Seventeen
Hawkes
L e Male was an elite gentlemen’s club. The entry fee for one night was five hundred grand, ensuring only men of stature were allowed to enter. Women were only allowed to come as guests, but Le Male wasn’t the kind of club you’d bring your wife to.
No, the women trembling next to rich men in expensive suits weren’t even there of their free will. I could tell they were forced, some of them going along with it, probably hoping to earn something out of their obedience. None of them were shackled, and yet it was clear they were far from willing.
Jett and I made an appearance hoping to spot Glasgow in action.
A year ago, we’d successfully fooled Glasgow into thinking we’d saved his life, and spared his captive. Now, the monster was grateful to us, and invited my partner and I along to Le Male to meet the girl whose life we saved.
My thoughts were full of Paisley Deville that night, circling around the main room of the club like a predator. I glanced at our table, cordoned off by silk red rope. A blonde’s redhead bobbed on Jett’s cock, and my wrists tightened. I knew my partner and I had the same goal - bringing down the fucked up ring that messed up our own lives. Even if we had to play these parts until our dying breath.
Sometimes I thought Jett took it too far, though. Our image was believable enough. I didn’t need him getting his dick sucked off in the middle of this vile party. Nobody was doubting us, and Jett was playing along a little too well for my liking.
I kept walking around the room. In the middle, there was a glass office where business meetings were sometimes conducted. Around, a stage with half-naked dancers in burlesque white outfits. Le Male threw themed parties, and Thursday was Wedding Night. The sight of all those slaves in innocent white wedding gowns disgusted me. Worse was knowing some of them would be bloody by the end of the night.
Despite trying to resist my own instincts, I was wearing the red paisley print tie. I was ready to see her again. After a year as Glasgow’s captive, Paisley was bound to be broken in already. She’d answer any question I had for a chance at freedom. I smiled.
As I rounded a corner, a pretty brunette wrapped her arms around me. I pushed her off, distracted. I could never let go like my partner did. Unlike Jett, I preferred to fuck women behind closed doors, far away from this maddening crowd.
Hushed voices pointed my attention to the best table in the room. It had been blocked off from my view before, and my blood froze when I saw him again.
Glasgow.
He was wearing a black skull-shaped, smooth mask. I had heard about it. He wore it for the past eight years, ever since Jett, him and I split as partners.
Once upon a time, we’d formed the Rizzo mafia as brothers with one cardinal rule: we wouldn’t hurt women like the rest of the bastards surrounding us.
Soon enough, Glasgow broke his promise, and I went to prison to pay for his mistakes. The only thing I asked was that my daughter, who hadn’t even been born yet at the time, remained safe. Jett and Glasgow gave me their word.
Yet once I got out of jail, only Jett was waiting for me.
I hadn’t seen Glasgow in nearly a decade.
Even when we had him in our hands, ready to kill him, I stayed away. Now, I watched silently as he discussed something with another man. I recognized him as Marcus Worthington, a wealthy banker in the city. The two walked away, and for a split second, the guards parted and I saw a glimpse of the woman at Glasgow’s table.
It was Paisley Deville, wearing a sheer wedding dress with nothing underneath. The dress was ripped in several places. I remained hidden, watching Paisley walk around the room with the guards closely trailing her. I could tell she’d earned some respect in her time with Glasgow - contrary to the other women there, she was treated with respect.
She was also the only shackled woman at the party.
I kept away and watched as she strolled back to her seat. Glasgow and Marcus reappeared, and she paled after her conversation with Glasgow. I couldn’t overhear shit, and I didn’t want to talk to my former friend yet. I met Jett’s gaze across the room, and he pushed the blonde girl off him, walking closer.
Glasgow, Marcus and some guards walked out of the club while Jett zeroed in on Paisley. I saw him talking to the men surrounding her, laughing as it was all a joke.
Once the music got louder and the lights dimmed, I quickly realized it was time for the main event at Le Male. A lot of the men here came just for this… For one of the slaves to be tied to a St Andrew’s cross on the main stage, and for them to take turns on her.
Without seeing the men advance on her, I knew Glasgow would have picked Paisley.
He loved doing this to his captives. Especially the new ones he brought to Le Male. I heard he was possessive of the girls at home, but at Le Male, once he left, his girls were free to use.
Paisley shrieked over the sound of the music as she was forced onto the cross. Quickly, her dress was ripped off. Someone tore at the fabric, freeing her nipples, ripping the bodice until her tits were exposed lewdly.
I fought my instincts to rush forward and take her away. I told myself this was useful for me, and I needed to see it play out. I wouldn’t take a turn. The scene in front of me disgusted me, but I wasn’t above letting it happen to get to the bottom of Rubi’s location.
Taking a seat at a nearby table, I allowed one of the burlesque dancers to wrap herself around me. As long as I had a good view of the cross, I didn’t mind her grinding her ass on me.
Paisley Deville was stripped naked while she screamed. Someone brought out permanent markers. The men gathered by the cross, drawing all over her. Even some of the slaves joined in. One even laughed as she wrote something on Paisley.
My fists tightened.
