AUTHORS NOTE! PLEASE READ!
Okay, I know you guys don't want to keep getting bugged with this but I need to say it so that you guys don't get surprised. This book is going to get dark at some points, there will be self-harm, suicidal thoughts/attempts, abuse and etc. I get new ideas every day and some make the book get darker so if you have been through stuff like that and feel like you'll get triggered, please do not read. If you think you can take it and end up actually getting triggered, please stop reading or come talk to me in my messages to let it out, I'm always here to talk:) Thank you, enjoy my loves.
( I recommend maybe getting a snack before reading and keeping a water bottle near you in case you get thirsty:) )
Nia's POV...
I was speechless as I walked out of the hallway leading into Mr. Rivera's office, blinking back the tears that formed out of humiliation when he insulted me terribly. There was a difference between that stranger playing around and sticking money in my top and yanking the top down to embarrass me in front of everybody sitting around the stage.
I decided to ignore Mr. Rivera's words, he was wrong.
I walked into the dressing rooms to get a drink of water and calm myself down when Kara walked in.
"Some guy who saw you dancing on stage wants a private room, missy," She smirked.
"What? Me?" Why me? I was the least capable worker here to make a guy enjoy a private room with me.
"Yes, you! Now get your ass out of here and into private room number three, your man's waiting for you." She winked as I threw the middle finger up at her and walked out.
I was nervous going into the room but was already feeling comfortable enough in this atmosphere after seeing how quickly the security move. After walking by a few rooms I reached room number three and walked right in.
Callum's POV...
After Nia left I poured myself a glass of scotch, deep in thought about how badly I would've liked to put her in her place, grabbed her by her hair and thrown her over my knee, spanking that attitude right out of her.
But as badly as I would've liked to see her tear-stained face, crying because of the pain I had put her through, I couldn't yet, it wasn't the right time.
When I saw what that man had done to her, walked right up and had the balls to touch what's mine and humiliate her like that, my blood boiled. So I did with him what I do to every other little boy that comes around thinking they're the shit. I killed him.
But what made me angrier than the fact that he touched her, was that she let him. It was obvious she wanted it and lied straight to my face about it.
I looked over the security cameras as I took a gulp of my drink, swallowing the bitter taste and feeling it burn my throat when I came across one of the cameras showing Nia.
She was with a man. Sitting on his goddamn lap.
Oh, you bad, bad girl.
She thought she was fucking smart, she was so pissed that I called her out that she wanted to make me even angrier by disrespecting me like that.
I called security and told them to escort the man out and tell Nia to stay there. She obeyed.
I headed down to the private room she was in, my patience running very thin with that damn girl. She's getting in my fucking head and I don't like it. She thinks she can mess with me, I despise it.
The second I saw her, I couldn't control myself.
Nia's POV...
I am terrified.
While I was conversing and laughing with that nice man, two security guards walked into the room and told the man that their boss said he had to leave and that I have to stay seated here.
Of course, I listened, I'm not that dumb.
But I wish I could just run away now, so I didn't have to see Mr. Rivera again. After telling him off like that, it felt like I couldn't be in the same room as him, who knows what he would say or do. The man terrified me, in such a weird way.
As I was lost in my thoughts, my ears decided to ignore the sound of heavy footsteps getting louder the closer they came to the room and in a split second were right in front of me.
I didn't get a chance to even look up at him when he grabbed me by the throat and forced me up on my feet, his face less than an inch away from mine while his eyes looked dark and enraged.
My hand grabbed his, trying to pry it off of me but it was no use, he was too strong.
He tightened his grip, "Do you think you're fucking smart? You think you can walk up into my office like that and disrespect me the way that you did and get away with it, huh?" I shook my head, tears falling down my face again.
I was struggling to breathe, his hand tightening with every word that he said. "Please, let me go." I gasped, starting to feel nauseous as my breath quickened and black dots clouded my vision.
"Please, sir. Callum, please," Something switched in his face and he quickly let go of me, my knees giving out and making me drop to the ground, coughing and sobbing as my chest heaved up and down.
I couldn't get my breathing back in control, this was a panic attack.
My sobs filled the room, usually, Kara was here to calm me down. She'd put her arms around me and comfort me, it was like a routine at this point.
Suddenly, I felt big arms wrap around my waist and pick me up, carrying me to the couch. It was him, the man who put me in this state in the first place. He put me on his lap, making me straddle him while my face sat in the crook of his neck as his hand rubbed up and down my back.
This was a different type of comfort, not like Kara's where she was loving, gentle and kind. This was possessive, protective and passionate all in one. It felt so good that I couldn't stop myself when my arms wrapped themselves around his neck, letting out more tears and shaky breaths.
"It hurts so bad," I whispered. Everything hurt, always, and I didn't know how to fix it.
He didn't say anything, just continued on with rubbing my back until I calmed down.
Wait. What the hell am I doing? This man accused me of wanting to be sexually humiliated, choked me and is now comforting me, and I'm letting him?
I quickly got up from his lap, wiping my tear-stained face and looked at him. He was looking back at me with a lust-filled stare. I looked down and immediately regretted it when I saw the bulge in his pants.
"You can't sit on me in that tiny dress and expect me to not feel anything, sweetheart," He explained.
I glared at him, "As I said before, please stay away from me."
I didn't give him a chance to respond and walked out, wanting to be home cuddled up with Alex's blanket. This was such a long day and I was so exhausted I could have collapsed right then and there.
After finding Kara, hoping she was ready to leave, we collected our stuff from the lockers and said our goodbyes.
The second I was ready for bed, I grabbed Alex's blanket and cried myself to sleep, just like I had been for the past three months.
Callum's POV...
She called me by my first name.
