Gage's POV:
Bad news always follows good news in this family. My brother gets a heart transplant, which will surely improve his health, but I go to the base to discover that my men grabbed the wrong fucking girl! They had pictures and literally every piece of information they could ever need to know about her. Yet they grab a different girl. I don't care how alike they look, my men should be better than this.
I storm towards my office, ignoring the looks my men are giving me as I exit the basement. The women who work for me have always been smarter. They know that if they look at me and I make eye contact with them, it will most likely not end well. My men on the other hand, they've always been too curious for their own good.
I pass through the living room and stop. "Henry, Drake, move the girl to cell three. She'll be staying there for now." They instantly nod and hurry downstairs. I make my way to the maids quarters. It's a small room where the maids take their breaks. "Where's Jill?" I ask one of my maids who is sweeping the quarters.
"She's doing laundry sir," the girl says in a soft voice. I just nod and head towards the laundry room. Luckily, it's not far so I quickly find Jill. "We have someone in cell three. I need you to clean her wounds and give her new clothes to wear."
"I'll be there once I finish this load," she tells me and I nod. Jill was my nanny growing up, she was always there when my parents weren't. She was only in her early twenties when she began working here, and I was only five or six. She's one of the few people I trust. She's like a second mom to me.
"You'll be in charge of taking her food unless I've told you otherwise," I tell her and she nods her head. "Goodnight Jill."
"Goodnight Gage, and please get some rest. You look exhausted," she says. I roll my eyes at her comment before I go towards my office.
I slam the door shut once I finally get to my office and fall on to the leather couch. I wish that I could've led the plan tonight, then none of this shit would be happening. But, my brother is more important. I'll get her soon, and when I do, it'll be her worst nightmare.
But I need to discover who the girl is downstairs first. All I know right now is that she's some look alike that works at the same club as her. That gives me an uneasy feeling, I need to know more about her as she is staying in the base.
"Gage, get the fuck up," a voice says from the door. I peak through one eye and see Alex standing at the door. "I get that tonight went completely wrong, but we need to discuss what we're doing with the girl."
"First, we figure out who she is. Second, she'll probably just end up working at the brothel," I tell him.
"One step ahead of you," he stands and drops a folder on my chest. "Here's her files. There isn't much, but that's all that we could find."
"Thanks," I mumble and sit up. I open the folder and scan over the short document. Ashlynn Grace Deters, twenty-three years old. She's from Peoria, Arizona but now lives in New York City. I read over the rest before I shut the folder and set in on the coffee table. "Set up a meeting tomorrow morning with the men who were involved with tonight's plan."
"I'll be right on that," Alex says. He exits the room and I let out a deep groan. Why the fuck did they have to fuck this up so bad? I mean, now my men have kidnapped a random ass girl and she still isn't here. There's no way I'm getting a good nights sleep tonight.
So instead of going to my bedroom, I decide to deal with all the paperwork that is sitting on my desk. Since my life has been quite hectic for weeks now, I'm slacking on my work, which I hate. But right now seems like the perfect time to catch up. Sleep is overrated anyway.
For the next five hours I catch up on all the papers and documents that are on my desk. I glance over at the clock and it reads 4:13. Great, it's only four in the morning. I lock any documents that are important in the small safe I keep in my office before I head downstairs. I need a drink, preferably something strong.
"Hello boss," one of the maids says as she continues to clean the floors. "What can I do for you?"
"Get me a glass and some vodka," I tell her. "I'll be in the sitting room." She nods and places the mop in the bucket before she hurries off. I go to the sitting room and make myself comfortable on the large chair. The only thing on my mind now is to create a new plan to find her. She can't get away from me that easily.
"Here you are sir," the maid says as she sets a glass, small bucket of ice, and a bottle of vodka on the table next to me. I nod to let her know I appreciate what she's done before she hurries off once more. I make myself a glass and chug the liquid. It burns down my throat, but damn does it feel good.
Finally, a chance to relax without being bothered. I begin to pour a second glass before I heard an ear piercing scream. Definitely from a woman, although I've known men to scream at that high of a pitch. So much for relaxation.
