companion, most of the attire was purchased for within.
At nearly thirty years of age, Andros Ivanov had come into power through dubious means. He lived life hard. Whether it was killing and stealing or partying, he pushed not only his own limits but those of everyone around him.
While I’d not seen Andros partake of illicit drugs and he usually kept his alcohol consumption in check, he found great pleasure in bringing others to ecstasy. The men who worked for him at the top of his hierarchy were rewarded with spoils from their bounties.
As Andros’s companion it fell upon me to prepare the women they acquired.
While Ruby slept or played with Irina, I would go to the other side of the compound when summoned. The thought turned my stomach and yet I obeyed.
Memories of the first time came to mind.
“Where are we going?” I asked Andros as he escorted me across the courtyard and down long corridors.
“I have a job for you.” His dark eyes narrowed. “One you’re uniquely qualified to do.”
I tried to keep up as the heels he’d instructed me to wear clipped along the tile, my steps constrained by the narrow skirt on the long blue gown. “Why am I dressed up?”
It wasn’t only my clothes that he’d directed. My hair, which was much healthier than it had been upon my arrival nearly seven months ago, was styled high upon my head and in my ears and around my neck were diamonds and sapphires to match the blue dress.
“Tonight we are celebrating. My men took over an organization north of here.”
“And you want me there?” I asked with trepidation. Since Ruby’s birth, the subject of my producing Andros’s heir hadn’t been revisited. While he’d come to me a few times for sex, he’d also not brought anyone else.
I didn’t hate sex with him.
I didn’t love it either.
He was experienced and not selfish in his sexual endeavors as most of the customers had been at the cell house.
Given the choice, I preferred being with him over the time he gave me to the other man before Ruby’s birth. I now knew the man’s name. It was Adrik, one of Andros’s closest advisers.
As we continued walking, I suddenly worried that tonight would be like that night a week before her birth. My fears weren’t innocent enough to imagine one of his men. My neck stiffened as I imagined many.
Would he do that to me?
I had no doubt that he would.
“Andros, what is my job and what are my qualifications?”
He reached for my forearm, wrapping his fingers tightly around it and pulling me to a stop. “My men acquired what had been the other organization’s spoils.”
“Money, guns, drugs?”
“And women.”
My stomach fell as I tried to comprehend. “Women? You took women?”
“Not me personally, my dear. Now they are here for the pleasure of my men.”
I shook my head. “No. That’s not right.”
Andros’s smile grew as his gaze darkened. “What was your limit, Madeline? Is this it? Do you no longer want to be with Ruby? Irina is very attentive. My men, they sometimes get carried away when they fuck. And taking turns isn’t their forte. The choice is yours, my dear. You will go to these women and calm them, clean them, dress them, and bring them to us, or you will take their place.”
My pulse raced as I fought to breathe. “Andros, I can’t do this. It’s like Miss Warner.”
“Was Miss Warner doing her job to save her child?”
“I don’t know why she…” I had never given her motivation thought. “What will happen to them after…?”
“You will not see them again.”
“You will kill them?” I asked, aghast.
“Not I. And that isn’t your concern. The clothes are in the attached dressing room. Tonight there are only three.”
“How many men…?”
“Fifteen.”
I wrapped my arms around my midsection, trying to quell the bubbling nausea. “Please, Andros. I can’t leave Ruby, but even you know this is wrong.”
“My men deserve to be rewarded. They could have fucked them when they found them. Instead, they brought them here to share. Tell me, Madeline, them or you.”
“I-I…”
He reached for my chin and snapped it up. “Behave and when my men are happy, you will be rewarded.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“You do. You said so yourself. You will be that Miss Warning.”
“Miss Warner,” I said softly.
“Yes, Miss Warner.”
“They were given a bit of heroin to ease their nerves,” Andros said as if discussing a mild sedative. “They’ll be given more. Much of the night they won’t even remember.”
Oh