by Kitty Thomas
“One other thing,” he said. If he wanted to drive her away, he was sure this was the thing that would do it. But it wasn’t as if he could keep her in the dark about it now, and it would be best if she didn’t harbor delusions about things.
“Oh God, really? There’s more?”
Gabe chuckled. “Sorry, but yes. I’m not monogamous. I don’t do fidelity. It’s not in my nature, and I have no interest in twisting myself in knots to try to offer promises I can’t keep. But these girls in this house—none of them that I would involve myself with—are permanent residents. They get trained. And they go. No one would be competing with you indefinitely. You would have a special and cherished place with me.”
“You took me out on a date knowing all this stuff about yourself?”
There was heavy accusation in her glare, and he didn’t blame her. At least she wasn’t too numb to feel anything. He’d take any honest emotion she had to offer. If she wanted to start pummeling him right now, he’d probably calmly let her get her rage out.
“Now you know why I told you I was a bad man to know and left you alone.”
“You were testing me, weren’t you? To see if I might do this stuff.”
“Yeah, but I knew before we started that it would never work. I almost stood you up that night.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
Gabe reached over and took her hand in his. She flinched and seemed like she would pull away, but after a few seconds she relaxed as if remembering she was with the guy she’d once clearly liked.
“Really?”
“Yes, but you’re a fucking freak. And the shit I’ve been through...” She wiped at her eyes, trying to stop from crying again. “You had a better chance with me and all this when I was still a virgin and didn’t know any better. I was so... God, I was so taken with you.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m afraid to feel anything. At Dmitri’s, I was somehow holding it all together more or less, and now I’m afraid the littlest thing could break me beyond repair. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can ever give you any of the things you want.” She flinched after she said it, as if certain of some retribution despite his promises.
“I know. And I know it’s not just these past few months. That’s why I stayed away from you. I wasn’t willing to push you for something I knew you couldn’t give me. And don’t think I suddenly expect it now, but when circumstances force people to live together, sometimes things that wouldn’t have happened otherwise, happen. I guess I’m holding out that hope though I have no right to expect it. But you are safe with me.”
Julie didn’t say anything more, and after several minutes of silence, he pulled his hand away from hers and started the car.
After they’d been on the road for a while, Julie said, “You were planning to keep the non-monogamy thing a secret from me, weren’t you? If we’d continued dating?”
He sighed. “Yeah. You wouldn’t have understood.”
“I would have understood honesty more than lies. You would have been cheating.”
“I couldn’t have been honest without doing what I’m doing now: taking your freedom away.”
She didn’t say anything else after that. What more was there to say? They’d had more in-depth meaningful discussion in this one night than a lot of couples had their entire relationship. Gabe turned the radio on. Classic rock droned low in the background.
He’d been too close to losing her only a few short hours ago. He couldn’t believe he’d kept it together. But he’d had to, for her sake.
“Oh my God. Is this where you live?” Julie said when they reached an imposing iron gate. They’d been driving through a heavily wooded area—all part of the property—for the past ten minutes. Beyond the gate was a large hill, and at the top of it sat an enormous white house with thick Corinthian columns. The architecture made it look like a museum rather than a place people could actually live.
“It’s where you live now, too.”
The apprehension and tension strained from her face all the way down through the muscles of her neck. “Are you going to keep me locked in a basement?”
“No, you’ll have your own very nice room. You’ll have free run of the house and the grounds.”
Gabe pulled up to the heavy iron gate, punched in a code, and the gate swung open. He parked the Bentley in front and got out and came around to help Julie out.
“Let’s get you settled. Everything is going to be fine. I promise.”
That look of fear on her face... he’d do anything to erase it forever and replace it with trust.
Julie jumped when Gabe’s hand touched her lower back, guiding her into the house. It was so familiar and similar to their first date at Sakura and yet so different in light of all the things she now knew. Despite everything, there was this crazy fucked-up part of her that still wanted to be with him—even with everything he’d told her.
Maybe that would have been possible before. But now? Now she didn’t think she could ever be with a man in even the most bland and non-threatening sexual relationship again. How could she ever trust a man who not only was into all the things Gabe was into, but who couldn’t promise her fidelity? And who could never conceivably set her free?
How would that work? How would it be stable? How could she ever feel loved? Did she deserve to? No matter what Gabe said, and no matter how much she knew nothing that had happened to her was her fault, she couldn’t help how dirty and wrong she felt and how guilty. Logic didn’t seem to matter.
All the times she’d fantasized about Gabe from the moment she’d first met him, the story—at least before Dmitri—had ended in marriage and maybe a couple of kids and a dog and a white picket fence in a nice neighborhood in suburbia. And even after Dmitri, when she believed she no longer deserved all that, it had still included at least basic monogamy.
The inside of the house took her breath away. Sure, Dmitri’s house was big and fancy. But there were different types of fancy. Dmitri had something gold in practically every nook and cranny as well as ostentatious furniture and art on the walls. It had been an over-the-top display of wealth. Gabe’s house by contrast was overwhelming. Clean and bright and regal in an understated, assured sort of way.
