Owned by the Dom: Part Two (The Owners) (6 page)

The door opened
, and the girl who served her dinner came inside. Prue saw the man waiting outside. He openly stared at her. The girl looked more frightened than normal. She called her a girl, but she had to be in her early twenties.

“Morning or is it afternoon?” Prue asked. Like so many times before the girl didn’t answer. “Should I ask you what time it is or what fucking day it is?” She stared at the guy waiting for the girl to finish.

Her dinner at the table, Prue approached. The girl looked up startled, and she saw the shiner under her left eye. From the looks of it, the girl had been either punched or slapped hard in the eye.

Wincing, Prue reached out
, touching her. The girl yelped jumping backwards. Prue’s bruises had lessened, and the ache they used to cause was gone.

“Release her,” the man said. He walked into the room and grabbed the girl harshly by the arm
, pulling her backwards.

“Let her go.” Prue charged at the man. She hated him instantly.

Before she could do anything the door was closed and locked. No sounds came through the door. Her heart pounded inside her chest.

“You fucking cruel bastards. Keep your hands off her.” She slammed her
palm against the wood, wishing with all of her heart it was the man’s face. The food on the table held no appeal.

Growling with frustration
, Prue paced the room. She wished with all of her heart she was back on the boat. Charging into the bathroom she stared at her reflection in the mirror. The bruises against the side of her face were slowly fading. They looked worse than they actually felt.

She took a deep breath. “I’m
Prudence Star. I’m twenty-five years old, and I’m in love with James Castleden. I’ve got an older sister, Veronica, and she’s married with children. I used to work for Cadeon Ashwood but then worked for James at his club Ravage.” She closed her eyes as tears began to fall. Being alone in the room was driving her crazy. Standing in front of the mirror staring at her reflection and speaking the facts of her life helped her to focus and remember who she was. “Ravage is a night club that has a BDSM club in the basement or the dungeon. James is an experienced Dom and a member of Possession.” She sobbed the words now. “Possession is a club for men who feel possessive about their women.” Rubbing her temple she let another sob break free.

Staring at her reflection she watched the tears begin to fall.
“James is known as being an Owner. He will come and get me. He will come and get me.”

“You’ve resorted to talking to yourself in the mirror?”

Prue turned to see Daren leaning against the doorframe. She folded her arms taking an involuntary step back. He chuckled.

“What do you want?”

“I thought you’d miss me.”

She stared at him refusing to say a word.

“You’ve upset Cindy.”

When she didn’t say anything else Daren chuckled. “Cindy is the girl who has been delivering your food. You shouldn’t try
to talk to them. The women here are … not useful.”

Folding her arms over her chest, Prue glared at him.

“What do you want?” she asked after some time had passed.

“I want a great many things
, but the boss wants to see you now. You’ve caused enough fuss for him to want to meet the woman James Castleden wants.”

James has nothing to do with these people. They’re scaring you into thinking they know him for far more.

When she showed no signs of moving, Daren grabbed her arm then pulled her out of the room. The guy at the door sneered at her as she passed. Prue followed Daren’s rushed steps. He tugged her down three flights of stairs then through three rooms until she was pushed into a dining room.

Daren pulled her until she stood at the side. Three men were eating at the table. The man at the head of the table had slicked back hair that looked greasy to her. He stared at her. His gaze was cold as he looked at her.

“She’s old,” he said.

I’m twenty-fucking-five, you pig.

Prue held her tongue even though she wanted to scratch his eyes out.

The other two men leered at her. “I’m not one for young bitches. I’m happy with a nice
, willing one. I bet her cunt has been tested a time or two.”

The man who spoke disgusted her.

“She’s not for sale,” Daren said. “This is James’s girl.”

“You’re the one that has my Cindy in hysterics.”

Glaring at the man before her, Prue couldn’t hold her tongue. “You’re the disgusting excuse of a man that gave her that shiner? No wonder you needed to hit her. You’re a poor excuse for a man.”

The silence following her words was deafening. The other two men looked at her as if she was some kind of alien.

They’ve not had a woman speak out at them.

Be careful, Prue.

The man at the table looked at Daren. After a sigh Daren raised his hand and slapped her hard. She fell to the floor clutching her cheek. Prue was determined not to whimper or cry out. These men were animals, and she needed to stay strong.

James is coming for me. Hold on until James
comes.

“I know you’re not accustomed to our ways, Prudence
, but you’ll fucking learn to do as you’re told, or there will be consequences. I have no problems killing you or giving you to a few of my business associates.”

He flicked his hand at her.
Daren pulled her by the arm leading her upstairs.

Neither of them spoke as he closed the door behind him.
Holding her face, she stared at him in the room she’d been staying.

He moved closer
, and she took a step back. Daren kept advancing in the room until she fell to the bed. He held her hand away from her face turning her this way and that. “You won’t bruise.”

Releasing her, he stalked to the door.

“Why are you even pretending to care? What is with you checking me after you hit me?” she asked.

With his hands in his pockets, Daren turned to face her. “Regardless of what you think
, I don’t like hitting women. Yes, I’ve hurt you, but now that James is working on getting it, I don’t see a need to continue hurting you. You hurt Henry’s pride down there. If you want to get back home then I suggest you hold your tongue.”

Daren left her slamming the door behind him. She watched him go feeling confused. He didn’t like hitting women? Daren was the one responsible for her bruises.

