Dante was still waiting for me to answer his question about my day. He had a patient expression on his face, even though I was staring at him like an idiot. I quickly took another bite of my pizza so I could give myself time to think. While I chewed, I analyzed the situation I was in. I thought that Dante and I had agreed to wait to explore this undeniable connection we had until after we took down The Golden Hive. I vividly remembered our conversation about it, in which we ironically lay naked in bed together after we had passionate sex. Why was he going back on what we’d agreed on now? I couldn’t understand why. I thought about what happened yesterday. Did he think our lives were more in danger now because he found out just how far the society will go to silence those who cross them? Or even who were no longer of any use to them? I didn’t fully understand his reasonings, but all signs pointed to this being an actual date with Dante. So, the question was, what did I
Why the fuck was I doing this again? Oh yeah, because I was a selfish woman who couldn’t control herself or her hormones. I was standing outside of my favorite room in this house. The door was closed and I considered turning around and walking away. Even though it was a weekday, Dante had scheduled another date for us. It was the third day I’d see him in a row, and although I wanted nothing more than that, I knew it wasn’t good for the case. Every moment he spent in this house with me was time taken away from helping our collective teams with the case in the outside world. Additionally, every minute I spent with Dante was time I could be spending gathering information in the house. For example, Alice had asked me to help her complete the list of her chores today because she wanted to talk with Luna and Sophie. She wanted to ask if they noticed any girls ever acting like they were drugged, to see if we could find out more about how often Valerie used roofies on t
I went over to Charlotte’s side. She was sitting on her bed in a white dress, her blonde hair was messy, and mascara was running down her face. Alice was sitting next to her with her arm around her with a concerned look on her face. Charlotte began crying again and put her head in her hands. I looked at Alice, silently asking her if she knew what was wrong with Charlotte. But Alice just shrugged. I placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke in a gentle tone. “Charlotte, I’m going to make you a cup of tea, alright? Then you can tell me what’s wrong.” She didn’t respond, she just kept crying. I ran to the kitchen and made three cups of chamomile tea. I brought them back on a tray. Thankfully, Charlotte was a little more calm when I came back. Since I usually buried my own emotions, I didn’t really know what to do or how to comfort people when they cried. I thought that was why I got along better with Alice than with Charlotte. Charlotte was sweet and kind, but she wo
I looked in the mirror, studying my appearance. I didn’t look anything like the real Gabrielle and that was what I was going for. Bernard’s type of escort was the exact opposite of the true me and I had to change into what he wanted in order for him to get to notice me. Alice helped me dye my hair back to its original color, blonde. My hair was starting to become damaged from dyeing it so much, but that was the price I had to pay when I was undercover. I was wearing the lowest-cut dress I could find in the closet. It was hot pink and short, barely covering my ass. I was wearing a pair of white kitten heels because I didn’t think Bernard would find it very sexy if I could barely walk. Yesterday, I found Tamara again, asking her where I could find Bernard. She said that every Tuesday at ten in the morning, he had coffee with Valerie on the backyard patio. It was now ten-thirty and I wanted to catch them at the tail end of their date. I walked down the stairs and m
Before I went to find Tamara to see what she wanted to trade for my necklace, I went back to my room. This outfit didn’t feel like me and I wanted to get it off my body immediately. No one was in the room when I got there. I took a quick shower and wiped off all my makeup. I threw on a loose pair of jeans, a white tank top, and brushed out my blonde hair. When I stepped out of the bathroom, I was shocked to find Charlotte standing right outside the door. “Hey,” I muttered, stepping to the side of her. Immediately, I noticed that she had an expression on her face that I’d never seen her wearing before. I’d only ever seen Charlotte happy, sad, and worried. But I’d never seen her looking angry. No, not just angry. With Charlotte’s dark blue eyes and tense jaw, she was beyond pissed. “Um, is everything okay?” I asked her. Charlotte laughed once without humor. She walked closer to me. I never really realized how tall she was, but she towered over me. She put he
