But once she moved past this sense of relief, she found herself agitated again. What was that? What was any of that? He acted like he didn't want her. Was he regretting the decision to bring her here? What if he decided he wanted to sell her? That was their business model after all. She tried to keep reminding herself of the conversation she'd witnessed the previous night. It wasn't in Gabe's nature to do that to someone. Right? But why was he acting so weird and distant? And why wouldn't he take her offer? It was what he wanted. Why the hell did he care how he got it?
If he expected her to roll over and become his slave for no other reason than some desperate desire to please and obey him... holy shit did he have a long wait. Like the rest of his natural lifetime. To save her friends? Yes. She'd do whatever she had to in order to free them from Dmitri's hold and spare their lives, but just throwing herself at Gabe's feet because she had some weird desperate urge to call him master and be his property? Never.
It was one thing to act out of fear for her survival or out of sacrifice for people she cared about. It was a whole other thing to expect her to do this just because she wanted to. Gabe couldn't coerce her internal desires to play to his script.
Suddenly remembering what he'd said about breakfast, Julie hurried through a shower, and put on some clothes.
Finding the cafeteria wasn't that difficult. She was, however, surprised to find an older lady serving food behind the counter. The woman glanced up at the wall where a giant clock hung. The clock read 10:55.
"You're cutting it awfully close, my dear. Five minutes left for breakfast, unless you want to wait another hour for lunch."
"No, breakfast is good."
"Everything?"
Julie could barely believe the food options: pancakes with maple syrup, eggs, sausages. And everything looked freshly cooked, not like it had come out of a deep freezer. The woman behind the counter loaded up her tray.
"You could do with a bit of extra meat on your bones," the woman said. "Beverages are at the end of the line. We have several juices today, milk, or water. We ran out of coffee half an hour ago. You've gotta get here early for the coffee."
Julie took her tray. "Thanks, juice is fine."
The tables were mostly empty, but there were a few women still having breakfast. They seemed to be sizing her up from a distance, and she wondered if they had seen her with Gabe the night before. Julie flinched when she noticed a few men posted at various points. Guards? But they didn't have any guns.
"Hey Lola!" one woman shouted across a few tables. "I thought we were going to the pool at eleven."
"I've got my suit on under this," she said.
"You can't swim after you ate that many pancakes. Girl, they are going to kick your ass in the gym and put you on a restricted diet."
Lola didn't look at all fat to Julie. Though, arguably, a daily diet of pancakes and no exercise might reverse that.
"I'll sit by the pool until I digest, Mommy," Lola said sarcastically. She got up and put her tray away and then the two of them went outside.
Outside! Julie could go outside here! Nobody was stopping them. And judging by their glowing tans, these girls spent a lot of time in the sun lounging beside pools.
Julie found an empty table out of the way of foot traffic and sat with her breakfast. She was halfway through the best breakfast she'd had in probably a year—even before Dmitri, mornings had mostly featured toaster pastries—when someone else joined her table. It was the woman from the night before, the one who belonged to Anton.
"Julie, is it?"
"Uh, yeah."
"I'm Annette. Glad to have another lifer in here."
Julie was about to be horrified and appalled, but Annette winked.
"I-I thought Anton called you Kiska last night?"
She laughed. "Oh, that's his pet name for me. It means little cat."
"Oh. How long have you been here?" Julie asked. How long did it take to become a Stepford Slave?
Annette seemed to be mentally counting in her head. "Hmmmm... about... eight years? Nine? I don't know, a while."
"That's a long time to never get to go anywhere," Julie said. Sure, it was a really nice house, mansion really. Lots of food. Lots of people. And apparently a pool and a gym. But it was still a fancy prison.
Annette laughed. "You're adorable. I get to leave the house, for God's sake. Anton takes me out somewhere nice at least once a week. And we occasionally get away to travel. Everybody needs vacation. Am I right?"
"But I thought you were his prisoner."
