Dove Read online

  I frowned up at him. “So why do we have to leave?” My voice was begging him, along with my eyes.

  “You’re moving on.”

  He wasn’t making sense and my frown hardened. “Where to? Are you coming with us?”

  His tongue clicked and he shook his head, suddenly mad with me as his lips sank behind his teeth. “No, Dove. Stop acting like a child.”

  He spun around and grabbed the bag from the table. “Where’s Ren?”

  I stared at him. It was foolish, but I was hurt. This man, when all was said and done, had turned me into a prostitute, yet in his own way he had looked after me and my sister. He had bought her antibiotics and saved her life. He had fed us, clothed us. He had treated Ren as the little girl she was. And now he had grown bored with us, we were no longer needed.

  Lowering my eyes to the floor, I forced out a whisper, “Where are we going?”

  When Oliver paused, I knew. I knew, and my stomach sank. My mouth dried and I had to bite my lip to stop the tears from puddling.

  “My boss…” He didn’t finish his sentence. He squeezed his eyes closed, and hissing through his teeth as if he was in pain, he stormed past me and shouted Ren down. When I heard the front door open, I knew we were expected to meet him in the car.

  “Dove, what’s going on?” Ren’s little voice made my skull vibrate. Closing my eyes, I forced back the tears and fisted my hands before I mustered a smile and turned to her.

  “We’re going on a new adventure, baby.”

  She looked at me sceptically but when I urged my smile to go wider she smiled with me. “Really?” At ten years old, any adventure was a great thing. Ren trusted me with every part of her so she would accept anything I asked of her.

  But as I led her to the car, I prayed to a God that never listened that I wouldn’t be breaking her trust. Again.

  As soon as Oliver pulled up to some huge gates that surrounded the most enormous house I had ever seen, I knew I wouldn’t be leaving this place with any of my soul intact. It was both beautiful and sinister. Inviting and harsh. Yet it was the cold sensation that oozed from Oliver as the gates slowly opened to welcome us that made me aware of the darkness that dwelled inside such a stunning façade.

  Oliver didn’t speak as he exited the car and we followed him into our new home. Ren’s damp hand clung to mine, her fear physically pouring into me through the trembling hold she broke every fraction of my soul with. I knew she sensed the evil lurking within the luxurious place as much as I did but she remained quiet, her silent courage making my heart weep.

  As much as I wanted to take her in my arms and flee, to take her away from what was to come, I also knew that to run was no longer an option. The next beat of my own heart was only guaranteed by each step forward I took. I no longer belonged to myself, my choices no more mine than they were God’s. I belonged to the man who owned this house now. And there was nothing I could do to alter that horrific reality. In all aspects, my life had been traded so my beautiful sister’s could flourish.

  And I would hang on to every thread so she could flourish. So she could grow into the astounding woman I knew she would one day become.

  Her life would be the continuation of my own when God finally granted me a reprieve and took me away from all the anger and hatred. When my soul could finally rest.

  The many hallways Oliver led us through were luxurious. Marble floors, huge columns, and heavy fabrics heralded the chilling walk toward the rest of my life.

  My body tensed when a set of large double doors were guarded by two massive men in black suits. Their stares were as evil as the atmosphere, their mocking gazes raking over Ren and me like we were going to be their next meal.

  Ren’s hand tightened in mine and I gave her a squeeze of encouragement when one of the men turned and opened the door. It slowly swung open, displaying a portion of a room that appeared to be a bedroom. My heart fluttered as my throat tightened.

  Oliver beckoned us inside, his expressionless face making me angry. How could he just discard us as though we were rubbish? I’d done everything he’d asked of me for the last eight months, and now he was bored we were to be passed on like second-hand goods.

  The room turned out to be the biggest bedroom I had ever seen. The high ceiling was covered by masses of detailed murals, the floor to ceiling windows adorned with complementary curtains, and when I stepped inside, my heels sank into the depth of the softest carpet I’d ever stood on.

