Tricked and traded, p.2
Tricked and Traded, page 2
The Judge laughed. “Yeah, you keep that fire—it’s much more real than those pathetic tears. You never were that girl. You certainly shouldn’t start now.”
Olivia couldn’t help agreeing. She wasn’t that girl. She’d never let this town see her cry, and that wasn’t going to change today. Three months—she could do this. Hell, she’d been through so much worse than this, a homeless kid in a strange town. But she always survived, and today was no different.
The gravel groaned under the tires as the car came to a stop just before the lake house. The brightly lit wraparound porch was only ten feet away and she saw them instantly, all four of them, standing with their arms crossed. With the way the light hit them, she couldn’t make out their faces, couldn’t pick Brody from the other equally large, well-built friends of his.
The Judge didn’t move. “Get out.”
Olivia’s throat tightened. “What will you tell my father when I don’t show up for court tomorrow?”
“Olivia, are you seriously asking me that question?”
“What do you mean?”
“You actually think your father doesn’t know where you’ll be tomorrow? You think he didn’t offer you up to save himself?”
And there it was, the pain in her chest that felt entirely familiar. Of course, her father knew exactly where she’d be and what she’d be doing, and better yet, he’d be the first one to call her a whore when all of this was over.
“You and my father can both rot.”
“Get out of the car, Olivia. Now. I’ll be back for you in three months. Until then, you’re under contract and if you run, if you tell anyone about any of this, your father isn’t the only one who will pay. Are we completely clear?”
Olivia nodded.
“No, you say it.”
“I understand. I won’t run. And I won’t tell anyone. But if you’re not back in three months, I’ll do whatever I have to do to get free of your family and this town, and I promise I’ll do a much better job of getting beyond your reach next time.”
“You go ahead and try.”
Olivia opened the car door and climbed out, slamming it behind her. She darted away as the Judge revved the engine and drove quickly back down the drive, leaving Olivia standing alone, staring up at four men, who were all glaring down at her.
Olivia said nothing, didn’t move, just waited for something to make sense. More than anything, she wondered whether she should run toward Brody—explain everything, confess her love for him—or run away from him. But she still couldn’t imagine Brody being the person she should fear.
One of the men turned to the others and said in a low voice, “Give me a few minutes, okay?”
The others nodded and moved away, opening the screen door and entering the lake house.
Only Brody remained, but his face was still in the shadows, even as he walked down the stairs and stood before her. With the light behind him, she still couldn’t see his eyes, even as she strained to do just that. But what she clearly saw hurt her heart. He now walked with a limp and each step down the stairs caused him pain. She didn’t understand and was afraid to ask. Still, nothing about this moment felt real—nothing made sense.
Brody was taller than she remembered and he was definitely wider now, a man not a boy anymore. And he was standing just a foot from her. Her body yearned for him, to lean into him, to feel his arms surround her. After her mom died, Brody was the only one who made her feel safe and loved. The truth suddenly hurt her more than anything—the last time Brody held her was the last time she felt safe.
Olivia saw his teeth as he smiled at her, but even in the darkness, she knew it wasn’t that light smile he’d always had. He looked cruel. “I can’t believe you actually fell for this.”
There it was, Brody’s voice filled with disgust.
“Fell for this?” she whispered, her heart pounding so loudly she thought he might hear it. “You’re surprised I didn’t want my father to die?”
“Your father never cared about you.”
“That’s true, but it doesn’t mean the opposite is true.”
Brody considered that for a second and then nodded, like she’d proved something he already believed. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“That you love so deeply the people who treat you like crap, and destroy the man who actually loved you.”
The edge in his voice, the rage, caused ripples of fear to cascade throughout her body, causing a trembling in her chest. “If you really hate me, why am I here?”
“You’re here because therapy didn’t work, drugs—both legal and illegal—didn’t work, drinking didn’t work, boxing didn’t work, triathlons didn’t work. Nothing I’ve done in five years has given me any peace about what happened, so we might as well try this.”
“And what exactly is this?”
“My last attempt to let you go—to get you and what you did to me out of my head.”
“I don’t understand, Brody… if we could just talk about this, about everything. There are things I want to say, things that might help…”
“No,” he blurted, the tension in his body causing him to shake. “You aren’t here to talk. The last thing I need in my life is to hear your side of the story. You said all you needed to say when you destroyed me and my future. Thanks, but no thanks.” Brody leaned into her space, allowing her to finally see his eyes.
She actually flinched from him in a way she wouldn’t have imagined possible. He saw it and he grabbed her arms, holding her close to him, forcing her to see his face.
“Let me tell you exactly what’s going to happen this summer and exactly why you’re here. You’re here because I want to watch my friends fuck you and spank you and make you scream as you climax over and over again. They are going to act out every porn fantasy they’ve ever had. They are going to use you in any way they want. And I’m going to watch every moment of it.”
“Why?” The word came out before she could stop it.
“Because I deserve a life that is free of you and after three months of watching you be defiled by my friends, I’m pretty sure I will finally be over you. If not, you’ll at least be beneath me, just another slut.” His jaw was so tight, it looked like his face might crack.
