Page 66 of Love & Betrayal

“Giselle, you’re overreacting. These young women are runaways. We have rescued them off the streets, given them a reliable place to live, and fed them. In return, they’re impregnated. Once they have the child, we auction the young ladies off to wealthy men who then continue to take care of them.”

“And the babies?” I stammered.

“They all go to safe homes to be cared for, raised, and trained to serve the sons and fathers they will eventually be sold to.” My mother smiled at me as though she’d just shared the most wonderful news.

I gulped repeatedly. “That’s what Donovan does.” My voice cracked as I spoke the words out loud. “You knew? All of these years you’ve known what he’s done to me?” Nausea rolled in my belly.

“He’s worked for us longer than I can count. It was easy to teach him since he was under our roof. What he makes from selling you for a night, he keeps seventy percent and gives us thirty. After all, we did the work and made you.”

Father led me to the next door and flung it open, revealing four more pregnant girls, and room after room contained the same horrible scene. He chuckled before he showed me the last one, and my chest constricted at the sight in front of me.

Donovan sat in a chair, his dick out of his dress pants, as two young ladies knelt before him. He motioned for one of them to join him. “My mother tells me you’re a virgin,” he said to the dark-haired girl.

“Yeah.”

“I promise I’ll be gentle,” Donovan laughed. “Suck my cock first while I taste your friend.”

“How old are they?” I stammered.

“Old enough.” My father’s chuckle froze the blood in my veins. Father’s hand snaked up my back and around my neck, holding me in place with his death grip. He forced me to watch as Donovan fucked the girls.

I slammed my eyes closed as a prickly panic crawled up my chest, and I felt dizzy. My overloaded brain was piecing things together. “He’s a father?”

“He’s one of the sperm donors, yes,” Mother said. Her tone was detached, indifferent.

My heart rate was erratic, my palms slickening with sweat. “Just so I’m clear.” I looked at my parents and took a deep breath. “You two kidnap young women off the street, allow men to rape them until they’re pregnant, hold them hostage, deliver the babies, then sell both the girls and their children to some sick fucks?”

“That’s a bit harsh, Giselle. We’re providing them with a much better life than drugs and homelessness. Once they are all cleaned up, they’re actually quite pretty.” Mother gave a slight shrug.

“And Donovan …” I massaged the back of my neck, trying not to lose my shit. “Do you know that he sold me to Ashkov Butrick? I was cut, raped, brutalized. I’m yourdaughter, for God’s sake.”

Father ran his hand down my spine. “Donovan doesn’t make a move without my consent. Ashkov paid millions for a night with the golden-eyed ballerina.”

Without a second thought, I spit in my father’s face. “You disgust me. I am a human being, not livestock that you can sell!”

“Giselle!” Mother jerked on my arm as my father wiped his cheek, sneering at me.

“You just fucked up, little girl.” He stormed toward me, and the atmosphere around us heated like Satan himself was there. Father gripped my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “First you fall for your bodyguard, then you disrespect me in my own home.”

Footsteps neared me, then large, meaty hands grabbed both of my arms and jerked me backward. I screamed as two men dragged me across the floor as I kicked and fought them. They hauled me down yet another set of stairs and into a dank and dimly lit hall. The sound of keys jingling reached my ears, then my attention skimmed over glass-like cells that ran along the wall. Holes wide enough to stick your arm through allowed the girls to breathe as they crouched in the corners—dirty and scared.

I fought against the men as one of them opened a door to an empty cage and shoved me in. Landing on my knees, I yelped as pain shot through my body. The clang of the lock echoed through the hall. Crawling to the corner, I turned so that I could see if anyone would come for me.

My chest heaved as I started to process the cold, vicious truth. Zayne was gone—dead. The only man I’d ever loved was murdered by the monster I was chained to for the rest of my life. More than that, it wasn’t Donovan pulling the strings all those years, it was my mother and father. My stomach squeezed tight, and I leaned over in time not to puke all over myself. I wiped my lips, the sour taste lingering in my mouth.

“Zayne,” I whispered. The moment his name slipped off my tongue, my heart shattered into pieces, fragmenting my soul. Fear, grief, and anxiety drowned me as I gave into the hot wash of tears. He’d brought me back to life twice, then lost his own. I would never forgive myself for bringing him into my fucked-up world.

42

Giselle

Sleep finally claimed me, and soon I peered through my swollen lids as the light spilled into the cage from the hallway. I hadn't noticed the window earlier on the opposite side of the room, but I was locked in a fucking cell, so it wasn't like I could break the pane, then crawl out of my parents' house.

Tears prickled my bleary stare as my legs quaked and nausea bubbled in my belly. I couldn't get sick again. I needed to clear my head and figure out an escape plan. Whatever Donovan and my parents had in store for me, they would have to let me out eventually.

Two sets of footsteps reached my ears, and I jerked myself into a standing position, my knees rebelling with the sudden movement. I grimaced as I tried to manage the pain, my previously shattered knee giving me a firm fuck-you at my attempts.

A heavy-set man with a buzzed haircut appeared, and a petite girl with dark hair walked next to him.Goddammit, another runaway.

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