Chapter Twenty-Seven
Romy
I ’m dazed by the time the kiss ends.
Caius is great at playing pretend. He had me half convinced there for a second that he truly loves me. Of course he doesn’t, but I was momentarily swept off my feet.
Now that reality bleeds back in around me, my flesh heats with embarrassment. I snap my parted lips shut, unable to meet Caius’s intense stare. He makes a chuffing sound.
Was that a laugh?
Before I can investigate further, I hear several voices excitedly yapping. I whirl around to see Ava sashaying our way. Despite the sexy smile on her pouty lips, I recognize a gleam of hunger in her green-eyed stare.
She wants Caius desperately, and clearly, I’m standing in her way.
With every step, her jiggly breasts threaten to spill from her tight, low-cut green sequin dress. Where my boobs are a tease, hers are the star of the show. In fact, I’m pretty sure I see a hint of nipple peeking out.
She doesn’t register my gawking because she’s too busy prowling toward Caius. Based on the photographs I found online, I’m assuming she’s at least thirty years Caius’s senior. However, because of magic or plastic surgery or really good genes, she looks closer to his age than his father’s.
“Hello, sweetheart,” Ava croons, eyes boring into Caius. “I heard you and Sol had a pleasurable meeting earlier.” She playfully winks at him. “I’m sad I missed it.”
As if finally realizing I’m standing beside him, her eyes cut over to me. She dips her gaze to my necklace and barely contains a sneer. Caius drapes an arm over my shoulders and kisses the top of my head.
“I endured,” Caius says plainly. “Playtime’s a lot more fun with this one.”
Ava flinches as if his words hurt her. As though she can’t understand why Caius would prefer an adult woman over one of her girls.
“I see,” she says sweetly, grimacing slightly. “Well, now that I know your type, prepare to be teased with something in the future you’ll have a harder time coldly dismissing.”
This woman is something else.
“I think he’ll be too busy for games,” I blurt out, unable to stop myself. I rub my stomach and then gaze up at Caius under my mascara-painted lashes as though he’s my entire world. “Right, love?”
He wants to lie and pretend I’m pregnant to keep Solomon off me? I can do the same to keep Ava off him.
“You do keep my hands full,” Caius rumbles, eyeing my lips like he wants to eat them. “Gareth says you’ve put me under your spell.”
I know it’s all for show, but I can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Gareth essentially told me the same thing by his cabin.
Taking hold of his tie, I tug him to my mouth. “When do we eat? The baby’s hungry.”
Caius kisses my lips because they’re right there. The tongue action was probably unnecessary but not unwanted. By the time he peels away from me, Ava has walked off. Caius smirks at me and we share a knowing look. I hate that it shoots a thrill through me.
Ava is now talking to Michael, who keeps eyeing her girls nearby. She’s dolled them up in cocktail attire, fancy hair, and makeup, but they’re still young and zombified. The girl with the black hair—the same one who’d stared deeply into my soul—is missing. Was she the one who’d been abused in Solomon’s office?
The guilt is back, clawing at my chest. I force my stare away from them, unable to stop thinking about Ava’s part in all this. I’m convinced more than ever that she’s trafficking the most vulnerable of humans to the highest bidder. Solomon seems to be the liaison between her and the end user.
So what’s Caius’s role?
CUP programs these poor souls. They force them into a twisted mental program that erases or alters their memories, destroys their will to free think, and molds them into a pre-specified model of a human that’s marketable to the rich and fucked-up.
No matter how good Caius’s lips feel on mine, he’s just as complicit as these people.
More chatter draws me from my inner thoughts. I find the source of the excitement. None other than Solomon Grayhawk enters the room. He’s freshly showered and shaved, beaming as he walks. Hooked on his arm is a girl with jet-black hair, a split bottom lip, and heavily bruised eyes. Her pale pink dress sparkles, drawing everyone’s gaze to her.
I jerk forward, a compulsion to snatch her from him overwhelming, but a hand clutching the back of my neck holds me back. Angrily, I whip my head to look at Caius, who’s glaring at me with warning. I scowl back, hoping he understands me clearly.
We need to do something.
Though I’m sure he reads me loud and clear, he ignores my subliminal message, pulling my back to his chest and wrapping me in his arms. Moments ago, his heated touch dizzied me. Now I want to smack his arms off me and run far in the other direction.
His lips find my ear and he growls, “Calm. The. Fuck. Down.”
I can’t calm down.
I’m wondering if I throw a chair at Solomon, would it give me enough time to grab the girl and escape?
To where?
You’re in the middle of a lake in a snowstorm, dummy.
Caius dips his mouth lower, pressing a soft kiss to the side of my neck. His fingertips caress my hips as he showers pretend love on my flesh. I get caught up in wicked sensations, finding myself leaning into him, aching for more. I’m not even embarrassed as his palms rove over my stomach higher and higher until his fingers brush the underside of my breasts.
In. Front. Of. Everyone.
“Caius,” I whisper, needing to shake him off me so I can focus. “Don’t do this.”