If possible, Annette laughed harder. "I chose him. I wanted Anton, and this house and this life. And I'm not his prisoner. He's my master."
It seemed like a mere semantic difference to Julie. That word, master, still skeeved her out.
"So, if you wanted him to set you free, he would? You could go back to the real world?"
"Good God, why would I want that? I live like a pampered house cat here. Which is why he calls me Kiska."
"Okay, but if you did want that? What then?" Julie pressed.
"I honestly don't know. It's never come up. I'm sure Gabe will take you out of the house plenty as well."
"Gabe isn't my master."
Annette was taken aback by this declaration. "But he brought you here, and his intentions seemed pretty clear to me."
Julie spent the rest of breakfast telling Annette the story of how she'd come to be with Gabe, starting all the way back with working at the bar and their one failed date.
Annette showed sympathy in all the right ways and at all the right points of the story, but there was one thing she couldn't seem to wrap her head around.
"So... you aren't kinky... like... at all?" Annette asked like Julie was a circus freak. "I'm absolutely fascinated. Tell me more about this not being kinky thing."
Julie wasn't sure if Annette really wanted a play-by-play of what it was like to not be kinky, but she was spared having to try to explain it by a new development in the cafeteria.
Sometime during their meet and greet, the cafeteria had begun to fill up as women meandered about and formed in clusters, some standing, and some sitting at tables. The clock on the wall showed fifteen minutes until the lunch period started. Julie couldn't believe she'd been sitting with Annette this long.
A hush fell over the room as two people dressed in all black walked in. One man, one woman. The man was terrifying and intimidating in all the ways Julie had come to fear, but the woman was a whole other thing. Outside of an action film, she'd never seen a woman look so scary and badass in her life. She had long dark hair and wore a black form-fitting corset over black leather pants with black boots that came just up to her knees.
"Who is that?" Julie asked.
"That's Mina. Brian's slave." Annette said.
Julie's eyes were drawn to the collar around Mina's throat. At first, her mind had dismissed it as just jewelry. It was made of a white metal—silver, platinum, or white gold Julie couldn't be sure—with black stones set in it. The metal had a lot of delicate filigree work in it. It looked like it could be an antique, but probably wasn't.
While Annette certainly didn't behave like a meek abuse victim, Mina came across to the casual observer as so dangerous that to think she was owned by another human being seemed too bizarre to seriously contemplate.
A woman at one of the tables made a snide remark about Mina thinking she was the shit around here and how they'd love to see Brian truly punish her to wipe that smirk off her face. Brian heard it.
"Oh, shit. She didn't just say that," Annette whispered.
Julie was riveted. Given the look of murderous rage on Brian's face, she expected she was about to witness his reputation in action, but instead, Mina's black high-heeled boots clicked ominously across the floor to the woman who'd spoken.
Mina grabbed her by the front of her T-shirt and jerked her out of the chair. "Fiona, you're still pretty new. I'm going to give you a chance to apologize before I have to make an example of you in front of everyone."
"Whatever, bitch," Fiona said.
Mina let go of her shirt and slapped Fiona hard across the face. When she pulled her hand away, a bright red handprint was left behind.
"I can do whatever I want to you right now and nobody here will stop me," Mina said. She stared her down hard, and finally Fiona shrank under the power of that stare.
"I-I'm sorry," she mumbled.
"I'm sorry, what?" Mina snapped.
"I-I'm sorry, Ma'am."
"Good. That was your only warning. You're on my radar, dear. And that's a bad place to be."
Fiona sank into the chair and Mina took another hard look around the room, probably searching for more mutiny in the ranks. Brian relaxed and went back to talking to one of the guards.
"God, what a bitch," Julie whispered, certain Annette would agree with her.
"She's not a bitch. She was protecting that girl."
"Protecting her? Are you insane? She hit and threatened her."
