Everyone was evil. “It’ll be fine.”
She still wore the same look of terror. “Can I wait in the car?”
“Absolutely not.” I didn’t want her anywhere nearby.
“Can I wait at your apartment?”
“No.”
“Conway—”
“You’re staying here. End of story.”
She shut her mouth, but her eyes showed her disappointment.
“If you think I’d ever let you anywhere near a place like that again, you’re out of your mind.” Now the comfort of her kisses had evaporated, and I couldn’t feel her lips on my skin anymore. I grabbed the pack of cigars on the table.
She snatched them out of my hand. “Conway.”
I stared at her incredulously, unable to believe the stunt she just pulled. “Muse, don’t test me.”
“Don’t test me,” she replied. “You don’t want me to go with you to the Underground, fine. But enough with these.” She held them up in my face. “As long as I’m living in this house, they’re forbidden.”
“This is my house, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“And I’m the woman of this house.” She pulled the cigars out of the box and shoved them into a glass full of water, ruining them instantly. “No cigars.” She strutted off, shaking her hips with attitude as she went.
I stared at her ass as she stormed off to the bedroom, loving the way it shook with all that sass. When she was gone, I faced forward again and stared at the ruined cigars that I smoked with Carter every time I was with him. If she really wanted something, she fought for it. Like the cigars, for instance. But the things she was most passionate about concerned my well-being. She cared more about keeping me healthy than anything else, even if that meant pissing me off.
For reasons I couldn’t understand, that got me hard.
I took the secret entrance to the basement of the opera house and was checked at the entryway. They patted me down, searching for guns and knives. When they didn’t find anything, they allowed me passage inside.
Moving across the red carpet, I entered the dark room where the gentlemen sat. A topless woman was walking around taking drink orders, her massive tits earning her a fortune in tips.
I took a seat in my usual spot and didn’t stare at the men around me.
Because it was a rule.
No eye contact. No gawking. No identifying.
What happened at the Underground stayed at the Underground. If I saw a famous politician or a celebrity, it was forbidden to report it. If I did, it would result in permanent expulsion from the Underground as well as a hefty fine.
Big Tits came over with my drink on a tray. “Scotch on the rocks, right?”
I didn’t look at her. “Yes.”
“And two cigars.” She set them on the table.
I didn’t gawk at her tits anyway, but now I felt uncomfortable even looking at them. Staring wasn’t cheating, but it somehow felt disrespectful to Muse. Why would I look at this woman’s tits when I had a perfect woman waiting for me at home? She cared about me, respected me. She would never step foot inside this place again, so she would never know what I was looking at it.
But she made me want to be honorable…for whatever reason.
“I don’t need the cigars.” I drank the scotch.
“Alright.” She placed them in her apron then serviced the other men.
Smoke filled the room and got into my lungs, but as tempting as it was, I shook it off.
Another man walked inside and sat at the table beside me. He was in my line of sight, so I noticed the black leather jacket he wore along with the rest of his black clothing. The sleeves of his jacket were pushed up, showing the black ink on his skin. His jaw hadn’t been shaved in days, so he had a heavy shadow across his features. With dark eyes and dark hair, he looked like a classic Italian.
I had no idea who he was.
The women were brought on stage, tied up and buck naked. And then the bidding started.
I stared at them because that’s what I was expected to do. Shaking and afraid, they didn’t look desirable at all. They reminded me of innocent sheep about to be slaughtered. People assumed they were too stupid to know what was going on, but they could sense it. They would be treated with malice and cruelty before they were finally drowned or shot between the eyes. Unfortunately, death was the best part.
Yasmine was in the middle. She was a slender girl with beautiful eyes. She looked way too young to be up there. She definitely wasn’t eighteen yet, and that made this situation even more disgusting. The men would pay a lot of money for her.
The bidding started.
One of the women in the beginning was particularly beautiful, so that bidding lasted longer than usual. But eventually, some asshole won her and wore a cruel sneer in victory. They moved farther down the row, selling each woman because the captors were no longer human.