Page 4 of Restitution

One step forward from the large presence is all it takes for my heart to stop, and I lunge forward and try to stab him in the chest – but he captures my wrist before the guards can react, squeezes until I drop the weapon and tuts at me as he shakes his head.

“Little psycho bitch,” one guard says.

The eyeholes of the mask are mesh, so I can’t see his eyes that well. I know they’re blue. The only detail of my attacker that I know. If he never shows me his face, how can I identify him to report him if I ever get free?

I shiver as I feel my dress torn from the back, cut from my body and pulled away as I stand before this man in only the underwear Chris made me wear. No bra.

Not that the man even looks at my body. His eyes are burninginto my soul.

“First test, sir. Then we’ll be out of your way.”

“You’re a bad girl,” he whispers, his deep, gravelly voice muffled by his mask. He releases my wrist and snatches my jaw as the guards step away. “Kneel.”

I stay still, standing my ground, refusing to drop to my knees. The guards stare, waiting to see if I’ll successfully pass my first test of induction. If I refuse, they might make my stay here longer. They want me to be compliant – to be a good, submissive pet to my master.

But I’m dead already anyway.

I try to drive my knee between his legs, but he dodges it and forcefully shoves me down, so my knees crash into the floor, pulling a cry from me.

His hold on my jaw moves to my hair, and he tugs it, so I look up at him. “Take his belt off,” one of the guards says. “Now.”

I close my eyes as more tears slip free, and I try to control my breathing as I reach up to the buckle. My fingers tremble as I fail to pull it free twice before finally tugging the leather from the loops. The man snatches the belt before I can drop it, and I gasp as he wraps it around my neck, slots the leather through the buckle then tightens it till it settles against my throat.

He pulls tighter, and my air shuts off, burning my lungs, my eyes pressured.

The guards seem to be happy, so they pat his shoulder and tell him to enjoy his first night. The door opens and closes, then I hear a beep. I let out a choked, strangled sound as he lets go of the belt so I can breathe.

I bend forward, my hand pressing to the carpet as I cough andcry, wishing I hadn’t let Chris force me to come to this stupid fake party-turned-auction. But when the mask drops to the carpet and I see the man lowering to his knees, I freeze waiting for a blow or an order.

Hands grab at my face, forcing me to look up into the eyes of my new master.

Tobias Mitchell.

My lips part, all my fear washing away as I manage, “To-Tobias?”

Kade’s father grabs the blanket right next to us, wraps it around me, then pulls me in for a hug I didn’t realise I needed.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You’re okay. You’re safe with me,” he says softly as he strokes my hair, letting me cry into his chest. “I found you, little one.”

3

STACEY

Tobias pulls back, his eyes searching my face, refusing to let them drop lower even with the blanket covering me. “Are you hurt?”

I shake my head. “You were the one to win my auction?”

“Yes. Barry found out Bernadette’s plan when she sent your insufferable asshole of a stepbrother the invitation and deal. We were halfway to London to find Kade but turned back. Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

My eyes are burning given how hard I’m holding back a waterfall of tears. If I start bawling my eyes out, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop. “Barry’s okay?”

He nods. “As annoying as he is, he’s kept mehidden. His wife and child are in a safe house in Aberdeen.”

A tear slips down my cheek, and he notices, wiping it with his thumb. “I’m going to get you out of here.”

“What about Luci—”

“Sebastian Prince’s uncle won her auction. They’re going to take her to Moscow and keep her under the radar until Bernadette is dealt with. It was the deal I made with the grandfather to get his help – I told him I’d kill his grandson’s abuser in exchange for him protecting my daughter. There are Russians surrounding this building as we speak.”