Delivered (The Monster Trilogy Book 3) (4 page)

Three

Lily froze as
the back of the Land Rover opened with a clunk.

She tried to get Jess’s attention, but the other girl was still staring at a spot on the bottom of the SUV, acting as though none of this was happening. For some reason it felt vitally important to connect with Jess—they’d never both make it out of this alive if she didn’t.

Hands grabbed her calves and yanked her from the vehicle so she hit the ground with a bone-jarring thump. A body thudded down beside her, Jess barely giving a whimper as she hit the gravel.

“Untie them,” said Rodriguez.

Lily tried to hide her surprise as hands worked at the rope around her wrists, freeing her poor, strained arms. She groaned as she brought her hands to the front of her body, rolling her shoulders and massaging the sore muscles around her wrists. She remained silent as the man got to work on Jess, untying her as well.

The two women pushed themselves to sitting on the ground, but remained hunched and suspicious of what would happen next. Lily noticed Jess, at least, had started to cautiously peer around, and she was relieved the girl had lost the distant look in her eyes, for the moment, anyway.

“Get up,” Rodriguez told them, motioning with his fingers.

Lily and Jess exchanged a glance.

“It’s okay, you are free to move around now.”

Slowly, Lily got to her feet. “Why did you untie us?”

“Because there’s no need to keep you tied up while you’re here. I’m not going to promise I will never restrain you—especially if you displease me—but if you behave yourselves, I will allow you that small amount of freedom, at least.”

“Why would you do that?” Lily asked.

“Because there is nowhere you can go. You might think you can escape, but in this heat, you’ll simply die of heat exhaustion and dehydration before you reach any sign of civilization. Don’t imagine for a moment that you might happen upon someone foolish enough to save you. This property is mine for hundreds of acres, and there are warning signs that anyone stepping onto private property will be prosecuted. You can take your chances with the heat and snakes, if that’s what you choose, or you can remain here and accompany me as I see fit.”

Lily thinned her lips. “I’m struggling to see much difference between you and the snakes.”

His hand shot out and caught her by the jaw, angling her face so she looked directly at him. Beside her, Jess whimpered. One side of his lips quirked up in a smile and he leaned in closer. “You’re right, little lady, and I intend for you and my snake to become acquainted very soon.”

“Creep,” she snapped.

He released her jaw and slapped her hard across the side of her face. Her head rocked on her neck, fresh heat and pain blooming in the shape of fingerprints where he’d hit her.

“You’re going to have to start learning some manners,” he said.

Lily bit her lip, holding back on the retort about how he should be the one who needed to learn manners, considering he went around slapping women, but she managed to hold off.

“Are you going to rape me?” she said, instead, wanting to know exactly what she had in store. Where previously she would have shied away from the idea, probably doing much as Jess was doing now, and pretending none of it was happening, now she felt like she could be stronger if she knew what was to come.

He fixed her with those black eyes. “I can only rape you if you don’t want me to touch you. But if you’re begging me to push my cock inside you, I guess we couldn’t call that rape, now, could we?”

She shivered. “You’re crazy. That’s never going to happen. I don’t like anyone touching me.”

“Except our friend, Merrick, is that right? Is that what made you so special to him, because you told him he was the only one who could get you wet? Did that make him think he was one of a kind? Because I promise you, Lily Drayton, you’ll be soaked by the time I’m done with you.”

The mention of Monster’s other name made her insides echo with hollowness. “Fuck you!”

He laughed. “I’m sure you will.”

Rodriguez gave a nod to Marco, who bent and grabbed Jess by the arm, hauling her to her feet. Jess gave a sob, her hair hanging in straggles over her face. Lily’s heart ached for the other woman. She wished she could do or say something that would make things better again, but she’d promised her freedom once, and the promise had not been kept. Her words were worthless.

“Follow me,” Rodriguez said. “I’ll show you to your rooms.”

“Rooms? Can’t we stay together?”

“You may want your privacy.”

To her surprise, Jess spoke up. “No, please let us share. I don’t want to be on my own.”

“Oh, don’t worry, sweetheart. You won’t be on your own for long.” He gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine, you can share for the moment, though you may end up regretting it.”

Lily wondered what he meant by that.

“Now come with me.” He led them toward the house—a large, but simply built single story property which was a basic square with everything painted or blasted in the same, sandy coloring. She assumed the decor was done for protection, a way of making sure others didn’t accidentally find out about the property. As they grew closer, she could hear the distinctive hum of a large generator, which must have been positioned around the side of the house, and to one side were a couple of solar panels. They were off grid here. She wondered if they were even able to get any cell phone coverage or internet access.

Rodriguez strode ahead, not appearing to worry she might attack him at any moment, or try to make a run for it. What he’d said about them being miles from anywhere was probably true, but she also remembered the café they’d passed. Yes, it was probably miles and miles from here, but where there was food, there were people. Lily didn’t plan on doing anything stupid, but she wasn’t just going to lie back and let this man do whatever he wanted to her.