After I talked to Tamara, I went to the dining room to have dinner, which was a tiny piece of salmon and unseasoned asparagus. When I got back to my room, Charlotte’s stuff was already gone. I stared at her empty bed for a while. The loss of her friendship affected me more than I would have ever guessed. Usually, I didn’t let people in enough, especially when I was on a mission, but somehow, Charlotte, Alice, and especially Dante had gotten past all my walls and made me care for them. It scared me to realize that I was letting people in without making the conscious decision to do so. I grabbed onto the aquamarine gemstone that Tamara, thankfully, had given back to me. I really hoped Dante wouldn't discard me as easily as Charlotte did. But he didn’t come the next day. Or the next one. I knew it wasn’t a big deal, especially because it was during the week and sponsors usually only visited during the weekend, but my anxiety grew with each passing day. I was
Dante led me over to the couch and put his arm around me. It reminded me of the last time I broke down in front of him, which was, embarrassingly, not that long ago. However, like last time, he let me cry it out. When I was finished, he raised my chin and stared into my eyes. He traced my eyebrow. “When you’re upset, your eyebrows turn pink. It’s one of the many adorable things about you,” Dante whispered. “Now, would you like to tell me what’s bothering you?” I nodded. Then, I told him what I learned about Sara. He listened without interrupting. At first, his expression was concerned, but after I explained how corrupt the governor was, he looked increasingly angry. “That asshole,” Dante exclaimed. He looked down at me and his expression switched to concern again. “I’m sorry, Gabrielle. I’m sorry you found out like that.” Dante pulled me into the circle of his arms and pressed me against his hard body. We sat in silence and it was exactly what I needed. He
“Guess what the theme for tonight’s party is?” Alice asked me excitedly. We were in our room getting ready for the day. I admired how Alice didn’t seem like she was getting sick of all the parties The Golden Hive put on. I, on the other hand, was sick of dressing up and pretending like I enjoyed talking to the rich and mostly old men. But that was Alice’s forte, that was when she found out most of her information. “Hmm, all the men are farmers and we’re barn animals because they think they own us?” I replied sarcastically as I put my hair up in a high ponytail. “No, stop being silly,” Alice said, and rolled her eyes. “If you’re not going to play along with my guessing game, I’ll just tell you. It’s casino night!” she cheered. The joy was evident in her face. “How cool is that?” I sprayed myself with a little perfume. “Well, it’s not like they will let us have any fun anyway. We just have to watch the men have fun,” I noted glumly. Alice shook h
*Six Months Later*“Those slippery motherfuckers!” I yelled, pounding my fist on the table. Dante shook his head angrily. Bridgette leaned her head back and sighed. Charlotte was crying silently. Alice had her arms crossed and was staring blankly at the wall. We were at my office in the conference room since Dante had called us all here to tell us the outcome of Valerie and Bernard’s trials. He had been attending both of them. I wanted to go with him, but ultimately my therapist and I decided that it would be too triggering for me. When I got the call from Dante, I thought for sure that he was gathering us here to tell us both of them were found guilty. I followed their court cases closely with the help of Dante and the news, which was covering this story closely. But it turned out the news wasn't good. It was quite the opposite, actually. Alice was the first one to speak after my outburst. “But…I don’t understand how they could get away with this. Th
A cool breeze ruffled the grass where I was kneeling and it tickled my legs. I looked up at the blue sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. I took a deep breath to steady myself. I tried to get into the right headspace for this moment, but I didn’t think I could ever truly prepare myself for what I was about to do. It was now a couple of weeks after everything happened at The Golden Hive. I was taking my time as I adjusted back to life outside of it all. The main thing I focused on was making sure the other ex-escorts were doing well as they navigated the new world they were in. Dante and I were seeing each other almost every day and I would spend the night at his house most days because I didn’t want to sleep alone. I usually woke up with nightmares when I did. I continued to help with research and find evidence to help the case against Bernard and Valerie. I was even going into the office two days a week. Also, I started to take up boxing again. I basically had to start from
“Now, you two come over anytime, you hear?” Alice’s mother called to us. We had just spent the afternoon at her house. Dante told Alice and her mom, whose name was Lacey, the truth about his mother’s hard life. The two women listened with wide eyes and tears. I was sure that it was hard to hear, but they needed to know the truth. Only then they would be able to fully heal. After Dante was finished telling everything, the mood in the bright kitchen was somber. But Lacey perked up and looked over at her nephew. She asked him if he would like to hear about how his mother was as a child and her family. Dante nodded enthusiastically. As he listened to how much of a happy and curious child his mom was, Dante’s face changed. His smile grew wider and wider. I knew that it was good for him to hear this. Knowing that his mother’s life hadn’t been all bad was really good for him. “You know what I remember most about your mother though?” Lacey asked Dante.
