CHAPTER TWENTY
CLOVER
A hand on my shoulder roused me awake. I didn’t realize that I’d fallen asleep.
“Hey, wake up. If you want to eat, you better get on it before they come back for the dishes. We get half an hour. Are you hungry?” Daphne’s voice penetrated the fog in my brain.
I blinked several times as I tried to escape the haze holding me down. Slowly I sat up. Daphne retreated back to her bed where she picked up a dish of food and got busy eating. She pointed with her plastic fork to the plate on the end of my bed.
Paper plates. Plastic forks. They were trying really hard to make sure we couldn’t turn anything into a weapon.
I eyed the plate, studying the scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. Breakfast. The light beyond the window confirmed that it was now daylight. The Angels definitely knew I was missing by now. I assumed they’d found my ankle monitor wherever it had been left. They wouldn’t let Brady keep me. They would look for me.
I picked up the paper plate and took a tentative bite. As much as I wanted to refuse to eat, my stomach was hollow and aching. Besides, starving myself wouldn’t help me get out of here. I didn’t care what they did to me. If I got a chance to make a run for it, I would take it.
“There’s juice too.” Daphne nodded to the glasses of orange juice on the table between our beds. “They’ll bring water bottles later when they take us to the bathroom.”
She seemed to know a lot about this place. Because I had to know, I asked, “How long have you been here?”
Daphne shrugged and pushed a lock of brown hair back from her face. “About a week now, I guess. It feels like forever.”
She was incredibly pretty. Large blue eyes and a perfect nose that even a plastic surgeon couldn’t pull off. Curves in all the right places. She wore a t-shirt and sweatpants. Dark circles under her eyes made me think she hadn’t been sleeping well here.
“Have you seen anyone else since you got here?” I chewed my eggs, barely tasting them. There were so many questions I wanted to throw at her but didn’t want to do anything to make her stop talking to me.
“There was another girl when I got here. They took her to the auction two days ago. I assume she sold since they never brought her back.” Daphne lifted her shoulder in a small shrug. “There are some guys here too. I’ve heard them. I think they’re in the next room.”
Guys huh? I guess that made sense. The sick fucks who bought and sold human beings probably liked people of all types and genders. The thought of being sold as someone’s sex slave made my skin crawl. I’d rather be dead.
A small voice in the back of my mind reminded me that the Angels had treated me like their sex doll. They’d claimed me. Owned me. How was that any different?
I shoved that uncomfortable thought aside. The Angels were not good guys, but they weren’t the type of people Brady was involved with either. They’d saved me from Zane. They’d promised to protect me. Deep down, they weren’t all bad.
Maybe that was the Stockholm Syndrome talking.
“Do you know much about the auction?” Nibbling a piece of bacon, I watched Daphne pick at her eggs.
She shook her head. “All I know is that there’s a woman who dresses us, does our hair and makeup. Then they take us to wherever and sell us to some rich freak.”
“Where did they grab you from?” A sip of orange juice went down wrong, and I began to cough. Goddammit.
“I was walking home from a friend’s house. Broad daylight. It all happened so fast. You?” Despite the awkward way she held herself, Daphne seemed happy to have someone to talk to again.
“At a concert. They were looking for me though. My boyfriends pissed them off, so they came after me.” I cringed when I heard myself say boyfriends. Hopefully she wouldn’t pick up on that.
Daphne raised a brow but didn’t question me. “Whatever you do, don’t fight or try to run. That’s when they force themselves on you. I don’t think they’re supposed to touch us. The buyers don’t like it. Sometimes they do anyway.”
She spoke as if she knew firsthand. Disgust filled me. If Brady or any of his sick friends tried to touch me, I would definitely fight. I may have been their captive but that didn’t mean I had to take it quietly.
“What’s with the drugs?” I asked, taking a bite of toast.
“It’s their way of keeping us complacent. They dose us every night. I figured it was to make sure we couldn’t try to get out when they’re sleeping or out of the house. Maybe they want us to be easy to control addicts. All I know is that it makes me feel like I’m in another world. Fucks me right up.”
It definitely felt that way. At least the Angels had never drugged me. Yet.
Right at the thirty minute mark, the door opened and two men I hadn’t seen before took our dishes. They then took us each to the bathroom, giving us time to use the toilet and clean ourselves up. Thankfully, they didn’t come into the bathroom with me. Probably because there was no window. Nowhere to escape. There was also no mirror. No glass to use as a weapon.
I found a fresh unopened toothbrush under the sink and brushed my teeth. Afraid to take a shower and have someone walk in on me, I washed up the best I could instead. When I was returned to the room, I found a clean t-shirt and sweatpants like what Daphne wore on my bed. Well, at least it was more comfortable than the skirt I currently wore.
I expected to be left alone until the next mealtime. No such luck. Not long after the men locked us back into the room, Brady came in. He wore a massive grin, loving his victory over the Angels.
“Good morning, Clover,” he smirked, coming to sit on the bed next to me. “Think your boys are looking for you yet? I hope it’s making them fucking crazy trying to find you. They’ll never track you here. There’s not a damn thing linking me to this house. We’re in the middle of nowhere. They’ll never find it.”
A tremor rippled down my spine. Doing my best to hide my fear, I said, “Eventually they will catch up to you. What you did to Blaze will look like a fun time after they get through with you.”
“You think so, huh?” Brady grabbed me by the hair, using it to slam me down onto the bed. “Then I better make it worth it.”
I shrieked as he climbed on top of me. To my utter shock and horror, Brady undid his pants, pulling out his revolting dick.
He tried to shove it into my mouth, mashing it against my face. I clamped my jaw shut tight, refusing to be budged. He’d have to kill me first. If he got that nasty thing between my teeth, I’d bite it right off.
“Open up, bitch. Let’s see what makes you so damn special to them.” When I didn’t obey, Brady slapped me across the face with his dick.
I twisted and bucked beneath him. Anything to get him off me. After several minutes of torment, he gave up and climbed off me.
Brady chuckled, enjoying every second of having me at his mercy. “I’ve got another four days with you before you go to auction, Clover. I plan to enjoy them.”
Leaving me with those cryptic parting words, Brady left the room, locking the door behind him. I squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to let the tears that had gathered fall. I would not give him that kind of power over me.
“They’re not supposed to touch us,” Daphne repeated softly. “Sometimes they do anyway.”
They’d taken my tracker. They’d taken my phone. I had no way of reaching out for help. Silently, I willed my Angels to feel me. To hear me. To find me.