“My father didn’t need to send you all the way out here just to spy on me, you know. I am capable of conducting my business without his prying on me at all times.” I sat down in the passenger’s seat of the car, letting the driver close the door behind me. “I’m a grown woman, I don’t need him breathing down my back.”

“Well excuse me for being worried about you.” Leah took her seat behind the wheel, closing the door behind her and quickly fastening her seatbelt. “He offered me the opportunity to, so I took it.”

“I appreciate your concern, but it really is none of your business how I am doing.” I groaned, pulling down the mirror and examining myself in it. “I do not need a babysitter.”

“I flew all the way out here just in time for you to arrive in Seattle, I’m not leaving.” Her seatbelt clicked into place, and she started adjusting the rear view mirror. “Besides, the rental car was really expensive.”

“I guess I’ll just get my own door then, huh?” Aria scoffed, slamming the door shut behind her as she climbed into the backseat. “You could have at least offered.”

Leah smirked, glancing back at Aria through the rear view mirror. “Sorry little mouse, I don’t open doors for slaves~”

“I am not a mouse!!” Aria growled, grinding her teeth at Leah. “And I am most certainly not a slave.”

“You might not be a slave, but you’re definitely going to shut up before I electrocute you to death.” I glared at Aria through my own mirror before slamming it shut. “I have a headache.”

“I’m sorry, if you have a headache I can get you an-”

“Just shut up, please.” I sighed loudly. “Both of you.”

There wasn’t a word from either of them for a good few moments after that, but Aria did silently pass me a pain pill for my head from the backseat, which I swallowed dry, not wanting to wait for a drink.

“You know, it can’t be any worse than lethal injections, my sister was killed by those.” Leah piped up after a few moments of silence, getting the car into gear and driving through the gates out of the airport as she teased Aria in the backseat. “Think less needle and more cattle prod, though~”

“You have a sister?” I didn’t really want to converse thanks to my headache, but I didn’t know this about Leah. “How did I not know this?”

“Because you would know if you were listening, I had a sister.” She smiled, not taking her eyes off the road. “I haven’t liked talking about her since she passed away, for the same reason that you don’t like talking about your mother.”

“Right…” I bit my lip, my heart sinking in my chest at the thought of my mother. “Sorry, I’m sure that it was hard for you.”

“It’s fine, I don’t even remember how many years it’s been.” She checked the side mirror before turning. “Look, I’m thirty-six and recently divorced, there’s not a lot that can get to me anymore.”

“Did you really get a divorce, Leah?” I grinned, giving her the side eye. “Last I heard, Ben was found dead in an alley.”

Leah returned the smirk, keeping her eyes on the road as she hummed to herself. “Divorced, widowed, same thing~”

“You’re thirty-six?!” Aria seemed disgusted by the revelation. “Did I have sex with a cougar?!”

“Hey, it’s not that old!!” Leah pouted, grumbling under her breath. “I’m still hot enough to score with Aria Fairmont anyways~”

“That’s like… almost my mother’s age.” Aria groaned. “Gross…”

“I… I’m only like ten years older than you…” Leah taunted her from the front seat. “You were the one calling me mama when we were in bed together~”

The two went on bickering for a little bit, but I just sat there gazing out the window. We had a long ways to go from the airport where we landed to where in town we actually needed to go, and I had gone ahead and booked a hotel near our destination, rather than near the airport. The further away from that place the less likely the hotel was to be full anyways.

My brother had taken Aria and I back to the airport first thing in the morning. A single two hour flight later, and Aria and I were in Seattle, with my brother unfortunately still on the plane back to Miasma.

But before we had gotten to the airport, Aria and I had shared quite an awkward morning after.

“So… last night happened, huh?”

And things were no less awkward when we got to our next hotel room.

“Yes, Aria. Last night happened.”

This new hotel room didn’t have two separate suites like the last one, it just had a single suite with two beds in it. “Leah… what is this?”

“It’s a hotel room?” Leah wasn’t sure what the problem was. “Is something wrong with it?”

I just glared at her, not a single sign of life in my face. “There’s only two beds.”

“Is that a problem?” Leah had already picked out which bed she was going to be staying in. “I thought you two were together?”

Of course she thinks we’re together. I sighed, shaking my head out of exasperation.

