Sixteen
Paisley
2 months later
The new year came and passed. Now, snowflakes clung to the frozen glass of my cage. Winter stormed outside already, while I remained locked up for a man I hated.
After Hawkes Rizzo was finished with me, he sent me back to Glasgow. A year had passed since I last saw Hawkes. Sometimes, when I managed to forget how much I hated Rubi’s father, I’d wonder whether he ever found her. I prayed for her to come back. I knew when she did, she’d force her dad to save me, too.
Being Glasgow’s captive, at least I wasn’t alone. I had friends now, other girls who were forced to live with him, for him. Some of them envied me, saying I was his favorite. I hated the thought of it all.
Glasgow never took his mask off. I’d never seen him without it.
I’d seen him naked plenty of times, so I knew every tattoo and scar on his body, and there were a lot. I knew his cock from feeling alone. But not his face. All I knew was he had icy blue eyes, and no emotion.
My best friend in Glasgow’s house was Sky. She was only twenty. She told me she felt like she had a stalker for weeks before they kidnapped her. It made me wonder whether Glasgow picked us out one by one personally.
Before, Sky was a model. Now, she was one of Glasgow’s forced captives. The other girls called us his wives, but I hated it. I was never willing when I was with him, and the bastard damn well knew it.
We still weren’t allowed to talk to each other. Some of the girls traded sexual favors with the guards so they’d let them have conversations. The guards feared me because of the rumors I was Glasgow’s favorite. They rarely argued when Sky and I spoke.
“He’s picking a girl to take out with him tonight,” Sky whispered in my ear as she ran a hairbrush through my hair. “I heard the guards talking about it.”
My fingers froze. I stopped threading the dress on my lap and found Sky’s gaze in the mirror. SHe nodded to confirm what she’d said, and I swallowed.
Sky and I had one thing in common - we both badly wanted to get out. This outing that all the girls were dying over could be our ticket to safety. We knew other people would be there, at least. After a year of captivity, it was my first chance to get out of Glasgow’s house.
The door opened, and we all stood up. I kept my gaze trained on the floor as I watched steel-capped boots walk over. Sky’s hairbrush cluttered to the ground, making the footsteps stop inches away from me. I swallowed, watching Glasgow take Sky’s hand and lead her out of the room.
Business resumed as usual once they left, but I shivered for at least half an hour after. I wanted him to pick me, damn it. I knew Sky getting away was important, but I wanted to see Hawkes again. I was certain he’d be at these events, looking for his daughter. He was the only one who could get me out of my cage and Sky, too. But I was the one who had an in with him. Sky wouldn’t even recognize him.
I desperately wished for another conversation with Sky. I wanted to describe every detail about Hawkes, so she’d know who to speak to.
The girls busied themselves while Sky was with Glasgow, but the disappointment in the room was palpable. We all wanted to get away. And those that didn’t, knew being Glasgow’s favorite had its perks, too.
By the time it was dark outside, Sky returned to our shared bedroom. We had two beds per room, and since I could, I made them move Sky’s bed into my room. When she came back, my eyes widened. She was bruising already, her makeup running down her face.
I rushed to her side and offered her a tissue. “Aren’t you going?”
She looked up at me, pushing my hand away and shaking her head with a soft smile. “No. You are.”
Glasgow was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. I was wearing a white sequined lace gown, trimmed with feathers. The bridal dress was glamorous and reminiscent of Hollywood. It was also a fucking bridal dress, which pissed me off.
Cut from lace, the sheer fabric clung to my body unforgivingly. The other girls were forced to dress me. I wore chain gold earrings with adorning arms and wrist cuffs. My shoes were white, satin, impossibly and unnecessarily tall, because no one could even see them under the dress’ train.
I walked down, trying to decipher Glasgow’s mood from behind his skull mask. He got on one knee and pulled out a small jewelry box. My heart pounded as he presented me with a pretty diamond engagement ring. Surrounded by rubies. In the middle, a camera’s red light blinked at me.
“So I don’t lose you,” my captor said sweetly, not waiting for my response as he slid the tracking device on my ring finger. “Now I’ll always know where my favorite bitch is.”
I seethed as he led me out of the mansion into a waiting limousine. We were in the back with a couple other guards, which was a welcome surprise. Glasgow didn’t like stripping in front of men, so at least he wouldn’t force me to do shit on the way there.
Sky’s bruised face played in my mind as we drove to the venue. She took a beating for him, and he still didn’t take her with him. Why was I surprised?
By then, I knew how sick Glasgow’s mind was.
