Katie's POV
"Rıse and shine, stranger," came the deepest voice I have ever heard in my entire life.
I woke up groggily, trying to fight the sleep off of my eyes as I rubbed my eyes, trying to take in my environment.
"Where are my?" I asked, sleep still deep in my voice as I peered at the shirtless man looking at me with murder in his eves from across the room.
"You're in my palace prıncess," he replied with a smirk, removing the huge tobacco from the parting of his lips as he played with a sharp looking blade between his fingers.
I quickly scrambled from the bed, pulling the duvet over my body, but not before checking if my clothing was still intact.
"What did you do to me?" My voice shook, as I forced the tears away, seeing myself in another clothes.
He chuckled evilly, "Don't worry pet, I did nothing to you," He suddenly stood up, his height scared me, so I pulled back on the bed and was about to scream.
The look on his face scared me, but instead of coming towards me, he walked to the door, so I took that as cue to take my leave.
Not bothering to look at the room I'm in, I look for my dress, the one I remember wearing the day before. The day I caught Paul with another woman.
I couldn't find my clothes, so I dropped to the floor to get a better look at under the bed, but my head hurts a lot and memories of the previous night came rushing to me.
"Oh no!" I kept repeating while holding my head.
The man turned back with a glare and a smirk lacing his lips, "So, you remember?" It was more of a statement than a question.
As he asked the questions, two hefty men walked in holding a suit in their hands, I wasn't too quick to realize what was happening, but when I did, my eyes widened. At that moment, I quickly did a prayer to God, "Rescue me from here and I promise to never set foot into the club ever again."
I squeaked, hearing his voice so near to me, "Yes," I managed to reply, not audacious enough to look him in the eyes, but he has other plans.
He held my chin and forced my face up, "Look at me," the command in his tone brought me to my knees, it made me tremble in fear and I almost wet myself.
"Yes sir."
He hummed, pleased by my response, "Do you know what you did?" He queried, and I nodded.
A minute passed, but I refuse to talk, "What did you do?" He decided to ask.
"I threw up on you. I promise I will buy you another suit, please just let me go." I rushed out quickly, hoping to touch a soft spot in him.
He did his evil chuckle again, "No can do," then he started to touch my face, I quivered in fear, silently praying he wouldn't hit me.
"Please, I'm so sorry, I didn't know what I was doing, I was drunk, but I promise I'll pay you back for your suit, just let me go please." I pleaded, the almost rolling from my face, but he remained unfazed.
He pointed at the suit one of the men was holding, "Look at it, do you know what brand that is?" He inquired and I looked lost.
I have never been one too big on fashion, I don't even know of there is anything called brand, I wasn't sure how to reply so I won't incur his wrath, so I kept quiet, but that didn't sit well with him either.
He chuckled, "Of course you don't know, what does a girl like you know," I knew he was referring to my class in the society, but I dare not make a sound, I kept my head low, but his finger held it up again.
"I'm sorry," I whispered dejectedly.
"A pretty face and a strong figure," he replied, looking at my body. The men holding the dirty suit long gone now.
"What?" I was lost on what my physique has to do with his dirty suit, then I realized he might want me to wash it with hands.
My brain lighted up, if it got me out of trouble, I would gladly jump at it, so I did without wasting a second.
"I'll do it, I'll wash the suit with my hands and it'll be as good as new I promise!" I exclaimed, putting on a sweet smile, hoping he wouldn't see through my jitters.
His eyes looked straight into mine, looking really murderous, "Do you know how much that suit was supposed to bring me?" He yelled, pointing angrily at the suit the men left on the bed.
I curled up, "I'm sorry, I'll pay you back,"
He scoffed, "Hundred billion dollars?" My eyes widened at the price of the suit.
"From a suit?" I wanted to ask, but I kept the question to myself.
"Do you know how much you are to pay me?" He grabbed my neck with his left hand and puff some smoke on my face. I coughed, but he didn't stop his ministrations.
I shook my head mumbling "no"
"I expect a billion dollars from you," he said it like it was some spare change. "And soon too." He finished, leaving me to hope that 'soon' means like twenty years.
So I asked, "Is ten years enough to pay back?" He smirked.
He looked at me indifferently, "You have two option, pay me back in a week…" he said first, leaving me hanging and my eyes wide. "Or work as a sex toy in My club." I was stumped and looked at him incredulously.
"What?" I whispered, totally confused where I would see that kind of money in a week time.
He brought out and flinched the blade in my face, I dropped to my knees bowing down pleading for my life, "Please."
But he wasn't having it, instead he dropped a piece of paper on me and shouted in my face.
"Sign it!"