As she screamed for help, Paisley looked around the room. I was sitting close enough for her to see me, and when she finally did, her cheeks flushed. Eyes silently begging for help, she stopped screaming and pleaded for my mercy with her gaze alone.
I wanted to get up badly, but then I saw Jett approaching her. It was his turn.
Jett knew well enough who Paisley was. He knew I’d fucked her, he knew I sent her back to Glasgow, and he knew I hated her with every fiber in my body, blaming her for whatever happened to my daughter.
He also knew I didn’t want him touching Paisley Deville, yet he advanced on her like a predator.
I pushed the dancer off my lap and walked closer, watching over the rest of the crowd to see Paisley better. Her pale body was covered in red welts, some of them hard enough to scratch and bruise her skin. Obscenities glared from her soft skin, written in permanent black and red marker to make sure she couldn’t get them off for days.
I couldn’t stand it anymore.
Knowing I shouldn’t, I approached the men and made my way to the front of the stage.
“What the fuck are you doing, man?” one of the guards snarled at me, shoving me with his gun. “She’s Glasgow’s girl. He’s a fucking Rizzo. Do you have a death wish?”
Jett stepped in the middle, raising his hands and flashing his most charming smile. “Not to disturb, man. Name’s Jett. Do you have a death wish?”
The guard paled when he saw my partner. Jett was a bit more public than I was, so he recognized him right away. “Apologies, Mr Rizzo.”
“All good, my man.” Jett clapped a hand on the guard’s shoulder. “My friend and I would like a word with the girl, if you don’t mind?”
I didn’t wait for him to answer. I tore through the crowd and released Paisley from the cross’s shackles. She gasped as she came down, and I grabbed her by the waist. Her legs wrapped around me. I ignored my erection when I carried her off the stage, and I ignored Jett racing after me, too.
“Wait up,” he called after me. “The guards won’t let you leave with her. They agreed to let you wait in the office until he’s done.”
I turned back, the glass office in the middle of the room beckoning my attention. A glass prison to conduct business in.
I glanced down at Paisley Deville, still sobbing quietly in my arms. This was just business.
“Fine,” I hissed.
Carrying her into the office, I wished for any kind of privacy. Nobody stopped the men outside from watching us in there, jealousy written all over their petty faces. They wanted a piece of Paisley, unused to being told no. I fuckign hated their leery gazes drinking her up. I rarely allowed myself to feel guilty, but she tugged on my heartstrings enough that I stripped my jacket off and wrapped it around her.
“You just let them do that to me,” she whispered, as if in a trance. “You didn’t even stop them.”
My jaw set firmly. I had no excuse.
I brought her a bottle of water from the fridge and watched as she drank.
“If you think I agree with them,” I muttered, motioning outside the office. “You’re wrong.”
“Think you’re better?” she asked, scoffing. “What separates man from monster, then, Mr Rizzo?”
“Mercy,” I hissed.
“Oh yes,” she replied. “That thing you gave me so much of. Liar.”
“Watch that mouth.”
“You’re no better than Glasgow,” Paisley hissed ferociously, getting up and pacing the room. “I wish I’d never met you. Rubi was the only good part of you.”
I intercepted her with my hand on her wrist, grabbing her hard enough to leave a bruise. “You’re not going anywhere yet. Not before you promise me to keep an eye out for Rubi.”
“I’d be stupid not to, wouldn’t I?” Paisley hissed. “It’s the only way you’ll ever help me get out of this hell. I don’t know how you look at yourself in the mirror, Hawkes Rizzo.”
“Unlike you,” I spat out. “I paid my debts so Rubi would stay safe. What did you do to keep her safe, Paisley Deville? You’re the fucking reason she’s gone. You probably did something to piss someone off. They took you too, didn’t they? Maybe you were the original target. Maybe my daughter is missing because of you.”
She paled, and I knew I’d gone too far. I wasn’t going to take my words back. I meant every one of them.
Hatred coursed through my veins as Paisley pinned me with her gaze.
“The day I saw Rubi, they drugged me,” she muttered, lifting her silky waves off her neck. “Nothing new. They drugged me to rape me all the time. But that day, they forced me into a doctor’s office.”
On the side of her slender throat, I saw a scabbed scar. A tiny pinprick where the needle went in. I knew it well enough, and I could tell she still got the same treatment, even at Glasgow’s house.
I felt a twinge of regret.
She put her hair back in place and looked back at me. “If you can forgive yourself for those men doing that to me, try to forgive yourself for this.”
She took my hand and guided it to her belly. Placing my palm on her flat stomach, she forced me to look into her eyes.
“They put birth control inside me so I can’t get pregnant,” Paisley hissed. “So they can rape me as much as they want without any consequences.”
I pulled my hand back, and she didn’t stop me. Shame flushed my cheeks as I stared out of the glass of the office, at the perverted men returning my gaze, waiting their turn.
Paisley was right. It was my fault this kept happening to her.
I could have saved her a year ago, and I didn’t.
“If I still had a home,” Paisley went on. “I’d probably have kids now. Because of you, I don’t.”
I looked back at her. “And you won’t. Not until I get my kid back.”