“T-this is where you live?”
“Yep.”
Before she could ask anything else, she found herself reflexively spinning toward the sound of heavy, clipped footsteps moving across the large entryway.
“Who is this? We are not taking Dmitri’s cast offs. And she’s too thin,” a strange man with a Russian accent said.
Julie grabbed Gabe’s hand and moved as close to him as she could get without stepping inside his literal skin. Right or wrong, after the past few months, Russian equaled bad to her. And this guy knew Dmitri. Would he send her back to him? No, Gabe wouldn’t let that happen.
“Anton, cut the shit,” Gabe said. “She isn’t a cast off. And she isn’t here to be sold. She’s mine.”
Anton raised an eyebrow. “Yours yours?” he asked, like he was speaking in some sort of code.
“As far as the house is concerned. The rest is in the air. But she’s under my protection.”
“Fine. If you’re taking full responsibility. What about the deal with Dmitri? How did that go?”
Julie tensed. How could Gabe still want to work with those guys? She started to pull her hand from his, but he held on tighter.
“It didn’t. And it won’t,” Gabe said.
“Why not?”
“None of those girls is there voluntarily.”
The Russian snorted. “Really? That’s all? You think our girls are free agents?”
“At least they made a choice. We didn’t drag them kicking and screaming from their happy lives.”
“And yet, once they come into this house and that bracelet is locked around their wrists, they are ours. If they change their mind, there is no out. So how is it different?”
“It just is,” Gabe said. “You didn’t see
them. The looks on their faces. Those girls with Dmitri are being abused. None of them likes anything that’s happening. They’re not getting off on it. We’re... this house is… it’s different. You know I have lines.”
Anton rolled his eyes. “Yes, such a virtuous criminal. Dmitri knows about us. We have to work with him. We have to keep him close so we can keep an eye on him.”
“He doesn’t know that much,” Gabe said.
“He knows enough. He knows your name and mine. And he can be vindictive.”
Gabe released Julie’s hand and took a few steps closer to Anton, his voice rising almost to a shout. “You knew if we started talking with these guys we’d be locked in. Me going to check out their operation was a formality. Wasn’t it?”
“I thought you needed more persuading,” Anton said.
“Well congratulations on achieving the opposite, asshole.”
Gabe and Anton glared at each other. Neither spoke for several long moments as the tension in the air escalated higher and higher.
Julie noticed several women gathering at the openings of various doors and hallways that connected with the entry hall. Most of them wore sweatpants and T-shirts. Feet were bare. Some wore lightweight workout shorts instead of sweatpants. The T-shirts were all white, but the shorts and pants were a wide variety of bright solid colors. They looked like they were all about to be featured in a commercial for casual workout wear.
Upon further inspection, Julie noticed, they each had a thick silver metal cuff around one wrist. They appeared curious, but unafraid. They looked well fed and healthy. There were whispers and murmurs coming from them and several pointed looks in Julie’s direction.
“Girls,” Anton said. “This doesn’t concern you. Go back to your rooms.”
They lingered for another moment, whispering and gawking, but finally, when it seemed Anton and Gabe wouldn’t continue the argument until they were gone, they drifted back down the hallways and through the doorways they’d appeared from.
“How attached are you to Dmitri and his guys?” Gabe asked when it was just the three of them again.
Anton’s eyes widened. “Are you fucking kidding me? Is this about this whore you picked up?” he asked, making a sweeping gesture toward Julie as if there could otherwise be any question of who he was talking about.
Gabe launched himself at Anton, landing a hard punch squarely against his jaw. This action drew a few of the girls back, peering around corners, eyes wide. More whispering followed.
“Okay, okay!” Anton said, holding his hands up, then, “Girls! To bed, now!” he said without turning back in their direction. They scattered.
Gabe got off him and backed up a few paces to stand in front of Julie. “She’s not a whore. She’s mine. I knew her before. I didn’t just randomly pick her up tonight. Are you fucking crazy?”
Anton rubbed his jaw. “I think you dislocated it. And you are one to talk about crazy.”
“You’ll live. Again, I ask how close are you to these guys? Are they family? Close friends?”
“Mere acquaintances from back home,” Anton said.
“So you won’t cry if they get lost down a well?”
“Where are you planning to find a well?”
“Don’t be cute.”
A blonde woman moved cautiously into the room. She wore a black silk nightgown that whispered across the floor as she moved. When she walked, dark-red painted toes peered out from beneath the fabric. She had no bracelet, but she wore a solid shiny band around her throat that was either made entirely out of onyx or some other dark stone. She carried an ice pack, which she pressed into Anton’s hand. She must have been lingering with the other girls to have been able to get ice for him so quickly.
“Master?” she said.
Julie couldn’t help the flinch at hearing her speak to him that way, but the woman said it with a strange sort of relish, as if somehow she actually liked being his slave—a thought that was incomprehensible to Julie. Gabe’s confession of what he was into came across as an admission of finding enjoyment in dismembering kittens. Certainly nothing to be proud of or happy about, and yet this woman, this flip side of that coin, somehow seemed even more aberrant in her existence.