Katie's POV"What… What is this?" I stammered, as I rubbed my eyes, trying to see what was on the paperwork before me. My hand trembled as I reached towards it, and as soon as I got it, I took it over to my eyes, which widened in shock and fear after I had read it.It was a contract that would officially make me a sex toy in the club."No, please" I whispered, shaking my head as tears rolled down my cheeks. "I don't think I can do this. No, I can't!”The paper fell down my hands and laid on the floor."How dare you!" I heard his loud and cold voice which sent shivers down my spine."I apologize, but I can't do it. Give me another punishment or job, I will take it but not this" I said, shakily, my nose started getting so runny that it stained half of my face.He scoffed, and grabbed my chin which he took upwards to face him. "I gave you an option, but you weren't ready for it" He said, his deep voice resounding."I don't have the money," I said, shaking my head. "If I did, I would have
Katie's POVMy heart pounded in my chest so much that I feared it would burst and break my rib cage. The knife was just on my skin and any little flutter might cause any injury. Even with my eyes, I saw how sharp and shiny this sharp object before me was."I will sign it" I suddenly said, and he looked at me."You want to sign it?" He asked, his voice giving hints of surprise and perplexity.I nodded quickly, and vehemently. "Yes!" I responded."You said you were a virgin" He said, as an eyebrow scrolled up."Yes, I didn't lie about that," I answered.He smirked, "You are about to give it a try?" He asked."Yes, I will learn, try my best and do a good job, I promise "I uttered in a low and soft tone.He chuckled and clapped his hand, after shoving the knife underneath his armpit. I heaved in relief when the knife moved away from me. I could now breathe and not live in fear, and panic."Good job, girl. I'm sure you will do a great job. Later on, in future, I won't be surprised when you
Cephus' POV."Do you think you can ambush me and get away with it?" I made my voice as menacing as possible and the scared look on my prisoner's face satisfied me a lot."You don't scare me," his voice wavered as he tried to sound strong, but I could tell he was on the verge of breaking."Oh yes? How about this?" I pressed the hot burning iron into his thighs as he screamed at the top of his lungs, for a man trying to sound strong, he sure looked like a sissy in distress.I chuckled evilly, "Where is your base? Where is your boss hiding?" I questioned him for the umpteenth time, but all he let out was a bucket full of sob."I don't know," he looked pathetic and I couldn't stand looking at his face, so I left the place to my right hand man, Arman."Come on, Romeo, come find this fucker for me," I signalled to the computer genius, making him follow me out of the room.He hurriedly fished out his computer and walked with me, "Boss, there is a tracker embedded into his neck, if I could ha
Katie's POV"Thank you," I made sure to fill my voice with enough gratitude as I looked at Cephus. I never thought he would come to save me.He looked pissed, "I can't have damaged goods working in my club now, can I?" His reply made me shiver."Is that all you think of me? A good to be used to bring in profit for yourself?" I was on the verge of crying, but his emotions were shut off that I could barely get a read. One thing was for sure though, he meant every word."Get back to making me money, pet," He grabbed me by the arm, pulling me out of the room into the dance floor where I can continue shaking my ass off to strangers that get off of it.I felt disgusted with myself as I danced for the men and women in the club. The way they looked at me, like I was nothing more than a piece of meat, made my skin crawl. But I had no choice. Cephus owned me now, and I was at his mercy.As I danced, I caught a glimpse of a man in the corner of the room. He was watching me intently, but there wa
Cephus' POV."Give me the strongest drink on the menu," I slapped my hands on the counter, startling the bar tender for the night. The place is mine, so no one dared question my actions.To say I was pissed after Romeo informed me of Felix's moving would be an understatement.I took a swig of the drink and felt the burn down my throat, momentarily easing the anger coursing through my veins. I couldn't believe Felix had the audacity to move without consulting me first. We had a deal, and he knew the consequences if he ever tried to break it. I looked around the bar, taking in the dimly lit room and the hushed conversations of the patrons. This place was my sanctuary, a place where I could escape the chaos of my life and unwind. But tonight, even the comforting atmosphere couldn't calm my nerves. I needed to figure out what to do about Felix.As I pondered my next move, a voice interrupted my thoughts. "Cephus, can we talk?" It was Sophia, my ex-girlfriend. I hadn't seen her in months,
Katie's POVMy eyebrows arched as I tried to apprehend whatever he was saying. I realized he was really drunk at that point, and I couldn't be so nervous, when I noticed that his whole body was against mine, like we were couples.I looked around, and sighed in relief, when I noticed there were only a few people around, and even those there, looked like they weren't concerned about us. Instead, they were all focused on their business or whatever they came for."Freya" I heard Cephus's whisper, and my eyes blinked."Why does he keep saying that?" I whispered to myself, and hissed before slightly pushing him.Even without using enough strength, he fell to the floor, like he was light and loose. I gasped shockingly, and crouched low."Gosh! Why did he drink to this extent" I muttered, releasing a soft, depressing sigh.I wanted to help him and lead him to the sofa at the side, but he was quite heavy, and I was exhausted already. All the dancing and moving that day, made me so tired.I nev
