Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
The tombstone
sapphire
I threw back another aniseed shot, the burn coating the back of my throat as it went down. Tonight I needed it. I’d mended more gowns than I could count, which was the only part about the week I’d enjoyed. My fingers throbbed from the amount of times I’d stabbed them with the needle.
The rest of the time had been filled with servicing the needs of others. At least my coin stash was growing nicely. I was only a few nights away from meeting this month’s saving goal.
Gold coins. The ocean. Freedom.
Whiskey and perfume clung to the air, thick enough to choke on.
Bodies pressed in around me, sweat-slick arms, greedy hands, laughter that sounded like knives scraping glass.
The golden oil sconces cast their glow across the floor, shadows slithering up the cracked walls of the Silver Finch like they had secrets of their own.
I feigned a smile, flashing a grin to any person who looked my way as I smoothed the burnt-orange taffeta of my skirts.
My thoughts wandered to last night when I was sitting on my window sill—the gentle kiss of a breeze touching my cheek, carrying my tears away. The gleam of a red feather as it fell into my lap.
I really needed to find a book on birds. I was certain I’d never seen one with burgundy feathers before. Wherever it came from, I was secretly pleased that it’d fallen from the skies.
For a fleeting moment, I’d considered leaping from the roof.
I’d wondered what waited on the other side of life.
If the stories were true—if souls really did get to choose their kingdom.
Where would my soul go? Would anyone be there to greet me?
I’d wondered if my mother would be waiting.
If she would be disappointed to see me so soon.
When I was younger, I’d heard the stories of children throwing coins into the temple wells and making a public commitment to a kingdom in the afterlife, but I never had the choice.
Mother had been too busy keeping food on the table to take me there, and I’d forgotten about the ritual in my adult years.
I had tried to picture it—peace, warmth, a place where no one owned me, no one hurt me, no one decided what my body was worth.
That feather had been the only thing that stopped me from leaping. Bright. Impossible. Like a drop of blood from the sky.
I had stared at it for what felt like eternity, turning it between my fingers, wondering if it meant something . . . or perhaps that, someone, somewhere, had heard my cry.
I told myself it was just a bird . . . just coincidence. But still, I’d climbed back inside.
Kavish caught my gaze from across the room, and my smile grew wider, showing him just how perfect everything was. He’d collected me personally when it was time to parade across the floors, but he still hadn’t visited me for servicing, though I knew it was coming. I could feel it in my bones.
The door to the brothel opened, and instantly my back stiffened. Dark grey eyes sought me out, locking onto me within seconds. My regular, the one I’d tousled in the streets with, sauntered into the room.
He didn’t even bother to get a drink first, he simply waltzed across the floor, heading towards me with a stupid grin plastered on his face.
His eager hands grabbed at my skirts. “I see you’re working. Just my luck.”
I wouldn’t be able to avoid him tonight, but I could certainly buy myself some time. Perhaps I could get him drunk and Kavish would kick him out. “See, isn’t it much better when we wait until I’m all dolled up?”
His tobacco stained teeth peaked between sun cracked lips. “We’re gonna have fun tonight, you and I.”
Internally, I shuddered. Maybe I should just get it over and done with. “As long as you behave.”
“And what if I don’t? Where’s your red-haired boy now huh? He’s not around to interrupt.”
Heat washed over my body. I took a step back, trying to put some distance.
He seemed different tonight, as if he had a score to settle.
His brow was pinched, and his lips formed a thin line, almost curling up in one corner.
He really must be daft, because there was no way I was going to let him take his anger towards Nik out on me.
“What do you—”
A warm body sidled up beside me. “I think Sapphire is fully booked this evening.”
The regular whipped his head around to face Kavish. “What do ya mean?”
“I mean, if you want to find pleasure tonight, you will do it with someone else.”
Never in the seven years of working for Kavish had he told a client to find another girl to fuck. He rarely stepped in. Why tonight? There was no way he was concerned, was there?
The regular took a small step towards me, hopeful—but wrong choice.
Kavish shoved the man back. This wasn’t going to end well. We’d have a brawl before the night had even begun.
Sage-green taffeta swished across the wooden floor, followed by the stench of fake smiles and laughter.
Cordelia looped her arm through the perplexed regular’s stocky one, turning his attention from me.
