He was already looking at me and his dark brows lowered over his narrowed eyes in warning. I cast my eyes down again, my shoulders slumping forward in defeat.
Kai’s chair abruptly pushed back and he stood. “I’ll leave directly after the fight. Have her ready.”
“No. No. You will come to the dinner party afterwards and meet Sculpt.” Raul’s tone hardened. “I insist. The girl will be brought to your table.”
“Fine,” Kai said and then walked away.I WAS DRESSED in a sheer red bra with gold sparkles and thin, interlinked gold chains dangling from the underside. It didn’t cover my nipples and its purpose was solely to push my breasts up. I didn’t have much, but by wearing this it looked like I did. I had on matching panties minus the dangling chains. My discomfort sleeping without clothes had been obliterated the first month of my captivity. Or rather, my ability to be embarrassed had been obliterated. I was numb to everything.
Except Kai. He had awakened the hope that I’d escape this hell.
Alfonzo brought me to the dining hall an hour ago and I’d been kneeling on the floor beside a table before Kai strode into the room. Even with my eyes on the floor, I knew he walked toward me because, like always, when Kai entered a room, he owned it, even one filled with powerful criminals.
He sat in the chair beside me while he chatted with Jacob who had accompanied him. He had yet to touch me or acknowledge I was even there, and for a moment a wave of doubt flooded me. Maybe he wasn’t going to get me out of here. Maybe he’d changed his mind. Maybe I’d missed reading the signs he gave me this morning.
As if sensing my unease, his hand lowered onto the back of my neck and he gently squeezed before pulling away. I closed my eyes, shoulders sagging.
“Raven!”
I jerked as Jacob’s harsh voice shouted my name. Oh, God, I hadn’t been listening. I had no idea if he asked me to do something. Fear clamped down on me and I trembled, fingers digging into my thighs as I stayed frozen, uncertain what to do. I knew better. I’d been taught better. Always listen.
“Do what you’re told and please your new master.”
Kai’s hand pressed hard onto my shoulder, forcing me to stay in place. “As I told Raul, I do not publicly have sex. That includes having my cock in a girl’s mouth.”
There was a moment of silence before Jacob said, “She gives you trouble, let me know. We will exchange her for another. Enjoy your evening.” I caught a glimpse of Jacob’s white shoes as he turned and walked away.
I inhaled a deep breath of relief. Jacob told me the truth. He was my worst nightmare and there was no one I feared more. The man was psychotic and enjoyed watching pain and suffering.
Kai’s hand cupped my chin and he tilted my head so I met his eyes. They were soft and yet beneath there was swirling anger, but I knew it wasn’t directed at me. “Remember what I told you?”
My mind spun as I thought of our time together, before any of this. It seemed so long ago, almost as if it hadn’t happened. As if my life hadn’t happened before this place.
His thumb stroked back and forth. “Only willing, braveheart. No other way.”
I had no response and I knew he didn’t expect one. He released me when a girl was pushed down beside me. I kept my eyes on the floor, but caught a glimpse of her from the corner of my eye. I felt her gaze on me. Stupid. You were beaten if you dared to look at anything except the floor unless you were told to.
I’d seen her the day she arrived. She belonged to the fighter, Sculpt, and hadn’t been here long. I’d also heard her screams in the room beside mine after she foolishly spit in Raul’s face and called him a disgusting parasite. Alfonzo was giddy with excitement that the girl would be taken to Jacob. No one wanted to spend time with Jacob.
“Sculpt. Good fight.” Kai’s tone was controlled and cold. The mild amusement often attached to it was gone.
“Kai,” Sculpt said.
Kai’s leg brushed against me as he leaned to the right. “I have no interest in the fighting circuit, but I was rather impressed by your ability. And I lost a lot of money tonight.”
“Raul mentioned your name in passing,” Sculpt replied. “I’m curious, why is it that you’ve travelled all this way for a fight you’re not interested in?”
Kai reached toward me and grabbed my chin, raising my head. “Her. I was curious when Raul sent me the invitation to the fight. I declined, however. Raul must have known I would, and he is intelligent. He also knew if I refused to come, many other of my acquaintances wouldn’t either, so he offered me her. Alfonzo’s latest.”