Page 10

“You're taking too long, Berlin, you're losing us money.”

“I hear you, don't worry, I'm going.” Giving him a soft nod, I ran my fingers through my hair and walked to the private room. I could still feel Vinchezo as his eyes stayed on my back, always watching and anticipating me trying to bolt.

That was something he didn't have to worry about anymore, I had given up on that a long time ago.

The last time I tried to escape, I ended up in the ditch for a week, with a broken rib and two black eyes. Each attempt to get out over the years was fruitless. I never made it any further than the front gate. And just like Virgo's threats, each punishment was worse than the last.

I had finally been broken.

Letting out a deep breath, I gripped the handle and opened the door. The black lights were glowing bright, the brass pole on the small stage was sparkling and twinkling like a precious piece of gold. The music crackled through the speakers, filling the room with a melodic beat.

I could see the shape of a man on the couch, his body pressed back, legs spread a few inches apart.

Standing in the doorway, I took a second to collect myself and get into the head space I needed to perform. When I danced, I felt nothing. When the men touched me, I felt nothing. And when they decided they wanted more, I still felt nothing.

I didn't have a voice in this world. As far as anyone was concerned, I was just a doll; a possession, a play toy, an object of desire and pleasure that could be used however the client saw fit. That's all any of us would ever be.

We're all just dolls.

I hate it.

My innocence was lost and there was nothing I could do to get it back. I was forever tainted. Even if I was able to escape, no one would ever want me. Not with my past.

“Come,” the man said sternly, flipping his shadowed fingers in the dimly lit room. His accent was one I didn't hear very often, it sounded more Western than European.

Stepping in softly, I closed the door behind me, knowing that once it was shut, I was his until time was up—or at least until his money ran out.

“Of course, I'm sorry to make you wait.” Forcing the confidence and complying tone in my voice, I strolled into the room like a woman on fire.

This was all a game. I was trained to pull money out of the customers, taught to manipulate them into giving me more.

But that came with a heavy price. I wasn't allowed to say no to their darkest desires.

Saying no left me with bruises, it left me hurting on the outside just as painfully as I hurt on the inside. I was already shattered, my heart a beating pile of broken glass inside my chest. It wasn't worth it anymore to ache on the surface.

Stepping onto the stage, I curled my fingers around the cold metal pole, swinging around it in a wide circle.

Thin tendrils of white smoke spilled from the man's nostrils as he smoked a cigarette. The end lit bright red with each inhale, dimming slightly as he let out a breath of toxic fumes.

Starting my dance, I wrapped my leg around the pole, curving my spine and dropping my head back to look at him upside down.

He didn't look or act like most of the other customers I've had in the past. I was used to greedy hands, slurred words, breath that stunk of strong booze, and men with no self control. The guys that came in wanted immediate gratification.

This man was none of those things. He was too still, too stoic, too calm.

He didn't grunt or groan, he didn't smile or lean in closer to get a better look at my body. He stayed relaxed back, his shoulders and body comfortably reclined against the seat. The only motion I could see in the dark was his hand raising to his lips to suckle the end of his cigarette.

Snapping my head up, my hair floated around my face, falling back into place. “You know in here you can have anything you want, anything you desire.” Holding the pole, I stuck out my ass, dropping my head to my feet. Slow and precise, I rolled up, seductively looking over my shoulder at him. “What do you desire?”

Expelling a huge plume of smoke, he tapped the ash head off into the small tray. “I desire nothing,” he said, his tone as still as his body.

“Everyone desires something, I'm sure you're no different.” Spinning on the sharp tips of my heels, I dropped down quickly, butterflying my legs open and grinding back up the pole. “I'm here for you, I'm here to give you anything you want.”

“You're here because I'm paying you to be and nothing more.”

My lips pulled up into a big smile as I flirted my tongue over my bottom lip. It was so easy now to act the part, to switch on the role I had been trained to play. It scared me the first time I recognized it, the very first moment I didn't have to force my lips up and they went naturally, a muscle memory from verbal and physical abuse.

“I'm here for you, don't deny me, Baby.”