“It’s a long shot, Owen. Like you said, anyone could have been wearing that perfume.” I think I remember he might not have said that.
“I did, but I don’t want you to listen to me. I’m a fucking cynic. I’m a pessimistic as Heaven is an optimistic. That doesn’t mean you are wrong. What do you think? Is she here?”
“I don’t fucking know, Owen. Dreams are just dreams. I can hardly remember yesterday. I’ll look for her regardless, like I always have, but I’m not holding my breath. I have to stay realistic.”
“And how has being realistic gotten you? Maybe you should dream a little. Our way of life isn’t like other peoples. We fucking rob criminals for a living and are rich because of it. We do what most people can’t even imagine, so who says being a little fantastical is a bad thing? Maybe that is how our lives are supposed to be.”
“Thought you said you were a cynic?” I ask, lifting a brow as I open my bedroom door.
“I didn’t say I believe in it. I just said there’s no harm in thinking outside the box. Get some rest, man. We will plan our search tomorrow. If she was at the market, it’s nothing the cameras couldn’t pick up.”
“But after all this time, here? I would have found her.”
“Maybe. Unless she never gets to go out.” On those words, Owen shuts the door, leaving me staring with an open jaw.
What if he is right? What if Kendrick never let her out of her cage?
I’m going to get her back.
He fucked up letting her go out in public. It would be impossible for him to get away from me now. Unless this is what he planned all along. Why would Kendrick live in Trinidad? Maybe he knows I’m here and wants to dangle her in front of me? No, that couldn’t be it.
No one knows I live here. I have scrubbed every surface of the web of my name. No records of me exist. I wanted to make sure Kendrick could never find me, but somehow, he did.
This has to be a challenge.
He wants a fight.
I’ll bring him war.
Chapter Eight
GABRIELLA
I wake up in Kendrick’s bed, the collar still wrapped around my throat, but at least the leash is off. I stare up at the trayed ceiling and think back to the market.
Sebastian.
He was here.
I saw him.
And he had looked … to die for.
Time treated him well. His hair was black, and his eyes were still as blue as ever, and I got lost in a dream. It was as close as we have ever been since I visited him in prison. I almost called out to him.
Almost.
But the fear of Kendrick kept my mouth shut.
It brings me comfort that Sebastian is here, in the same city; even if we barely missed each other.
“My sweet!” Kendrick bellows from the main floor.
I roll out of bed and hurry to the door, slinging on my robe quickly before making my way to the staircase. “Yes, Kendrick?” I say with a sweetness that holds no truth.
“Get down here and make me and my friends so breakfast,” he says.
“Yes, Kendrick,” I agree.
I hurry down the steps as fast as I can, not to please him, but to make sure I won’t get punished. I haven’t been punished in seven days, and I want to keep it that way.
“Wow, Kendrick. You were right,” a man I don’t recognize speaks up. “She is beautiful.”
Kendrick’s arm wraps around my waist and pulls me close to his side. I try to wiggle free, but he warns me to stop by digging his fingers into my skin. “I know. It’s the long hair, that creamy tan skin. She’s succulent, isn’t she?”
“Kendrick,” I plead as his hands tug at my robe. “Please,” I beg him not to. I'm not wearing anything under the robe.
“I have to show my guests what a beautiful pet you are, my sweet. After all, you’ll be seeing a lot of them around now that the time is getting closer.”
“Time?” I ask, my breath coming out in harsh pants as his fingers trail over my chest.
“You don’t need to worry about that right now, my sweet. It isn’t anything you need to concern your pretty little head about.” His fingers curl around the ties of my robe, and my eyes lock on all the hungry eyes sitting around the table. Each man has the same expression, but their faces look different. Two men have blond hair, each have blue eyes, while another one has brown hair and green eyes, licking his lips as he waits for Kendrick to show me to them.
“Is she pure?” the man with brown hair asks. “She has to be pure for it to work.”
“She’s pure,” Kendrick hums. “I made sure of that years ago when I scoped her out and married her to make sure she’d stay that way.” He doesn’t tell them that we are no longer married due to Sebastian’s effort to make sure I was free of Kendrick, but I guess that is a detail that doesn’t matter.
“You married her and didn’t fuck her? Bullshit,” the green-eyed monster says, leaning back in the chair surrounding the table. “If I had a woman like that lying next to me every night, you better believe I’d fuck the hell out of that sweet cunt until it was sore.”
My body trembles from the cruelty of his words.
“Well, this is more important, isn’t it? Do you know how difficult it is to find a woman of Mediterranean descent? And a virgin? If she were in your hands, none of us would be able to trust you with her. The purpose is more important than the temptation. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes.”
“Damn right.”
“I know,” the man says with an annoying roll of his eyes.
“Okay, then. It isn’t up for discussion.” Kendrick’s words end the discussion, and his fingers still play along the ties of my robe and tug.
My breath whooshes free, and I closed my eyes when I hear them all inhale, as if they are staring at a goddess, someone from another world and time. Kendrick’s hands slip down my torso, tracing the curve of my breasts. He hums in delight, and the cold air wraps around my nipples, causing them to bead.
My body betrays me. They think I am reacting to them, but I’m not. I’ll never react to them.
“She is perfect, isn’t she?” Kendrick’s hands trail down to the trimmed top of my bush and pauses before traveling upward again. “Sheer fucking perfection. Do you know how hard it is to control myself? It’s been so difficult, but it will be worth it. I’ll finally get my share when she is delivered.”
None of this makes sense. I don’t understand what he is talking about. He is sick in the head. Whatever he has planned for me, it isn’t good. I’m not going to wait around and find out either.
This is my limit.
I’m not a fucking show pony.
“My sweet, make us breakfast, and leave your robe open. I want us to have something beautiful to look at.”
“Whatever you want, Kendrick.” I turn on my heel to make my way to the kitchen. As I walk by the man with brown hair, his hand reaches out and squeezes my ass. I jump, and he chuckles darkly.
“I can’t wait to get inside you. You have no idea what you’re going to do for the—”
“Shut up, you fucking idiot!” Kendrick bellows, and a harsh slap has the guy letting go of my ass, and I bolt to the safety of the kitchen. Ten feet isn’t enough.