  A man was standing with his back to us, the width of his broad shoulders the first thing my eyes set upon. His short blond hair was spiked on his head, and I could tell by the fit of his suit that he hadn’t purchased it from a store; the unique style was made specifically for him.

  When he turned, the cold severe blue of his eyes sent a trickle of fear racing through my veins. Oliver tensed beside me, his body as rigid as the other man’s.

  Slowly, his eyes slid down the length of me and a small smile transformed his stern stare. “Well, how lovely to finally meet you, Dove.” The appreciation in his eyes was soft, almost comforting, but I knew from the sudden drop of temperature in the room that this man had a façade that went much deeper than the house.

  Suddenly, making me jump, he clicked his fingers and two women appeared from nowhere. They were both tall, and both were dressed immaculately, their make-up fixed as professionally as the style of their hair. They both gave me huge smiles, their excitement a strange contrast to the friction in the room. They charged over to Ren, bending to her level.

  “Hello, Serenity. Viktor told us you were coming.” The girl with the most gorgeous red hair fussed over Ren like she’d never seen a child before. “Come and see your room. You’ll love it! Your wardrobe is full of pretty dresses, and just wait until you see the toy box Viktor bought you.”

  Ren looked up at me, both eager and scared to go but I nodded quickly. “It’s okay, baby. I’ll be along in a minute.”

  She grinned excitedly, her relief to escape the room making her take the girls’ hands.

  “She’ll be fine with us,” the dark-skinned girl offered with a genuine smile, and I nodded my thanks. She then turned to the blond man and dipped her head reverently. “Viktor?”

  “You may go, Chrissy.”

  She smiled, gave a quick nod then led Ren from the room with the redhead.

  Silence once again descended when the door shut behind them, but Oliver was now practically trembling before me. I wanted to take his hand and comfort him but I also knew that anything I did now would set my fate. So I remained still.

  Until Viktor, in the blink of an eye, stepped forwards and slit Oliver’s throat. Right in front of me.

  My eyes fixed on the deep slash as blood poured like a ferocious waterfall down the front of Oliver’s chest, the deep red sticky substance flowing over his pristine white shirt like a scene from a horror movie. His eyes were as wide as mine, his mouth as round as mine, but he couldn’t scream. My own piercing shriek punctured the evil in the air around us and seemed to ignite the oxygen in the atmosphere as a pure rush of heat burst over my skin.

  I dropped to my knees the same time as Oliver did, the same sound coming from my throat as Oliver’s. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t breathe, and when the world tipped before me, Viktor gently bent down and scooped me into his arms just before the world went black.

  When I opened my eyes, Viktor gave me a warm, gentle smile. “You’re quite the delicate creature, aren’t you?”

  I frowned, only just noticing his accent. His looks were as Russian as his drawl.

  He sighed then pushed himself up from the chair he was sitting in. I dared not move, my breathing struggling with the fear that rode my system as he strolled towards the bed I was laid upon. It was soft underneath but my rigid body couldn’t value that fact.

  Very slowly, as if he was scared of frightening me, he lowered himself onto the mattress beside me. “Oliver betrayed me, Dove. You weren’t his possession to keep.” His eyes held mine as he
attempted to explain the horrific nightmare he’d plunged me into. “But because he rectified his stupid mistake I was generous with his death.”

  Generous? Fucking generous?

  I was suddenly angry. As much as Oliver had been the one to drown me in this life, he had cared for Ren and me in his own way. He’d fed us, clothed us, and although he’d used my body for his own pleasure, he’d never once mentioned this man who sat beside me. I realised why right then. Oliver, for some reason, had tried to protect me. And in the end it had cost him his life.

  “How can you call murdering someone like that generous?” I spat with a heat I had never felt inside me before. “How could you just kill him like that? Oliver did nothing wrong apart from try to keep me safe! He cared for me…” I snapped upright, pushing at Viktor’s chest in anger. “He cared for Ren! He fed us, he…”

  My rage rapidly turned to fear when Viktor snatched at my throat, his long fingers cutting off the supply to my lungs as his grip on my neck became so tight my vision swam. I was forced backwards on the bed, the back of my head squashing into the deep, luxurious pillow as Viktor dropped over me. His previous soft gaze was now overpowered by a severe sneer. “Oliver didn’t own you,” he hissed, his spit hitting me in the face and making me blink. “I do!”