As if I would immediately rebound to Aria after losing Chloe, it wasn’t going to happen like that. I’m not that impulsive or stupid.

“Well maybe that’s something you should have confirmed before you assumed it… because unless she wants to sleep on the floor again, she’ll have to sleep with one of us.” I took a deep breath, trying to crack a smile, but not finding the energy necessary. “Or alternatively alternatively, we could have a three woman orgy, you and I have never had sex before~”

I was honestly kind of offended, to the point of gasping, when I saw Leah gagging at the idea. “Yeah, and we probably never will.”

I growled, honestly kind of jealous that Leah would opt to have sex with Aria, but not with me. “And why not? Am I just not good enough for you?”

“Don’t get me wrong, Candace. You’re hot and all, but-” Leah chuckled, shaking her head at the notion of it. “But you’re just too you.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” I could accept a simple no from her and be fine with that, but she was really pushing her luck. “What, is it because I’m not a real woman?”

“Calm down, sweetie.” The once married, now divorced, Leah Watts quickly backpedalled. “It’s because of your father.”

My father. Everything really did boil down to my father, didn’t it? I was trying so hard not to be my father’s son, but in the wake of everything that was happening, I couldn’t convince myself that I was succeeding in that regard.

“I know you’re stressed out because of Chloe and everything, but you still need to keep things in perspective… I don’t want to have sex with you because your dad is frankly, really scary and dangerous…” Leah went on. “And that’s the quickest way to get on his shit list.”

Maybe just being in contact with my older sister again reminded me of the fact that it was possible for my friends and family to hate me because of my gender identity, but Leah Watts was not one of those people. Leah was one of the people who supported me straight away, just like my mother had.

Where are you when I need you, mom…

12 years ago, that’s how long it had been since my mother passed away, and it still haunted me. She had been killed by my own family, her own family, under mysterious circumstances, for a reason that even I still wasn’t aware of. One moment everything was fine, and the next moment-

Bzzzzzzzt-

And the next moment my phone was ringing. Great. Who could this be?

I stepped out of the room, leaving Aria and Leah alone to themselves, having blind faith that they wouldn’t have sex while I was on the phone.

CRM. Claudia…

I stood there in the hallway for a good couple of moments just staring at my phone, wondering if I should even pick up. She was just calling to pester me about her party again, which I already told her I didn’t want to attend, nor did I want her pressuring me to change my mind about it like the many many times she tried to convince me to suck it up and be a man, rather than a woman.

I didn’t even have the energy to send her to voicemail myself, the call just peetered to an end as it timed out, I barely even had the energy to listen to the message she left for me.

~ Hello dear, it’s your sister again. I was just wondering if you had any more thoughts about coming over for a visit anytime soon. My, um- husband… has been dying to get a chance to see you again, says he has something to tell you in person, which I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by.

But anyways, we have several new additions to the family that I’m sure you’ll be delighted to meet. You know- pets and whatnot, they’re the most adorable things… and I-

I guess I just want to catch up with you?

Last time we saw each other, Lillian was so little, she doesn’t even remember meeting her aunt Candace… and I was wondering if Lilith, my mother, had given you a call recently?

Anywho, please call me back. I’m dying to hear back from you- ~

She was at least making an attempt to catch up with me, I had to give her that, but I couldn’t help but think that maybe she was being too aggressive with it. If she wanted to fix our relationship, it was going to take time, it wasn’t something that could just be mended over the course of a couple weeks or a party.

I had always had a respect for her mother from the day I met Lilith, but Claudia hated my mother from the start, and what ended up happening to my mom wasn’t something that I could just forgive. It was largely her fault that I had the kind of mommy issues that I did, and speaking of mommy issues-

“Hey, Miss Paciente.” I dialed in my manager’s number. If I was going to step out for a phone call, I was at least going to talk to someone, my phone was already in my hand after all. “I hope I’m not waking you up, am I?”

“You are, but that’s mostly my fault for having the night I just had, the slaves and I stayed up late making sure our new project was ready to go.” Tallie yawned. “Are you alright, dear? You usually don’t call this early in the morning, and when you do, you don’t usually lead with Miss Paciente~”

“No, Ma’am. No, I’m not alright.” I was sinking. Every morning I woke up from dreams about Chloe, just to realize that they were fake, and it was getting harder by the day. “I need an escape.”

