Charming Charly (English Edition) (Lords of Arr'Carthian 3) (18 page)

“You mean, fights are shown here?” asked Amano.

“Yes. Precisely. As the name suggests, the fighters use various combat techniques. Almost anything is permitted.”

“And females like things like this?” asked Kordan skeptically. “I mean, with males it’s in their blood, but females are much more sensitive and … Ow!”

Kordan looked at Lory, annoyed.

“More sensitive?” she asked, her eyebrow raised. “Should I kick you in the shin bone again? Or what about a free-flight down the staircase?”

With a swift movement of his arm, Kordan pulled Lory to him and kissed her hard. Charly grinned at Amano, who grinned back.
 

“May I just interrupt your little bit of close combat?” asked Charly.

Kordan and Lory let go of one another, grinning.
 

“OK guys. Follow me!”

They followed Lory down the steps to a heavily made-up older woman. She seemed to know Lory and directed them to four of the much-coveted seats in the front row.
 

“Wow! Front row,” Charly beamed.

The music stopped and a man with a headset stepped into the cage.
 

“Welcome, dear friends of the MMA, to our humble arena in the
Glass House
,” he greeted the audience that was applauding and cheering. “Today I have absolutely superb fighters for you again. First of all – a middleweight defending champion. Please welcome,
with me, the Underground MMA League champion. Here we have Jaaason, The Snaaake, Baaakerrrrr!”

The people cheered as the star entered the cage, dressed in a red cloak with the hood pulled right down over his face. He hopped lightly on the spot before standing still and removing his hood. The people roared as the good-looking blond man threw kisses into the crowd. Women were calling out unambiguous offers and Charly glanced at Amano, grinning.

“Is it normal here for all females to fight over a single male?” he asked.

She laughed.

“Yes, these MMA fighters really are popular with the women. A lot of them exploit it and take a different woman to bed every night.”

Amano and Kordan snorted.

“There’s not even a lot to this bloke.” Amano was surprised.

“This is middleweight. Wait till the heavyweights come.”

Chapter 12

“Do you think your things are still going to be there?” asked Amano as they got out of the taxi.

“I hope so,” replied Charly. “We need to go to Jim. He’s my landlord. I won’t be able to get into my flat anyway. I don’t have a key any more.”

They entered the dilapidated building and took the lift to the third floor, where her landlord lived. Loud music was coming
out of his apartment. Charly knocked on the door and they waited. But nothing happened.
 

“He won’t be able to hear my knocking over the music,” she said, sighing.

“Let me have a go,” said Amano, pounding on the door.
 

And indeed, a little later, the door opened. A blond woman with ruffled hair and smeared lipstick stood before them in a hastily pulled on dressing gown.
 

“Yes?” she asked, annoyed.

“I need to speak to Jim.”

The blond woman shrugged her shoulders and let them enter. Charly was glad that Amano was with her. She did not like Jim. He was an ass-hole.

They entered an untidy lounge and the blond woman offered them a seat, then she disappeared.

Charly looked at Amano who was smiling at her encouragingly. Soon Jim entered the room. He was only wearing boxer shorts and his widened pupils betrayed the fact that he had taken something.
 

“Well look who’s reappeared,” he said with a smarmy grin. His brown hair was sticking to his face and it looked as if he had not shaved for days. Charly turned her nose up.

“Hello, Jim.”

“Please sit down,” said Jim, throwing himself into an armchair. The blond woman climbed onto his lap and began playing with his hair and nibbling his neck.

Hesitantly, Charly sat down on the couch and Amano sat down next to her. She was glad that he took her hand and held it tightly in hers.
 

“So, what brings you here after such a long time? I thought you were dead or something. No one had seen you or heard from you.”

“I was in Mexico,” Charly lied. “I got married. This is my husband, Amano.”

Jim raised an eyebrow.

“Did you now? Interesting. And now you want your old flat, huh? You’re in luck – I haven’t rented it out again yet.”

“Well, actually, I just wanted to pick up a few things. I have the cash for the last few months’ rent.”

She took the money from her bag and passed it over the table to Jim.

“Excellent,” he said, nodding at Amano. “MMA fighter?”

Amano nodded.

“Where and when are you fighting? I’d like to see the way you use your fists. I bet you’re a real killer. Respect, ma…”

“We’re not here for that,” Charly interrupted. “Can you let us into the flat for an hour or two? After that we’ll be gone. Forever.”

“OK,” said Jim, putting the money into a box on the table beside him. He gave the blond woman a slap on her bottom. “Off you go, sweetie. I need to do something. Go back to bed and warm yourself up. I’ll be right back.”

Blondie got off his lap, glancing seductively at Amano, which made Charly’s blood boil, then she walked out of the room, wiggling her bottom.

Charly closed the door behind them and looked at Amano apologetically.
 

“I’m afraid it’s not the greatest of rooms and I didn’t tidy up. I …”

“Charly,” Amano interrupted her and pulled her into his arms. “We’re not here to discuss your accommodation and I can tell you that if I didn’t have servants then my place would look a lot worse than this.” He pointed at the room.

“Umm, OK. Well, I’ll get my things together.” She picked up a few clothes that were strewn over the sofa. “Take a seat.”

“Can I help you at all?”

She shook her head. Then she gave him a kiss and disappeared into the bathroom with her clothes that she threw into the laundry basket.

***

Jim leaved through his telephone book until he found the number he was looking for, then he dialed and waited.

“Yes,” sounded a gruff voice.

“Steven, it’s Jim here. You know, your little sister’s landlord.”

“Yes, I know who you are,” replied Steven coolly. “What do you want? Don’t tell me my sister’s turned up after all these months.”