I set my drink down and head back down to the basement. I drop my jacket and tie on the ground as I head downstairs, just wanting to get whatever I need to do over with. I roll my sleeves up to my elbows and undo the top button. A few of the men on guard nod their heads as I pass them, and I ask where the scream came from.
"It was the girl we brought in earlier sir," one replies. "She's been quiet all night, this scream was out of the blue. She's alone in her room."
I nod my head and go towards the end of the hall where she is staying. I grab the keys from the guard and open the door. The woman from earlier has changed into actual clothes that make her look smaller than she is. I flip the light switch on, causing a small buzzing noise to sound in the room. The lights take a moment to heat up, and that buzzing noise is just a side effect. I now get a better lock at her. She's sitting up and rocking back and forth. She looks like an insane asylum patient. Her brown hair is sticking up in every direction and I see tears fall down her cheeks.
I move over towards her and when I stand next to the cot she jerks her head up. Her eyes are wide with fear and she holds her legs closer to her. She mutters things to herself but I cannot understand a word she is saying. Her eyes move from mine to stare at the wall and I'm just confused. What has happened in the few hours she's been down here?
"Why did you scream?" I ask her. Her body shakes and she bites her lip. "Excuse me, answer the question."
"Nightmare," she squeaks out.
"They aren't here right? They are still away?"
"They? Who the fuck are you talking about?" I ask, getting even more confused by the second.
"I can't see them, please keep them away," she cries and her body starts to tremble.
"Go to sleep," I order her. "No one is here. You're alone. Now shut the fuck up and stop screaming. People are trying to sleep."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! Please don't hurt me! I'll listen, I swear!" She apologizes profusely and her nails are digging into her skin. She's really shaken up, and it's obviously not from the events that occurred just hours before. It's something different.
I don't find the need to respond so I leave her room, Turing the light off as I shut the door. I lock it and give the keys back to the guard. "If she acts up again, you get me right away. Understand?"
"Yes boss," he says with a head nod. I continue walking and head back to the sitting room, grabbing my jacket and tie on my way. I'm going to need more than vodka tonight. I find one of my men as I'm walking back and tell them to call one of our brothels. I tell him to have a girl sent here within the next thirty minutes. He does as he's told and I grab the bottle of vodka before I go up to my room. Shit is getting even more complicated as the days pass. With that though I take a large swig of the liquor, wanting to feel the buzz it leaves behind.
Ashlynn's POV: The only thing on my mind is my parents. I can't even sleep without them disturbing it. And they live hours and hours away from me. At least I think they do. I'm not sure where I'm at anymore. I glance up for the first time and look around the dark room, and I see two figures in the corner. I let a scream, fearing that they'll come towards me. It's my parents, I know it is. They are here to get back at me for leaving. They are going to hurt me again. I can't do that. I let out another scream and I bury my face in my knees. They have to leave. I can't face them, I'm terrified. I hear footsteps stomping and I jerk my head up. I stare at the wall and let the tears fall down my cheeks. They're here. They found me. I'm dead. I hear a loud buzzing echo around me and I know it's over. It's hard to see, the only thing I can see is a bright light. What is happening! I want to go home. The sound of footsteps only grows louder and the first this I see are a pair of blac
Sitting alone in the dingy room has gave me a lot of time to think. I've accepted that my life is most likely over at this point in regards to my freedom. Even if I do survive, I have a feeling that they'll sell me or something like that. No one comes to see me, which I'm grateful for to an extent. I don't have to be manhandled by two guys who take me to another room so I can get screamed at. But at the same time Jill has been nothing but kind to me, which is weird considering my circumstances. She makes me feel a little safer when she's around, but that feeling disappears if she leaves. It makes me feel so vulnerable. Being alone also means being stuck with my dark thoughts. What if my family is here? What will they do after not seeing me for five years? They may not have been here physically but they've disrupted my sleep almost every night I've been away from them. I don't think I could handle seeing them again. I'd rather die than be tortured for not doing the smallest things. I
