Caged By Them (Descent Into Darkness 1)

“I—I understand,” I repeated the same phrase again.

“Crawl to me.” He motioned with his hand, and I obeyed. “Until the contract is complete, and all of those promises are fulfilled, you are nothing more than property—and I expect you to behave like it. When I allow you to speak again, you will refer to me—and Mauro—as Master. You will never utter our names again—nor will you ask questions about Wyatt or anyone else you’ve fucked over.”

“Yes—Master.” I barely had time to acknowledge him the way he ordered before he pushed the gag into my mouth and tied it behind my head.

“I’ve had a long day and you’ve upset Mauro, so I’m going to spend the evening with him instead of letting you work off one of the promises you’ve made. Consider this an extra day on your sentence—and it’s only going to get longer if you don’t learn your fucking place.” He pointed at the cage. “Back inside.”

Yes, Master. That’s what I would have said if the gag wasn’t in my mouth—because that was the only name he had until I was done with the contract.

But all I could do was nod.

Once I was back in my cage, he turned out the light and left me in the darkness. The balance had been restored. Whatever kindness he displayed the previous evening and earlier that morning was clearly not what I should expect just because my name was signed at the bottom of the contract. My question caused so much pain that it resulted in a brutal response. Perhaps that was the answer I was seeking, even though I didn’t know how to make sense of it. I definitely knew that I hurt Wyatt—there was no doubt in my mind about that—but it had to be worse than I realized. Did I destroy his marriage? Did it impact the company in some way? Or was something even worse than that…

I think I’ve asked my last question. I just need to do what is necessary to fulfill the promises, complete the contract, and earn my freedom.

The price was one I had already come to terms with, even the loss of my virginity—and the filthy promises I made when I was alone in my apartment, speaking into my safety net with no concern for what I was saying. I would be a different person when I left captivity. The girl that was taken—the girl that believed she was untouchable. She was dead. Whatever piece of her remained was shattered into a million pieces the moment I was locked inside the cage. The path to redemption was clear and while I wanted to know what happened to Wyatt, trying to find out would only push me further into the darkness. It might have been what I deserved, but I didn’t want to live there forever—I just couldn’t.

I’ll be a good girl. I’ll do what I’m told. I’ll keep my mouth shut unless he wants me to speak. I’ll call him Master. Whatever it takes to earn my freedom—to get the clean slate I need.

But I will not lose myself here.

The darkness may have broken me, but I’m going to find a way to put those pieces together again.

Mauro

I wasn’t prepared for Lizzy to ask me about Wyatt. I assumed, based on the fact that she knew our names, that Reynard had told her why she was in the cage—the real reason. He hadn’t. He was still toying with her. It was cruel, but it was his game to play. My status had been reduced to a spectator—I understood that more than ever after she mentioned Wyatt’s name. The pain was still there—a wound on my soul that didn’t seem to be healing the way that it was with Reynard. Watching her suffer—knowing that she was paying penance—that just didn’t undo what she did to Wyatt.

Truthfully, I wasn’t fully committed—even after helping Reynard lock her in the cage. I thought I could treat her with kindness, but when she asks about Wyatt, I felt the same darkness calling me that consumed Reynard. I wanted to lash out—to tap into my beast—to let it destroy her. That just wasn’t who I was, and if I lost control, I wasn’t sure I could get it back. There was an internal turmoil that I didn’t know how to address, because when I did let my beast run free—I felt regret. I chose the girls that liked to play in that world when the urge drove me over the edge, but I still wasn’t able to walk away without feeling remorse.

“I wish I had your callousness sometimes.” I sighed and took the drink Reynard was offering me. “I almost told her—I wanted to.”

“Why?” Reynard sat down and tilted his head to the side.

“Doesn’t she have a right to know what she’s really done? Shouldn’t she know that she’s in that fucking cage because she drove our brother to take his own life?” I narrowed my eyes and sighed.

“She will—but not yet.” Reynard shook his head back and forth. “All in good time.”

“This is a twisted game, Reynard.” I lifted my drink and took a sip.

“It’s no game. Not for her.” His face tensed up. “A game has a winner—and there’s not going to be a winner when this is over.”

“Then it’s just twisted.” I exhaled sharply. “Even for you.”

“Perhaps.” He nodded. “But we need to discuss something besides the girl in the cage right now. We need to talk about what’s going on at Jackson Investments.”

“What do you mean?” I raised an eyebrow. “Abigail told me you lost your shit earlier.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Reynard growled under his breath. “Those bastards—Josef Weber and all the others—they’re fucking with us.”

“They’re doing the same thing we would do if we saw an opportunity.” I exhaled sharply and took a drink.

“Yeah, but they’re doing it to us.” Reynard sipped his drink and growled under his breath again. “They need a reminder—a reminder of what happens when you fuck with a Jackson.”

“It’s good to hear you talk about something besides her.” I motioned towards the screen showing Lizzy’s cage.

“I won’t apologize for losing myself in this obsession, but we’ve got her now. Wyatt’s death can be avenged.” He shrugged. “I can play with my toy and still do what’s necessary at Jackson Investments.”

“We’re going to have to come up with something better than our current arrangement.” I nodded aimlessly. “One of us can’t always be here—there are times when we both need to be at the office.”