herself, and the scolding I gave her right after praising her performance with Mr. Riggs fucked with her head in a way that left her feeling confused and insecure.

One glance in Hope’s direction, and I could see she was struggling not to look around, fidgeting nervously with her fingers in her lap. I wondered if she remembered the outside world at all. Girls being trained, prepared, and broken were kept separate from the main house. Unbeknownst to anytypicalguest, there was an underground bunker below the hallway of playrooms. That was where hell burned the humanity from these girls’ flesh. That was where their souls got stripped from their bodies to become what we needed them to be. Nothing.

While we slept at night, girls were beingeducatedin the cruelest way, brainwashed into believing that they belonged in the dark, evil world Victor and his associates had created. With Victor dead, it had become my responsibility to make sure nothing changed and that the associates were kept happy. But what no one knew was there hadn’t been a girl brought into that underground bunker ever since Victor was killed—which was another reason why I had disposed of X. The man was starting to get too curious for his own good, constantly asking me why he hadn’t brought in newrecruits. Why we only delivered to other traders and no longer trained any ourselves. It was only a matter of time before X started snooping where his nose didn’t belong. But alas, the only snooping the bastard would be doing now was six feet under the fucking ground.

While I hadn’t acquired new girls for training, that didn’t make me a better man than Victor. I was still a trader of the flesh, my presence still known within The Ruin—the largest human trafficking hub in Desolation, NY. I invested a shit load of money into the sordidindustry, of which I also saw a hell of a lot of profit. And this was probably the part where I’d call myself a hypocrite since I had hated Victor almost all my life because of the way he chose to invest his time and money. And now here I was doing the exact same thing, and I wasn’t even sure I’d ever stop. Wasn’t that the reason I was so hellbent on getting my hands on those goddamn recordings? Because it would ruin my reputation and cost me the respect and support of my allies. If I had any plans on walking away from all this, I wouldn’t fucking give a shit if they all knew I had my father killed.

After all, a man’s got to make a living.

I poured myself a glass of champagne, glanced at Hope and wondered if, in normal circumstances, she would have been a wine, champagne, or maybe a cocktail drinker. And if wine, would she have preferred red or white? But something told me my girl would like the sophisticated taste of champagne.

Against my better judgment, I held out the flute of champagne to her. “Here. Have a glass.”

She lifted her masked face, and I saw the confused look in her eyes.

“It’s okay. I want you to have a glass of champagne.” I nudged it closer to her. “Tell me if you like it.”

Just then, Piper looked up as Hope took the champagne from me, her eyes narrowed slits of bitterness and envy.

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