20. Willow
20
WILLOW
A t first, we drive in silence in the back of the Bentley. I can tell Dimitri's still seriously pissed, and frankly I'm still processing everything.
The terror, the helplessness. And then, after the shock of all of it...the elation.
It felt so, so, so good. So good I could have died happy right there. I know I was sobbing, but that was because I never wanted it to stop. I never thought it possible to feel this much .
But it was just a spank. Just his hand, right there. He barely touched me. He just…stopped.
Now I could sob for a very different reason.
Instead, I'm riding in the back of the car in silence, on the opposite bench from where he’s staring at me.
Glaring at me.
Until I can't take it.
"How are the puppies?"
He stares at me for what feels like an eternity, then finally says, "The puppies."
I make myself nod. "Yeah. Like, little Wolfie? Is she okay?"
"Wolfie," he repeats. "Yes, Willow. The dogs are quite safe."
He doesn't add, unlike you were , but it's heavily implied.
"The puppies are around eight weeks, and mostly weaned. The adults aren't quite healthy enough to be adopted out yet, but they eat well, and are worm-free. Their caretaker is in touch with a shelter that'll handle the adoptions. Anything else?" The question sounds like a challenge.
I sigh. "I really wish I could keep Wolfie. She was just so sweet."
"So keep her."
I shake my head. "I told you. My building?—"
"Keep her at mine."
" What ?"
He shrugs. "She'd still be your responsibility, though. I don't have time for a pet. You'll have to walk, feed her, and care for her."
"You mean, I could just…leave her here and come and walk and play with her every day?" My eyes must be as big as saucers. "But I'd be at your place all the time."
Another shrug, then slides a tablet across his lap, and starts typing away.
"I thought you didn't like people in your space."
"Again, you aren't people." He keeps working. "Think about it. I'd like the monsters to go to caring owners. It's not like they have what it takes to survive without them."
"Clearly, they've survived a fair bit in the worst circumstances already," I counter, thinking back to how slim and weak they all seemed."But…thanks, Dimitri. I'd really like that. I mean, not forever. I'll have to find my own place. Somewhere that accepts pets. I'll hate to leave Anna and Lucy's, but they don't really need me to split the rent. I'll make sure to pop by before work, on my break, after work and at bed time…" I'm seriously rambling. Someone stop me, please.
"I'm certain you'll handle your duties, or I wouldn't have offered." Dimitri brings his phone to his ear and starts a call, dismissing me.
I look around, suddenly very conscious of the fact that we've been driving for quite a while.
Away from the city. Where are we going?
I find that I don't really care. Not enough to disrupt his work, or whatever he's doing.
It takes me a while to realize he's speaking French. My public high school level of knowledge in the language doesn't catch more than the occasional word, but he sounds delicious. Like everything about Dimitri Volkov.
Oh my god he touched me.
He touched me.
And he looks like he liked it.
Did he like it?
I can't let my mind go down that hole. I can't. I can't, I can't…
Dimitri lowers his phone down to his neck.
"There's a mini-bar between the seats if you'd like," he tells me, before returning to his rapid-fire panty-melting monologue.
I open it. A bottle of champagne, flutes, a bottle of clear alcohol—probably vodka—a couple of beers, the whole lot chilled.There's definitely no hot chocolate in there.
"Want anything?" I mouth.
He shrugs, which I take as a yes. Picking the champagne, I pour two glasses and hand him one.
It's insane that a night that started the way this one did now involves flutes in a damn Bentley, but here we are.
I don't even know how it's possible for me to feel completely, utterly safe. But I do.
His phone call finally ends, and I've recovered my mind enough to ask, "So, I have bodyguards?"
That does catch his attention, enough to get those green eyes moving from his screen back up to me."Evidently."
"For the last three years?" I push.
"Yes, Willow."
Apparently, he's decided to be difficult about this."Did Cam ask you to have me followed?"
"No, though he would have, had he any idea how you chose to spend your free time."
