Fuck my luggage, all those new, expensive clothes FI had paid for.
Fuck Fallon Franchot, the bitch.
Fuck that bastard, Kace Ramos. If the sadistic billionaire, wanted hate, I’d give him hate.
I dragged my hand across my face. Tears. More tears.
I raised my eyes to the sky. “These are for you, Karrie. All for you.”
I’d never sent one away before. But this one couldn’t stay. She was fucking with my head too much, making me think things, feel things…want thing. She had to go. Before it was too late. –Kace R.
Seven
“Kendall!” Sid raced to my side and flung her arms around me like a two-year-old greeting her long-lost daddy. “Ohmygod! You have to tell me everything! What was it like? Did you have a good time?” She leaned back. Brows scrunched. “What’s wrong? Are you crying? And where is your luggage?”
Did she really not know anything about her bitch of a boss and the prostitution?
“I have my purse. That’s all I need.” I dragged my hand across my face again, wiping away the tears burning my cheeks.
“But…the clothes. They were yours to keep.”
“I don’t give a damn about them. Let’s get back to the hotel and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Sure. Okay.” Sid’s expression narrowed. Her gaze flicked to the ginormous house behind me. “That’s some house, huh? Gorgeous. I bet it’s magnificent inside.”
I didn’t look back. I didn’t want to see the house again. I didn’t want to remember anything about it, or the man who lived in it. “It is magnificent.” The image of that horrid dungeon flashed in my head, and I knew it would be a long time before I would forget. A very long time. “But there’s a lot more going on in that place than you realize.”
“What do you mean?” Sid asked as she pulled open the driver’s side door of her rental car.
“Later.” Once we were both sitting in the car, I clicked the locks. “I don’t want you driving when you hear what I’m about to tell you.”
Sid slid me a side-eyed glance while clicking her seatbelt. “Come on. You can’t make me—“
“Later, Sid,” I interrupted, catching movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked. One of the bastard’s servants was dragging my luggage out to Sid’s rental car. She unlocked the doors so he could open one. He dumped the bags in the backseat. I said nothing until the doors were shut and locked. “Let’s get somewhere safe and private. Then we’ll talk.”
* * * * *
Sid harassed me the entire drive to the hotel. It was thirty very long, very tedious minutes of absolute torture--her begging and pleading, and me telling her no. But I was feeling pretty proud of myself by the time we pulled up to the Weston. This was the first time, ever, that I’d been able to stick to my guns with her.
Eons ago I’d let her talk me into chopping off all my hair and dying it black. It had taken me ages to grow it back. And that hadn’t been the worst of it. Trying to strip out the black had been a nightmare. I’d ended up looking like a clown—roots yellow and ends fire engine red.
Then there’d been that time when she’d talked me into joining a multi-level marketing organization that was later fined by the government for being a huge scam. I’d laid out hundreds of dollars for overpriced food supplements and a trip to a convention in Chicago.
And I’d caved when she’d begged me to sign with FI. Huge mistakes. Every single one of them. But especially the last one. Just those three mistakes had cost me my hair, a whole lot of money, and now a lot of pain. My ass was still sore. But that would never happen again. I’d learned a lesson. A very important one.
Never again would I let Sid talk me into anything I didn’t want to do.
At last we locked ourselves in Sid’s small but tidy hotel room. Clearly the chaperones didn’t get the same VIP treatment from FI as the whores.
Within seconds Sid was bouncing on the mattress, eyes full of eager anticipation. “Okay, we’re here,” she said, obviously about to die from anticipation. “We’re alone. What’s with all the super-secret, I-can’t-tell-you stuff?”
Emotionally and physically, I was exhausted. I flopped onto the bed. “Sid, there’s a lot you don’t know about FI.”
She shrugged. “What do you mean? Tell me.”
Tell her.
Tell her…
How would I tell her that she was working for a madam? That Franchot’s company prostituted girls against their will? That they sold virgins to billionaires across the globe without them knowing what they were in for? That they were masquerading as an elite matchmaking service while they were actually committing one of the most despicable crimes against humanity?
