Her stomach churned.
Jonathan moved to her father’s desk, grabbing a leather briefcase. Unfastening it, he removed a stack of paper.
“Sign this contract tonight, sell the boys to me, and I’ll leave here right now.”
The gravity of his words pulsed into her core.
Her hands shook as she approached the papers. If she gave Jonathan the brothers, they were as good as dead. Adria knew it deep in her soul.
Just like she knew—she was dead if shedidn’t.
She thought of Eric and Loretta. She knew what they would say. Except they hadn’t lived the life she had. They didn’t know what it was like to live every day, afraid of becoming the person you hated the most.
She took a breath. “Like I said, I have another buyer.”
She had protected them earlier today, and she would do the same now.
“That is unfortunate,” Jonathan said, removing his belt.
She thought about screaming again. But what would that do? She didn’t need Eric or anyone else hurt because of her choices.
Jonathan unzipped his pants, pulling out his impressive cock. It was unfortunate that someone so cruel should have been blessed with an appendage like that.
If there was a God, Jonathan would have been born with a shriveled raisin, but instead he was born with that.
He pressed down on her shoulders. Pain shot throughher knees as she dropped to the floor, and her mouth opened without prompting.
She choked on his first thrust. There was no gentleness in his movements. He didn’t allow her to adjust as he jack hammered mercilessly into her mouth. Gripping the back of her head, he forced himself deeper as she gagged and choked around him.
Her hands stayed behind her back, and eventually her mind drifted. It was a trick she had learned.
She didn’t have to be here.
After a moment, her head was tossed backward and his penis removed.
Adria moved as she had been trained to. Taking off her clothes, she positioned her naked body across the armrests of the couch.
How many times had she done this as a child, as an adolescent?
Fear clawed at her insides, but Adria fought to keep it at bay.
The fire crackled near her, and she concentrated on its heat. Imagined the warm glow touching her skin, lending her its power. His hand rained down a flurry of smacks. He repeated over and over what a dirty, bad, little girl she was, but his voice was distant as she disappeared into the crackling flame.
Silence and the lack of pain brought her back to her body.
“This is boring,” his cold voice said from behind her.
Adria didn’t understand.
A brutal grip seized the back of her neck, wrenching her off the couch like a rag doll.
The world spun.
Before she could brace herself, Jonathan threw her to the ground.
Pain lanced up her spine, but there was no time toprocess it—his hand shot out, wrapping around her throat with the unyielding force of a vice.
He squeezed.