“Brody, I—”
“No, Olivia. No more words. If you say anything else to me right now, I’ll have my friends punish you. This is just the beginning, but we’ll see if we can make a dent in you before the summer’s over. Now take off your clothes.”
Olivia—he called her Olivia. Somehow, that seemed like the cruelest thing yet. She’d always been Livie, never Olivia to him. He’d said so much and still, nothing made sense about this moment.
But as he watched her very closely, having finally released his grip on her arms, she unbuttoned her shirt and slid it off her shoulders, allowing it to fall to the ground. Then she released the hooks on her bra, slipping the straps off and allowing it to join her shirt. She unbuttoned her pants and took them and her underwear down at the same time, stepping from them and the sandals she’d worn.
Olivia kept her eyes on Brody’s as he stared at her body, taking it in, from her face to her chest, to her stomach, to the triangle of hair covering her sex, to her legs, and then to her feet.
Because Olivia was watching him so closely, she caught the moment when uncertainty flashed in his dark eyes, as though his plans were already being challenged.
“Inside. Now. I’ve promised a twelve-pack to whoever gives you the most orgasms tonight. We better get started.”
Olivia felt her skin flush as she took a step toward the house. Brody didn’t join her and when she turned, she saw him lean down and pick up her clothes. Finally lit by the lights on the porch, Olivia saw just how much his face had changed, how much he’d grown into his boyish good looks. Now, with his brown eyes, incredibly long dark lashes, and that wide jaw, he looked like the perfect male model, with the exact right amount of brooding to be alluring.
When he looked up and caught her staring, he said, “I’ll give these back in three months. Now go.”
4
Completely naked, Olivia stepped gingerly until she reached the first step of the stairs where she brushed the pebbles from her feet. Then she climbed the cool wood steps, while her mind struggled to comprehend everything that had just happened and everything that was about to happen.
Olivia had watched some porn, but her actual life experiences weren’t porn-worthy at all—like not even on the same planet as actual porn. She’d never done anything remotely crazy in her sex life. No whips or handcuffs—she’d never even spent money on a sexy corset. The bra she’d just dropped on the driveway was plain cotton from a department store.
She’d never even considered being outnumbered by the men in her bed, so her sex résumé lacked a single ménage à trois. Consequently, her brain began to sizzle in a not-sexy—more like burning butter—way, at the thought of sleeping with three strange men, while the love of her life watched. The word defiled kept stomping around in her mind as she reached the top of the stairs and stood at the screen door.
Brody—her Brody—wanted to see her defiled.
At that, her mind simply abandoned any effort to make anything about any of this remotely understandable.
The pit in her stomach grew as her anxiety spiked, hearing the men laughing inside the house. Olivia flinched when she felt the fabric of Brody’s shirt against her back. He was so close and he smelled so good.
“Is there a problem?” he asked in a grumbly low voice.
She thought for a second about what mattered most in this moment, and the words she found surprised her. “Are you absolutely certain that you want this? You can still stop this… you could just let me go.”
For a long moment, Brody said nothing and she felt the movement of his chest as he took a few deep breaths. There was something naked and raw in his voice when he said, “I need this, Olivia. This is the last option I have.”
She nodded as tears welled in her eyes, and then she gripped the handle and pulled open the door, taking a step into the room. All laughter and conversation stopped immediately, as the three men inside the room froze, their eyes consuming her in an almost ravenous way.
Olivia allowed her vision to blur, looking past them, refusing to see their faces as they stared at her.
“Evan, you’re up,” Brody said from behind her.
One of the men, the biggest, burliest of them, walked toward her and looked down at her with piercing blue eyes. Everything about this man screamed danger. He was massive, clearly a bodybuilder of some sort. He wore a tight long-sleeved blue shirt, that gripped his muscles in an intimidating sort of way. His jeans were just as tight, showing that the muscles in his legs were just as strong.
Even before her time living on the streets, sleeping in her car, Olivia had met bad people, violent people, killers. One look at Evan’s rugged face and the coldness in his eyes, and she knew this man had killed. His brown hair was cut short and he looked like someone who’d been in the military, or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part, a way to make a killer seem like a hero.
Regardless, Olivia couldn’t stop her body from moving away from him, until she struck the hard surface of Brody’s body.
Brody did nothing to make Olivia feel any safer.
Evan nodded his head toward the guest bedroom, just off the main room. “Go in there.”
Fear spiked in her body. “Why? Why can’t we stay out here?” She turned to Brody. “I thought you wanted to watch, right?”
“I’ll watch everything I want to watch. For now, though, listen to Evan or you’ll be punished.”
Olivia didn’t move, except for her hands that formed fists as defiance and terror warred within her. She felt so stupid. She’d willingly come back to this town for her father, and Brody wasn’t wrong—her father didn’t give a shit about her. And now she was at the lake house on a massive property, where no one would hear her screams, where strange men could kill her if they wanted to. And what was protecting her—a piece of paper and the word of the most morally bankrupt man in the state.
