I quickly strip from my bloodied clothes and climb into the bed, slipping under the covers beneath her. She jumps as I move behind her and wrap my arms around her.
“I got you, bambolina,” I reassure her. “You’re always safe with me.”
“I know,” she whispers as her body relaxes in my arms as she falls back asleep.
Neither of us are safe, not now, not after what I did. We were never safe, but I may have sealed our fate and nailed our coffins shut.
The clock has run out and what comes next isn’t something I can prepare Dahlia for. It will all be up to her, whether she trusts me or not.
I will keep her safe, however I have to, even if it means she may never forgive me.
Dahlia
IT’S BEEN ALMOST A month since Darren attacked me and Kai started locking me away in his room.
There was a shift in the house after that day, one that everyone could feel, but no one could put their finger on it either.
Kai never left my side and I was never out of his sight. He was reserved and quiet, except when we were alone. Late at night as we laid together in his bed, we talked for hours. He dug deep inside my mind, wanting to know everything I could give him. So, I did. I had nothing to hide, no scars to conceal. Only memories of a past life that brought tears to my eyes.
He was careful and smart when he spoke, only answering the questions he wanted to, as vaguely as he wanted to. He thought I didn’t notice, but I did. Who was I to question him though?
He owed me nothing and I owed him everything.
Everyone else avoided me. No one spoke to me and their eyes always looked in the other direction. I don’t know what happened, but Kai looks at anyone who acknowledges me like he’s going to rip their throat out.
I’m beginning to think that that might not be so farfetched.
Luca and his men spoke only to Kai, but they still gave me the creeps as I’d catch their wandering eyes lingering on me with a sinister grin on their faces.
There was something going on here that no one was telling me about. My reasoning for being here didn’t add up.
I was kidnapped, but it wasn’t like what you would see on a movie or on the news. They didn’t abuse me, they fed me, and I was kept clean. And that’s exactly why none of this made any sense. Why was I brought here to be treated like a princess?
The thoughts and questions run wild through my head as I brush my teeth and get ready for bed. Rinsing my mouth out, I spit the toothpaste into the sink and pull my thick hair back into a ponytail. I grab Kai’s t-shirt that he left for me, like he does every night, and slip into it, letting it fall to the tops of my thighs.
I ease out of the bathroom and back into Kai’s bedroom. The room is quiet and dark, but I can make out his silhouette sitting on the bed. Tiptoeing over, I sit down next to him and turn to face him.
This morning when I woke up, he was gone and when he came back, he was different. He was more withdrawn, lost in his head and spent the day shutting me out.
A few moments pass of utter silence, but when I open my mouth to speak, Kai starts first.
“Everything is going to change after tomorrow,” he says solemnly as he continues to stare straight ahead.
Confusion washes over me and an infinite number of new questions floods my mind. “What do you mean?”
He drops his face into his hands and breathes deeply, but he stays silent, evading my question.
“Kai?” I bend my head, leaning closer to his. He doesn’t answer me, so I gently grab onto his arm.
I hear the sharp intake of his breath as he jumps to his feet, pulling his arm away from me. He paces for a few steps before stopping in front of me.
“After tomorrow, you will hate me,” he grinds out. “I need you to hate me now.”
“I could never hate you,” I tell him quickly, rising to my feet. “There’s nothing that you could do that would make me hate you.”
He roughly takes my face in his hands and leans down to me. “Dahlia, you don’t fucking get it. I don’t know if I can stop what they’re going to do and if I can’t, you will hate me for the rest of your life.”
“I don’t get it because you don’t tell me anything!” I grab his hands, but he doesn’t let go of my face. “What is happening, Kai? What is going on?”
“I can’t tell you, bambolina,” he whispers. “It’s too risky, too dangerous.”
He’s hiding something, but he’s doing it to protect me.
What is he protecting me from?
Ignoring the questions and everything screaming ‘no’ inside of me, I let it go. “I trust you,” I admit softly.
He drops his forehead to mine as his thumbs stroke the sides of my face. “I wish you didn’t,” he whispers.
He stares down at me and his soft brown eyes are a wash of emotion as they search mine. “Can I kiss you?” he breathes shakily.
I freeze. My breathing stops and my heart kicks into overdrive.
He wants to kiss me.
I’ve never been kissed before and we’re just friends, but we’re not. I’ve never had a friend this close and not one that I had a crush on.
I want him to be my first kiss. I want him to be my first everything.
I nod my head in his hands and tilt back to look at him. His head dips down and his lips just barely brush mine. They linger for a moment before he presses them to mine.
He slowly pulls away and watches me for any reaction. It’s dark, he can’t see the pink on my cheeks, but I can feel the flushness running up my neck as the butterflies flutter in my stomach.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long now and this was my last chance,” he admits. “After tomorrow, you’ll never want to kiss me again.”
“So, kiss me now,” I tell him. “Kiss me until the sun comes up. Kiss me until I won’t want to kiss anyone but you.”
Kai wastes no time and brings his lips back down to mine. He knows what he’s doing, but I don’t let that plague my mind. Together we fall back onto the bed and I follow his lead and let him kiss me like I’ve never been kissed before.
