Chapter Two
Maeve
I’m not an idiot, at least I like to think I’m not.
The threat was real. But I also knew the threat hadn’t completely gone, even with this man taking me.
I realized I didn’t know his name, but I had a feeling he knew mine.
This wasn’t fair, which only made me feel childish.
There was nothing I could do to change what was happening.
We left that building, only this time I was not being sent there as payment. This was payment received.
My life was over. This was it. I was at the mercy of a man I had no knowledge of. He was clearly powerful. Powerful enough to need a human being as payment.
Staring out the window, I partly expected him to cover my head with a hood, but instead, I sat in the back with him. There is space between us, and again, I’m not sure if I like this or not. I’ve seen a lot of movies where girls are taken. It’s not like I know the drill, but this seems similar.
Wrapping my arms around the middle of my stomach, I look for anything to hold onto, to grasp with both hands. It was easier to look more defiant when there were other men and women. Now, I’m on my own. If I cause trouble, will I be dealt pain?
I didn’t fight him as we left the auditorium, or whatever the fuck that thing was back there. Nor did I try to escape as we made our way out and into the car. He had men with him, and I had already clocked the guns.
No words were spoken, and it was driving me crazy. I had no idea what to do or think. My mind was whirling with possibilities. What was going to happen next? I wanted to ask, but I also didn’t want to appear a fool. Would asking make me look weak?
Nibbling my lip, I tried to concentrate on anything else.
I felt my stomach growl, and I hoped he didn’t hear. Food was provided, but I was not going to trust the actions of strangers. They were not there to make us feel better. They were not friends. This was one big nightmare.
My owner tapped on the screen between us and the driver and gave the driver a list of instructions. I’m not sure where to or why. Did he want to kill me?
There were so many questions, but men didn’t want a woman who asked questions every day or nagged them. Was I even a woman now? Was I anything?
My stomach started to growl even louder. I was so damn hungry. Why was I even hungry at a time like this? I felt sick with fear and hunger.
And then, I saw the little neon sign of a burger drive-thru up ahead.
“Is there anything you’d like?” he asked.
I was a little taken aback. He was going to feed me? This seemed completely surreal.
“Yes, please,” I said. “A burger with cheesy fries, if they do them?”
Once again, he tapped the partition and ordered for me. He was feeding me, which meant he heard my stomach. I chanced a glance at him, only to find him looking right at me. He chuckled at my reaction, which was to quickly spin my head forward.
“You don’t have to be afraid.”
My first instinct was to ignore that, and I don’t know where I suddenly got this great vat of confidence. The truth was, with every passing second, I felt this fear like no other, and it consumed me. I was angry. I was tired. I was fed up, and I just wanted all of this to go away.
I hated my parents. I hated him. I hated this stupid fucking system that had deemed my life only suitable as a debt payment.
I wanted to scream. I felt like the world was swallowing me whole, trapping me, and stopping me from being able to breathe. I despised it all.
“What am I?” I asked. “What do you want with me? Why am I here? Are you going to kill me? Torture me? Is this all a game to you? Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”
The last part came out a little screechy, and I had no intention of that. I take a deep breath, and it doesn’t help. The air costs me nothing. At least, this time.
“Do you think I like this?” he asked.
This made me turn to look at him. Okay, now I am shocked. He’s glaring at me in the corner. There is no real joy on his face. He just looks angry.
“Trust me, Maeve, this entire situation is less than ideal. I didn’t want it, but my father’s payment passed to me.
So, I get to keep you. Now, if you would like to be fed, I suggest you stop judging me, or perhaps you’d like me to turn this car around and leave you amongst the wolves.
There were some real sick people there, and trust me, they’re not good people.
Some of the women and men you met tonight will not even make it past the weekend. ”
Okay, this surprised me.
“What happened to your father?” I found myself asking. Why? I had no idea.
“He died a few months ago, and seeing as debts need to be paid, I came to collect. You should be thankful I did.”
“I don’t even know your name,” I said.
“And?”
“You know mine?” I asked.
“Of course. You’re Maeve Taylor. Twenty-one years old, and a pain in the ass, who has done everything she could to try and get out of this. Don’t get me wrong, I get it, but you also left out one little detail.”
This made me frown.
“What?”
“You’re still a virgin,” he said.
“And I still don’t know your name.”
“For now, let’s keep it that way.”
I wanted to tell him not to, but we arrived at the drive-thru. For a split-second, I wondered what it would be like to scream for help. To break the mold, to just try to survive.
“If you scream, everyone who hears you will have to die,” he said. “Do you really want to be responsible for killing several people?”
No, I didn’t, but the saddest truth was I would not admit it to him. I wasn’t going to shout. First, what was the point, and second, I wanted to know what was going to happen. What kind of sick and twisted shit was that?
I’m not a morbid person. I don’t pray for death.
I don’t hunger for it. It’s not part of who I am, and yet, in that moment, I just wanted this to end.
I didn’t even know if I wanted it to be final.
For him to just have his fun and kill me.
It would probably be easier, only I also didn’t want that at the same time.
I was so confused.
The food was ordered and I watched from the back of the car as the driver paid the kid behind the window, took our food, and pulled out.
Seconds later the panel was slid open, and whoever my owner was grabbed the food.
Within seconds, I had a burger, fries, and even a chocolate milkshake in my hands.
No questions asked. The food smelled good.
And with one bite, I felt like I was in heaven.