My throat clogged.
How?
Sid keyed into my reluctance. “Ken, what’s wrong?”
My eyes started leaking again. I blinked to try to keep them clear. “Sid, I don’t even know where to start.”
Sid gave a pout and blinked sad eyes at me. “Aw, Ken. Was it that great? It was so wonderful you’re crying? Are you sad that you have to leave him?”
Sad that I had to leave? God, did she have that wrong.
“No, Sid. It wasn’t wonderful. It was awful. It was a nightmare. And I don’t even know how to begin.” I clapped my hands over my face and closed my eyes. My heart was thumping so hard my breastbone ached. My insides were so twisted into knots I felt sick. “You don’t know who you’re working for, what kind of horrible things Fallon Franchot does. And I hate having to be the one to tell you.”
“What are you talking about? What horrible things? How is setting up girls with billionaires so bad? She sent you with a chaperone. It isn’t her fault you told Tonya to leave.”
I dropped my hands and looked Sid in the eyes. “Is that what Tonya said? That I told her to leave?”
Sid nodded. “Yes, Ken.”
“And you believed her?”
“Um, yes. I know you.” Looking uncomfortable, Sid fidgeted with the bed’s coverlet. “I…know how stubborn you can be—“
“That was a lie,” I interrupted, even more furious and shocked than before. What wouldn’t these people do to make a fucking buck? How far would they go? “Everything was a lie, Sid. Why I was brought here. Everything.”
Sid’s mouth twisted, her brows scrunched together. “I don’t understand. Are you saying you didn’t meet Kace Ramos?”
“Oh, I met him all right. But we didn’t go on a date. He didn’t pay to fly me all the way here so he could take me out to dinner or on moonlit strolls on the beach.”
I stood and unzipped my pants. There was one surefire way to make Sid see the truth.
I turned around and yanked down my pants and panties, baring my bottom.
“What is that?” she screeched.
“He beat me.” I jerked up my pants and spun around. My ass burned like hell as the material skimmed over it. The friction felt like fucking sandpaper. “Sid, Ramos paid your boss over two million dollars for my virginity. Did you know that?”
Sid’s jaw dropped. Her eyes bugged. “No.”
“It’s true.” I lifted a hand, displaying two fingers. “Two fucking million dollars.”
“Oh, God.” Sid’s face turned the shade of paste. “Did he…did he…?”
“He didn’t. He just did this.” I motioned to my butt then gingerly sat. “Turns out he buys virgins so he won’t fuck them. Demented, isn’t it?” I rolled my eyes. “Seems I got lucky, being bought by Ramos—if you can call it that. He doesn’t fuck the girls he buys; he does other stuff to them. He ties them up. He whips them. He tortures them.”
Sid’s eyes bugged even bigger. “Oh God. I can’t even imagine. I…at least you’re still…”
“Sure, I’m still…a virgin. But I’m fucked in the head after this.” Recalling the last conversation I’d had with him, I knew that much was true. Why I had felt anything but hatred for him, I had no idea. It had to be temporary insanity. What did they call that mental illness—when a captive started feeling
for her captor? Stockholm syndrome. That was it. “And Sid, if FI did this to me, then they have done it to other girls too. There are others out there as fucked up as me, or worse. And all because of your boss.”
As I said the words, a giant weight seemed to lift off my shoulders. I’d done it. I’d told Sid the truth. She knew everything. She could do something about it. No other girl would ever have to suffer through what I had. I’d done the right thing. But I could see by Sid’s reaction that she was having a hard time dealing with the truth. It was a shock. Putting myself in her shoes, I could understand her reaction.
Sid’s mouth moved but she didn’t speak. She shook her head. She blinked. She shook her head again. “I…I’m at a loss.”
“How did they know about me? That I was a virgin?” I asked, my voice softer now. I had poured all my anger and confusion into that confession. I felt cleansed. But this one question still nagged. How had they known? “I didn’t write that on the application.”
“I…” Sid visibly swallowed--hard enough for me to see her throat working. “I told her. I told Fallon. It’s my fault.”