“An escape? What kind of escape? You’re in Seattle right now, aren’t you?”

“Just like you told me to be, yes. But it’s not helping.” I held the phone as close to my head as I could, wanting to be near someone who helped make me feel safe, like my mother used to. “I just need an out, for just a few days, please?”

“You know that I would come get you and bring you out here, but tonight’s opening weekend, and I need DCT to be a success, or my girls won’t be very happy.”

“Then can you please bring me with you? To opening night, I mean- I’ll behave, I promise.”

“Candace.” Tallulah stopped me in my tracks. “I need you to calm down and listen, okay?”

“Yes, Ma’am. What is it?”

“I’m going to text you an address once your signing event is over. You go to your signing event later, and then take a trip down there.” I could hear in Tallulah’s voice that she was cursing herself under her breath, but she knew she couldn’t help herself. “And if you can make it home by Saturday at noon, then sure… you can come to opening night~”

“Thank you, Tallulah… I’ll make sure I’m ready~”

“Good girl~”

↞✶↠

And so I did exactly that. I had a signing event later, and Leah was more than happy to drive me there… it had been her job for the last few months after all.

I may not be competing in this year’s tournament, but I was still a big star, and I had lots of fans still waiting to see me. I had a couple signing events in California too, including one this very morning before we had left for the airport, but this was the biggest one so far.

It started out relatively slow, it was still the late morning by the time we’d gotten started, and my crowd was a more adult type, knowing me. There were still a few teenagers though, the type that really ought to be staying away from me, but who really cared. And then about halfway through, we went to lunch.

“This had better be good, Griffin. My lunch break is only so long, so make it quick.”

Apparently my sister wasn’t the only sibling who thought it important to talk to me today. “Wow. Grouchy much?”

“I’ll show you more than grouchy pretty soon. What is it?”

“What do you think it is, Candace?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking, Cyrus.”

“Chloe’s gone. Her new owner took her home last night.”

“I don’t care.”

I did care. I cared a lot, actually. There was nothing I cared about more right now than what was happening to her, and my brother knew that. He was just trying to keep me informed, in an attempt to be nice, but I was far beyond the point of being friendly towards my family right now.

“Alright, whatever. When she gets killed, I’ll make sure not to let you know.”

“Fuck you too. Don’t call me back.”

Beep. Click. Snap.

So beyond the point of being friendly to my family was I that I found myself smashing my cell phone on the floor immediately after I hung up, but before I even had the chance to think about it.

“You.” I snapped at Leah, by hands trembling with anger as I pointed at her. “Get the chip and buy me a new phone.”

“Whatever you say, Ice queen.”

“And get Aria in here, I need something to hit.”

Chloe. The love of my life. My Chloe.

She shouldn’t have safely reached her new owner’s home, she should be at mine with me, feeding my cats and cleaning my floors. I should be using her as a punching bag to get my frustrations out, not Aria. Chloe should be mine, not someone else’s.

And it was all my fault that she was gone. But that wasn’t going to stop me from taking it out on someone else.

“Candace??” Aria walked in on me stomping the already shattered pieces of what used to be my phone to smithereens, fresh from actually bringing back lunch. It was just too bad I had already lost my appetite, I was hungry for something much more intimate than food at this point.

Between the moment that Leah had stepped out of the door and Aria had stepped in, I could have sworn I was going to smack her upside the head the first chance I got.

But as soon as I saw her I found myself wrapping my arm around her waist and bending her backwards, pressing my lips against hers for a kiss right there in the backroom.

‘Wrong place, wrong time’ was the story of Aria’s life, or maybe I was the story of Aria’s life, if that’s what I wanted from her. I had a hole in my heart left from getting my Chloe taken away from me, and I needed someone to fill it, and soon~

“Now be a good girl and clean that up.” I smacked her on the ass as soon I had stood her back up, sending her towards the shattered remains of my broken smartphone. “I’ll be back soon~”

Aria was left flustered and flabbergasted, with a reluctantly happy smile on her lips. “But what about lunch?”

“Eat mine for me.” I winked at her as I opened the door. “Mistress will snack later~”

“Y-yes, Ma’-am…”

Oh yeah. That felt good. Maybe there was a silver lining to this all. Who needs romance when I could just have sex with whoever I want, whenever and wherever I want to?