"Only to make her back down so Brian wouldn't take her to the dungeon and punish her. Brian is bad enough without it being in retaliation to someone disrespecting Mina. And Mina knows that. Since she's belonged to Brian, she watches out for most of the girls when she can. Everything isn't always what it looks like on the surface around here."
Gabe walked in then and whispered something to Brian as Mina crossed the room to Annette and Julie's table.
"Hey, I'm Mina."
Before Julie could reply, Annette said, "This is Gabe's girl, Julie."
"Huh. Well, good for him. So, we've got another lifer. Excellent!"
This must be some in-joke between the two of them, since Annette had said practically the exact same thing.
"Oh fancy!" Mina said, admiring the black shiny collar around Annette's throat. Up closer, Julie could see that it was onyx and had intricate swirled carvings in it.
Annette blushed a little. "He gave it to me a couple of nights ago for our anniversary."
"I can't believe Anton actually sprang for a real piece of jewelry. It annoyed me forever the way he kept you in a leather collar like a dog or something."
Annette shrugged. "It didn't bother me. And before you, I was the only permanent slave here. I think once he saw the collar Brian got you, though, it started to get inside his head. You know how he is."
Mina laughed. "I know how they all are. Well, it worked in your favor because you look fabulous in it."
Annette smiled. "Thanks. You going to have some lunch? We can sit with you."
"Nah, we ate on the road, and I want to throw a few rounds down the range before we have to clean the guns. Brian is about to lose his mind because I'm becoming as good a shooter as him. Between you and me I think I'm a little better, but if he finds out I said that I'm in so much trouble."
"Mina!" Brian shouted across the cafeteria.
She turned innocently. "Yes, Master?"
Hearing Mina utter that phrase was even more crazy than hearing it from Annette.
He motioned for her to join him.
"Duty calls. Later." Mina winked. Then she, Brian, and Gabe disappeared out the side doors.
***
As Julie explored the house, she had to keep reminding herself this was just fancy prison. Though after Dmitri's house, it was hard to take that idea too seriously. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware this was what she was supposed to be thinking and feeling, not what she actually did feel. After all, already she was being treated far differently and better than Dmitri and his men had treated her.
Every so often she would catch herself thinking about freedom. Actual freedom. Going back to her old life. But even if such a thing were possible, she didn't know how she could bring herself to be out in the world again all alone. After Aleksei had taken her, there was no longer any nice safe world in which everything stayed normal. Even if she could somehow get her life back she would always be looking over her shoulder. Gabe was the devil she knew. And compared to where she'd been, angel seemed much more true a descriptor.
So far Julie had seen the spa, the impressive fitness room, the pool, the library, and most of the outside grounds—just being out in the fresh air with an open sky and no visible barriers had been a welcome relief from the claustrophobia of being cooped up in Dmitri's house all the time.
Julie was crossing through the cafeteria when she saw Brian moving through the room with intense, scary purpose. Gabe and Mina were nowhere to be found. As if he were a wild predator who'd caught the scent of something delicious, the dark-clad menace spun suddenly, his eyes locking with Julie's.
She glanced around, hoping and praying he was looking at someone else. Anybody else. Her fingertips trailed absently over the security bracelet, reminding herself over and over that he didn't have access to the punishment features. She wasn't sure how a bracelet could have punishment features, but she didn't want to find out. At the same time, she couldn't see how someone like this guy would need a piece of technology to harm her. No one had needed it to hurt her at Dmitri's. Unless this bracelet emitted some force field that anyone but Gabe would bounce off, she couldn't see how she could be safe from any man who really wanted to hurt her in here.
She took several steps back, but Brian's approach didn't slow or falter, and now there could be no question his interest was in her. Her back hit the wall when she ran out of space, knocking a sharp, shocked breath out of her. She flinched when he reached her and smirked.
"Julie, is it?" Brian asked. He stopped mere inches from her, barely giving her the breathing room she needed.
"Y-yes?"
"You're Gabe's slave?"
She cringed when he said that word.
"N-no," she stammered.
