A Kingpin Love Affair: The Complete series (A Kingpin Love Affair #1-5)
J.L. Beck
Chapter One
Isabella
The floor was cold beneath my hands, a blindfold covered my eyes never allowing a sliver of light to break through. I missed the sun and all the things that it brought like warmth, the heat that would coat my skin. I could hear someone next to me sobbing quietly. I had been just like her mere weeks ago. Now I was nothing but a shell of myself, betrayed by my own family and sold into a sex ring.
My hope was shattered, my thoughts of escaping this place disappearing the moment I realized I had nowhere else to go. This was my new home until I was bought, whether I liked it or not. I was beaten, battered and broken in every way, and the worse part was there was nothing I could do as I awaited my fate.
I knew what would come of me—nothing. I would be used for everything I could be, and then when the time came, they would discard me like yesterday’s trash. I had been here months and had seen it happen time and time again. I had come to terms with the life I was being given.
“Tony says we need to move them the f*ck out of here. Someone is coming.” A man’s voice I knew all too well echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls and flowing through my ears. I had no idea where we were, what was going on, or who it was that had me. I had been drugged, blindfolded, and forced to sit with my hands tied with rope behind my back when I was taken—or rather given away.
“All right, man.” The other man sighed in frustration. “You take the left side of the room and I’ll take the right side.” A shudder worked its way through my body. I wasn’t ready to be touched. I never would be. Maybe they would consider me crazy and just kill me outright. In the end, that would be better than what they would make me into—some drugged up whore.
“Let’s go, Princess.” One of the men growled in my ear just as there was a tug on my arm forcing me to stand. A scream threatened to break free of my lips as my muscles protested, and my body threatened to collapse to the floor. It was then my mind drifted. I was close to going into survival mode. Then again, wasn’t that what I had been doing all along? When was the last time I had eaten something? Drank water? I could feel myself crawling back into my shell. It only hurt if I allowed it to hurt.
The hand on my arm tightened in warning. Pain was all I ever felt. “I said to f*cking move.” Rancid breath encompassed me, my senses going on high alert as I felt him right next to my ear. Forcing my wobbly legs to move, I followed behind him as he tugged me along. I could hear others moving around and wondered how many of us there truly was. Sometimes I even wondered if the other girls thought like I did, felt exactly as I did. What were they going to do with us?
“Now, you’re going to go through this door and be a good little girl. No kicking, punching, screaming, or trying to escape. Do you understand me?” The anger in his voice promised horrible things and I knew if I tried to get away I wouldn’t like what would happen to me. My teeth rattled as he pushed me, my foot catching on the door jam. With no hands to catch myself, I fell onto the cold dirt-covered ground. I could smell the earth beneath me and wondered what it would be like to become one with it. Fresh tears formed and slid down my face, yet I felt no emotion. Was there a way to shut it off? To make all the hurt go away?
“You klutzy bitch!” he whispered harshly, ripping me from the ground and pulling me back up to my feet, my legs still wobbly.
As soon as I could, I marched forward not wanting to draw more attention to myself. In the pit of my stomach my nerves unraveled. The desire to know where it was I was going and who I would be with was almost too much. As I stumbled further, the darkness covering my eyes still shielding me from my surroundings, I felt as if I were floating through time. Simply waiting for my moment to come.
“Over here, Princess.” I tried to follow the sound of the voice but felt as if I were drifting further from it. Nervousness filled my veins. Anything could happen and I wouldn’t know until the very last second.
“Two men coming in from the right stairwell.” Another hushed voice muttered. The sound of guns being cocked filled the air. I felt like I was going to be sick, someone could die and that someone could be me. The other voices I could hear clearly before were now being drowned out by my own thoughts. Was this some sick twisted game they used as a scare tactic? Was someone else going to come and take me? Had this been the plan all along?
“Get over here, Princess.” I could hear the aggravated anger in his voice as he ordered me to find him. I stood there frozen in time as I heard a door being kicked in. Where had the man who pushed me through the door gone? Why wasn’t he leading me to where I was supposed to go?
“You cannot let them find her, Xavier.” Another man spoke. I floundered around the room, backing up as much as I could in hopes I would bump into a wall—anything to give me some type of direction. Hushed voices surrounded me, and as I tried to pick up on what they were saying, I felt myself moving a million miles a minute as I continued to scurry around.
“Princess, get over here, or I’ll be forced to put a bullet in your head.” I stopped immediately, my steps wavering as I swiveled around in the darkness trying to figure out where they wanted me to go. The gag that had been placed in my mouth when they first tied my hands behind my back kept me from responding to their vulgar words. Saliva pooled in my mouth as I tried to swallow around the intrusion. Did I really want to scream out and tell them where I was?