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Virgo obviously knew that I was involved. And yet no one came to deliver my punishment, not for this, and not for the note either.

Maybe Salt just threw it away. . .

Or maybe it's just a waiting game until it's my turn to feel the wrath.

Salt and Virgo knew each other. They had shaken hands, which meant that Salt had some sort of loyalty to him, where he owed me nothing. He couldn't be a good man. He couldn't be the man I hoped he was. There was no more kindness in his bones than there was in a hollow cave.

Putting on my makeup, I didn't look at Aubrey again. I let go of the idea of making a friend, I let go of the idea of having someone on my side, I let go of her.

Because there was no point in trying to create a normalcy that would never exist.

I could help her about as much as I could help myself. We were both going to die in that fucking place one way or another. Either by the hands of Virgo, or by a man he sold us to. We were never getting out of this world, at least not on our own two feet.

Finishing my dance on stage, I started towards my table. The music was loud, the bass buzzing across my skin, giving me a chill. Rubbing my hands up and down my arms, I watched my feet as I walked.

“Hello, sweet girl.” Virgo's voice radiated around me, making my head snap up. “How has your night been going?”

I did my best to not look him directly in the eyes, simply dancing around his pupils in the sockets. “Same as usual,” I said, keeping my tone steady.

His smile made my stomach turn as he pulled out my seat and waved for me to sit down. Doing as he requested, I sat in the chair, allowing him to push me in.

I felt his hands as they squeezed my shoulders, massaging the muscles. Digging his fingertips deep into my skin, he worked his hands down my back. “You're so tense, Berlin, you need to relax.”

Forcing a slight smile, I watched him in the mirror, not reacting to the vile feelings flooding my veins.

I hated his hands on my body, I hated the scent of his cologne and the roughness of his skin against mine. I hated having to look at his face and listen to his voice. I hated everything about him.

“We need to talk,” he said as his fingers stretched down over my collarbone, gently gripping the base of my neck.

I could feel the threat in his touch. He moved with the weight of a feather, fluttering the pads of his fingers across my skin, manipulating his face into an evil grin as his fingers moved closer to the center of my throat.

Holding my breath, I nodded for him to continue, unsure if this would be the moment I had waited for.

Was he going to tell me he knew about the note I wrote asking for help?

Was he going to whisper my death sentence into my ear, excited to see the expression on my face?

I sat silent, his touch hot as fire on my skin, singeing me like the burning end of a cigarette. I couldn't take a breath. There was a shimmer in his eyes, it was small, but enough for me to know there was something on his mind and it wasn't good.

“Berlin, you and I have a history. You know me better than anyone else, and that thought is unsettling.” His mouth crinkled tight as he pursed his lips. “No one should know me better than me, especially not some cunt.”

Flaring my nostrils, I still stayed silent.

His smile returned. Baring his teeth, Virgo ran his tongue across the sharp edges as his lips reached up towards his eyes.

“Did I just offend you?” Dropping his head down, he rested his chin on my shoulder, pressing his cheek to mine. “Do you not like it that I called you a cunt?” He watched me carefully in the mirror, walking his fingers down my ribs and tracing the outside of my breast. “You never scream anymore, you never cry anymore, but I say one word and you look like you want to fucking kill me. I would think that a silly little name like that would be the least of your worries, Berlin.”

Jerking my body, I swallowed the onslaught of words I wanted to throw in his face, trading them for a much lighter question. “What do you want to talk about?”

“The man who was here the other day, do you know who he is?”

Fuck, here it comes.

“No,” I said sternly.

“He was the same man who paid you before for doing nothing, wasn't he?”

Don't lie, there's no point. He might be testing you.