Katie's POVMy eyes blinked, and I tried not to allow the tears to leave my eyes. I couldn't believe he treated me that way, despite helping him. I felt my heartbreak and at that point, I couldn't hold the tears any more, so it started leaving my eyes.I felt like a fool, and I regretted bringing him to my place, and even seeing him at the bar. If only I ignored him and left before he dropped drunk."Asshole" I sniffed, rubbing my itching and runny nose with my hand.The door suddenly opened and when I looked up, I saw Cephus. He was glaring stonily at me, like we were both enemies before birth. I felt flabbergasted to notice his sudden and uncalled presence.He walked closer to me, and I shifted back. I prayed that he wouldn't hurt me, but what was he doing back here anyway. Did he probably hear me when I called him an asshole.My heart kept beating fast as he walked closer. I couldn't even look him in the eye, so I kept dodging it."Look at me" I heard his cold voice order. I slowly
Katie's POVI was still crying, and sobbing loudly, with my body laid down, and my face on the floor, when I heard another knock. I jerked, and slowly looked up at the door, whilst trying to control my heart which was beating very fast.I couldn't even say a word, as I was too scared and nervous. Was it Cephus again? Why won't he just let me be for once? What did I do to deserve this mess! I shouldn't have been born if I knew that my life would be so cruel.The door started shaking as a result of the force and continuous knocking. I sniffled quietly, and slowly stood up, then walked to the wooden door.Touching it with my palm, I stuttered in a whisper. "Who… Who is that?""Open this darn door before I break it down!" I heard a very familiar voice yell, and my eyes blinked fast as I tried to apprehend the person's voice.My eyes widened when I thought of who might have the voice- It was the landlord!"Mr. Landlord?" I stuttered, as my hand reached towards the knob, before opening it.
Chapter 183Katie's POVAll I see is a blur of him as I try to get my mind and body to function so I can answer him. My legs hit the floor as he pushed me down, releasing me to walk away. His hand grips his hair as he stares at the gun in his other hand and back down to me.“No. No, it’s not true,” I whimper, tears still falling. “Don’t listen to him,” I plead, looking him straight in the eyes.“Silence,” he orders, walking over to me with his hand raised. Will he hit me? Will he hurt me?“That isn’t true!” I shoot back. “Nothing he is saying is true…”Silence ensues for a long second before Cephus speaks. “Get the ropes and tape!” he yells to Mack. I’m lying on the ground on my side when his face comes into my vision.“Was it all a lie, Katie? Was it all some fucked up lie so that you could get into my head? So you could get the inside job done and walk away unscathed?” His voice is so loud in my ears, I push away from him.“Was it?” he shouts, demanding a response, his fingers gripp
Chapter 182Katie's POV“I see it as more of a protective arrangement for both of us. There are legal protections for each of us… incentives to keep one another’s secrets.”I fixed him with what I hoped was the most vicious look I had in me. “I never went to the cops after you kidnapped me, didn’t go running to my parents begging them to find someone to break your kneecaps, and you thought you needed some other way of getting me to keep your secrets?”“It matters…” I can hear the anxiety in Mack’s voice. Something is very, very wrong.“Why does it matter? She was nothing before this whole incident and will be nothing after everything takes place. She’s clean. I know it.” Cephus sounds confident, and though I know I have done nothing wrong, if Mack convinces him I did something, I know I am as good as dead.“It matters because I know she’s not clean. After Jared called me and told me what Luccio said, I did a little digging on her and found some shit out.”Horror fills my mind. What i
Chapter 181Katie's POV“I was seven or eight, in a regular primary school not far from here.” His right hand moved, grasping for his phone, then he left it alone and pulled my hand he was still holding onto his knee, placing both of his hands over it. If the ring I was wearing was digging in, he didn’t give any sign. “It might surprise you to hear this, Katie, but I was not the best of children.”“Shocking revelation.”“I was always targeting kids a bit younger, a bit smaller. The ones I knew wouldn’t be able to give me any shit in return. Except this one time, there was this kid—Billy Burke, I remember his name vividly—and he did give me shit. He told me he wanted me to stop pushing him around and trying to scare him, and no he wasn’t going to give me his lunch money, by the way. I’d never run into this situation before when I was running this scam, so I panicked a bit. I hit him in the face. Told me to his parents.”I didn’t know what to say to this. It took me all too quickly b