Not me. That’s for sure~

I can do whatever I want.

The main room was already full by the time I’d stepped back inside, back early from my lunch break, ready to get back at it. But the first thing that caught my eye was this cute redhead, already pointing her camera at me to get a picture as I stepped through the door.

“You must be a fan, I take it~” I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to me, watching the shocked look at the woman’s face in her selfie camera as she switched over to it just barely in time to get a picture with me, hip to hip.

“How old are you kid?” I smirked, letting go of the little beauty once she’d gotten a good picture with me, but before I gave her a chance to answer any of my questions. “The afternoon session is for grown ups only~”

I can do whatever I want.

↞✶↠

“Holy hell, Candace.” Leah was practically scolding me by the time we got into the car. “What the fuck was that?”

“What was what?” For the first time in the last several days, or even the last several months, I felt like a rockstar. I sat myself in the backseat, pulling Aria into the seat next to me and leaning her head against my chest. There was nothing in the world that was going to get me down from this high tonight. “Is there some sort of problem?”

“That would be a fucking understatement, Candace. Did you even register the kind of shit you were doing back there?”

“Pfft, that was nothing, Leah. My father gets away with that shit all the time.”

“Well, last I checked, you’re not your father.” She continued to hiss at me for my perceived foul behavior. “News flash, this isn’t the 70’s or 80’s anymore, you can’t get away with groping fans~”

“I can and I will~” I smirked, groping Aria’s waist beside me. “Besides, it wasn’t anything that bad, you’re overreacting.”

Leah snarled, turning to me in the backseat and tossing the new phone she had just finished purchasing from me, still in its box, straight towards my head. “You’re father was right sending me out here to babysit you.”

“So you are here because he sent you.”

“Of course I am, Candace. Take a good fucking look at yourself.” Leah started the car, angrily kicking it into gear and driving off as quickly as she could. “We’re going back to the hotel.”

“But I have somewhere I need to go after this-”

“Oh yeah, and where’s that???”

I paused, reaching for my phone from my purse to look up the address that Tallulah had sent me, quickly realizing that I didn’t have a phone to check.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

I sat through a very tense and silent car ride all the way back to the hotel, watching Aria immediately scurry off to our hotel room, eager to not be seen outside with her new fancy collar on any more than she needed to be.

Leah had a point, but I wasn’t done having my fun for the night. As any respectable recovering alcoholic would, she fucked off back to our room when I decided that I wanted to sit down at the bar.

I’m not my father.

I hated being compared to him. It made me feel revolting all the way down to my core. I loved him, I really did. I loved my father, but I didn’t want to become anything like him. I was just having fun. I had enough self control to not let that happen.

“Twenty-two.”

“Pardon?” I turned to the seat beside me, already two cocktails down by the time the pretty redhead girl took a seat at the bar.

“You asked me how old I was~” She smiled. It was that very same woman from earlier, here in the hotel bar with me. “I’m twenty-two~”

“Oh yeah?” I grinned, looking her up and down. “Do you think you can show me some identification, doll?”

“Whatever she’s having~” The smile on her face as she showed her ID to the bartender was as big as mine was, waiting for the man at the bar to deliver her a drink. “How’s that, enough for you?”

“I think so.” I grinned excitedly, turning to the bartender and nodding at him. “And that’ll be on my tab~”

The girl next to me practically gasped. “You don’t even know my name-”

“Then maybe you ought to stop stalling and give it to me, doll.” I shook my head, eyeing her expectantly. “Or are you here for something else?”

She paused for a moment, her cheek turning bright red as she took her drink from the bartender’s hand. “Riley.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Riley.” I flagged the bartender down again, trying to be as cute as I could be. “I’m Candace~”

“Candace St. Clair, yeah~” She rolled her eyes. “I know.”

“Well then you probably ought to know that I could have my security escort you out for stalking me back to my hotel.” I held my hand out towards the man behind the bar, taking another cocktail into my hand without having to look. “So tell me, Riley. How many drinks do I have to get into that pretty little head of yours before you take me to your hotel room?”

“I don’t have a room, sorry-”

“Then go get one~” I stared her straight in the eyes, smiling hungrily. “It’s on me.”