I flush. "I didn't think those guys would attack me like that. I mean, their job is supposed to be getting hired to please women, not…"
"They're stronger than you, and you were unprotected. In this world, that makes you prey. I realize that you've been coddled and protected so you've never found yourself in that position before, but it's the simple reality of life. Men can hire escorts and have very little risk, other than getting a rash in uncomfortable places, because the escort is the prey in that situation. No amount of money is going to make you the one in power. It was only a matter of time before you learned that lesson, hence why I allowed you to continue with this nonsense."
I bristle. " Allowed me?"
"Yes, Willow. Allowed. I could have stopped you at any time, and I will stop you now. You're done."
"Now wait a minute."
"Your profile's down. Every video and photo has been erased. No one's going to let you sign up to a similar site again."
My jaw drops. That's ridiculous. That's not how the internet works. People have likely saved my videos and photos a hundred times. And I absolutely can sign up again if I want to.
"By all means. Check."
I take my phone, and click on the site. The link's broken. So instead, I search my stage name on the browsers.
No result. None. I mean, there are actual red hearts, in fake rhinestones, but zero pictures of me, when it used to be the first hundred results at the very least.
In complete disbelief, I actually scroll through my pictures and videos, stored on my actual device.
"I still have…" My voice fades as I watch my phone bug right in front of me, the screen pixelating, and then, those pictures fade and completely disappear.
I understand programming, computers, hacking. This is quite simply not in the realm of possibility.
"A government or two owe me a few favors. There are hackers better than your sister in this world, you know. Few, but they exist. And one has been working on making sure your fun little alter ego disappears for the last half hour or so. He's thorough."
My lips thin. "It's not your call. Why would you care if I want to show my tits to the world?" I snap.
"But you don't, do you? Oh, you want Ruby Red Heart's tits to be admired by a crowd, sure. But how would you feel about Willow Brown being known as nothing but a porn star?"
I narrow my eyes, glaring. "I've taken precautions."
"Please. Anyone who knows you would recognize you. Especially after tonight." He turns the screen of his tablet so it faces me.
My own pictures of myself might have disappeared, but on his screen, I can see the video of the horrifying experience from earlier, made even more awful now that I watch, and remember the helplessness, the fear.
He's right. I can see my face clearly. Fuck .
"Willow Brown knows, what, a hundred people? And in the entire world, statistically, the likelihood of those hundred people and the five to ten thousand viewers following Ruby Red Heart interconnecting is rather slim, though not minimal." Dimitri stares at me. "But imagine you become someone, Willow. Imagine if you're a brilliant scientist, or a movie star. Imagine you're the wife of one of the most powerful men in the world, constantly photographed by their side. Do you truly believe no one will know you're also that chick sucking two cocks in a seedy little hotel?"
"Good thing I'm no one," I retort.
I don't even know why I'm arguing.
Except, I kind of do. Ruby Red Heart...I need her. How am I supposed to manage my need to be seen, to be watched, to be loved without her?
After what happened tonight, I probably am insane to insist, but the lesson here is that I have to be more careful, not stop altogether.
"You're done," Dimitri repeats. "Defy me on this, and you won't like the consequences."
"Leave me alone, Dimitri. You've done that for three years just fine. Why stop now?"
"Because I left you alone to keep you safe, and clearly it's not working. We're here." He moves to open the door.
"Wait, we're not done talking." But he's already out of the car. "And where the hell are we?" I ask, shivering as cool air blasts me backward.
It's too dark for me to see much, but we're clearly not in any city. There's space all around us, and fresh, clean air.
While I was too startled to do much more than take in my surroundings, Dimitri took three steps forward. At the third, lights explode around us, paving the way through a long alley surrounded by willow trees, leading up to a fountain, where a sculpted wolf dances with nymphs and mermaids. Beyond, there's a fucking castle. I know it's supposed to be a house, but the word house just couldn't cover it. Manor doesn't work either. The white building has towers,turrets,ramparts, a damn bridge with water running underneath. I didn't even think places like these existed in the states.
"Where are we?"
"The Hamptons," he replies, like that explains how we're in a freaking fortress. "Come on in. There's something you need to see."