His attention went back to her feet. They were long and delicate with raspberry polish on her toes. The blood dripped steadily. It must have happened moments before he arrived.
“Get me a first aid kit. Why the fuck didn’t you clean this, Angelo? It could get infected. What kind of gift is she if you break her before I arrive?”
“I didn’t want to waste my time if you weren’t taking her. Are you taking her?”
“I don’t have much choice, do I?” Leo didn’t bother hiding his disgust.
Angelo smiled. “Well, if you don’t find her appealing, if she’s not everything you’ve ever wanted to tie up and dominate, then all you have to do is say the word and she’s gone.”
The girl flinched at that. Whether her reaction was about the tying up and dominating or the implication of her death, he couldn’t be sure. Likely equal parts of both.
“Just get the first aid kit.” He couldn’t bring himself to remove the gag. Not with an audience. Later, alone in the car he would, but not here. Whatever words would pass between them wouldn’t be witnessed by Angelo and his lover. From here on, what happened between them was private.
His brother returned a moment later with the kit, and Leo pulled the girl’s legs onto his lap. He didn’t care about the blood getting on his pants. All he cared about was getting her bandaged so he could get her out of here.
***
Faith was glad to escape Angelo, but now she had another man to fear. She tried not to look at the brutal, angry scar on his face. As if she needed more evidence this man had known violence.
A new bruise formed on her wrist, chastising her for her escape attempt. She couldn’t see it in the dark, but she knew it bloomed and burst across her flesh like an erupting volcano.
“I untied your hands as a kindness, and you try to attack me as soon as I start the car?”
“What the hell did you expect?” Was it not normal to try to save yourself from captivity?
Minutes ticked by in silence.
“I can understand your reaction, but I told you I didn’t want to have to hurt you. You forced my hand.”
She tried not to think about how gently he’d bandaged her wounds back at Angelo’s place. There had been glass embedded in her skin. He’d spoken quietly to her and told her exactly what he was doing through the process. Then he’d put a topical antibiotic on the wounds and wrapped her feet in gauze.
Even if she’d managed to get away from him, how far could she have gotten on bandaged feet before he—or something worse—caught her? She hadn’t been thinking that far in advance. The only thing she’d been able to think about was how she couldn’t surrender. She had to fight. Sitting quietly was the worst thing she could do. It would only allow her too much time inside her own head to imagine what might lay ahead for her and later to regret not taking any opportunity to save herself.
While she’d noticed—in a purely clinical way—the attractiveness of the brother, Leo’s small acts of kindness and his tenderness had created an unexpected, visceral reaction that made his matching physical beauty come into sharper focus. It was a physical beauty that even his scar couldn’t mar. In fact, the imperfection brought the rest of his perfection into starker contrast. She didn’t want to admit she could see herself doing anything this man wanted. Her only fears were that he might hurt her, not that he might fuck her. The realization made her feel sick inside.
“Just let me go,” she whispered. “I told your brother I don’t care who you are or what you’re doing. I’m not interested in being a hero. I just want to go back to my life. Please. I swear I won’t say anything to anyone.”
She’d seen enough movies about crime families to know talking got you killed, that these people were omnipresent. It hadn’t escaped her notice that Leo might be her only safety, the one person who could keep her from having to spend the rest of her life running.
“I won’t take that risk. What’s your name?”
“None of your business.” If he thought they were going to sit here and have some polite conversation as if he weren’t committing a felony …
Leo pulled the car onto the shoulder and turned the engine off. The interior lights came on, casting his face in shadows and light that made him look demonic. Anger twisted his features in a gruesome tableau of barely constrained violence. Before Faith could react, his impossibly large hand wrapped around her throat, pressing her against the glass.
“This. Will not work,” he practically growled. “I saved your life. You belong to me now. You keep showing me attitude and see where it leads you. I can make your life the darkest hell imaginable. Or I can show you kindness. Your choice.”
Faith clawed at him as his hand tightened. She wanted to beg, but she couldn’t squeeze words out of a throat already being squeezed. Leo was no less lethal than his brother.
“Are we clear?”
Faith nodded frantically. He released her, straightened his suit, and started the car. She coughed as she tried to get air back into her lungs. Leo appeared unconcerned with her struggle as he pulled back onto the road, quickly accelerating to the full legal speed.
“Let’s try again. What’s your name?”
“F-faith.”
“Was that so hard?”
Her mind screamed yes while imaginary fingernails ripped at his skin, but the reality was more muted. She looked down at her hands and quietly whispered, “No.”
“No, Master,” he corrected.
Her eyes widened and her lips pressed into a firm line. She couldn’t be his slave. Thinking of herself as his prisoner had been bad enough. She was a human being. The fact that he could demand so demeaning a title from her meant everything she suspected he’d take from her would happen, and if he didn’t hurt her, she wasn’t sure how hard she could fight someone so overwhelming and seductive and experienced. He was quite a bit older than her, a grown, mature man, whereas the guys she’d been involved with were silly boys by comparison.
“Are we going to have to pull the car over again?”
