straitjacket. He told me it looks good and makes people respect you. The way I see it, people are going to respect me, or they’ll get my fist in their fucking face.
I can’t believe I’m wearing this monkey suit.
“Tell me again why I’m fucking doing this?” I adjust the collar of the stiff shirt and look over to my brother. The fucking bastard’s smirking. I have half a mind to knock the grin right off his face.
“Because I need someone I can trust with me in this place and I sure as hell don’t trust anyone who used to work for Rossi. I already took care of the ones I knew were loyal to him even after his death, but the rest of the men…I just don't know who exactly they are yet. Either way, I’ve already decided I’m not going to let anyone else help me.”
We’ve been walking through this place for a few hours now, and I’m more annoyed now than when I came in. This isn’t my fucking thing. Holding authority over a group of men. I run my gym and that’s it. What Ivan’s asking of me is something I’m not sure I can give him.
We continue to walk around. Ivan wants to make sure everybody knows who I am, and I get it, but fuck, I just want to get out of here and out of these ridiculous clothes. I want my jeans and loose t-shirts back.
“Come on, we can hang out upstairs at my place and relax before we make another walk around. I’ll even have some food brought up,” Ivan offers, and I’m more than happy to go someplace else where people aren’t fucking staring at me.
As soon as we are inside his apartment, I start taking half my clothes off, leaving me in socks, the dress slacks, and an undershirt. I exhale, and for the first time today, I feel like I can fucking breathe. Ivan shakes his head at me as I flop down on the couch, throwing my legs up on the table in front of me. He orders some food, and a guy brings it up ten minutes later.
As soon as I spot the food, my mouth starts to water. I grab my plate and start to dig in when a knock on the door interrupts us. Ivan groans, getting up to open the door, while I take another bite of my burger, then shove a fry into my mouth, letting the first couple bites settle in my stomach.
Fuck, I’m hungry.
“I’m so sorry to disturb you, boss. We’ve got a slight problem and I’m not sure how you want it handled,” an unfamiliar voice tells my brother.
“Come in, Gabe. Tell me what’s going on while I finish eating my lunch.” Ivan motions for the guy to follow him, then sits back down beside me.
Ivan starts eating his burger while Gabe stands in front of us, unsure of the situation, and noticeably not use to being around Ivan.
“It’s about one of the girls who was supposed to go to the auction.”
“All those girls were supposed to be sent back home,” Ivan growls, clearly irritated by being reminded of that whole shit show in the basement.
Gabe sighs. “Well, that’s the problem. This last girl…she doesn't want to go back home.”
Ivan stops eating, placing the burger back on his plate. “What the fuck are you trying to say? It doesn’t matter if she wants to go home—plus, why the fuck wouldn’t she want to go home? Everyone down there should want to get away from this place as fast as they can.”
Gabe shrugs, giving my brother a confused look. “She doesn't want to go home. Apparently, her parents were the ones who sold her to us. Considering the way she looked when she came in, I get the feeling she came from a bad situation.”
“Jesus.” I drop the burger on my plate, all but losing my appetite. I’ve heard and seen a lot of fucked up shit in my life, but this might be one of the most heinous things I’ve ever heard. Who sells their own daughter for fucking money? Judging by the look on my brother’s face, he is just as disgusted, but this isn’t even half as bad as some of the things they’ve done to women down here.
“Just…tell her we’ll give her enough money to start a new life somewhere else.”
“I already offered her something like that, but…I don’t know how to explain it.” Gabe seems just as