“Are you nervous?” I asked Alice as we walked down the sidewalk. “Yeah, it feels like my heart is in my stomach,” she replied. It was a couple of days later and Alice, Dante, and I were going to visit my team's office. It had been a very hectic couple of days—from talking with FBI agents, police officers, and continuing to help Bridgette and Jeremy research The Golden Hive. We wanted to gather enough evidence to strengthen the upcoming case against Valerie, Bernard, and all of the sponsors. Also, I’d been helping organize all the witness protection placements for everyone. Alice was the only girl who didn’t need to go into the program. She was staying with her mother and she recently told me that her mother had said that Alice going undercover inside The Golden Hive was the bravest, but stupidest thing she had ever done. But, thankfully, I had just helped move the last girl into her apartment, Charlotte. It was hard to leave her, especially when she kept crying
“Here, please drink something, Gabrielle. You’ve had a long night and it’s far from over,” Dante said, handing me a water bottle. But I didn’t take it. Dante, Charlotte, Alice, myself, and the rest of the other escorts were outside of the mansion. We formed a semi-circle and police cars with flashing lights were surrounding us. There were so many people in uniforms talking on walkie-talkies or walking in and out of the manor. It looked like the entire local police and the FBI were here. The scene before me was chaos. Two separate squad cars had driven Bernard and Valerie away. I was glad the FBI knew what they were doing. You never put the criminals in the back of the same car before questioning. You had to keep them separated so they couldn’t talk with each other about how to get their stories straight. I stared up at the mansion that had been my prison. It felt strange to be in the outside world after two months inside that house of horrors. If I felt weird, I coul
“Give me my goddamn laptop back, you little bitch,” Valerie hissed at me. I clutched the laptop that I was still holding in my hands. I held it in front of my chest like it was a bulletproof vest. She was stupider than I thought if she believed I was going to hand over the only bargaining chip I had. Sure, I had a gun pointed at me many times, but I wasn’t the one I was worried about. I was terrified that Valerie was going to kill the man I loved who was beside me, looking like he would take a bullet for me. I was even more scared for the terrified girl behind me who I just heard let out a little squeak of fear. Charlotte hadn’t even asked for this. When I thought about plan B, I never had any intention for her to risk her life too. “Good evening, Valerie,” I said in a calm voice, trying to convey a confidence I didn’t feel. "Why did you leave your own party?” I asked in a mildly curious voice. “From what I heard, your organization needs all the money it can get
All three of us were shocked into inactivity for a long moment. We stared at each other in horror, wondering how Valerie or Bernard found out about the missing computer in such a short amount of time. I was the first one to rise and slowly walked toward the hallway that Valerie’s office was down. My legs felt heavy, like I was walking through water. I peered around the corner and gasped when I saw the mistake I had made. I had forgotten to close Valerie’s office door when I left. Jeremy and Bridgette could only hack into the cameras for twenty minutes. Our time was up. I turned to the other two, gripping Valerie’s laptop tightly in my hands. “We need to hide. Now,” I ordered Dante and Charlotte. Neither of them argued or questioned my urgency. They knew the severity of the situation. Both of them knew what could happen if we were caught. We raced down the hallway in the opposite direction of Valerie’s office. Quickly, my mind raced considering
Charlotte stared at me for a moment, then she started laughing hysterically. She leaned against the wall and put her hands on her knees while continuing to giggle. Dante and I shared a look and I adjusted Valerie’s laptop I was holding. “Um, Charlotte? Are you alright?” I asked her with uncertainty coloring my tone. The young girl laughed for a few more moments and I had no idea what to do. It seemed like this was Charlotte’s breaking point. She had finally lost it. This house that she thought would be her saving grace, had broken her. I felt terrible that I had any part in it, however small or inadvertently it was. As we were waiting, Dante tried to take the laptop from my hands and leave, but I shook my head. “Plan B,” I whispered to him. He nodded. Finally, Charlotte seemed to calm down. Dante and I brought her over to a small alcove in the hallway with two chairs. We sat her down and I took the seat across from her. The last thing I wanted to do was si
I stared at myself in the mirror and let out a nervous sigh. I smoothed my hands down my red dress, the same one I wore at my first party here. I thought it would be fitting to wear the same dress since it was my last night here. No matter how the night played out. “You ready to meet Dante?” Alice asked from behind me. I turned around and studied her. She was wearing a black dress that suited her pale skin tone. I couldn’t even compliment how she looked because my throat was too dry. I nodded to answer her question and we walked to meet Dante. Thankfully, the hallways were deserted and we slipped into our usual room. Dante was already waiting for us. I stopped in the doorway because his appearance made me pause. He looked gorgeous in a black suit and red tie. When he saw me, his face bloomed into a huge smile. He pointed to his tie. “I was hoping you’d wear that dress so we could match,” Dante told me. We grinned at each other with stupid, happy look