She sat there for a couple moments, clearly not having expected this from me, but luckily for her I was already three drinks in after all, and I could see right through that pretty little blush on her face.

“Get moving, sweets.” I smiled, taking her drink straight from her hand and finishing it for her. “I’m waiting~”

I appreciated Leah’s concern, really. But unlike my father, I was capable of controlling myself. If cute little Riley really didn’t want to have sex with me she would just go ahead and leave.

But just a couple minutes later, she came back with a room key in hand. “Room nineteen~”

↞✶↠

“So what brought you to my side, cute little thing?” I settled into bed next to her, wanting to learn just a little bit about her before getting to my new meal, despite how hungry I was for her.

“You were the one who snagged me by the hip, were you not?” She giggled, tossing the blankets aside and climbing in with me.

“Only because you were taking pictures of me~”

“Well yeah, that’s because you’re kind of a celebrity.”

“I’m no celebrity.” I rolled my eyes at the idea of it. “But thank you~”

“I was surprised…” She blushed, cozying up to me. “I guess I just didn’t think you were the type of person to take a girl straight to some hotel room~”

“There’s a first time for everything.” I hummed eagerly, taking a handful of her hair into my palm. “Is there anything else I should know about you before we get started, Riley?”

“Nothing I can think of, Ma’am~” She winked, licking her lips.

“Then consider yourself my slave for the night.” I took her by the wrist and slammed her down onto her back on the bed beneath her, snarling eagerly under my breath. “Just let me take control of you, and you’ll be just fine~”

That seemed to worry her a bit, but that’s fine, I had taken a liking to putting fear into the eyes of not so innocent little redheads like her. I put my lips to hers, laying her head back on the pillow behind her, her face hot with excitement and fear.

Let’s see who I’m working with here~

She said she’s twenty-two, and judging on how the bartender served her a drink, I felt justified believing her, so at least the little thing’s of age. She had deep dark brown eyes, a couple of little freckles here and there, and gorgeous blue studs on her earlobes.

She was dressed casually, albeit probably a bit less casually than my last slave often dressed before she got into my grasp. She had a black blouse with a blue cardigan atop it, with little designs stitched into the sleeves with fluffy brown threads. Her jeans were lightly colored, faded with tears already added in by the designers, hardly really jeans at all.

She was wearing a fancy little belt too, the length of which was lined by harmless metal studs and spikes. I might have thought that the belt was her playing hard to get if it weren’t for the fact that she’d already taken her pretty black pumps and tossed them aside along with her purse.

The bitch wanted me. Her waist was just a little too thin for her own clothes to stay on without her belt. I would have ditched the cardigan if it wasn’t pinned beneath her, it was hardly worth it anyways. I wanted what was between her legs anyways.

She was cute, a little bit smaller in the hips than Chloe was, but her soft delicate skin and the fact that she was here in the room with me helped make up for that. She was younger too, and a little bit more lithe than she was. She was no Chloe, but she would do.

You just can’t stop comparing everyone to Chloe, can you?

It was always the same with me. Even as I found myself pinning down a brand new, and quite exciting little catch, I couldn’t get my mind off of Chloe. And how could I?

Chloe’s cute little figure certainly wasn’t that of a superstar, but it was mine… and I wouldn’t settle for less.

I set my knee on her chest, spreading her tits apart with my leg, feeling them squeeze either side of my already exposed skin. With one hand still holding her by her right wrist, I quickly began unbuckling her belt with the other, yanking it out from under her and off of her body completely.

“Be good and I won’t have to use this on you~” That scared her. “You don’t want to know what happens to cute little dolls who disobey me.”

Her face blushed bright red, whimpering audibly as she felt the metal rivets graze her skin, the leather of her belt rubbing against her cheek, both deeply exciting and frightening her.

Riley was turning out to be such a weak willed little thing, and I was too tempted to press my luck to stop from getting ahead of myself.

I set the belt on the pillow beside her head, giving her a look saying Don’t touch that as I got at her chest. The soft fabric of her blouse split easily in my hands as I tore the front of her shirt open like I was driving a knife through it. I had money, I could afford to buy her a replacement if she behaved herself enough to earn it.

She was almost petrified beneath me, even as I let go of her wrist, it was adorable. I put my lips to hers for another kiss, dredging back up the excitement she had for me. I wanted her to be excited for this next bit.