The threat had the intended effect. The lesson was too fresh in her mind. She recoiled as she heard herself say, “N-no, Master.”
“Good. Now, there are servants in the house. Don’t take that as hope. They will not help you. The phone goes through a switchboard. The operator won’t help you either. If you seek their help, they will report it to me and you’ll be punished.”
She flinched at the warm hand on the back of her neck, but he wasn’t there to hurt her. Instead, he massaged the tight muscles, a feeling that was comforting in spite of everything. She shouldn’t want his hands anywhere near her, but if she was stuck with this man, she much preferred kindness to cruelty or pain.
“I can’t let you go, and I won’t be able to resist taking you. But I’ll be good to you if you let me, Faith. Are you going to let me?”
Each time her name rolled off his tongue, it was as if a piece of her will broke off from her and floated away. She wanted to argue about belonging to him but knew that wasn’t the way to get to the kindness he offered. She nodded, not wanting to have to call him master again. He let it slide.
“That’s smart.” He took an exit and the city began to disappear behind them as buildings became fewer and trees more common. “Are you married?”
“No. I-I’m just twenty-two.”
He cursed, and she worried he’d take her back to Angelo.
“Way too fucking young.” He shook his head. “Boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Faith… I’ll pull the car over, and I’ll do much worse. I am your Master. You are my property. Now say it. No ,what?”
“N-no, Master,” she forced out.
“Good. Family?”
“No M-master.” Not anymore.
“Friends?”
“A few girls at work.” She was beginning to be thankful she was alone. At least there was no one in the world he could use to hurt her further.
“You’ve got less to leave. That’ll make it eas
ier on you.”
He didn’t know what he was talking about. Having nothing to leave was never easy. She’d been thrown into Miami’s foster care system when she was twelve. Her foster father had beaten her, and as she’d grown into a young woman, he’d attempted other things. A college scholarship in New York had been her escape hatch before he’d gotten a chance to succeed. Now her earned freedom felt unreal because this man would bring to fruition her foster father’s sick desires. Why else would he take her? Why else would he emphasize that he owned her? Leo wasn’t the first man to make such a claim, and this wouldn’t end any better. Only there was no ready way out this time.
She didn’t know how to be around people. How to talk to them and make real, close friends. She’d never learned how trust worked. Now all she was leaving was a too-small apartment and a few shallow friendships. Fresh tears flowed down her face, and she thought she might never exhaust her supply of them.
“I have a cat. She’ll starve without me.” The only being she’d miss was reliant on her for survival. She couldn’t stand to think of Squish suffering and dying alone in the studio apartment. That cat had seen her through her senior year of college and getting her first real adult job.
Leo’s hand was still at the nape of her neck. “I’ll send someone to retrieve your cat.”
Faith’s head snapped up, and she stared at him a moment, trying to determine if he was playing with her. “You’d do that for me?”
“I told you I can make your life easy or hard. Give me what I want, and I’ll make it so easy. When we get to the house, you can write down your address and make a list of anything else you want from your former residence.” He stressed the word former.
“My key is at Angelo’s. He took my purse.”
Leo nodded. “That’s no problem.”
Faith tried not to think about the price he’d extract from her for all this kindness. A tab had started, and there was no doubt he’d take it out of her body. Even so, she couldn’t help the instinct that made her want to cling to him for his protection, however irrational or foolish such an instinct may be.
When they arrived at the house, Faith’s mouth fell open. House was an understatement. It was like calling an ocean a quaint body of water. She was glad he’d gotten rid of the blindfold, ropes, and gag. With all the guards and household staff, it would be mortifying to be brought in like a prisoner, though that was her status. Slave, her mind whispered.
She tried not to look like a starry-eyed tourist outside a celebrity home as they made their way inside.
Leo exchanged a few hushed words with a man that looked like head of security while Faith looked around the entryway. It was decorated for Christmas, and there wasn’t a nook or cranny that didn’t have an ornamental flourish or a string of glittering white lights. A high-quality sound system played Christmas carols just loud enough to notice if you paid attention, but still unobtrusive enough to go about your day without undue annoyance.
“Faith. Come with me.” Leo took her hand and led her through the marble-tiled foyer, up a grand staircase, and down a hallway.
Her heart was in her throat as he urged her inside a room with a large and ornate bed. A fire roared in the fireplace, and a Christmas tree stood near the windows. A golden retriever hopped off the furniture to greet them, tail wagging and tongue lolling out.
“Hey, Max,” Leo said, bending to pet the dog.
How monstrous could the man be with a golden retriever? Though Faith knew this wasn’t a real marker of a man’s overall goodness or evil, it gave her a spark of hope.
The sitting area in front of the fireplace had a small coffee table, a couple of high-backed chairs that looked comfortable despite their opulence, and a love seat. A bathroom led off to the side, and Faith had no doubt the closets alone were probably the size of her studio apartment. At the back of the room was a large set of three bay windows with thick drapes that reached the floor. In front of the windows was a writing desk with fancy stationary and pens.
