Page 5

Amari

I stared at my phone in horror, too afraid to reply back. He was an evil soulless man, but why would he want me to bring an overnight bag? The phone fell out of my hand, and I stared at it before I wracked my brain. I wondered what I would tell my mother. After taking several deep breaths, I could say to her that I would stay over at Tara’s house for the night.

His words hit me again. The bastard, the whore and the good digger. I cringed at him calling my sister a bastard. He was the bastard, not by birth but by nature. Alcina was innocent in all this. What kind of a monster would drag a child into his bloody revenge?

I will likely find out shortly.

My head began to throb and I rubbed my fingers over my forehead, digging my fingers in to massage the dull ache away. The sickening feel in my belly continued to grow, anxiety eating away at me as I looked around my bedroom. He was a billionaire now that Christos was gone. There was nothing he couldn't have in life but he chose to focus his petty revenge on me and my family.

Whatever he planned for me I knew it would be as despicable as him. Stefanos Karalis was nothing more than a monster disguised as a human. If there were demons or devils on Earth, he was among them.

I swallowed thinking of my grieving mother and innocent little sister. I doted on my sister from the day she was born. I would do whatever it took to protect my baby girl. A tear trickled down my cheek and I wiped it away as determination forged through me. I clenched my jaw so tight that my gums ached at how hard I ground my teeth together.

The monster would not see my weakness.

***

My bravado didn't last, I sat in the back of the car looking out of the tinted glass. The silence was filled with heavy tension and dread. The unsmiling driver had taken my bag and placed it into the boot of the car, leaving my hands free to fret. There was a partition in the care and I was glad because I could contemplate my doom in solitude. I fidgeted with my phone, but we hadn't messaged one another since his last text.

I almost vomited when the driver turned into a small road that led to a massive iron gate. He probably had a million properties all around the world. I gaped at the old sandstone building. It had likely been an aristocrat’s grand mansion at some point in time. We never saw this side of Christos’s life, but knowing how wealthy the Karalis family were was daunting.

The tyres crushed on top of the gravelly stones as they reached the house's front door. The crunching sound stopped abruptly as the car came to a halt. I stared at the door handle, dreading what was ahead of me while the driver got out of the car to retrieve my bag. He opened my door and waited for me.

I stepped out of the car, ignoring my racing heart and tried to force my previous determination, closing my eyes, I pictured Alcina the day I held her for the first time. I was almost twenty at the time, and having spent time with my pregnant mother, I was so excited to meet my new sibling. To find out that my mum had another girl, a little sister, was momentous.

“Hurry up and get inside,”

his voice snapped angrily, tearing me away from my memories and reminding me why I was here.

I opened my eyes to see him standing at the doorway. He wasn’t wearing his suit, only trousers and a pristine white shirt. My eyes narrowed on the glass he held in his hand. The man had a drinking problem, which didn’t bode well for me. My father had been an abusive drunk. I was too young to remember, but I knew that through his actions, was how my mother met Christos.

“Now, Amari!”

he said, snarling my name until my feet jolted forward.

“Miss, your bag,”

the driver said, holding my black backpack out for me.

I took it from him, slipping it over my shoulder before rushing toward the house. When I was inside I automatically began to look at the grand decor. Everything was pristine, from the polished floors to the furniture, decorative vases, and art.

“Follow me,”

Stefanos said, walking at a faster pace.

I dragged my eyes away from his house to look at him. His dark hair was thick but neatly trimmed at his nape. He was much taller than Christos, his shoulders wider than I’d anticipated. When I saw him in the car, he wore his suit jacket, but I didn’t look at his face. I followed him up the dark wooden staircase, not touching the polished bannister because I was too busy trying to catch up with him as he quickly jogged up the stairs.

The house was huge in comparison to our comfortable four bedroom house. We went up a second set of stairs. Why would one person want to live all alone in a mansion?

He stopped and opened a room and I peered inside to see a bedroom. When I glanced at him, he had a crooked smile playing on his lips, but a devious look in his eyes.

“Get in and take your clothes off. Your new life as my pet bitch is on the bed,”

he said with his smile spreading across his face.

Pet? Bitch?

I stared at the bed and frowned because it didn’t look like clothing. I yelped when he pushed me inside and closed the door behind him.

“You are here to obey me. If you want me to ensure nothing terrible happens to your family, you will do everything I ask of you. This includes becoming my pet bitch,”

he said as I turned to face him. “You will beg, bark, eat and sleep like a dog.”

My hand covered my horrified gasp as I stared at the drunken madman. Was this some joke? A dog? He wanted me to become a human dog?

“W-What do you mean?”

I stuttered the words out, lowering my hand.

When he began to walk forward, I backed away, but he moved toward the bed, and I focused on what was there, my mouth hung open when I realised what I was looking at.

A fucking dog mask, leash and other things that I didn’t recognise—my bag slid off my shoulder and landed on the floor.

“Is that a tail?”

I whispered in horror, looking at the long black rubber tail.

Was I supposed to put that thing in my ass? What the actual fuck was happening here? I glanced at the door, fuck the bag, I could do a runner.

“If you leave I will ensure you are all penniless and living in cardboard boxes within the next two days,”

he said, picking up the dog collar and dangling it on the tip of his finger, swinging the silver chain. “Actually, call your mother, tell her you got a job transfer in Greece and you leave next week.”

My breath came in shallow gasps, my chest rising and falling, but as if there were a heavy weight pressing down on it. His dark eyes gleamed with a cold, calculating light. A cruel smirk played on his lips, as he watched me squirm.

“You understand what’s at stake, don't you, Amari?”

he said, his voice smooth, almost soothing but it carried an underlying dangerous edge. He tilted his head, his dark hair falling slightly on his forehead, and his gaze never wavered from mine. “Your mother and sister, their safety rests on your decision.”

My throat tightened but I wanted to scream, to lunge at him, claw that smug expression off his face. The thought of my family stopped me. He had the means, the connections and I knew Stefanos wasn't bluffing. He was ruthless enough to follow through with his threats.

“Why are you doing this?”

I whispered, my voice barely audible. “What did I ever do to you?”

His hand crushed the leather collar in his palm and I noticed the metal spikes on it. The heavy chain jangled as he lifted his hand. His face darkened and his piercing eyes glared at me.

“You? Nothing personally, but your mother stole from my family. Christos betrayed my family. This?”

he said moving closer to me until the collar and chain was before me. “This is just the beginning. And you are going to help me make it hurt. You will suffer.”

I shuffled away from him but tripped over my bag. I braced myself with my arms for the fall but still hit my elbows on the hard wooden floor. His words made no sense. Who would hurt? Me? How was I responsible for our parents' actions? The man was a fucking psychotic asshole.

“I-I’m innocent—”

I stammered as I stood up and backed away from him, grateful that the room was large.

Stefanos chuckled, a low, guttural sound that sent a shiver down her spine.

“Innocent?”

he said, his voice rising sharply as he stepped closer, his polished shoes clicking against the wooden floor. “The gold-digging whore thought she could destroy my family. You're her daughter. Her blood and that makes you guilty by association.”

“Stefanos—”

I said, ready to plead with him, but the sudden fury on his face stopped me.

“You will address me as Master, you fucking bitch,”

he said, shouting the furious words until I covered my ears and closed my eyes.

I wanted out of this nightmare. A tear began to trickle out of my eye as the true horror of my situation began to sink into me.