I gently tapped my fingers along the seam of her jeans, rubbing her vulva through the fabric, already able to feel how wet she was. Excited was an understatement for her as I pulled her waistband down, stripping her fancy leggings off of her completely. Hard to get my ass, she wished she had come prepared with easier clothes to strip off.

There it was, her little quim was aching for me through the fabric of her lace. Seems like Riley was always prepared for sex beneath her outer layers. Not only was she wearing fancy little lace panties, but the top she’d been wearing beneath her blouse was also cute black lingerie.

“Looks like someone went home and got dressed up in lingerie just for me, huh?” I taunted her, watching her cheeks and lips turn pink, squeaking out a delightful little moan as I rubbed her labia through the lace. “It’s too bad pretty black lingerie is my thing, one of us is going to have to change~”

Guess it’s time to get my tits out. I grinned, pulling my quite expensive purple top off of me, slowly and tantalizingly, slipping my bra off with it.

DD cups, 70-75% artificial. My slave wasn’t the only one who had gotten some work done. I just went to a real doctor for it, rather than some underpaid medical hack at the facility, who still honestly did phenomenal work.

They were the kinds of breasts that made even straight women blush, luckily Riley here wasn’t straight, not by a long shot. Her face was lighting up like a police siren~

Speaking of light shows. I bit my lip as I removed my single blue contact, flicking it across the room. I had so many of those things it wasn’t funny, and she was mesmerized not only by my tits, but by my eyes as well.

I purred eagerly under my breath as I removed my leggings. All I could do now was hope she wasn’t too surprised by what I was packing down there. There was a 50/50 chance she wouldn’t be into it, I just had to hope that this one wasn’t a cunt sniffing little terf.

She was almost too mesmerized by my flashy scarlet eyes and blinding tits that she almost didn’t notice it, but when she did, she was beyond shocked.

“Oh- oh shit, I-” She clasped one hand over her mouth, gasping and blushing even through her fingers. “I didn’t know.”

I snarled at her with dead cold eyes, grinding my teeth together in annoyance. “Is there a problem, Riley?”

“N-no, it’s just that I-”

“Charming, yes. I’m sure it won’t bother you to find yourself getting split open then.” I pried her hand from her face, shoving two fingers into her mouth to quiet the squirmy little cunt up. “If you’ve got a problem with it, then maybe you shouldn’t have let yourself get this far~”

Finally she started to put up a fight. Her hands, which up to this point were palms up on either side of her head, were now desperately grasping at my wrist, trying in vain to pry my hand from her mouth.

“You really think you’re strong enough to stand up to me?” I chuckled, taking her own belt from the pillow beside her head with one hand, watching her try and fail to pull my other hand from her head.

“Stand down and maybe I won’t choke you any further.” I smirked, pressing my fingers down her throat, watching and feeling her gag on my fingers, her terrified hands nervously prying themselves away from my steady palm.

“Now Riley, be a good girl and shut up so that I don’t have to shut you up myself.” I slowly pulled my fingers from her lips as I promised, watching for the slightest movement of her mouth to indicate her trying to form words, ready to skewer her throat again. But it did make me smile when she listened, not bothering to say another word for fear of choking again. “Good girl, now stay that way~”

I slipped the length of her belt beneath her, looping it around her neck and tightening it around her throat like a leash to keep her in my control as I moved down towards her quivering little cunt.

“You’d look so good in a collar, doll.” I stared her in the eyes, watching the utter terror overcome her face as I spread her legs. “I may just have to keep you~”

She whined loudly, pleading through her teeth for mercy. I pulled on the belt and listened to her terrified sobs as she choked. It was adorable, but she wasn’t getting away from me, not if I had anything to say about it. “You belong to me now, Riley~”

I shoved my cock inside of her waiting slit, feeling it slide in with ease, admiring the poor desperate beauty on her face as her eyes rolled back into her head.

“Now behave, little fuckdoll. I don’t want you spoiling my fun~”

She pleaded and begged and screamed the whole way through, soaking the pillows below her with pained tears until she was begging not to be killed or raped. It wasn’t the most satisfying experience, but she was gorgeous and wonderful, and her terrified whimpers were more than enough to bring me to orgasm inside of her soft delicate cunt, even if she didn’t.