He opened the front door to the house to reveal an interior with far more elegance than the outside. Everything was in white—the floors were white marble, the walls painted white, with archways leading to other parts of the house. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and white fur rugs covered the floors. The only items breaking up the white were the massive gilded mirror at the end of the entrance hall, and a gold dresser. A number of rooms led off the entrance hall, and at the back the space divided into two hallways which she assumed led to the two wings of the house.

“You’ve got the left wing,” he said as he led them through. “If you want to be treated right here, you need to behave correctly. I expect my women to be ladylike, courteous, and well-groomed at all times. You’ll find suitable outfits to change into in your rooms. I don’t expect you to be working in any kind of hard labor—I have my cooks and cleaners already. Your roles while you’re here will be to please the men. You will speak nicely with them, serve them their food and wine, and look beautiful. You will do as they ask, however they see fit, with no complaints. Is that understood?”

Lily opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she thought of his ideas, and then promptly shut it again. Arguing with him wasn’t going to get her anywhere. She needed to be clever, not sharp-tongued and fiery.

“I’ll take your silence as understanding,” he said, leading them down the hallway. He stopped in front of one of the doors, also painted in white, just as the rest of the hall was. “This is your room, Lily. The other girl’s room is the next one along.”

Lily reached out and grabbed Jess’s hand. “It’s okay. We’ll share.”

“The two rooms are connected with an adjoining bathroom, so if you do decide to take to your own bed, you won’t be completely alone. But if one of my men comes for you, you’ll be expected to be in your own bedroom.”

He turned to her with a smile that made her blood run cold. “Don’t worry, Lily. The only person who will be coming for you, will be me.”

Four

Rodriguez opened the
door to one of the rooms and stepped back. “Please, make yourselves at home, ladies. Dinner will be served in an hour, and you will be the ones doing the serving. I expect you both to be washed and dressed appropriately. The adjoining door leads to the bathroom, and a second door leads through to the next bedroom. You can move between the three rooms as you please. I will be back for you in an hour.”

And with that, he backed out of the room.

Lily heard the click of a lock catching. Whatever he had said about them not escaping due to the desert and snakes, he’d still made the effort to lock them in their rooms. That tiny action gave Lily a spark of hope. If there was no way to escape, why bother to lock them in?

She also had hope Monster was still alive.

If Monster survived his gunshot wound, which she prayed to God he would, would he know where to come looking for her? Would he even try? She couldn’t bring herself to believe he would just abandon her now Rodriguez had her. Monster had been so desperate to see she was safe. But were things different now she was here? Monster might worry trying to get her back again would start a war. She wanted to believe he loved her enough to try to get her back, but she didn’t intend on relying solely on Monster riding in to rescue her. She needed to be her own damn knight and save herself, and Jess, too.

Quiet sobbing caught her attention, and she turned to see Jess crouched on the floor, her hands covering her face.

Lily went to her, her palm finding the girl’s back. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

She shook her head. “No, it isn’t. I can’t do this again. I’d rather they just killed me.”

Lily’s eyes filled with tears. “Please, don’t say that. We have to be strong, together.”

“I’m trying, but all I keep thinking about is what it was like with those other two men—how they forced themselves—” Her voice choked.

Lily didn’t need her to finish what she was saying. She knew exactly how the story ended.

“Listen to me. I will do everything in my power to stop that happening to you again. What they did isn’t even about you. It’s about their own sick need to feel powerful around women. If they were real men, they wouldn’t need to go around forcing themselves on women. You’re the innocent in all of this.”

She finally looked up, fixing Lily with bloodshot, blue eyes. “You, too. You’re innocent in this, too.”

Lily wasn’t so sure. Hadn’t it been her who had brought Rodriguez into Jess’ life? If she’d done as Monster had asked, and left the city, Jess wouldn’t be in this position now.

But Jess would be on her way to being sold to someone else,
she reminded herself,
and the other woman wouldn’t be free.

She hoped, at least, those other women were safe. Perhaps she wouldn’t be able to save everyone—even herself—but those few might go on to have happy lives.

Jess started crying again. “What do you think they’re going to do to us?” she asked between tears.

“I think they’ll continue to do everything they can to make themselves feel like self-important, powerful men, when in actual fact they’re no better than overgrown bullies. We just need to go along with them for the moment, until we can figure a way out of this.” She took Jess’ hand and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’ll kill if I have to. If the opportunity arises, this time I won’t even hesitate.”

Jess pressed her lips together and nodded. “Kill or be killed?”

“Sometimes that’s what it comes down to.”

Jess shuddered. “I feel so dirty—inside and out. Do you think it would be all right for me to take a shower?”

“I think that’s what they want, but of course. You do whatever it takes to make yourself feel better, okay? I’m going to take a look at what sort of outfits they’ve provided us with.”

The white décor theme followed into both the bedrooms and the bathroom. White marbled bathroom, white bed linen, white carpets and walls. It was like living in the middle of a snow storm.

Lily shut the bathroom door to allow Jess some privacy, and within seconds she heard the thunder of the shower. She was worried about the other woman’s state of mind, and hoped she wouldn’t do anything stupid. Perhaps she should have checked to see if there was anything sharp in the bathroom, but then she figured Rodriguez and his men would probably already have made sure of that. They would have been more worried about them using something sharp as a weapon against them rather than against themselves.