His open mouth suckles the flesh on my neck. I barely contain the breathy moan trying to escape. I’m so distracted by his touch that I don’t notice Solomon coming right up to us. As soon as he speaks, it’s as though I’ve taken a plunge in the icy lake waters.
“Someone’s feeling much better, I see,” Solomon says with a grin. “Have you met my friend, Romy?”
The girl stares at her toes peeking out of her black shoes. Bruises mar every visible piece of flesh on her. Small, thumb-print-sized bruises all over.
“What’s her name?” I ask, attempting to keep my voice calm.
He barks out a laugh. “How the fuck should I know?”
The air between us crackles with something horrible and wrong. I sense the challenge in his tone. Perhaps he’s even feeling out Caius’s loyalty. As much as I want to freak out on this man, I can’t. It’s not like Solomon would let me survive if I called him out for his depravities.
“LuLu,” the small voice says, cracked and nothing more than a rasp. “My name is LuLu.”
Solomon’s entire body tenses at her words. Ignoring me, he pins Caius with a disgusted glare. “Defected.” Then to LuLu, he says coldly, “No one asked you, LuLu . You’re to keep your useless mouth shut. Understood?”
LuLu lifts her head and sneaks a look my way. Defiance shines in her drug-induced hazy brown eyes. It’s the look of a person who will keep defying until it gets her killed. My stomach revolts at the thought of what her future entails.
I could save her.
How?!
“Romy hates when I talk shop around her,” Caius says coolly. “We can catch a meeting later over drinks?”
Solomon nods, though he doesn’t seem pleased. “I suppose that’ll work. This time, bring your supplies. Hers are wearing off.”
Supplies?
Drugs.
He wants the drugs—the same ones Caius uses to keep me compliant—so he can turn LuLu’s mind to mush.
I force myself to catalogue every detail of LuLu. Now that I have a name, maybe I could look into missing person reports online. Maybe she has a family looking for her if she was kidnapped or a runaway. If I could somehow contact them and alert them to her location—
My thoughts turn to ice as I feel someone’s stare on me.
Solomon walks away with LuLu, so I allow my gaze to survey the other monsters in the room. I stop cold when I find Ted watching me as he speaks with a couple. Recognition glimmers in his gaze and he narrows his eyes.
Does he remember me from Dad’s event all those years ago?
Will he tell Dad?
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe Dad can come rescue me. I know with my father’s influence and resources that we could get these girls out of here. This could definitely be a good thing.
Dinner goes on rather mildly. Gareth shows up at some point and chooses to sit directly across from me, staring shamelessly at the place he hit me. I’d really hit a nerve asking about Emma. Now more than ever, I want to know what happened to her. Did he lose control in a fit of rage and hit the girl harder than expected? Was it far more nefarious than that? Is Kaitlyn in trouble?
I’m suddenly overwhelmed by the enormity of my situation. This is more than just my escape. This is women and girls—plural—who are victims in the Crowne web. Saving myself doesn’t stop any of this. They’ll still need help. Knowing I’m their only hope is an incredible weight to bear.
You can save them.
Be smart. Consider the bigger picture. Connect puzzle pieces one at a time. Don’t get ahead of yourself, Romy.
Speaking to Megan later will be the first big step in getting us out of this hellscape. It’ll do several things at once—assure me I’m not going crazy, test if Caius can be trusted, and give me a sense of accomplishment in the biggest puzzle I’ve ever attempted to finish.
I hope she’s okay.
I’ll be heartbroken if she’s bruised and beaten, body filled with drugs like that of LuLu. I need her help. I need her knowledge. I need an ally.
In my head, I can almost envision me and Megan rescuing these girls and bringing all these awful people to justice. It’s a childish dream, but it’s all I’ve got.
“You want to get out of here?” Caius asks, breath hot against the shell of my ear.
I nearly topple my chair over in my eagerness to escape. “Hell yeah.”
The guilt is back, reminding me of poor LuLu and the others who pick at their food, sullen and lost inside their heads. Maybe I can talk to Caius about helping them. He’s being nice to me.
Because it’s a trick, dumb girl.
The reality of this crashes down over me as we walk out of the dining room. Caius Crowne has been messing with my head since day one. What if all this niceness is one of his psyops? Just another way to see if he can get me to bend to his will?
I can feel eyes on the back of us as we exit. When we reach the hallway, just out of view of the people, Caius pushes me against the wall, caging me in with his arms.
With his dark, menacing gaze piercing me, I’m stunned, unable to move like a forest animal with its foot caught in a trap. All I can do is stare at him with dozens of questions and accusations in my eyes, waiting for him to strike.
“Do you trust me?” he asks, voice low and seductive.
Is this a real question?
I nearly laugh at the absurdity of it. “No. Never in a thousand years.”
His lips curl into a devious grin that twists my insides. “Play along anyway, love.”
I’m met with a growl and then lips crashing to mine. The shock of it has me gasping. My hands fly up to his chest. I attempt to push him away, but his solid, warm, and incredibly strong form doesn’t budge an inch. His tantalizing kiss that tastes of lingering cranberry from dinner and wickedness that only he possesses hold me captive.
The mind games never stop with this man.