  I didn’t have the courage to even whimper when Viktor flipped me over like I weighed nothing. His large hand pressed against the back of my head as he forced my face into the depth of the pillow.

  I squirmed when I felt him lift the back of my dress and pull at my knickers. But when he forced himself inside me, I pressed my own face deeper into the pillow and prayed that the soft feathers seized my last breath.

  Present Day

  DOVE REMAINED CURLEd on her side with her back to me. A calm silence spewed from her and the sounds of our own breathing wailed loudly in the eerie quietness.

  I wanted to hold her more than I’d wanted anything in my life. But I’d never been a courageous man. And that had always been the problem. I had never fought when I should have, especially for what I knew had changed everything around me, altered the course that my life should have taken.

  Instead, I reached out and gently stroked my fingers along the length of her arm, her pale skin bursting with goosebumps at the light touch.

  “He raped you. I understand why you wanted him dead, Dove.”

  Her snort made me jump, the contempt in it making the beat of my heart thump even harder against my ribs.

  “Viktor didn’t rape me.”

  I frowned, confused by her statement. “But, you just said…”

  “I never said he raped me, Flick.” Slowly she turned, her tired eyes locking onto mine in the darkness of the room. “Viktor fucked me, and I let him.” She shrugged as though what she had told me was nothing. As though she had recited a fucking Grimm’s fairy-tale.

  “What Viktor did to you was assault, Dove. He raped you. However you want to look at it, he took something you weren’t willing to give.”

  She half-laughed, the exhaustion in her eyes making my heart want to break from my chest and force her own to beat harder. “They all take something I haven’t got to give, Flick,” she whispered.

  Her long waves sprawled over the crisp, cotton bedding, her amazing grey eyes twinkled with the pouring of moonlight through the window, and her soft full lips glistened with a layer of moisture. And right in that moment I saw the scared kid that had once had to fight to keep her sister safe. And I understood. But that didn’t heal the break she had left behind when she left that winter’s night ten years ago.

  I wanted nothing more than to go back to that time, the time when I had held her in my arms and told her I loved her for the first time. I wanted to go back and hold her harder, to tell her to stay, to take my hand and allow me to keep her safe. Yet that was impossible. Life was a journey of choices, of single decisions that lead us along the paths only we ourselves can walk on. Whether they were the right choices or not, still made it life. We just had to learn to take a different path the next time we came across the same route.

  “I’m so sorry, Flick,” she suddenly whispered.

  My gaze slid back to her face with the utter grief in her declaration. A single tear rolled down the edge of her cheek and fell into the depths of her thick hair. My throat hurt but I gave her a small nod. “We do what we have to when we fall in love,” I whispered back.

  The solitary tear was joined by more, until a river of sorrow poured from her. “I loved you so much,” she said as she shifted across the space between us. “Your heart was too big for mine, Flick. I would have broken it, and the devastation to both of us would have been too horrendous to ever come back from.”

  Her arms slid around my neck and she rested her head on my shoulder, her backside moulding into my lap like she had been created to fit alongside me. Our bodies were tailored to sit side by side, the perfection of hers nestling against the curves of my own with absolute perfection as I enveloped her in the cocoon of my arms.

  “The devastation when you left has never shown me any peace.”

  My honesty made her tighten her embrace, as though holding me tighter would alleviate the many years of torment my soul had been punished with. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated.

  “I know. Me too. So very much.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for, Flick. It was all on me.”

  A deep sigh rumbled from me. Bittersweet wasn’t as sweet as it should have been. Having her in my arms once again forced my soul to dance with an excitement I hadn’t felt in such a long time, but it was too late now. We weren’t the kids we once were, and life had been cruel to both of us. The journeys we had taken had stripped us both of our innocence, and the guilt we both had would never allow us any rest.