At the sound of the woman’s voice, Anton’s features softened into the least threatening expression she’d seen from him so far.
“Thank you, Kiska. I’m sorry our fight woke you. Go back to bed. I will join you in a little while.”
“Yes, Master.” And then she was gone.
Anton sighed and turned his attention back to Gabe. “No, I won’t cry over Dmitri, but I think you’ve lost your mind.”
“Where’s Brian? I’m sure he’ll be happy to clean house. You know how he loves to clean.”
“He and Mina are out on a job. They won’t be back until tomorrow.”
“Fine.” Gabe grabbed Julie’s hand and led her to the stairs.
“If Dmitri calls, I will act as if everything is normal,” Anton said. “It’s safest until Brian returns. We can decide our strategy from there. Agreed?”
Gabe nodded and took Julie upstairs to the second floor. He guided her down the hallway and stopped in front of a door about midway down. He opened the door, peered in, glanced back at Julie, then shut the door again.
“Not that one. It’s too dark. And you’re so pale.”
He looked in a few more doors, but nothing seemed to meet his standards. While Gabe deliberated, Anton strode down the hallway toward them. He was out of breath, appearing as though he’d taken the stairs two or three at a time. “Here.” He gave Gabe a silver metal cuff like what the other girls wore.
Julie shrank back, still resistant to the idea of becoming his full-fledged captive. What was she supposed to do? Walk calmly to her own slaughter? So far, the evidence of the evening pointed to Gabe protecting her. She wasn’t sure how long he would be so patient and caring. It seemed silly now in hindsight, but she still remembered how much he’d scared her on their date months ago.
“Is it programmed?” Gabe asked, not noticing her reaction, or else thinking it was motivated by Anton rather than the electronic leash that was about to be put on her.
“Yes. Brian got bored and programmed all of the extra ones one day. It was right after we upgraded to the new design and features.”
“So then it’s got all the standard stuff in it?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll fix that,” Gabe said.
There was a question in Anton’s eyes, but after being punched in the jaw, he didn’t seem too keen to initiate another fight.
“If you think I’m letting ANYONE control this bracelet, you are out of your fucking mind. You know how Brian likes to hurt people. Absolutely not. All I want is the standard electric fence activation—keep her inside the perimeter, but nothing else. And definitely not anything anyone else can control.”
Julie tensed at the mention of someone who liked to hurt people. Gabe had promised safety, but from the brief snippets of information she’d gleaned in the past few minutes, Brian seemed anything but safe.
Anton shrugged. “You won’t get any argument from me. Mina and Annette have the same set up, and if this one is yours, it’s only fair that she have it as well.” For the first time since she’d stepped inside the house, Anton turned toward her and seemed to acknowledge her presence as more than a mere inconvenience or stationary piece of décor in the room. He offered a hand. “I apologize for my rudeness. I’m Anton. You are?”
Julie looked at Gabe, and he nodded but she didn’t take Anton’s hand. She couldn’t bring herself to touch him. That smooth politeness was so like Dmitri. She didn’t trust it. “I-I’m Julie.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Anton casually withdrew his hand, somehow making it appear as if he’d never offered it to begin with. He looked at Gabe again, then back at her. She moved closer to Gabe.
After a moment of this intense scrutiny, Anton sighed. “You’re right about Dmitri. I did not check it out care
fully enough. He and I are not close. I will follow your lead about this.”
Gabe nodded. “Thank you.”
“Good night, Julie,” Anton said and left them alone.
Gabe punched a long complicated code into the silver metal cuff, and it sprang open. He locked it around Julie’s wrist. “It’s a security precaution.”
She nodded, but wasn’t at all comforted by this. She’d known he wasn’t letting her go, but this was a real, solid piece of metal that reminded her no matter how much nicer he was, she could never be here truly of her own free will because they wouldn’t let her leave.
Gabe proceeded to punch in more codes. A series of beeps responded. She jumped when a small recorded voice emitted from the bracelet.
“Are you sure you wish to deactivate punishment options A through D?”
Gabe punched a button on the bracelet.
The metal bracelet answered, “Punishment options A through D deactivated. To reactivate, please input the correct code and return to this menu.”
Gabe pressed another button and the bracelet said, “This security bracelet is equipped with perimeter security function. If this is correct, press 1.”
Gabe pressed a button. Then he punched in some more numbers.
The bracelet said, “Are you sure you wish to change the access code to this security bracelet? This action cannot be undone. Press 1 if you are sure.”
“Yes, I’m fucking sure,” Gabe muttered, stabbing at a number on the bracelet.
The bracelet said “Thank you,” and then fell silent.
“Y-you’re the only one who has the code you put in?” Julie asked.
“Yes.”
“So that Brian guy can’t...”
“No. Don’t worry about him. Come with me.” Gabe seemed to remember he’d been trying to decide on her accommodations before Anton had shown up with the bracelet.
Julie followed him to the end of the hall, her anxiety only beginning to recede. He opened another door and peered in, and nodded, satisfied. Then he closed that door and opened the door next to it—the last one on the hall. This final door he held open.