Sid’s confession floored me. I didn’t know what to say. Why would she tell her boss something so private? Why?
As if she could read my mind, she explained, “We’ve talked about how some of our wealthiest clients prize a virgin wife, even in this day and age. So when you weren’t getting any responses to your application, I told Fallon that you were still a virgin, hoping it would stir up some interest.” Sid’s hand shook as she tucked a strand of hair that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear. “I never in a million years dreamed she would actually sell your virginity to a client. That notion is so crazy I wonder…”
She let the rest of her sentence trail off. But I knew what she was thinking. She was hoping I’d misunderstood about Franchot selling my virginity. Yes, that was what she had been about to say, since Ramos hadn’t actually taken it. If he had paid for the privilege, why wouldn’t he? It was a logical conclusion to draw. And maybe if Ramos hadn’t told me specifically that he’d bought my virginity, then I would believe that too.
But I knew better. I had been told, in no uncertain terms, that my virginity had been auctioned off. I just got lucky having Kace Ramos as the highest bidder, since he seemed to have some issue with actually fucking the girls he bought.
“Sid, there is no misunderstanding. Ramos told me he’d paid for my virginity, and the first day I was with him he told me he could exercise his right to take it. He also kept me against my will. And because Tonya had run off, I had no one to protect me. He took my phone, my purse, all my belongings. I tried to leave, but his house is like a fucking fortress.” A quake of anxiety suddenly shook my whole body as the fear and anxiety of that first day blasted through me. I wrapped my arms around myself to try to stop the shaking. “I’m not exaggerating, Sid. It happened. I was sold. By your boss. I was sold as a sex slave. Your company is into illegal human trafficking. And there’s more. The fact that you became suddenly ill the night before we were scheduled to fly out is highly suspicious. Don’t you agree? Maybe she...poisoned you? So you couldn’t come with me.”
“I…” Sid’s face turned chalky white. “Poisoning? I don’t know.”
“It’s possible, isn’t it? I’m right. I can see it in your face.”
“I…can’t believe this. Poisoning. Human trafficking. Those a very serious charges, Ken. What if Ramos lied? What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not wrong, and Ramos didn’t lie. Why would he? Why? So I would go to the police and Franchot would be put out of business? Then he would have to find another agency to supply him with hot virgins to beat. How easy would that be, I wonder?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to that question, actually. “Sid, I have to go to the police when I get home. I have to report everything so Franchot can be stopped.”
“Um…” Sid mumbled as she stared down at the bed. “Yes, of course you have to report it.”
Grateful it seemed she had at last recognized several crimes had been committed, even if she didn’t want to believe it, I grabbed her and hugged her tightly. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what will happen to your job. But it’s the right thing to do. If I don’t stop Franchot, just think of how many more girls will end up being sold to the highest bidder. Most of them will be raped. Beaten. Maybe worse. Killed.”
Sid’s shoulders visibly drooped. Crap, I felt bad for her. She’d done really well with Franchot. Like me, she’d had no money to go to college. She was earning more in a week than she had a whole month at her previous job, as a barista at a coffee shop. This had to be killing her. She knew, just as I did, that the chances of her finding another job that paid so well were slim to none. “No, you’re right. If there has been a crime committed, it should be stopped.”
“It will be. I’ll go to the police the minute we’re home.”
Sid stood, walked to the window and peered outside. “Do you still want to do the tourist thing? Do you need to see a doctor? Should I take you to a hospital? Or are you too traumatized by what happened? Would you rather go home?”
The notion of a foreign man touching me made me sick. I couldn’t go to a doctor. Not here. “No hospital.” I followed her, peering out the window, seeing the beautiful landscape outside. The lush green plants. The sparkling water in the pool. This place was absolute paradise. It would be terrible if I associated it with pain and terror for the rest of my life. “After the hell I’ve been through, you would think I would want to go home. I should go home. But I know if I do, I’ll regret it. We’re here. In Europe. It’s gorgeous and warm and sunny. Back home, it’s nasty. Cold and gray and gloomy. Not to mention, we’ve both dreamed of traveling to Europe for ages. This is our chance. Probably our only chance. Neither of us will probably ever come back here again. I need to try to make the best of the situation.”