Lily crossed the room to the large—unsurprisingly white—closet in the corner. She pulled open the door and surveyed the selection of clothing with a sigh. It was exactly as she’d been expecting. Every item was designed to highlight, reveal, and accentuate her figure. The dresses were all from slinky, clingy material, some long, some short, but all with plunging necklines and tiny straps, if they had straps at all. She guessed she should be glad they were at least in various colors. If they’d all been in white, she would have screamed.

Pushing the door shut again, she went to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer. She reached in and lifted up a handful of lacy, skimpy underwear. These clothes were here purely for the men’s benefit instead of to provide any kind of warmth or comfort to the wearer.

Lily contemplated refusing to wear the clothes, but the stench of death from shooting Cigarette Hands still clung to her shirt and jeans, and she was spotted in blood, though she couldn’t even be sure to whom it belonged. Though she hated the idea of dressing up to please Rodriguez, she also couldn’t stand the thought of living and sleeping in clothes covered in someone else’s blood.

With a sigh, she reached into the drawer and found panties that would cover her most, and selected a black bra she hoped would fit. There were a selection, but she couldn’t even be sure what size she was anymore. While she’d always been voluptuous in that area, she’d lost so much weight lately, she was sure some of it had come off her chest. Moving to the closet, she flicked through the numerous dresses. She wanted to find the plainest dress which would hide the most skin, but none of them would work. In the end, she selected a long, one-shouldered, silver dress. The body was corseted, with a split in the skirt which would reach right up her thigh.

From the bathroom, the thrumming of the shower came to a sudden end.

Lily waited for a moment, giving the other woman enough time to get out and wrap herself in a towel, and then went to the closed door and lightly tapped with her knuckles.

“Are you okay?”

No reply came, so she pushed open the door. Jess was standing in front of the mirror, an area in the steamy condensation cleared away so she could see her reflection. Tears streamed down her now clean face, but she didn’t take her eyes off herself as Lily walked in.

“Are you okay?” Lily asked again.

She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I barely recognize myself anymore. I don’t look like the same girl who was taken.”

Lily hesitated, wondering if she should ask, but then figured perhaps talking about things would make them both feel better. “How long ago were you taken?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. A couple of weeks, perhaps. Maybe a little longer.”

Jess was abducted after Lily had been sent to Monster. Perhaps, if the timelines had been any different, they might have even ended up in the container together.

“They took me, too,” Lily told her. “They kept me in the same place you were in before we found you on the plane.”

She tore her eyes from the mirror and looked to Lily. “How did you get away?”

“I didn’t, not really. I was sent away to the man who bought me. He made me come back to America, but I wanted to stay with him.”

Jess’ brow furrowed, her eyes narrowing. “You wanted to stay with a man who bought you?”

Lily nodded. “He was different. Not at first—at first I thought I’d be used for the same thing all these men try to use women for—but then it turned out he needed my skills for something else.”

“Is that the same man who was with you at the plane? The one who was shot?”

Pain punched her heart as she thought of Monster hurt. “Yes, that’s the same man. He has his faults, we all do, but he’s not all bad. The men who were working for him were also trying to help. They freed the other girls from the containers.” Lily sighed. “I guess what I’m trying to say is not all men are bad, and we can’t give up hope.”

Jess shivered. “It’s going to be a long time before I can trust anyone again.” She gave a small laugh. “If we ever get out of this place.”

“Come on,” Lily said, noticing the goose bumps on the other woman’s skin. “Let’s find you something to wear.”

She guided Jess into the other adjoining bedroom. It was decorated almost identically to the room she’d just been in, with the exception of a couple of different pictures hanging on the wall. “There should be underwear in the drawer,” she said, nodding to the dresser, and then went to the wardrobe to look for something for Jess to wear. Opening the doors, she noticed the dresses were all of a similar style to the ones in her wardrobe—all glamorous and figure hugging.

Jess’ voice came from behind her. “That one.”

Lily turned to see Jess standing in a set of black underwear, her arms wrapped around her body to cover herself as best she could.

Lily looked to where Jess had nodded. It was a black dress, with a knee-length skirt which had several layers of ruffles beneath to give it the style of a dress from the fifties. Lily took it out and handed it to Jess.

The other woman got dressed, and pulled a comb through her blonde hair, still damp from the shower.

“You look beautiful,” Lily said with a sad smile, and then immediately kicked herself. Perhaps that was completely the wrong thing to say. After all, they didn’t want to be beautiful here. They didn’t want to get any more attention than they already had.

“Are you going to be all right while I take a shower and dress as well?” she asked.

Jess turned to her and gave her the first smile she’d seen since they’d been taken. “Of course. We have to look presentable for our master.”

Lily wanted to throw a retort, to tell Jess Rodriguez wasn’t their master and never would be, but what was the point? Instead, she took her dress and the underwear she’d chosen into the bathroom.

Rodriguez’s dress. Rodriguez’s lingerie.

Maybe she hadn’t argued with Jess because the girl had been right.

For the moment, at least, Rodriguez was their master.