“Sit and write down your address and make a list of everything you need. There’s a heated pool here, so you might factor that in.”
Faith didn’t say anything. She couldn’t say anything. She just sat, uncapped a fountain pen, and stared dumbly at the paper. Was she a prisoner or Cinderella? Had she experienced the worst luck of her life or the best? What he was doing wasn’t okay, but here she was, surrounded by people in a nice place with a man who, despite realities she couldn’t yet cope with, was prepared to… what? Take care of her like she was his girlfriend or wife?
“Leo …” she said, forgetting herself for a minute.
He patted the dog one last time and straightened, his face stern. “Master. Not Leo to you. Ever.”
With that pronouncement, her silly little-girl fantasy came to an abrupt and screeching halt.
“I’m sorry, Master.” She’d never get used to the title. “Why are you doing all this? I don’t understand why …” It wasn’t a question of why he was doing something so immoral. The real question was why was he wrapping it so nicely, making it a seduction that part of her couldn’t help wanting to fall for?
Aside from the slavery aspect, wasn’t this what most girls fantasized about from childhood—Prince Charming swooping in and taking care of all their needs, showering them with safety and security, and living happily ever after?
Despite escaping her foster family, things hadn’t gotten much easier. The brief party of college and dorm life had been fleeting, only to give way to a cold world that demanded she produce or sleep in a gutter. She’d barely been eking out a living, squirreling away every spare penny she could, hoping it would be enough to keep surviving. Because what if she lost her job? She had to have a safety net.
It had taken a lot of nagging from her friends to get her to go out drinking, but she needn’t have worried. There had been plenty of men to buy her drinks so she didn’t have to dip into her own funds.
Leo strode over to her and she couldn’t help cringing, afraid of what he might do. So maybe it wasn’t such a dream-fantasy after all. She was still bone-chillingly terrified of him.
He stopped at the other side of the desk, regarding her calmly. “I have specific requirements in a relationship. Certain… kinks and desires…”
Faith’s mind immediately flashed to images of whips and chains. But with the title he’d demanded, hadn’t that idea drifted through her mind already, no matter how much she’d tried to push it away? She might not be into that, but she wasn’t oblivious.
Given her current circumstances, it would seem most appropriate that such things would happen in a dirty, dank basement where she’d be fed crumbs and kept in a cramped cage, but she imagined whips and chains with this man would be dressed in refinement.
“A-are you going to hurt me?” Plenty of women lived in abusive relationships that looked like pampered luxury on the outside. Faith didn’t want to be one of those women. Give her a simple studio apartment with an uncertain financial future any day over riches that obscured a nightmare of ongoing torment behind closed doors.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, but if you obey me and honestly seek to please me, you’ll remain safe and may even come to be happy here. Now make your list.”
She tried to quiet the whirring questions and relentless fears. His word meant nothing. He could promise anything he wanted, but trusting in such a promise would be too naïve—no matter how much she wanted to. Her only desire was to find safety here. All thoughts of rebellion and escape left her in light of the hope she had of garnering his favor.
Faith scribbled down her list, hoping it wasn’t asking too much, and handed the sheet to Leo. He looked it over briefly and nodded. “I’ll take care of it. Stay here.”
Chapter Three
Saving Faith from Angelo’s bullet had given Leo an irrational sense of entitlement. But the girl wanted him. In between her moments of fear and indignation, he’d glimpsed the half-starved glances she’d aimed his way. I
t was the effect he’d always had on women. The combination of danger, money, and looks was too irresistible for most females of the species—even a captive like Faith.
He intended to make this as easy on her as possible, if she’d let him. Each tiny step toward complete submission would be rewarded. Each misstep, punished. By the time he was finished with her, she would crave him so deeply, she wouldn’t remember this had all started with her forceful loss of freedom.
It had been a long night, especially so close to Christmas. Though he couldn’t imagine the men in the family caring one way or the other about how Faith had come to be here, the women and the children didn’t need to know. He’d have to come up with a cover story before family started streaming in for the holidays.
Once he’d made the choice to get involved in Angelo’s warped offer, he was committed, the course of his life irrevocably changed, his own options narrowing. Her death wouldn’t only be a sin on Angelo’s soul, but on Leo’s as well.
He couldn’t get bored with her or decide it wasn’t working out and send her packing. Not without the price of her life. He’d been kidding himself if he’d thought he could be in this family without being tainted by his environment and pulled into an increasingly amoral world.
Leo dropped the list off with one of his men and went to take care of some business. When he returned a couple of hours later, he found her on the love seat with Max’s head resting on her lap. The dog had an uncanny ability to sense distress and bring comfort, and right now he was doing what he did best. Her hand trembled as she stroked the dog’s fur.
“Faith.”
She looked up, startled. The fear in her eyes pulled at him. He wanted to lock the door, toss her down on the bed and ravage her within an inch of her existence. But instead he rolled the cart in, letting it come to stop next to her.
“Are you hungry?”
Her gaze drifted to the floor as if she couldn’t look into his eyes while she acknowledged her status with him. “Y-yes, Master.”