We didn’t make it until sunrise and at some point, we fell asleep in each other’s arms. But when I woke up, I woke up cold and alone.
He had already left me.
I let out a sigh of resignation and finally climb out of bed and change into my own clothes before heading to the bathroom. After straightening my hair, I start brushing my teeth when I hear the door open. I pause, waiting for Kai to enter, but the room remains silent. After finishing as quickly as possible, I take a hesitant step into the room as I peer around the threshold.
My face falls and my stomach drops.
It wasn’t Kai.
Stan stands in the doorway with the door wide open. He looks me up and down before rolling his eyes. “Put on some makeup, but keep it light.”
Remembering my place, I don’t question him and shuffle over to the vanity. Following his instructions, I put on a minimal amount of makeup. It’s the same as what they always make me wear.
“Let’s go,” he demands, grabbing my upper arm. He drags me out of the door and into the hallway as I try to firmly plant my feet.
“Let go,” I say, pulling against him. “Where are you taking me?”
He jerks my arm hard, making me stumble toward him. “Be a good little girl and shut the fuck up,” he barks.
Kai taught me how to behave here and meet his father’s expectations.
Kai isn’t here to tell me what to do right now.
“I don’t take orders from you,” I retort, tripping over my own feet. “Kai is the one pulling the strings.”
Stan halts and laughs loudly in a maniacal fashion. “You’re wrong, princess. Kai can’t be the puppet master when he’s a puppet himself.”
I fall silent and my mouth shuts before I can say anything else. Stan confirmed my assumptions from when I first met Kai.
He didn’t fit in here. He is simply a puppet and a pawn in their sick little game.
But what game are we playing?
Stan drags me down the long hall, stopping outside of a locked door. “What’s in there?” I ask him quietly as he pulls out a key and fiddles with a lock.
It clicks and Stan turns the handle effortlessly. “Kai is.” He turns to me as his lips curl into a sinister grin. “He’s in there waiting for you.”
Stan pushes open the door and shoves me inside. I stumble over my feet into the center of the room as a bright light illuminates the room. My eyes blink rapidly as I’m blinded for a moment.
My eyes adjust to the overhead lights and zone in on Kai across the room. I glance around as Luca’s men move furniture around the room. Luca stands up from his chair and comes to stand beside me.
“It’s showtime, princess.” He grins as he gestures to the room.
Confusion washes over me and I look at Kai as my body fills with fear. He stares back at me with his expression unreadable. A flash of regret passes through his soft brown eyes before he quickly casts them down to the ground.
What the hell kind of show is this?
Kai
I KNEW THIS DAY WOULD come from the moment I saw her, and my father handed her over to me. I tried to put this off as long as I could, I tried to prevent this from happening, but it was inevitable.
Here we were, in the room we were destined to be.
Her bright green eyes are wide, full of confusion as she glances around the room, taking in everything. My father and his men are all in their places, ready to start shooting. All they needed was their newest star and here she was, staring me down, searching for an explanation.
Unable to meet her eyes, I cast them to the floor, staring at my all black sneakers. I owe her an explanation, but I can’t give it to her, not after I failed her.
I wasn’t lying when I told her she would hate me after today.
Under the bright lights, her honey tinged curls shine. She surveys the room, taking in the plush white bed in the center of the room and her eyes travel to my father sitting in his director’s chair behind a video camera.
“What is this?” Dahlia whispers in a shaky voice. I know she’s talking to me without addressing me directly. She doesn’t speak to them unless spoken to. She knows the rules; I tried to prepare her as best as I could in case it came down to this.
Tearing my eyes from my shoes, I look up, meeting her frightened eyes. “This is your purpose here, what they brought you here for,” I admit.
Her eyebrows pinch together as realization sets in. “I’m the princess.” She pauses, pursing her lips. “And you’re the prince.”
Dahlia isn’t connecting the dots and it’s evident on her face. “They tell stories,” I say quietly as I walk across the room to her. “Only they tell them with a video camera, in the form of a movie.”
Reaching out, I gently cup her cheek as a lone tear falls from her eye. She flinches at the contact and I feel my heart slowly shatter, but she slowly softens against my hand. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper to her, my voice barely audible. I don’t give a shit if they hear me, they already know she’s my weakness. Right now, this is about her, not them.
“Cut the shit, Kai,” my father demands. “This isn’t your first time, so quit fucking around. You’re wasting time.”
Dahlia gasps as her bright green eyes widen, glistening with tears. “What is he talking about?”
I open my mouth and quickly close it, at a loss for words. What am I supposed to tell her? The truth?
Luca, my fucking father, and his men shoot movies, with kids. This isn’t my first time fucking a girl in front of the camera.
The tension and her fear hangs heavily in the thickly perfumed air. Luca rises to his feet and strides across the room to us. Dahlia quickly grabs my arm, shifting behind me as he approaches. Squaring my shoulders, I stand up straight as he stops in front of us wearing a soft expression. His smile is kind, but his eyes glimmer with a sinister darkness.
