I tried to keep my head high as Victor led me through all the man. The hungry and disgusting looks they gave me were enough to make me want to puke. One of them slapped my butt making me jump up in fright. My cheeks reddened from the anger and Victor laughed.
"Calmness, Kitten." He reminded me as he dragged me. I gritted my teeth as I tried to calm down my breathing. He stopped when he reached one of the private rooms. My stomach dropped in fear.
"W-What are we gonna do?" I asked him in panic. He smirked at me. He opened the door and pushed me inside as roughly as possible. I flinched as my skin made contact with the hard floor. He pulled me up by my hair.
"I've got a surprise for you, Petrovich," Victor said darkly. That's when my eyes landed on the man. He was sitting on a chair in the middle of the dark room. The man's gaze stopped on me. He eyed me up and down and licked his lips with a twisted smile on his face.
I shivered in fear and disgust. What had he meant by surprise? Was I meant to be the surprise? I looked at Victor.
"V-Victor, what do I have to do? I want to leave" I whispered in fear. He smiled at my frightened condition. His fingers moved over my face as he gently caressed my cheek, making me want to go crazy.
"We will leave soon, my doll," He promised. "But first, you've got to do something for me" He patted my hair. I shook against his touch but said nothing. If Victor was in a good mood then I had to do everything to keep him in the same mood. I couldn't anger him. I didn't want to get punished.
"O-Of course" I stuttered in fear. I couldn't take any chances. If I could make it out of today without getting punished then It would be a party for me. Victor smiled at me.
"That's right my girl," He said as he pressed me against his hard chest and patted my hair. I shivered. He pulled me away from him and crouched down a bit so his face would face mine.
"I need you to pleasure this man," He said. My eyes widened and my stomach dropped. Slowly, my head turned towards the man who was sitting on the chair. He was old. Too old for me. Perhaps in his late twenties. I felt my feet wobble as I turned my head back to face Victor.
"What do you mean?" I asked him. He smiled as his fingers tightened around my chin. I frowned.
"Do you remember everything you have been taught?" He asked me and I nodded trying to keep the tears away.
"I need you to dance for this man. Give him a private dance" Victor continued making my eyes widen. He sensed the fear in my eyes.
"How old is she?" The man asked Victor once he saw the way he treated me.
"She just turned seventeen," Victor said proudly as he moved his fingers up and down my chin. I closed my eyes in disgust.
"I see the way you treat the child. You like em little?" The man laughed wickedly, his Russian accent dripping. Victor said something in Russian and then looked at me.
"Now, do as I say, kitten," He told me. His tone held a dangerous note in it and I knew I had to obey. The tears began to fall as he dragged me towards the man. Music started playing and Victor sat down on the couch with a cup of whiskey in his hands. He was watching me.
"Start" He ordered.
I jumped up a little as I felt a tear rolling from my cheek. My heavy breaths filled the dark room as I tried to calm my heart down. It was only a nightmare, I told myself. My hand came up to my chest as I tried to calm down. I felt my back being pressed against Christopher's chest.
He was still here.
The silent tears continued to roll down my cheeks. One of his hands was sprung over my body in a hugging way whilst my body was pressed against his chest. I tried to keep my focus on his heartbeat instead of crying. His heartbeat wasn't even. Was he awake?
"Chris?" I asked quietly. A few seconds later I bit my lip for being stupid enough to even call out his name at this hour.
"Hmm?" He hummed quietly surprising me.
"Do you think I'm a whore?" I asked him quietly.
"No," He said sharply. I bit my lip trying to prevent the tears from coming.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked me.
"I had a nightmare" I admitted. For a second he didn't say anything.
"Was it about him?" He asked me. I nodded. I felt his body stiffen and I brought my fingers towards his hand that was sprung over my body.
"Tell me about it," He said making me close my eyes. I breathed out and slowly started to turn around. I turned around and saw how close we actually were. Our noses were almost touching. My eyes were resting on his mouth. Slowly I brought my head up. Our eyes met through the darkness.
"Have you been crying?" He asked me. I said nothing, instead, I moved my arm and sprung it around him. Instantly I jerked my hand away when I felt that he was shirtless. My face reddened. He laughed quietly which made me wonder if he had ultra vision or something.
"Are you shy?" He asked me. I rolled my eyes.
