“Who?” Joseph demanded.
One sick son of a bitch. I was cold and cruel, but this man was something else entirely. He made me look tame. “Bones.”
Joseph knew exactly who he was. Bones was known for his taste in women. He liked to use them, to break their legs and then chase them around his mansion. He was undoubtedly cruel, killing them once he grew bored. Then he would buy another slave…and the cycle continued. “Have mercy, Crewe…”
“He’ll pay me the four million dollars you didn’t. And then we’ll be even.”
“Come on, I’ll do anything you want. Please don’t do that to her. She’s a good person…” His voice broke like he was on the verge of tears.
I had no sympathy for him. “Shouldn’t have crossed me. I’ve told you that before.”
“There has to be a compromise.”
“Not when I know how much this bothers you. You know she’ll be tortured every single day of her life until Bones finally kills her. That can sit on your conscience every second until you finally see her grave and know her suffering is over.”
“I’ll do whatever you want—”
“Good bye, Joseph.” I hung up and tossed the phone aside, finished with Joseph Ingram forever. I would get my perfect revenge, and every person who heard the story would fear me. When I walked into a room, everyone would bow.
Because I was the scotch king.
6
London
Crewe walked into my bedroom without knocking, his brown eyes gleaming with sinister intent. “I’m having a guest for dinner. I want your hair and makeup to be done. Ariel can do it for you if you need help.”
There were so many things wrong with that sentence. “First of all, I can do it myself. Second of all, I don’t want to. And thirdly, who the hell is coming to dinner all the way out here?”
“A friend of mine. I want you to meet him.”
“Why?”
Crewe walked toward me as I sat on the couch. He looked formidable in his suit. “Because I’m going to sell you to him.”
“What?”
“Part of my plan. I’ll offer you for four million dollars. He’ll think about it for a while before he agrees.”
“Well, I don’t agree.” Crewe wasn’t the best man on the planet, but at least he didn’t rape me when I asked him not to. I would much rather stay with him, even if he was evil, because that was better than going anywhere else. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’re my property,” he said quietly. “You don’t get a say in this. Do your hair and makeup or I’ll make it happen.”
This conversation was so overwhelming that I didn’t even think of the last time we spoke. When his thick cock was inside me, and I confessed that I thought he was good-looking and attractive. I was humiliated those words had come out of my mouth, but this conversation was far worse. “No.”
He stepped closer to me then grabbed me by the throat. “Do as I say. Or I will fuck you.” After a terrifying glare, he released me. “When I return in thirty minutes, you better have done as I’ve asked. Or my cock is going in your ass.” He slammed the door on the way out, making me jump out of my skin.
I did as he asked because I didn’t know what else to do.
If I defied him, he would make good on his threat.
But if I didn’t defy him, I’d have to meet a man who would potentially buy me.
Either way, I lost.
Crewe came back thirty minutes later, wearing jeans and a dark green t-shirt. His thick arms were on display, lean and toned with corded veins protruding from the skin. He had just shaved, so his chin was free of hair.
He looked at me with approval. “I’m a little disappointed. I was hoping you wouldn’t listen to me.”
I ignored the implication.
“Take off that dress.”
“You didn’t tell me what you wanted me to wear.” I stood at the foot of the bed with heels on my feet. I found the outfit in the closet, along with the other clothes Crewe had bought for me.
“Because I don’t want you to wear anything.”
The blood drained from my face.
“Strip down to your panties. Now.”
I’d already stripped for him once. I couldn’t do it again, especially in front of a stranger who wanted to buy me for immoral reasons. “No.”
“No, what?” His hand shot out to my neck.
I threw my elbow down so his fingers wouldn’t squeeze me anymore. “I’m not taking off my clothes for anyone. If you don’t like it, you’ll just have to—”
He grabbed the fabric of my dress and ripped it with his bare hands. A long tear stretched down past my waist, my bra visible now that the material was falling apart. He yanked on it again until it was in two pieces. “You can leave the heels on. Lose the bra.”
“Fuck you.” I’d never been so degraded in my life, stripped and objectified because I was a woman and not a man. I spit in his face and tried to kick him in the nuts.
He blocked the hit then slapped me across the face. “Spit on me again, and see what happens.” His hand unclasped the back of my bra in one fluid motion. It fell down my arms and onto the floor.
How did my life turn into this? “You’re better than this, Crewe.”
“No, I’m not,” he said coldly. “When someone fucks with me, I teach them a lesson. Now you can try to avoid this as much as possible, but you won’t succeed. I have all the control. You have nothing.”
It was the first time I wanted to break down in tears. It was the first time I wanted to weep. All hope left my body when I realized I truly was just a piece of property, cattle to be sold to the highest bidder.
“We’re going to have dinner now. You don’t have to eat. You don’t have to talk. Just sit there.” He grabbed me by the elbow and guided me into the grand dining hall. My tits were out in the open, and only my panties covered my virtue. I passed Finley in the hallway, but he had enough respect for me to not stare.
Crewe pushed me into a chair then scooted me in.
I immediately covered my chest, my lungs tightening with impending tears. “Don’t do this to me. Crewe, please…”
“Lower your arms.” He grabbed both of my wrists and pinned them down. “Every time you cover them during dinner, I’ll backhand you.” He leaned over the back of the chair until his mouth was pressed to my ear. “Accept your fate. That’s all you can do at this point.” He walked out of the room just as Finley announced his dinner guest.
“Sir, Bones is here.”
What kind of name is Bones? The name alone made me shake. Whatever it implied was something I couldn’t handle. Without even seeing his face, I knew I would be terrified of that man.
Crewe and Bones shared a few words about the weather then Bones discussed his life in Rome. They headed to the dining room, their voices growing louder. I sat there in just my underwear, tears burning behind my eyelids. Some man was going to stare at me all through dinner—like I wasn’t human.
Bones walked inside, his face fair and his hair blond. He was large around the midsection, and the air around him was full of tense creepiness. When his eyes fell on me, I immediately covered my face, disgusted by his gaze.