7

As I'm staring at the wall I hear the door open. I can't bring myself to see who walked in. Being alone is my new life now. I don't want my hopes up when someone comes to drag me out of the room, only to be left alone in the end. The door closes with a loud click and feet make their way towards me. I close my eyes in an attempt to stop the temptation of looking to see who's here. Please just leave me alone.  

"Ashlynn, darling, here's some food," a soft voice says and I know it's Jill. I just nod my head and wait for her to leave. "I have to clean your bandage before I go." I don't give her any form on a response and she begins to clean the bandage. I keep my eyes closed as she goes through the process.  

After a few minutes Jill leaves the room and I open my eyes. It's the same meal as yesterday. But I got smart after yesterday, so I eat half the slice of bread. I take a few sips of my water before I put my meal under the cot. I glance over at the tub that's sitting in the center of my room and it's empty. They removed the water and have yet to replace it. I can already feel the dirt building up on my skin from laying in the disgusting bed nonstop.  

So I begin my daily routine, staring at the wall and blocking out any bad memories.  

——>  

Days have passed. Jill only comes once a day to bring me food and clean my bandages. She said that my stitches will be removed soon. That's a bonus I guess, my skin is super dry from my bandage and hopefully getting it removed will help. I do have small stock pile of food and water under my bed. My appetite has shrunken from when I first arrived. It's obviously not healthy, but what if they decide to not bring me food everyday. Then I'm going to starve to death. I'd rather a death be quick and painless then of freaking starvation.  

I haven't been taken from my room in days. I wish I knew how long I've been here. Of course no one is probably looking. The only "friends" I had were the ones I worked with at the club. And my boss is probably pissed that I haven't shown up to work. So I'm never going to be found because no one is looking. Downsides of being a loner. If you ever get kidnapped, you're fucked.  

Each day I do hear snippets of conversations from the guards in the hallway. They've talked about their boss and how he's been in a bad mood. Also, that they are having to double their workload and they're pissed. I'd happily do their work if it meant I got to trade places with them. Big deal, you get to guard a door in a creepy hallway. And the person on the inside is a small female who stands at 5'5. So intimidating.  

"Open the door!"  

I jerk my head up at the loud voice from the hallway and I can tell they are walking towards my room. Great, so much for being alone.  

**************************************  

Gage's POV:  

Two weeks. Two fucking weeks and we still haven't found her. How fucking hard is it to find a simple girl! Instead we've got a girl in one of our cells that is just taking up space. She literally has no information for us, so she stays locked in her room. She's useless just sitting downstairs. So, I decide what I want to do with her.  

"Alex, come with me," I tell my second in command. He stands from the table and follows me.  

"Where are we going exactly?" He asks.  

"Basement," I reply and Alex just nods.  

"Have you decided what you're doing with the girl?" He asks and I nod.  

"She'll be one of the maids during the week, and she'll be a dancer at the brothel on the weekends," I tell him. "She'll begin cleaning and everything will go from there. After a few weeks, I'll decide her position at the brothel."  

"Do you want me to inform Jill?" He asks.  

"Jill won't be in charge of training her. We'll have Tori do it," I tell him. "Get in contact with her and tell her to meet us in the sitting room."  

Alex grabs his phone and does as he's told. I continue walking downstairs to see the girl. I haven't seen her since our last encounter, which proved to be disappointing. She gave me no leads on where she could've gone. So instead of taking up space in my cell, little Ashlynn will work for me. Hopefully her craziness has subsided, I can't deal with her yelling and screaming at people that aren't there.  

As we walk through the basements halls screams echo from the rooms. We recently discovered one of my men was smuggling some of the shipments at the docks. It was taking millions off our revenue. Stupid piece of shit thought he wouldn't get caught. So much for that thought. My men who are guarding nod as we walk past and I just keep going forward, not acknowledging them.  

"Open the door!" I demand to my men who's guarding the girls door. He nods and swiftly puts the key in the lock, unlocking the door with a simple turn of his wrist.  

"Tori is waiting in the sitting room with the maids uniform," Alex informs me as we enter the room.  

The girl is sitting on her bed, staring at us as we walk in. Her hair is greasy and sticking up in every direction. There are dark bags under her eyes that I can see with the dim lighting in the room. Her small figure looks skinnier than the last time. She looks unstable, and that makes me question my choice. I can't have someone working for me when I can't expect what they're going to do.  

"Ashlynn, you'll be coming with us," I tell her and she just blinks.  

"I don't want to be a burden. You can just leave me here," she whispers and wraps her arms around herself.  

"You don't have a choice, you're coming with us," I growl and force her to stand. "Don't ever think of talking back to me unless I ask you a question, am I clear?"  

"Yes sir," she squeaks out and avoids eye contact. I release her arm and she stumbles to regain her balance.  

I motion for Alex to cuff her before I direct her out of the room. She almost falls trying to keep up with my pace but I don't pay attention to closely. If she falls, she'll have to stand right back up.  

"You'll be working in this house as a maid. You'll have strict working hours and rules, and I expect each one of them to be followed. On weekends you'll be taken to the brothel and you'll be a dancer there. After a few weeks of adjusting to your new life style, you'll get a better idea of what you'll be doing for the rest of your life." She just nods her head as I lead her towards the sitting room.  

Tori is waiting with a set of clothes in her hands once we enter the sitting room. She bows her head in respect before she hands the clothes to Ashlynn. "Hi, I'm Tori. I'll be helping you for the next couple of weeks," Tori smiles at Ashlynn. Ashlynn just nods again and glances over at me.  

"Get her freshened up and to the maids quarters. She'll begin working tomorrow," I say and Tori nods, grabbing Ashlynn's hand. The two leave the room, leaving Alex and I by ourselves.  

"So you're forcing the girl to work for us forever then?" He confirms and I nod. "Any progress on the Freedman case?"  

"No fucking breakthrough," I clench my teeth. "She disappeared off the earth. The men have been working nonstop on finding her. I can't afford for her to spread any information about us."  

"Vincent needs to get his ass back here," Alex says and sits on the chair.  

"I couldn't agree more," I say, sitting down in my chair. "Now, ring Jill to bring us some drinks. I'd like to have a little buzz before I go and question our old friend downstairs."  

"Whiskey or vodka?" He asks.  

"Surprise me," I reply with a smirk. Giving people what they deserve always brightens my day. And believe me when I say, Iris Freedman will get what she deserves.