Something ticked inside me when I looked at her and she was in pain with that terrified look on her face. Then she called me by my first name and I couldn't even look at her, so I dropped her onto the ground. Then she couldn't breathe, so I did the only thing I could, I held her.
She said it hurts, what hurts? Her throat? I wasn't squeezing that hard. No, this was something else, something was going on with this girl. She's a nervous wreck around authority figures, anyone above her. Kara, her friend, was always the one to take the lead for her, she couldn't do anything on her own and I'm going to find out why.
This girl was doing something to me and I didn't like it. I've just met her and feel like she belongs to me, she's mine. There's nothing I can do, I can't take my eyes off of her. I can't stop watching when she dances on that pole in her tight little dresses while other men watch her. But she wanted me to stay away from her, so for now I'm going to do just that.
For the next two weeks, I silently watched her as she gained confidence, earned more money and smiled more. She loved to dance here, it was like she was at peace on the stage, stealing the attention from every single person in the building, even my security. Even though it pissed me off, it told me what I needed to know. This girl is nothing but an attention-seeking dirty little slut, waiting for the right man to come along and give her what she craves.
And I'm going to be that man, whether she likes it or not.
Nia's POV...
As I got ready for work, Mr. Rivera kept crossing my mind. I haven't seen him since that little incident two weeks ago and even though I told him to stay away from me, I missed seeing his face. What? No, Nia. The guy gave you a panic attack. He wrapped his big, veiny, gorgeous hand around your throat.
"Let's go, Nia! We're going to be late!" Kara yelled.
"Give me a minute!" I yelled back.
"I'll wait in the car!" I didn't have time to tell her to wait, because she already slammed the front door close.
Ugh. I quickly finished straightening my hair and threw my outfit on. Tonight, everyone was wearing lingerie sets. When I asked Kara why, she just shrugged and said, "Amanda came up with the idea a while ago, said it was so we could switch it up a little bit, but we all know she's just trying to impress Mr. Rivera. It usually works and she ends up going home with him."
For some reason, hearing that gave me an odd feeling. I don't know what it was, but it definitely brought my mood down.
NIAS OUTFIT.
KARAS OUTFIT.
I threw on a pair of grey sweatpants with a jacket on top then ran out the front door.
"Wow, Kara, I could've sworn I saw you wearing that exact same piece of lingerie a few months ago, not enough money to buy something new for a change?" We heard Amanda's voice when we walked into the dressing rooms.
"Yeah and I could've sworn the stank ass smell from last night was the air, turns out it's just you. Go put some perfume on girl, I could smell you from outside." Kara threw back at her, clearly unbothered by Amanda's unnecessary comment.
We both walked past her and went to say hello to the other girls.
As I danced on stage for the third time, the way my body moved so smoothly, provocatively and sensually, my mind remembered how calming it used to make me feel. I forgot how in love with it I was and realized how much it helped with my anxiety.
An hour later, I went to the bar to grab a water bottle when I heard someone calling out my name.
I turned around and almost had a panic attack when I saw who stood in front of me, a few feet away.
"Papa?" I whispered. He looked so different. His hair had gotten a lot more grey, he had some stubble, huge bags under his tired eyes and worst of all, he looked drunk out of his mind.
"You. I finally found you." He muttered, slurring his words. I was confused, why had he been looking for me? Did he miss me? Did my parents finally want me back home? A gasp left my mouth when he struck me in the face, making me fall down.
"It's all your fault! She's dead because of you," He yelled in my face as he hit me over and over again. I was starting to lose consciousness, confused at what he was blaming me for. Was he talking about my mother?
Before he could hit me again, two security guards pulled him away from me and tackled him to the ground.
"Nia! Nia, are you okay?" I heard Kara's voice from above me. I nodded.
"Yeah, yeah I'm okay," I grunted, moving to sit up. I stood and looked at my father. What the hell just happened?
It was all starting to register in my head, my father just beat me up and blamed me for someone being dead. Was it my mother? What happened to her? I struggled to breathe as my body felt hot and my airway felt blocked.
"Hey, it's okay, Nia. They're taking him away." Kara didn't recognize him, or else she would've been freaking out as well.
"No, Kara that's-" I couldn't get my words out, having to hunch over when my head felt light so I wouldn't pass out.
She quickly handed me a water bottle and sat me down, waiting for me to calm down.
"Kara that's-that's my dad." I gulped down some more water and cleared my throat. I hurried over to the dressing room and threw my sweatpants back on and grabbed my bag, shoving everything inside it but making sure Alex's blanket wasn't getting creased.
All the while, Kara was right beside me, doing the same.
We both knew what was about to happen, where security was taking him and hurried to get our stuff together.
I threw the door to Callum's office open, watching as the gun he had put up to my father's head went off. He shot him. The scream that left my mouth as my father's body dropped to the floor was unrecognizable, his lifeless eyes staring at me made me queasy. I'm too late.
I went to go run to him, hoping he was still breathing but was quickly held back by those familiar arms that were around me, holding me, calming me down just two weeks ago, the same hands that just killed my father. I fell to the ground, sobbing with my hands around my mouth, trying to quieten down my screams.
Callum picked me up and my legs wrapped around his waist as he carried me out of the room through the door behind his desk. I wanted to fight him, yell at him to put me down so I could call the police and have him arrested. But knowing I wouldn't get far, I decided to stay put.
Through my blurry vision, I saw Kara being dragged out of the room, kicking and yelling, by this man. I couldn't see his face clearly, but he was obviously with Callum.
AUTHORS NOTE!!!
This chapter honestly sucked, I know. But get ready, cause the storyline is about to pick up:)
I hope you enjoyed it, I'd really appreciate it if you voted, followed and commented on any feedback you may have. Remember to eat and drink loads of water to stay hydrated, see you next time, sexy;)