Jim put his legs up on the table and grinned.

“Yes, Stevie. She’s here. I mean, right now she’s up in her flat.”

“Don’t call me Stevie!” came Steven’s threatening voice.

“Of course, man. Sorry.”

“So, she really is there again, yeah? I’m coming straight over.”

“Err, Steven? There’s something else,” said Jim.

“Spit it out!”

“She’s not alone. There’s a guy with her. She’s says it’s her husband.”

“What?” Steven shouted in disbelief. “Charly’s got a husband? That little slut. Well, I don’t care. I’ll deal with him. Must be quite a loser, eh?”

“Umm, well to be honest, Steven … the bloke’s … he’s quite big and broad. MMA fighter. Doesn’t look like someone that you should confront unarmed. No shit, man. He’s a crushing machine. Muscles like Hercules, and damn tall, too.”

“Fuck, the little slut. OK, thanks for the warning. I’ll bring a few people with me and my gun.”

“Don’t forget my modest little reward,” said Jim, grinning.

“You’ll get your money.”

***

Charly threw her favorite jeans into the suitcase and rummaged through her underwear to look for her safe key. She kept her mother’s things in the safe. Suddenly there was a loud noise, as if someone had kicked down the door and she heard muffled shots. She thought her heart was going to stop beating.
 

“Amano!” she screamed in shock, running from the bedroom.

Amano lay streaming with blood and motionless on the couch. A scream came from her lips.
 

“Hello, little sister,” a voice made her fall silent.

An ice-cold shudder ran down her back and she looked up slowly. Steven was standing with the weapon in his hand, flanked by two of his bodyguards, not five steps away from her. At a nod from Steven one of the men left his side and went towards her.
 

“What have you done?” she said, horror-stricken. “You … you’ve ki…”

“Sorry, little sister, but he had something that belongs to me – you.”

“You bastard!” she shouted and was about to charge at him, but a violent pain exploded at the back of her head and her world turned black.

***

Charly woke up with a terrible pain in her head. She groaned and opened her eyes. The blood seemed to freeze in her arteries when she saw where she was. Her worst nightmare had come true. And this time it was not a dream, that much was confirmed by the throbbing pain in her head. She was in the exact place where she had spent the worst three months of her life. It did not take her long to work out that the same chain was tying her to the same pipe as back then.

“No,” she whispered. “Oh God, please no!”

“I don’t think God’s going to help you, sister darling,” sounded Steven’s voice. “And your
husband
won’t be turning up here either. Unless he rises from the dead.”

Charly turned her head and saw her brother standing in the corner, leaning against the wall. His grin and the cruel expression in his green eyes sent an ice-cold shudder through her body. Slowly it entered her consciousness – Amano was dead. Tears began to pour from her eyes and down her cheeks. She had lost the man that meant everything to her. He was dead and she was to blame. If they had not gone to her damn flat he would still be alive. Her heart was hurting so much that it felt as if someone had clasped it in a vice.

Her brother was laughing.
 

“She’s crying! The little slut’s crying,” he said.

“Why?” she sobbed. “Why did you do that? Why couldn’t you leave me alone at last? Haven’t you done enough already?”

“You could have spared yourself all this back then – if you had just not been so stuck-up. All you needed to do was work for me. After all, families look after one another.”

Charly laughed cheerlessly.
 

“You don’t know the meaning of the word family. A normal brother does not demand that his sister prostitutes herself for him!”

“You’d have earned a lot. And Sam would have looked after you.”

“SAM!” she spat at him. “Your dear friend is a perverse, sadistic ass-hole!”

“He’d have treated you better if you’d have become his wife, as planned. I’m afraid the fact that you spat in his face did not exactly bring out his best side. But he’s forgiven you now. He wants to give you another chance.”

“What?” Charly cried in horror. “You’re … you’re not serious?”

“I don’t think you deserve a second chance, either, but Sam’s said that he still wants you. He’s here.”

Fear spread through her insides and she began to tremble. He was here? The man who had turned her life into hell on earth?

“Sam!” called her brother. “You can come in now.”

The door opened and a tall, good-looking man in his mid-thirties entered the room. His blond hair was cut short, his grey-blue suit sat perfectly and emphasized his broad shoulders and narrow hips particularly well. Sam Broker was a man who had women falling at his feet. At least, as long as they did not know what hid behind the well-groomed façade. That’s how they got hold of the girls for Steven’s brothel. Sam turned their heads and made them dependent on him, then he forced them into prostitution. Whoever did not obey, disappeared. Forever. Charly guessed that she was not the first, nor the last woman that had suffered and bled in this cellar. How many women had he tortured to death here?
 

“Charly,” he said and his cold grey eyes looked at her disrespectfully.
“What a surprise.”

He came closer and grabbed her by the hair. With a painful yank he pulled her to her feet and she screamed.

“I must say I was a bit angry when I heard that you’d … got married. I was even angrier with your brother because he didn’t tell me straight away. It should have been my privilege to kill your so-called
husband
.
And I would not have done it as damn quickly as Steven did. I’d have taken my time and given you the opportunity of watching. Better still, I could have tortured him by having sex with you in front of him.
 
Do you think it would have made him angry to see you getting it on with me?”

“I would never get it on with you,” said Charly bitterly. “You have the strength to rape me, but I would never get it on with you – two are needed for that. Rape will be the only thing that you ever do with me!”

The thump came so quickly that she had no time to prepare herself for it. Her head was thrown so violently to the side that she felt as if her neck was going to break. She could taste blood and realised that a few teeth had come loose. Tears were burning her eyes.