“You look like a man who needs a drink, and his mind occupied. Why don’t you come and sit with me? ”
With a grunt, the man sauntered away with Cordelia hanging off his arm. I’d never liked her, but for a moment I was grateful.
I turned back to face Kavish. “Thank you.”
He ignored my gratitude, but took my arm and steered me towards the lounge area. “I have someone else who’d like to see you.”
The small hope I’d had vanished. He wasn’t rescuing me from a night of pain, he was simply wanting me for his own reasons. Stupid of me to expect anything less.
“Of course,” I answered, fluttering my lashes just how he liked it.
Kavish’s fingers dug into my shoulder, the stale scent of whiskey sour on his breath. He leaned down, voice soft enough to sound kind—which meant nothing good ever followed.
He jabbed a finger through the haze of smoke and bodies. “There. By the hearth.” I followed the line, my eyes landing on him.
Tall and lean but strong in a way that promised trouble. Blonde hair that caught the lantern light like spun gold, eyes so blue they looked damn near cruel in this place. He didn’t belong here, and that made it worse.
I didn’t know him. Never saw him before, and I knew every rat bastard that passed through these doors.
The man caught me looking. His mouth curved, a slow, deliberate thing that made my skin prickle. He got up from the lounge, unhurried, eyes locked on mine, his gaze already peeling me open.
I hated it. That flutter in my stomach. The fluster that rose up like a blush I couldn’t choke down. Men didn’t get under my skin. Not since him . . . Nik with fire for hair and eyes that saw too damn much.
And now this one.
I forced my feet to stay rooted, forced my spine to hold straight when every instinct screamed to vanish into the walls. Kavish’s hand squeezed my shoulder.
A reminder. A threat. I’d play the part. I always did.
“Sapphire, this is Rhodes. My nephew.”
Extending my hand, I smiled up at the family I had no idea Kavish even had. There were probably many things I didn’t know about him. “Pleased to meet you, Rhodes.”
“Pleasure is all mine,” he purred.
Kavish cupped my chin with a hand, turning me to face him. “Show him a good time, yes?”
I nodded. “Always.”
With a smile as big as I could muster, I took Rhodes’s hand, and led him from the floor, and up the stairs to my waiting room. Without even turning around, I could feel three sets of eyes on my back: Cordelia’s, the regular’s, and Kavish’s.
Hell to them all.
The door clicked quietly behind us, and before I could even gather my thoughts, I was consumed by the scent of cedarwood, and Rhode’s warm lips on mine.
His fingers grasped at the buttons on the back of my dress.
If I didn’t stop him, he was going to tear it and I really didn’t feel like doing more mending this week.
His mouth was reckless, all teeth and heat and the sour taste of cheap liquor. I stumbled back, legs hitting the edge of the bed as the mattress caught me, springs whining beneath us both.
“Wait.” I twisted, dug my palms against his chest. He barely budged, too busy burying his face in my neck, breath hot against my skin. I hated how it made my pulse jump.
“Wait.” Sharper this time. I grabbed his chin, forced his eyes on mine. Glassy blue, hungry. Just another man who thought his want was payment enough.
“The coin,” I said, voice flat as stone. “You want me, you pay first.”
He huffed a laugh—tried to kiss me again. I shoved him back, just enough for my palm to find his purse at his hip. He fumbled and grunted, tugging it loose before slapping the payment into my hand, his greedy fingers already dancing up my thighs like the transaction made it real.
It didn’t matter that this was Kavish’s nephew or that he was easy on the eye. He was still a brute who only cared about his own needs, and finding pleasure in my body. So I let him have it. I’d received my coins. What more did I need?
He didn’t even bother removing my dress—just hoisted my skirts up around my waist. In one rough tug, he tore my lace undergarments away, leaving me bare.
His eyes glittered with desire as he dropped to his knees before me, his head dipping as he parted my legs with his broad hands, and began to feast on the warmth between my legs.
I grimaced, but relaxed my limbs despite having no interest in what he offered.
Gold coins. The Ocean. Freedom.
The more times I said it, the more real it became in my mind. I could almost hear the gentle lapping of the sea against the shore, and the screeching of the gulls overhead.
Who knows how long I laid on the warm sandy beaches? I only remembered where I actually was when Rhode stripped naked, climbed on top, and forced his raging cock into me.
I didn’t even have a chance to flip onto my stomach.