He’s a monster in a sheep’s skin, covered up by his freshly pressed Armani suits.
“Princess,” he coos, bending toward her. “Just think of it as a little fun home video, telling a story about a beautiful princess and her prince. You follow the rules, do what we say, and no one gets hurt.” He pauses as his smile begins to match his dark eyes. “But if you don’t do exactly as you’re told, I won’t hesitate to kill you both.”
Dahlia’s body goes rigid as she sharply inhales. My father stands upright, chuckling. “Just because he’s my son doesn’t mean I won’t kill him too.” He winks at her and her whole body shakes. “That is after my men have their fun with you two first.”
“Boss,” Dexter, one of my father’s men, says stepping forward. “We need to get this shit rolling.”
My father nods, staring straight into my eyes without looking back at Dexter. “Kai, you know how this goes from here.”
He turns his back on Dahlia and I and returns to his chair. Dahlia looks up at me, unsure of what comes next.
Another piece of my heart breaks off and falls to the floor.
Pulling away from her, I move my hand to hers and pull her over to the bed. Bending down, I bring my lips down to her ear. “Please, just trust me.”
A moment passes before she nods against my lips, but doesn’t say a word.
“Undress her, Kai,” my father demands from behind the camera. Everything he says can be edited, just like everything we do.
My eyes searched hers as another tear rolls down the side of her face. Regret fills me as she gives me a small nod, closing her eyes. Following my father’s command, I quickly strip her of her clothes, exposing her innocent body.
She silently cries as she’s stripped bare, standing fully naked in front of me and the room full of men.
I stare at her, knowing what comes next and fighting against it. If I don’t follow his words, we’ll both be dead. My life doesn’t matter, but hers does. Although after this, her life will forever be changed.
She won’t be the same. Her life will never be the same.
Her hatred toward me is incomparable to the way her entire life is about to be altered.
“Kai,” my father’s voice booms as I stare at Dahlia. “You know how this goes, take your fucking clothes off.”
Pinching my eyes closed, I bite my tongue, knowing my place. We all have a role to play here and I’m his fucking puppet and he’s pulling my strings.
One wrong move, one moment of weakness or disobedience is all it will take to have us both visit the pigs.
I follow his command and strip down to nothing. My dick betrays me and is hard, even when I don’t want it to be as Dahlia stands silently crying in front of me. I know if I don’t make a move, we’re both dead. Taking her by the shoulders, I gently push her down onto the bed and lie her back.
Dahlia looks up at me with her green eyes, slowly losing their brightness as I hover above her.
“Do you trust me?” I whisper as her bottom lip quivers with her chin. I quickly wipe away a tear from the corner of her eye as she nods. “I’m so sorry,” I tell her honestly, pressing my erection against her virgin center. I’m about to rip her apart as gently as I can, but exactly as they expect me to.
Pushing into her, she winces as she cries out and I close my eyes, blocking out any emotion as I fall into the black hole of despair with her.
Dahlia
SUNLIGHT POURS THROUGH my windows as I roll over in my bed and burns my eyes as I open them.
I’m alone in my bed, as I have been since the day he took my innocence from me. There was no coming back from that. I wanted him to have every first, every single one that I could give him. But it wasn’t given to him. It was stripped from me and handed to him.
His feelings, they didn’t fucking matter to me. His apologies, they meant nothing. He couldn’t have stopped it, not unless he wanted both of us dead, but he still took something from me that I wasn’t offering.
And there was no way that I could get that back.
&
nbsp; How the hell was I supposed to forgive him for that?
I wasn’t.
That was one month ago, the first time Luca forced Kai and me to have sex, the first time it was caught on tape. I lost my virginity in front of a video camera.
What fifteen-year-old plans on losing their innocence like that?
Kai meant something to me before that moment, but I had to block it out, I had to protect myself from any feelings I had for him. He betrayed me by following their orders.
And he betrayed me every time he followed them afterward.
It didn’t happen daily, maybe not even weekly, but I still lost count of the times I was caught on tape having sex.
How the hell did this become my life?
All it took was one moment. One moment of being separated from my parents, from taking the hand of a familiar man and I ended up here, caught in an underage porn ring.
How the hell did this become my life?
Kai has given me all of the space I demanded since that first time. Being near him hurt, but being away from him hurt even worse. He was my own worst enemy, yet I was nothing but a shell without him. He held me together, he kept my head afloat when I felt like I was drowning. He was my only lifeline in this godforsaken house, yet he betrayed me.
The only time we were together was when it was demanded of us and even then, Kai kept his distance. The first time he tried to make me feel comfortable, to make me feel safe. That was all gone the moment he pushed his cock inside me. And when he fucked me until he came, everything between us was lost.
I wanted Kai to have all my firsts and I got what I wanted, but this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. I hate him for it, for taking it from me when I wasn’t ready, but I hate them even more.
Luca and his men were the ones who orchestrated this whole operation.
They were the ones who forced Kai to fuck me.
And one day they will pay for everything they’ve put us through.
Entangled Chaos (Entangled Duet Book 1) Page 5