It was a trick. Daren was giving her a false sense of comfort. He worked for Henry, no one else.

She curled up on the bed. Cindy came to take her food. The woman glanced at her as she lay on the bed. The bruise on the other woman’s face had turned into a split lip.

“Thank you for bringing me food, Cindy,” she said.

The girl gasped and quickly left the room.
Wrapping the blankets around her, Prue thought about James. She wondered what he was doing.

You need to stay strong. Don’t give in to their demands or what they threaten.

Tears leaked out of her eyes, but she didn’t sob or cry out. No matter how much she wished differently, Prue needed to resign herself to her fate.

The hours passed as she lay on the bed. She didn’t know what time it was when the door opened.

Henry, the man from the head of the table, stood staring at her.

She wanted to run away and hide. Instead, Prue lay there on the bed pretending his presence didn’t have any effect on her whatsoever.
He looked shocked by her lack of response.

He closed the door then made his way over to the bed. She resisted moving away as he sat down.

“You’re a lot different from other women,” he said.

“Why? Because I’m American
, or because I refuse to be scared of you?”

He chuckled. “You’re scared of me. I see it in your eyes. That doesn’t matter to me. Continue to be afraid.” Henry reached out to stroke her face.

Prue tensed. His touch repulsed her. The slicked back hair really made her feel sick to her stomach. Everything else about him sickened her. His arms were covered in tattoos, and those very arms were thick. She guessed he’d killed people with his bare hands.

“Don’t touch me,” she said.

Henry chuckled and still caressed her cheek. She grabbed his hands stalling his movements.

“I belong to James. Everything I am is his.”

“Do you really think that means anything here? You’re staying in my house, eating my food, and I demand payment.” He pulled his hand away then made to touch her more intimately.

Prue jerked away pulling herself out of the bed. “You can think I owe you for that shit
, but I’d rather scrub your fucking floors than have you touch me.”

She tensed waiting for him to hit her.

He raised his palm to strike her. Before she could stop herself she broke the distance between them. Grabbing his face between her palms she glared at him. “If you think to harm me then do so, but I don’t think Daren has told you the consequences of doing so. James Castleden is not just a rich, pampered boy. He likes nice things, and he’s strong. I belong to him. Daren took his token that I wore around my neck. If you harm me then James will kill you.”

Henry chuckled. “Little girl, I’ve got far more dangerous weapons than money.”

“Laugh, but he’s part of The Owners, and they have power in high places. If you really think it will be easy to get away with what you’ve done, then go ahead. Hit me. Do your worst, but I swear, you’ll live to regret doing what you’ve done. You heard of Dominic Green? Lloyd and Eugene Black? Think about what happened to them. They went against The Owners and threatened their women. One is rotting in jail while the others are rotting in their graves.”

James had told her everything about the men who’d tried to take everything away. She didn’t know how much she was saying was true. James was a powerful man
, and he was the type of man to get everything at his disposal to get back what was his.

You’re his woman
, and he will come and get you.

Henry growled then left the room.

Prue wasn’t under any illusions that she’d won anything. In fact, she’d probably just caused herself more of a problem.

She resisted the urge to beg for James to come and get her.

For the past week James had done nothing but listen to what Josiah and Hubert had to say. They had a shit-load of evidence already but nothing concrete that could take Henry out of the equation for life. If they acted too quickly then they risked Prudence’s life. James had told them that no matter what they didn’t put her life at risk. The file his father had kept in his safe had been the file that should have gone to the Feds.

His father never got the chance to tell him what he’d planned to do.
James was still in shock by the fact his father knew what was happening inside their own clubs.

Hubert explained that they felt his and Stephen’s parents’ deaths were no accident. Exhuming the bodies now wouldn’t do anything but raise suspicion. They didn’t know how far Henry’s influence ran.

All of them had been staying at Possession working out the best course of action. Daren hadn’t called, and that worried James. He’d not heard Prudence’s voice. The one single photograph on his phone was all he had to go on to know she was all right.

Kevin and Tate were accessing security cameras from
England. It was amazing what CCTV could do for people like them. With the right code, they could hack into the system or in their case, ask for permission from the force to see if they could find footage of Daren.

Rebecca sat next to him as all of them went about their business organising the trip that would get his woman back.

“Are you missing her?” Rebecca asked.

He turned to her
, shocked she’d spoken to him. “What?”

“Prudence? Are you missing her?”

James nodded. Voicing his feelings was harder than anything he’d ever anticipated. Her gaze remained on Tate and Kevin. Both men were trawling footage or trying to find something that would help them locate Prudence without having to give evidence away. Dane sat with the two agents going through everything he knew about Dominic Green and the organisation he used to work for. Mary had left the hospital but tried to stay as far away from Dane as possible. James had witnessed the interaction between the two. Part of him hurt for the guy while another part of him felt Dane deserved the treatment he was getting.

“I miss her,”
James said. He was dying without her. Every waking moment his thoughts were possessed by her.

He pressed the glass filled with whisky to his lips and took a long
, leisurely swallow. Coffee held little appeal to him, and he needed the numbing quality of alcohol.

“Lloyd was never like this. He didn’t care who he passed me around to.” Rebecca had been married to Lloyd Black, who use
d to work with Dominic Green, and Dominic was a criminal who used to sell women and girls. James finished the whisky then placed his glass on the table.