He glanced at the silver security bracelet locked around her wrist then quickly pinned her again with his hard gaze. "So you'll be for sale then?"
Tears begin to gather in her eyes. "N-no! He said he wouldn't do that!"
Brian continued on mildly, as if he hadn't caused her distress. "Maybe you'd like to come to my dungeon and play with me then?"
She felt frozen to the spot. A small crowd of curious onlookers was beginning to form around them, but nobody looked interested in getting involved or trying to help her.
"I asked you a question," he said. "Do you want to come to the dungeon to play with me?"
"I-I don't know what you mean." She thought she knew what he meant, but she didn't have the specific activities list nor did she want to know it. It might be safest to play as dumb as possible.
Brian seemed to be enjoying this. He leaned in closer, his body hovering over hers. He lowered his voice. "I was wondering if you wanted to come down to the dungeon and let me chain you and whip you and fuck you. I promise you'll never be the same."
She shook her head quickly. "N-no I-I mean Gabe wouldn't like..."
"If you aren't his slave, Gabe doesn't care. Trust me."
A throat cleared behind them. "Brian, what the fuck?" Gabe said. He sounded resigned and annoyed. Not quite the angry, gallant rescue she might have hoped for.
Brian chuckled and backed off. "You know I'm gonna try."
"Well don't. How would you feel if I'd done that to Mina when she got here?"
"Mina's different."
"Not as different as you think. Look again."
Brian slowly turned back to Julie. He looked at her for a long time, his eyes locked unnervingly with hers, as if he were trying to uncover the deep dark layers of the things that haunted the inside of her brain. After a moment he seemed to see something he hadn't seen before. And then he flinched.
"Oh," was all he said, and then he turned and walked away more quickly than he'd approached.
Julie looked at her shoes. She was beginning to hate this pattern of Gabe rescuing her, because the more he did it the less she knew how she was supposed to act toward him and the more she felt she owed him. Surely he was keeping score as well.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded, still unable to meet his e
yes. "I'm fine."
"I think you should go to your room and lie down for a bit. Take a nice nap. Maybe a hot bath. You'll feel better. I'll have Phyllis send up some tea."
"O-okay." She slipped past him as quickly as possible and went up to her room wondering about the things Gabe had said about Mina. Like she and Mina could be similar? How? Mina was strong and intimidating. Julie jumped at her own shadow these days. She didn't see the resemblance between them at all.
Chapter Six
Gabe ordered the tea then followed behind Julie, careful to stay far enough back to avoid spooking her. He didn't want her to think he was stalking her all over the house. With the things she'd been through, such behavior wouldn't court her trust.
She wouldn't have to be spooked at all if he'd kept a better eye on Brian. When he'd spoken with Brian and Mina about the cleanup job at Dmitri's, they seemed more than happy to accept. But then, Gabe hadn't expected anything less. Brian was a sadist with a bit of a killing streak. Dangerous, but able to be trained and pointed in the direction they needed when certain unpleasant things had to be done.
Gabe had tried to argue for the right to go on the job with them, but was shot down. They didn't want to have to train him or worry about an extra inexperienced person. They were right, of course. Gabe might have had the fantasy of going in, guns blazing, and having the personal satisfaction of killing Dmitri for what had been done to Julie, but his fantasy was unlikely to match the reality. If he wanted it done and done right, he needed to stay out of it and let Brian and Mina take care of it. This was about Julie after all, not his own ego gratification.
Brian had wandered off while Gabe was talking to Mina. Gabe wanted to make sure they would get the girls out safely. Though Brian generally didn't hurt innocent people unless it was a girl who had misbehaved at the house, but Gabe still wanted to make sure things were very clear with Mina. Afterward, he'd excused himself. He suspected Brian might go after Julie to test the waters and the limits of Gabe's attachment to her. And he was right.
Gabe couldn't even be that mad. It was Brian. He couldn't help himself. Mina had softened some of his edges but he was still the borderline sociopath they all loved to hate.