Well, Brody and his special friends didn’t know Olivia, didn’t know what she’d been through in the past few years. And they didn’t know shit if they thought she was going to allow them to hurt her without a fight.
Just as she was about to throw a punch, Brody grabbed her wrists and pulled them behind her, causing her breasts to jut forward. Evan didn’t move, his eyes locked on Olivia, studying everything about her, but not in a sexual way, more like a scientist with his lab rat.
“Olivia.” Evan’s voice commanded her attention and she stared into his eyes. Her body continued to tremble while Brody held her in place. “Think this through. You’re in the middle of nowhere with the four of us. What do you think is going to happen behind that door that wouldn’t happen on this side of the door?”
Olivia swallowed roughly. “You’re all a bunch of sick fucks, aren’t you? I was blackmailed into this, not actually knowing what this was, and now you’re mocking my fear? You clearly don’t know the Judge very well, but I warn you, he will turn on you the same way he’s turned on everyone else. You think he doesn’t know who you are, who your families are, who you care about in this world? If you ever think about talking about what happens here, he’ll threaten everyone and everything you love. You’re all fools.”
“Maybe,” Evan said, “but it wouldn’t be the first time. Now get your ass in that room.”
Brody released her with a little shove toward the bedroom. Olivia remained where she was for a moment and then walked the few steps toward the room and then inside it. She flinched when she heard the door close behind her. She kept her back to Evan, while she studied the decor in the room. It hadn’t changed. So far, nothing she’d seen in the lake house had changed from when it was her favorite place in the world.
“Stand there, just like that,” Evan ordered.
Olivia obeyed, barely breathing as Evan stood behind her.
“Now, turn,” Evan said and Olivia turned toward him.
Olivia watched as Evan carefully inspected her entire body. He paused when he found the scar on her abdomen.
“The scar? What’s it from?”
“Why?”
Evan’s hard eyes met hers. “Answer the fucking question.”
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I got stabbed. What’s the deal? You don’t like scars?”
Evan let out an annoyed grunt, but did finally look at her with something other than a scowl. “Olivia, I’ve had quite a few jobs. One of them was a combat medic. The Judge wouldn’t approve and implement this plan unless I agreed to be here, to make sure things don’t go too far. I am very well acquainted with exactly how far the human body—any human body—can be pushed, which is why I need to know about your body.
“Look, I am under no illusion that the Judge actually gives a shit about your life, but he doesn’t want his grandson to be damaged by you, any more than he already has been. And accidentally killing you would not be good for Brody’s mental health, or for the rest of us, if you need emergency medical care. So, I’m here to find out if you have any health issues we need to worry about.”
For a long moment, Olivia simply stared. “I’m healthy. My knee sometimes bothers me, but I’m a runner, so that isn’t exactly uncommon and I can gut it out.” Olivia’s pulse began to race as she debated whether to share something more complicated.
“What?” Evan pressed.
“If anyone puts their hands around my neck, I will lose my shit and someone will need medical attention. I’m really serious. I lose it. Completely. I can’t…” Olivia’s throat seemed to close and she felt herself getting lightheaded. The idea, even the thought of any of these assholes putting their hands on her neck…
“Hey,” Evan said, his warm hand wrapping around her arm, holding her in place. “It’s fine. What else?”
Olivia shook her head. “That’s it… at least that’s all I can think of. I’m sure I’ll have a few things to add to that list by the end of this summer, but that’s all for now.”
“Okay. You were in the car for a while, so use the bathroom now. I’ll let the guys know about your neck.”
Olivia turned toward the bathroom.
“And Olivia, if you are hurt in a way that feels truly wrong—not just because you don’t like it—you need to ask for me, but I’ll be around for most of what they do to you and I’m planning to do quite a few things to you myself. As long as you don’t cry wolf, I’m going to listen if you need to tell me something.”
“So Evan is my safe word?”
“A woman like you doesn’t deserve a safe word, but I have my orders, so I guess my name will do. Meet us in the living room when you’re done, and don’t hide from this.”
“Oh, I’m not hiding. I’m counting the minutes until I’m free.”
5
Olivia used the bathroom and then stared at her reflection in the mirror. She studied her face, surprised that she looked exactly the same as she had this morning—maybe a little more tense than she’d been. But her blue eyes looked the same, though maybe more haunted. Her makeup still looked fairly perfect, her eyelashes thick and dark, her cheeks rosy. Her brown hair was still pulled back and still shined from a new product she’d found. Olivia still looked like a woman who’d carved a life out of nothing—strong, determined, intelligent, capable.
What would she look like tomorrow? What would her blue eyes show after her first of roughly ninety nights of debauchery? Would there be a difference? Would she even know herself when the summer ended?
Whiplash—that’s what she felt in this moment. So quickly, everything she’d built had fallen. A nagging thought caused her heart to ache. No one from her life in Oregon would miss her. Every friendship was superficial. The old couple, her landlords, had known she would be gone for a few months for interviews. Her mail was already forwarded and her bills were already paid. No one in her life would think to ask where she’d gone—no one would report her missing.
