Chapter 19 Laynie
Iwoke in terror. It took my brain a moment to process where I was. Startled, I gasped when water splashed onto my face. I realized they had poured a bucket of water over my head and I was drenched. I was still hanging from the ropes. Laughs came from the men all over the warehouse. Their laughs were radiating through me and I couldn’t take it anymore. I started screaming. I screamed until Eddie took the bucket and slung it across my face.
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Let me down p-please,” I begged. I said I wouldn’t beg, but I was desperate now.
A voice from the back of the room silenced everyone.
“What the fuck is this?” It was Alek. I recognized his voice and accent immediately.
I didn’t know whether to be afraid or relieved. Anything was better than this.
“Why is she up here?” he turned his attention back to Eddie. His tone was menacing.
“She disrespected me when I picked her up from that fucking idiot’s penthouse.”
“Get her down. Now.”
Eddie climbed on the chair and cut me loose. My legs gave out from under me and collapsed on the floor right by Eddie’s feet. I saw him rear back to kick me and I shielded my face, but the blow never came.
“It was just a joke,” Eddie said to Alek.
I didn’t hear Alek respond.
“So you’re missing that girl I heard?” Eddie said, sounding like he was trying to ease the tension.
“Yeah, that fucker came into my club, killed two of my men, and stole the girl.” Alek’s voice was clipped.
“Crazy, because the same girl was sleeping in Laynie’s bed.”
Sarai. She was gone, but I hadn’t even noticed. Were they talking about Linc? Did he save her? He was probably looking for me and this made my heart ache. But he was looking for me. It was enough to keep going.
“Get her dressed and showered. She’s coming with me. I don’t trust that fucker. If he finds out she is here, I can’t risk it. Don’t leave any more marks on her. She already looks like a fucking cutting board.”
I finally made eye contact with Alek, and he looked at me with part disgust and part rage.
Eddie grabbed me by my arm and yanked me up to his eye level. I hope he would just leave me to shower alone. I didn’t want help. The fluorescent lights in the bathroom made me squint as he shoved me inside. I stood quietly while he turned the shower on. My teeth were chattering, and I knew the water would be cold. He grabbed me by my arm and pushed me into the shower. I let the cold water fall across my body as I began trembling again from the cold. I felt like I couldn’t move, like I was a statue. Eddie put soap on a rag and roughly scrubbed my skin. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine I was in Linc’s shower and that the water was warm. When Linc had bathed me that night, he was soft and gentle, nothing like Eddie.
“Turn around,” he ordered.
I obeyed, turning my backside to him, where he scrubbed me unnecessarily hard against my back. He shoved the rag between my legs from behind and grabbed on to me. I flinched away from him and he squeezed my arm to pull me back and hold me steady. I heard the rag drop to the shower floor, and I felt his fingers digging inside of me. It hurt, but I gritted my teeth and tried to think of Linc again. I heard him grunting as he kept forcing his fingers inside me. I wanted to cry but refused to give him the satisfaction. With soap still covering parts of my body, he pulled me from the shower where I stood shivering in front of him.
“Turn around.”
I quietly shifted my body in the other direction, bent over, and held onto the sink in front of me. He shoved his dick inside of me. It was rough and abrupt. It felt like my body was rejecting him and he kept having to readjust himself until finally he pushed all the way in. He seemed to be taking an eternity to finish. I saw my knuckles going white as I kept a firm grip on the sink.
“Did he do this to you?” he asked between thrusts. I felt him squeeze my ass. “Did he make you feel good, like me?”
“You’ll never be like him.” The words left my mouth before I realized it.
“What the fuck did you say to me?” He pulled himself out and snatched me around. There was a fire in his eyes that I had never seen. He repeated his question.
I stood there, staring at the ground. Hell, he was already going to beat me, so who cares? I lifted my head and looked him in the eyes, “I said, you’ll never be like him.”
He spit in my face, and I felt the saliva dripping from my nose. “You fucking little bitch. You think you can talk to me like that?” he asked, while taking off his belt from his pants. The first hit is the worst. It’s the unexpected pain level that takes your brain a second to process, but after a while, they all felt the same. I don’t know how many times he hit me because I lost count at 15. My back and thighs were the unfortunate contenders. I had experienced being beaten like this once before, when a client had complained about me. After that, I realized I had to comply in order to escape these beatings.
Alek must have heard the commotion, because he came into the bathroom. I was on my stomach on the floor so couldn’t see the struggle, but I believe Alek snatched the belt from Eddie.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Alek said.
It was silent for a moment while Alek must have been studying me. I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was kneeling down beside me. “If you’re going to run your smart little mouth, you’re going to pay the cost, little lamb. Remember, I am the wolf. He is the coyote, and we will both slaughter you.”
I laid silent.
He gently sat me up and covered me with a towel. I clutched the towel like my last lifeline. I was shivering uncontrollably now.
“Lets get you dressed.” I stood as Alek dried me off and fetched my clothes from another girl. Once I was dressed, he wrapped his arm around me. I wanted to push him away, but I felt comforted by his warmth, so I let my body betray me and lean into him.
The drive to his home was long. I never had any idea where I was or where we were going. He had a driver, so he sat in the back seat with me. He pulled me close, and I wanted to collapse. I was aching in my chest and soul. I wanted to be with Linc. My wish was for Linc to take me home and allow me to call my mom. I wanted Linc to be the one to touch me and heal all the broken parts of me. But I was stuck with Alek, and I did not know what he had in store for me. Being with Alek was torture in a different way. He played games with me and the other girls. Games that would haunt me for the rest of my life. I just hoped he would let me sleep tonight, one night of sleep at least.