“That’s what I thought you might say.” Folding her arms over her chest, Sid turned to face me, her expression not so grave, a semi-healthy glow returning to her complexion. “Okay. Tomorrow we’ll do something fun. There’s that carnival, here in town. You remember, I told you about that? There will be music and food.”
“Sounds perfect.” Sensing the anxiety my friend was struggling to hide, I gave her arm a little tap. “Thanks for trying to understand. I know you’re torn. You don’t want to believe Franchot could be capable of something so awful.”
Grimacing slightly, Sid nodded.
I offered, “Want to hit the beach today? Relax? I could use some quiet time, soaking up some sun.”
“Yeah. That sounds perfect. Tomorrow there won’t be any relaxing. I’ve heard the Cadiz carnival is crazy. Good crazy.”
“I’m game for some good crazy.”
Sid’s eyes met mine. Her lips curled into a smile. “So am I.”
* * * * *
“You weren’t lying. This is crazy!” I said a little over twenty-four hours later. We were standing in the midst of thousands of happy, drunk, celebrating Spaniards. There were a lot of musical performers. Small groups sang on street corners. Larger choirs performed on flat carts, rolling through the streets. There were skits and improve theatrical performances. There was noise and movement and spectacular, colored costumes everywhere. And I was loving every minute of it.
After a quiet day yesterday, spent lounging on the beach, soaking up Spain’s sizzling rays, I’d had some time to settle down a little and think about what had happened with Kace Ramos. It was all twisted and weird and shocking. And I had no doubt it was illegal too. But I couldn’t deny the fact that a part of me had liked what had happened between us…at times. While he was sometimes moody, and even a little cruel, I was insanely attracted to him. Not just because he looked like a god come-to-life but also because of the way he touched me when he wasn’t whipping me. He was rough and strong, but in a sexy way. He was domineering and bossy, but in a sexy way. Everything about him was sexy. And I suspected if he hadn’t pushed me out the door ye
sterday, I might have voluntarily fucked him.
He did you a favor.
As I walked the packed streets of Cadiz, my gaze swept the crowd. Every now and then my nerves would jump as I thought I caught a glimpse of his beautiful face. A small part of me suspected he might be so obsessed with me he would follow me, watching, waiting for his chance to spring from the shadows and sweep me off my feet like he had that day on the beach. But every time I thought I saw him, I discovered it wasn’t him. By late afternoon, I knew he hadn’t followed me. He wasn’t lurking somewhere, waiting for me to fall so he could catch me.
My heart twisted.
Dammit, I shouldn’t feel upset about that. Was I really wishing a disturbed, sick (sexy) man would stalk me?
“Ohmygod! Look. There.” Sid grabbed my hand and started running, dragging me behind her as she wove through the crowd. All around me intense sensations pummeled my system. The heavy smells of food cooking, the battling musicians, and the brilliant colors of the performers’ costumes. It was a lot to take in all at once. And I struggled to absorb it all as I ran behind Sid, gaze jerking from one sight to another.
At last Sid halted in front of a cart. A choir was performing a sexy, seductive tune. A few couples were dancing in front of us. Men and women moving slowly to the music, not swaying politely but writhing seductively. I stood transfixed as images of Kace invaded my thoughts, like flashbacks. At first, I fought them, tried to push them away. But soon I was overwhelmed as the erotic memories stirred my emotions. I closed my eyes and let the heat and music carry me away to a dark place where I could feel his touch again, could taste his kiss, could hear his husky voice calling my name. A fingertip tickled my nape and I shuddered. Lips brushed across mine. Heat fanned over my back as a hard body stood behind me.
“Kendall.”
I jerked around, gaze snapping right then left then right again.
Had someone said my name?
Was Kace here? Was he playing with me?
I turned right. No. Left. No. No Kace.
Raw, A Dark Romance Page 7