The only thing I hadn’t figured out was his accent. I didn’t think he was Scottish. It sounded oddly familiar, his voice, but I could never quite place it.
He remained a dark, fucked up mystery, and I was happy to keep it that way forever. If I ever found out who he was, I’d kill him. Nothing would please me more than watching blood gurgle out of the bastard’s mouth as I ended him.
I didn’t know where we were going yet, but I had high hopes of seeing Hawkes there. For over a year, I’d fantasized about meeting him again.
“Almost there,” Glasgow warned me from the seat next to me. My hands tightened on the fabric of my ridiculous dress. I hated that he’d made me wear a wedding dress, but I was still filled with hope I’d be able to get away, or at least talk to someone merciful.
The car pulled up in an underground parking garage. I was led past the other cars and rushed into an elevator. Guards huddled around me, so I couldn’t see much except Glasgow’s creepy mask, turned to scrutinize me.
The elevator doors opened into a black marble lobby. I forced myself to follow the guards to the double doors leading into a cordoned off space. Several bouncers stepped aside to let me and Glasgow pass, and he wrapped an arm around me to assert his dominance. The bouncers didn’t let the guards enter.
I expected Glasgow to argue with them, because he never went anywhere without security. But his gaze remained impenetrable as he led me past a black velvet curtain into a world of debauchery.
The main room was all black, with metallic accents. There were tables for up to five people with couches. Cages with gold bars contained women in various states of undress. Some of them were lifted into the air, the women forced to dance while guests watched.
A buffet was laid out, food and drink being served by naked, cuffed waitresses.
I could quickly tell who was worth something in the Dyonisian scene before me. The women, if they were naked, did not have an owner. Like me, the other captives wore wedding dresses and were in all white. I saw some of them undressed, several men touching them. My stomach twisted with disgust.
I’d thought this was a normal, public outing, but of course Glasgow didn’t trust me enough for that. And being thrust into a room full of girls just like me and the men who owned them, was sadder than my futile plans to escape.
Glasgow led me to the best table in the venue, and I felt everyone’s eyes following my movements. His table was raised to demand respect. Glasgow sat on a velvet black couch, and pointed to a dog-sized gold cage next to him when I tried to sit down.
My vision clouded over, but I allowed him to help me into the cage. His blue eyes glinted as he locked me inside. I watched the key go in his pocket.
“Maybe you’ll just watch for the first time,” Glasgow said to me. “Prove to me you’re a good bitch, and next time, you get to come out of the cage.”
For once, I was happy to stay behind the bars - the sickening alternative was being part of Glasgow’s dirty games. I had enough of him at his house, and relished this small reprieve. If he kept me in the cage all night, I wouldn’t be forced into what the other girls in wedding dresses were doing.
I watched silently as Glasgow talked to people. Our table filled up, but I remained on the floor of the golden cage, hugging my knees. Glasgow ate and drank, and I watched. Every once in a while, he’d kick the cage with his steel-capped boots. I knew what he wanted, but I refused to obey. At his house, he forced me to ride his boots to get off. He wanted me to do the same here, and the longer I declined, the worse it would be when the time finally came.
I tried to listen in to Glasgow’s conversations, but it all blended together. The music was loud, the cacophony of voices, moans and screams doing nothing to calm my racing mind.
A lot of the guests wore masks, though they didn’t afford their guests the same anonymity. I envied these rich men, hiding their identity while they exposed us, every unwilling inch.
My eyes darted around the room, ignoring the bacchanal indecencies of these bastards. My eyes scanned the crowd, desperately trying to find a familiar face.
I couldn’t recognize anyone, and the longer I looked, the more disgusted I felt. Glasgow’s eyes glinted as I hugged my knees in the cage, ripping the wedding dress in the process. I’d be punished for it later, but I didn’t care yet.
Glasgow pushed a girl off his lap, unlocking my cage. He motioned with his finger for me to crawl out. I could picture the evil grin beneath his stupid, ugly mask.
On all fours, I got out of the cage. Glasgow ordered me up, and instantly, two guards appeared on either side of me. They didn’t trust me yet. Glasgow knew I’d take off running the first chance I got. But as my gaze slid across the room, all I saw were blocked exits and men with headpieces, and big, scary weapons.
“Cuff her,” Glasgow muttered, and the guards obeyed.
My matching jewelry was clamped to a chain. With my wrists bound in front of me, I could barely move. They cuffed my ankles too, and the connecting chain that held my chain prison together was a leash that ended up in Glasgow’s outstretched hand. He yanked on the chain hard, and I stumbled forward. The metal clanked around my waist as he forced me to sit on his lap, petting me like a precious dog.
