I slammed the door shut and stomped my four-inch heels toward my father’s office. The foyer was two stories tall, and when I made it to the foot of the stairs, his guards, his underlings, gathered and parted to let him through.
“What?”
He looked at me, his lips curling up into a snarl. “Where do you think you’re going dressed like that?”
“A party.” I turned to leave but was stopped by a hand clasped around my wrist. My father held me tight as his guards circled around us. I glared at each one of them. They weren’t going to stop me. I’d flirted with most of them, teased them, to get my way in the past, and I would do it again.
“You want to act like a whore?” my father asked, anger emanating from him.
“How dare you!” I spat back.
His arm swung out and I spun, nearly falling down. Pain radiated from my cheek, and tears filled my eyes. Two of the guards caught me and got me standing again.
“Have you fucked them all yet? Teased them with your body?” my father sneered. He stepped forward, his fists clenching onto the fabric of my dress. The sound of the fabric giving way, ripping apart in his hands, echoed around the walls.
My breasts were exposed, but he kept going all the way through the hem. Even that wasn’t enough. He pulled the fragments of fabric from my shoulders, leaving me in only my thong.
I covered my chest with my arms, but he swatted them away.
“You wanted to be a whore, to show your body off. Let them look. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
I clenched my teeth, trying not to show him that he affected me. “I’m not a whore.”
“Your behavior is not acceptable. You will stop this defiance, or you won’t like the consequences.”
“You can’t control me. I will fuck whomever I want, and you can’t stop me.”
Fire rolled in his eyes, and his arm swung out again. I stumbled to the ground a second time but wasn’t there long when he fisted my hair and pulled me up. I reached back, a cry leaving me as I tried to get him to release me.
“You will fall into line,” he hissed before fisting my thong and ripping that from me.
A scream left me, and he slapped my breast before squeezing it. I cried out in pain.
His nostrils were flared, eyes wide, drunk off his power over me. I’d never seen him so angry, and I knew I’d pushed him to the brink.
“I will fucking break you if you keep this up.”
“I’d like to see you try,” I spat back. What I expected was another blow to the face, maybe being thrown to the floor.
His hand between my thighs, fingers shoved inside me, was never a path I foresaw.
“How many dicks have you had up here? More than you can count? Should I just give you to the men and let them keep you? Nothing more than a toy to play with.”
“Let me go!”
He removed his hand and released me, glaring at me with such contempt. “Don’t you ever disrespect me in this manner again, Daughter. If you’re not good, I’ll sell you. Now go get ready in something respectable, and maybe I’ll forgive you.” He stormed out of the entry.
I stood there, trembling, shielding my private areas with my hands as tears streamed down my face.
My eyes snapped open and my heart slammed in my chest. A couple of blinks and my vision cleared. Darkness surrounded me.
I sat up, searching for the usual group of men, but there were only a couple I could find asleep in chairs. Fire still burned in one of the barrels, and there was a light on at the other end of the space, creating a soft glow.
I drew in a sharp breath and snapped my head to the side. Everything was quiet, but I could still feel someone watching me. Deep in the black, I knew silver eyes were trained on me. Watching. Plotting.
But what did they want? Why was I still trapped in my iron cell? It had been days since he touched me, days since my shower.
The dream was the memory of the moment that changed the course of my life. It was humiliating and made my first time on stage, stripping my clothes off in front of Al, easy. Having my clothes ripped from me when I was on my way out to a party while my father called me a whore, that was worse. Not a single employee stepped in to help me. Instead, they all watched.
My father had violated me. Touched me in a way no father should, all for a show of power. In that moment, I knew I had to get out. In that moment, I realized I had nothing to offer but the way my body moved.
I had a taste of freedom, even though I knew I would never be free of them. A normal life could never be mine. No boring nine-to-five job because I had no real papers for my fake name, no skills or much education past high school. I graduated and finished almost a full year of college, that was all.
No husband, kids, and a white picket fence for me.
The dream only showed me the parallel of my current situation.
I was a spoiled brat who used my sexuality as a way to get what I wanted. It was stupid and just me acting out. It was the only outlet I had, the crushing weight of my father’s control leaving me no other way.
I was trapped, held captive in a palace built from death. A gilded cage.
Tears welled in my eyes, and I blinked them back.
I lay back down to try to get back to sleep, praying I wouldn’t have another dream.
A shrill scream echoed off the walls as I stared up at the ceiling. I sat straight up, taking a second to make sure the sound wasn’t coming from me.
High-pitched wails, sounds of begging and pleading, rang around the empty walls, and the few men were suddenly on high alert. All except Domenico.
My chest hurt at the sound because I knew, I just knew. There was about to be one less empty cage.
Another girl abducted from the streets.
One associate was carrying a lantern, lighting the path as Roman and two other men carried the struggling girl up the stairs. I hadn’t seen Roman since he’d given me dinner that night, the night Domenico claimed me. His eyes locked with mine before quickly looking away.
I swallowed hard. Was he ashamed of what I’d done? How I had reacted to Domenico? I remembered the anger in his eyes.
“Shut her up!” Domenico yelled from the darkness.
My hands were white-knuckled on the bars as I watched them throw her into a cage a few down from my own. Her eyes were wide, tears streaming as she begged to be let go.
“No! No! Please!” Hiccupping sobs rang out as she drew in ragged breaths, her words heavily accented. “Help! Somebody help!”
The group who dragged her in washed their hands of her once she was in the cage. I noticed Roman’s gaze locked on her. Doing this wasn’t something he was equipped for. I could only imagine that her screams were tearing him up.
After a few minutes her cries had yet to subside, and Domenico was forced from his lair. He stomped past me, his jaw locked tight. Every man he passed shrank back, even the strong ones. Nobody wanted to be in la Bestia’s path when he was on a rampage.
Feet before her cage, he pulled the gun from his waistband and pulled the slide before aiming it at her.
“Shut the fuck up!” he growled. “Or I will fucking shut you up.”
The girl cowered and her sobs became strangled gasps as she began to hyperventilate. I had sobbed for hours after I’d woken, screamed and screamed, but nobody had threatened me or told me to shut up. I hadn’t even been sure anyone was there, but she’d only been going off for a short period of time when Domenico lost his composure.