Chapter 180Katie's POVEven when it gets worked out in the end, it sucks for long-term relationships.”It had to be even harder to find someone you could enter into the sort of long-term relationship most people were especially keen on with. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised Cephus had jumped at the chance to get me on board as a future wife.And speaking of my future husband, I had half-expected he wouldn’t be there when I returned. Then when I saw him sitting on the couch in front of the TV where he’d been when I ran out to get in Caroline’s car—where he’d probably slept for all I knew, he’d gone out the night before and hadn’t been back before I admitted defeat and crawled to bed—I half-expected to spot Angel somewhere in the room in the next moment. She didn’t have anything further to add to her roster of manipulations for the moment: we were alone.“What was your day like?” asked Cephus without looking at me. I let my bag slip by degrees from my fingers, frozen in place by the p
Chapter 179Katie's POV“Cephus isn’t supposed to be a part of this side of things, he can’t do it… and I doubt you’re in a position to ask your mother for assistance. Caroline is an ideal choice.”I didn’t like it, but she was right. I couldn’t go about this the wrong way if I ever wanted to be on Cephus’s good side. I didn’t want to go about it the wrong way. And while I was surrounded by Cephus’s family I needed to make connections unless I wanted to be treated the same way I was on my own. Caroline seemed like the safest option there so far.“If you’re sure I won’t be inconveniencing you,” I told Caroline. “I could use the help. I don’t have much experience with the whole wedding business, that much is for sure.”Caroline broke out in a little golf clap of delight. There might actually be some benefit in spending trying to absorb as much as I could of her elegance. “I’m so pleased to help. Now, I was thinking, I have the whole of tomorrow afternoon off work, so that would be a g
Chapter 178Katie's POVI sat up with a gasp.It was just like the morning before when I had woken to unexpected voices. But this time I was in a strange bed again, and at least one of those voices didn’t seem familiar at all.I’d learned my lesson from the day before. I couldn’t get myself into the single bathroom in the apartment, but I pulled on a proper outfit, brushed out my hair, and cleaned my face thoroughly with some wipes. I didn’t dare put on makeup without a full mirror, but I was young and fresh enough that I could probably get away without it.Once I was decent, I made a quick and quiet tidy of my room and then stepped up to the door for a bit of strategic eavesdropping before I joined the action.A childish female voice was doing most of the talking. “She’ll need someone to guide her through the process.”Cephus’s voice sounded both amused and exasperated. “Someone who has never been even close to getting married before?”“You know exactly what Caroline means.” The thi
Chapter 177Katie's POVI kept trying to convince myself that what I was craving was the worst craving anyone had ever had, including anything that had been thought up by a brain on pregnancy. But it was ridiculous to be so worried about whether I did or didn’t sleep with him when I was already making myself vulnerable to him, right? Or was this just how I was convincing myself to go along with wherever my lust took me?I don’t think about looking at my plate. Then when Cephus abruptly slid his chair backwards and stood, I startled like a tiny animal that could run away if provoked further. I knew damn well I couldn’t run.Cephus came to my side and put his hand out for mine, drawing me to my feet when I complied.“You have sauce on you,” he said and pointed it out on my shirt—his fingertip pressing slightly into my breast in a way that was, I’m sure, entirely necessary.I looked down at his hand there. Well, I’d managed to at least try to eat something.I thrust my chest forward in
Chapter 176Katie's POV“Madonna and child.” Cephus folded his arms and leaned back; it felt like an acknowledgment that I’d landed a hit, but I didn’t have any idea how. I’d just been trying to give a voice to my frustrations. “So you know a little bit about art, then.”“I think that’s kind of something I picked up through pop culture actually,” I said. I was hoping to screw with him while I seemed to have an advantage, and he did appear to deflate a little in response. “You’d be more eager to get a leg over if I was the kind of girl who t art and how to engage with you because I have any desire to ‘get a leg over’. And I have no intention of scorning you because you lack cultural polish. I assure you that I will be able to provide for you sexually in every way you might require.”“What kind of statement is that? Trust me, I’m a sexy beast, even though from the way I behave you would expect pretty much any Arctic land to be less frigid than I am?”“Do you want me to provide referen
Chapter 175Katie's POV“Am I supposed to believe you are shy?”I was so startled by Cephus's Voice that here I dropped the capsicum I’d been fidgeting with. It rolled across the bench, and Cephus caught it with one hand while he continued dicing its unlucky sibling with the other.“I guess you wouldn’t,” I admitted, “but if any situation was going to make me feel that way… I mean, we’ve gone from you having me dragged out If bed to trying to cook with me?”“You’ve got to roll with the challenges life presents you sometimes, Katie,” said Cephus, rolling the second capsicum into the path of his knife.“Are you talking about me here or you?”“Both of us, for once.” His expression visibly dulled. It struck me then just how much more animated he had become since we had first met. It was just a handful of hours but there was someone behind the mafia man front he was slowly letting me see, whether by choice or unconsciously I did not know.It bothered disappearing again. It was messing wi