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
Ashlynn's POV: "This is where the maids stay. We each have our own little room with a community area. Mr. Cutler always makes sure that we are well taken care of," Tori says as she shows me around where I'll be living until I die. "Umm, who's Mr. Cutler?" I ask. Right now I only know Jill and Tori's names. No one else's names have come up, well besides Iris's. Still confused about that but I ignore my own thoughts. "Mr. Cutler? He's the boss," she says as though it's obvious, "the man who orders everyone around. We only address him as sir and speak when he asks questions. He's a very private man and doesn't like to be disturbed." I just nod, glad to know this information. I only got a little glimpse at the torture he caused me, I don't want to see anymore of it. She leads me to the bathroom so I can finally clean myself. It felt so nice to have the warm water running down my skin. I can feel all the grime coming off my body and my hair is already starting to soften. I was a
Gage's POV: Friday comes and I'm beyond pissed. We discovered that she left the country through a private plane company. We were able to get the pilot of her plane and he's currently down in the basement for questioning. I've changed from my suit to a black t-shirt and sweatpants. Alex told me that everything was set and that I could go down whenever. So I'm going down now before I have to go finish work for the night. I head downstairs and I notice a few of the maids scurry out of my way as I'm walking downstairs. The entire house has known how pissed off I've been the last few weeks and they've all done their best to appease me. Which gets annoying to a point because I don't need to be smothered by the men. "Here's his file," Alex says, handing me a folder for the pilot waiting in the room. I glance over, getting general information that can be used as a way to get him to talk. When I'm done looking at it I turn back to Alex and hand him the folder. "Let the game begin,"
"Make sure Alex gets record of all the files," I tell Felicity as I pull on my pants. She nods as she fixes her make up. "I'll be back in a few weeks for another report. Call me if anything happens." "Got it boss," she smiles at me. "See ya later sir." I just nod my head at her before I leave the office and head back to the main room. Alex is still sitting at our table, engrossed in his phone. He recently got engaged and hates coming to our brothels and what not. But his fiancé knows it for his job and she trusts him. "When we get back to the house I'll need you to sort the files," I tell Alex as I sit down. "Always so bossy Gage," Alex chuckles and I roll my eyes at him. "Next time you say that I'll shoot you," I retort. "More lies tonight. Keep 'Em coming!" He continues to mess with me. "You're such a dick," I say and sit down. I glance up on the stage and Ashlynn is still in the same spot. My eyes just gravitate towards her and I can't stop them. I can't contro
Ashlynn's POV: Dancing on stage tonight felt like things were going back to normal. Sure it was a job that I didn't like because of the audience, but it was fun to dance. Being on that stage helped me forget everything for a little while. All I had to listen to was the music and my body did the rest. As weird as it sounds, and as much as I want a different job, dancing was relaxing to me. It cleared my mind, which allowed for my internal demons to go away. What happened tonight wasn't a first, and it probably wasn't going to be the last. If men find something that they want, they'll get it by doing whatever they can. Their pride and pleasure is worth more than anything. Men love to be in control. I've had similar experiences at Divine. Where a drunk customer comes to the back and tries to have his way with me. No matter how many times I refuse they just think it's a game. I mean, if I'm a stripper I have to be a slut right? The job comes
I told Jill I would try to eat more, but it's hard to eat when you're scared or nervous. And right now I'm feeling both. Why do I have to meet up with Mr. Cutler? I told him everything was fine if we kept it down low. If he wants me to go back to work I will, I just don't see why we have to meet in his office. Privately. That's the part that scares me the most. I can't just ignore the time before I was released from the room downstairs. He hurt me. I'll have a scar on my cheek for the rest of my life because he had the wrong girl. So, I'm scared to be alone with him again. Last night was different, he saved me from the man and didn't try to do anything afterwards. But today is a new day. I break away from my train of thought when I hear the sound of a chair being pushed back. I look up and see that Mr. Cutler has already finished and is now leaving the room. I glance down at my plate and realize I've barely eaten half, but I don't want to keep him waiting. So I stand u