"You didn't answer my question. Have you been crying?" He asked me. This time I nodded. He took a deep breath.
"What did he do to you?" He asked me quietly. I stared into his eyes that seemed to shine even through the darkness.
"He was horrible, Chris" I whispered.
"That's why I wanted to help with the clubs. I wanted to do something-"
"Something we failed to do for you" He continued my sentence. I breathed out in shock. It was almost like he could read my mind.
"Chris" I muttered.
"You didn't fail in anything. You couldn't have known. What's important is that now you are working on it. You are trying to help the girls and that's the only thing that counts" I said.
"But I could have done it for you. I could have helped you too. God knows what that fucker was doing" He muttered making me flinch.
"Gabriella, tell me what really happened. How did you get on the streets doing what you did for... a living?" He asked me the question I feared the most. I took a deep breath. If I wanted help then I would have to tell him. At least some parts of it. Whatever was necessary.
"I can't tell you everything, Chris" I whispered.
"But I promise I will tell you whatever I can" I promised. He said nothing.
"I was fifteen when me and my brother ran away from home" I whispered. He breathed out.
"You were with your brother?" He asked me. I nodded.
"Our dad gave us money and told us to run as far as possible. It was us, Chris. Me and my brother. That's all we had. Each other. Soon the money ended. We needed a shelter. We needed food. Anything to keep us alive. My brother started to leave at nights" I muttered. The memories were too painful to handle.
"He was going to these fighting clubs. Every match won was a lot of money. You probably know that yourself. He took the responsibility of taking care of us both. He would disappear for hours then return all bloodied and broken" I whispered. Chris started to move his hand up and down my back.
"It became a tradition. I would stay up all night waiting. Dreaming for him to return. The money became irrelevant. The only thing on my mind was fear. Fear that one day he might not return" I said.
"So you decided to take matters into your own hands" Chris muttered. I nodded.
"Yes. One night he returned. In a state so bad I don't even want to remember. Half dead. Broken ribs. Severe bruising. We both knew he couldn't fight in that taste. At least not for a few months. Hell, I would rather die than let him risk his life again" I said.
"What did you do?" He asked me.
"He made me promise I wouldn't do anything. 'Give me two days' He said. I lied. I told him I wouldn't do anything. I waited for two days as he asked. But we both knew he wasn't getting better. That night I left. I was desperate. Naive. Only sixteen. I wanted to do something. I thought I would find a job. At least something to keep us alive." I said. Chris tightened his hold on my hip.
"I was in the streets. Walking around. Looking for any job to find when I met him" I whispered.
"That-" Chris swallowed his words.
"He stopped the second he saw me. 'What are you doing here sweetheart?' He asked me. He was an attractive man. He didn't look like a maniac. Or so I thought. I was too naive. Desperate. I told him that I was looking for a job." I muttered.
"Don't tell me you went there willingly" Christofer warned. I nodded as the tears fell from my eyes.
"He told me he was training girls to be models. Said I would be perfect. I was too happy. Happy that I might finally find a proper job. A job which would keep me and my brother safe. I didn't find it suspicious why a man would randomly offer me a job without knowing me. I was far too desperate. He said his office was just around the corner. Said he would show me his workplace" I said as the tears started to blind my vision.
"You were young" Chris whispered.
"You wanted to help. You couldn't have known" He said. His voice rough with anger.
"I followed him for a few minutes. By the time I realized something was wrong it was too late. Next thing I remember was waking up in the whorehouse" I said making him grit his teeth.
"It was horrible Chris. Pure torture. He would-" I swallowed.
"He would beat us whenever we disobeyed. It had to be his way. I had to do everything he asked me to. Or he would give me a beating." I muttered.
"I will fucking murder him, Gabriella" He swore. I took a deep breath.
"Can I stop?" I asked him quietly. He nodded. For a few minutes, none of us said anything. We were silently staring into each other's eyes.
"He isn't really dead is he?" Chris asked me, making my eyes widen in shock.
"W-What?" I asked him in fright.
"Your brother, Gabby. He isn't actually dead is he?" Chris repeated his question. My mouth fell open as I felt my stomach drop.
"I don't understand, Chris. I-" I started stuttering.
"Tell me, Gabriella. How did you really steal from Antonio?" He asked me.