There was no way I was going to take food from those people. I’d seen too many horror movies where women were drugged and ended up in hell. I knew that could still happen, but I was starving.
From the moment I had been handed over, there had been no food, no comfort, just the cold, hard reality that my past life was gone.
****
Draven
I didn’t have to be nice.
There was no rule stating what I had to do or how I had to be.
Maeve didn’t own me. If I wanted, I could take her around the back of my house or anywhere in my home, point a gun to her head, and shoot her.
All of this would be over. I could fuck her, but the truth was, I’m not a man who is keen on rape.
So, after we stopped for food, we took the three-hour drive back to my country estate, and from there, I gave her the warning.
If she tried to escape, it would not go well for her.
I gave her the rules. Nowhere on my property was off limits.
She could explore wherever she wanted. But she was not allowed to leave the confines of my home.
I would consider that breaking the rules.
I wouldn’t force her to sleep in my bed.
There would come a time for that, but the truth was, I didn’t want to fuck her right now.
The trade—the debt—left a nasty taste in my mouth, and I wanted no part of it.
It was only because I refused to trade Maeve, or let another person have her, that I had decided to go through with this.
I showed Maeve to her own room, and I thought it was only fitting that she took the top floor. It was fully furnished, along with a whole new wardrobe, a comfortable bed, everything a woman could ever want, apart from freedom. There were no rules, other than she could not leave.
Her life was forfeited. This was not my fault. This was the deal her family made. If Maeve left my ownership, she could be hunted down and killed.
There were several ways a woman in Maeve’s position could escape, the main one being a life for a life. If Maeve opted to kill someone in her family, or her whole family, that would deem her part removed, and the debt paid.
Another death. Maeve would have to die.
The final, marriage.
I know it’s archaic and bullshit, but she would essentially become my wife, and that would wipe out the debt, and Maeve would be free.
Unfortunately, death was the only outcome there. She could not marry me, then divorce me. There was no time limit. We would be married for life.
It sounded unfair, but rules were made for a reason, and we all stuck by them. For the most part, it kept the peace.
This was how my father made his deals.
This was not how I made my deals.
Once Maeve was shown to her room and I gave her the grand tour of the house, I was done. This had all happened three weeks ago. Yep, a debt collected.
Maeve lived in my home. I dealt with business as much as I could within my home, but I did have to leave from time to time.
Deals needed to be struck face-to-face. I got a constant update from Albert, my butler, who ran my home with efficiency.
For the first couple of days, Maeve did not leave her room.
Food was delivered to her, then taken away. She kept to herself.
Clearly, she was expecting something else, as slowly she started to venture out. Little by little, she explored my home, and Albert continued to give me updates. It was cute.
Whenever I returned home, she was nowhere to be seen. I ate my meals alone, but I didn’t mind that. I had never been someone who wanted company. People tended to irritate me. It’s why my father often said I was going to die a lonely old man.
From my experience, people had agendas, and I was not interested in their bullshit. They were always trying to manipulate and force you into things you didn’t want to do. I couldn’t stand that. I didn’t want that. My life was much more peaceful away from all of that.
Until Maeve.
I’d told my father under no circumstances would I collect his debt.
Just before he died, he had to show me the files and the details on what owning Maeve would entail.
She was not a quitter. She was a fighter.
Everything I learned about her called to me in my blood.
I couldn’t deny the fact that I fucking craved her more than anything in my soul—which is why I didn’t mind this stalemate we were currently in. Maeve was getting comfortable.
I am many things. First and foremost, I’m a businessman, only I don’t deal with the kind of business you read about in the newspapers.
I own many different businesses, from casinos to brothels, to drugs and guns.
It all started when I was younger, and while my father built his own empire, I was taking care of mine.
I started as a fighter, using my fists to create a reputation, and to make a lot of people afraid of me.
Even to this day, I am unbeatable. My father started out as a small loan shark, lending out money, and interest for repayment went through the roof.
He had deals going down, a lot of bad shit, especially with the Mafia and the Bratva.
Maeve’s father was one of the men who loaned the money.
Joseph Taylor was a fucking snake. The bastard had deals going with the Mafia, Bratva, and my father.
I didn’t know all the nitty-gritty details, but Maeve’s father sold out mine in an attempt to kill him, which sent the Mafia to my father.
If he had not been the kind of man he was, all of this would have been gone. It nearly was.
My dad was a sweet talker. He struck a deal. Told the Mafia that came calling exactly what was going down, and that is why this deal was struck. The Mafia had been willing to let the whole Taylor clan die. Maeve’s fate was decided in that moment, before she was even born.
My father had wanted to kill the Taylors for a long time. I have killed a lot of people, and the number does not bother me. In fact, I don’t even remember the number, that is how unimportant it is to me. Death is part of life.
I took my father’s loan-shark business and made it what it is today. I was more powerful than my father ever was. The Mafia and Bratva came to me for help, and I’m the one that kept the peace. It’s funny how twenty-one years could change a life.
Change was inevitable. You’ve just got to be strong enough to see an end goal, or maybe not even see that goal.
The truth was, I didn’t see any goal. All I did was fight every single day to be the man I was—the top dog, the one people feared.
I loved and relished it. Which is why I shouldn’t be waiting around for fucking Maeve to get comfortable. I should be taking what I want.
I am many things, but a rapist and abuser I am not. In time, Maeve would come to me. I saw the interest in her eyes. It would take time to flourish, and I’ve never been a hotheaded bastard that couldn’t keep it in his pants.
She would come to me.