He wasn’t done with me yet.
I hated that I was the only girl in shackles. I told myself it was because I was the most dangerous, and kept repeating it like a mantra in my head. It didn’t help take away from what I saw them do that night.
Quietly, I seethed on Glasgow’s lap, my hands neatly folded in my lap. I felt the leery gazes of strangers on me, and for once, I was glad Glasgow was so damn jealous. He never let another man touch his girls. All of us in that house were there from him, and even the guards trading favors knew their limits.
Nobody messed with Glasgow’s girls.
Glasgow’s fingers toyed with my naked body under the fabric, ripping the dress more and more. Loud, instrumental music played on the speakers, interspersed with men’s laughter and women’s moans. I’d never seen people fuck like that, exposed, their animalistic nature on full display.
This was how the richest people in the world spent their free time?
I wanted to take down every name in the room and put all of those men on my personal hit list.
But because I didn’t have a deathwish, I remained quiet, watching the night unfold from our VIP booth.
Throughout the night, people tried to get Glasgow’s attention. He waved the men off, but welcomed their women. Some men left their girls behind to sit at Glasgow’s feet. I could tell he was one of the most important men there, even from our table. I wondered if my captor was the richest of them all, or the deadliest. How did these people measure their influence?
I assumed by the trail of broken women they left in their wake.
Truth be told, I was surprised I was Glasgow’s only present slave. He was so obsessed with our attention, I’d assume he would have brought several girls to a club like this, just to assert his dominance.
Some of the other men had plenty of women to choose from. They shared them among themselves, and my stomach twisted when I saw girls being led off from one booth to another. None of them resisted, yet I was the only one in handcuffs, sitting meekly besides my captor.
I was the one they were most afraid of.
I had to give them a reason to fear me.
One man in a suit approached us, and this time, Glasgow didn’t turn him away. My skin prickled.
They discussed something in hushed tones while I trembled next to Glasgow.
“Who’s the girl?” the stranger asked Glasgow, sending a chill down my spine as he offered my captor a cigarette.
Without looking at me, Glasgow lit up and inhaled, patting my knee.
“Pretty one, isn’t she?” Glasgow drawled in his unidentifiable accent. “I’ll let you have a turn. I’ve broken her in nicely.”
“Not too scarred like yours usually are, either. How much?” the man asked without so much as looking at me. “Everyone knows Glasgow cunts are premium.”
With dawning dread, I realized I had been wrong about Glasgow.
Just because he didn’t share us at home didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do that in the club. These men weren’t guards… They were rich, influential. The creme de la creme of villains. I was sure Glasgow was no stranger to trading favors, either.
My worst nightmares came true as my captor pushed me off his lap. He finished his cigarette and knelt next to me, the butt smoking between his fingers. With his free hand, he took mine, and kissed the tracking engagement ring he’d given me earlier.
“Master has some business to attend to. Don’t worry, I’ll collect you when you’re done,” he said softly. “You won’t get to be a runaway Cinderella tonight. But I can fuck you with a glass dildo once we’re back.”
He laughed, flicking the cigarette away. My body relaxed. He’d put them out on me before, and my body always tensed when he was smoking.
“Famous last words?” he continued, bright eyes daring me to stand up to him from behind the mask. He wanted me to fight him on this. Why ?
Maybe there was someone in the room whose attention he wanted to catch. I thought of Hawkes Rizzo, feeling a fire igniting in my center. I’d play along. It was my last hope to get anything out of this wretched evening.
“Goodbye, Master.” I forced the bitter word off my lips. Usually, he wouldn’t let me speak unless I addressed him properly.
He petted my hair and got up, walking away from me as my heart soared. I watched the other man leave with him without affording me a single look. I was a piece of meat to him. We all were.
Four guards surrounded me, blocking my view of the room. Quickly, I realized they weren’t allowed to touch me. None of them stopped me as I poured myself a glass of champagne. The bubbles felt odd on my tongue. Like I was celebrating a victory not yet earned.
At least the drink gave me some courage, even though I was still shackled.
I set the glass down and got up, taking a stroll around the club. I held my own leash in my hand.
I tested the guards who trailed me like a moving shield, but didn’t prevent me from looking around the club. When I touched my fingers to the exit, they stopped me, though. Even I, Glasgow’s favorite, had my limits around here.
But I was going to push them all until they bent, and snapped.