  “It wasn’t all on you, Dove. We both know that.”

  She stiffened in my arms. The beat of her heart stopped against the frantic race of my own. She froze and I closed my eyes in anticipation when I heard her breath catch, but another silence came from the tension. A silence where we both waited for the other to exonerate each other’s guilt - a guilt we both knew would never be spoken about. It was her tale to tell, and I would be there to take the rage and the heartbreak when she finally decided to set it free.

  The room darkened when a cloud passed over the moon but I didn’t need light to feel her, to smell the unique scent that had always encompassed me whenever she had been near.

  Dove moved, leaning back so she was on her knees before me. A small amount of light reflected off her bracelet when she lifted her hand to my face and softly placed her palm against my cheek. I couldn’t help but press against her touch, needing to feel more of her. Needing to feel every part of her caress on my skin.

  “I came back for you.” She spoke quietly, hesitantly.

  Every fibre of me heard the heartache in her revelation. I snatched at her hand, my fingers curling around her wrist as the most intense emotion pounded at my soul. “What? When?” I stuttered “When? Dove?”

  “Just before Ren got sick. I missed you so much.” Her tiny voice pierced every single fraction of my mind, pain and hope rendering me mute as shock and anger took my ability to function. She smiled. “You looked happy,” she breathed, the tone of her voice exposing happiness and sadness. “You were laughing with a girl.”

  “Dove?”

  “She was pretty. She made you laugh. That was one of the things I missed the most,” she whispered. “Your laugh.”

  Lowering my eyes, I nodded. “Jessica.”

  “Jessica,” she repeated as though trying out the sound of her name. “She made you happy.”

  “Dove…”

  “Shh.” She pressed two fingers against my lips but it didn’t quieten the raging thud of my heart. “It’s okay, Flick. It’s okay. It gave me the finality I needed to let you go. To set you free. You deserved to be happy, and I could never give you that.”

  “You could have given me more than happiness, Dove!” I argued. �
�You know that!”

  She shook her head slowly then curled up on the bed, turning towards the window, once again tucking her hands under her cheek. “I didn’t kill Viktor,” she abruptly declared, changing the subject. “He wasn’t the man I murdered.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Viktor owned me, but he never did anything to hurt me.”

  “He raped you!” I shouted at her back. “How can you say that?”

  “Viktor gave Ren a life,” she said quietly. “And I will always owe him for that. He gave my sister a chance that I couldn’t give her back then.”

  “Then if it wasn’t him, who did you kill?”

  She paused. “His name was Felix.” She took a deep breath. “And he was Viktor’s brother.”

  Four years earlier

  I GRUNTED IN the right place. I gasped in the right place. I arched my back in the right moment. I whispered dirty words in the right places. And I faked one more orgasm at the right moment. It was all a well-rehearsed movie, my life. Day in, day out - smile, open my legs, and perform like the proficient whore I was.

  Mr Bennett released a hard groan and dropped his sweaty head to my shoulder. “One day,” he whispered, just as he always did, “I’m going to buy you from Viktor and take you as my own.”

  I nodded, as I always did. “He’ll kill you first.”

  He gave a long sigh and a sombre nod as he slid himself out of me, peeled off the condom, and threw it into the small bin in the corner of the room. He lit a cigarette, took a drag then passed it to me. “He can try.”

  I hid the small smile from him as I inhaled deep and appreciated the small kick of nicotine. They all promised so much, but when they closed the door behind them, I was forgotten until the next time my cunt squeezed the cum from their balls.

  I’d been in Viktor’s guardianship for four years. I will be honest, as long as I did as I was told, he treated me well and provided anything that Ren needed. Her fourteenth birthday was coming up and Viktor had arranged a surprise party for her. She never went without anything; clothes, food, luxuries, even her private education was all taken care of. I may have lost my soul along the way, but Ren had flourished into the prettiest, most caring teenager ever. She was happy, and that was all that mattered.