“See, that wasn’t too bad was it, cardigan?” I pulled her lips to mine with the belt and stole one last kiss from her before letting go, watching in delight as she fell to the bed below and scrambled to unclasp the belt from around her throat.

Mine.

I smirked, swiveling in place and standing back up, admiring her naked body as she hacked and gagged for breath, still sobbing. The poor little toy had never been properly put in her place before, but this wasn’t going to be the last time her cute little body would be played with. At least not if I had anything to say about it, which I did.

Oh yeah. This one is mine.

“Now you had better still be here when I finish freshening up, little thing.” I stood up, taking a gorgeous little stroll to the bathroom to make myself presentable again. “I don’t want to have to hunt you down, but I will if you make me~”

But of course she wasn’t there when I got back, why would she be?

She hastily got her pants back on, got her shoes and her purse, and she ran away. But she did leave the belt behind for me, how nice of her~

I smiled, equipping myself with her cute little studded belt before making my way out of the room, leaving behind no evidence to suggest that I had ever been there as I quietly made my way back to my own room.

↞✶↠

“I don’t care what’s in it or why you have it, but I’m not going to ask again- Where’s the parcel?”

“I don’t have it, Ma’am. I swear… I never took it in the first place.”

I could hear my companion’s voices long before I had even gotten inside of the room. From the sounds of it, Leah and Aria were arguing with each other about something, and the former didn’t sound very happy.

I hummed to myself, opening the door and stepping inside, yawning audibly so that the pair of women knew I was coming. I grinned proudly, watching whatever conversation had been going on abruptly come to an end, like most things did when I stepped into the room.

Leah sighed, giving me the side eye for a moment as she saw I was there, before her eyes went wide looking me up and down. “And where have you been?”

“Now go on and show me some respect, Ms. Watts.” I smiled and shook my head, rolling my eyes at her. “You have a job I need you to get done~”

She snarled furiously at me, her eyes fixating on the belt at my waist. “What the fuck did you do?”

“There’s this cute little redhead staying in room nineteen.” I closed the door behind me before continuing. “Or there was, I need you to go drag her back here before she calls the police or something~”

“You didn’t-”

“Just go do your fucking job, Leah. I don’t want to have to get my father on your ass, and she’s getting away as we speak, so go.”

Leah growled angrily, staring me in the eyes as she stomped past me, not saying anything otherwise as she made her way out of the room to hunt the poor girl down.

Sweet, precious silence. Music to my ears.

“Wow, you really aren’t a sweetheart, huh?”

I sighed, turning to Aria and glaring her down. “Can’t I just enjoy the silence for five seconds before you yap your fidgety little ass off?”

“Whatever you say, Ma’am.” Her gaze was deadpan, sarcastic. “You’re the boss…”

I gritted my teeth, standing over her, hands on my hips. “Is there a problem, Aria?”

“Nope.” She shook her head. “No problem at all.”

“Well you sure do make it sound like there’s a problem, unless that’s just you being a bitch again~”

“There’s nothing I can say now that I haven’t already said before.” She softened, and I could begin to gather that the feeling in her eyes wasn’t that of anger, but of sadness. “You’re my best friend and I love you, I just hate almost every part of you is all.”

“You know, you’re lucky I even let you be here, Aria.”

“Yeah, I am. I never said I wasn’t. I’m lucky to even fucking be alive, knowing you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Fairmont?”

“I hate your family, Candace. I always have and I always will.” Aria looked up at me, glaring me straight in the eyes and letting her intricate little poker face melt away, her true feelings showing through in a rare moment of clarity for me. “I really thought that losing the world championship was going to be good for you.”

Disappointment. That’s what I was seeing in Aria’s eyes. Disappointment.

“I had thought that when Sophia humiliated and defeated you like that, maybe you would realize how scummy it really is to try to cheat and buy your way through everything… maybe seeing some orphan girl make her way all the way to the top of the world all on her own would help you realize that maybe you don’t really need your family’s help to have that kind of life.” Aria turned away, too ashamed to even keep looking at me anymore. It was rare for her to even hint at what she was feeling, let alone to talk about it with anyone, including her best friend. “But then you went and you kidnapped her, and I just… I didn’t know what to think, and I still don’t know how I feel about that…”

I froze there for a few moments, feeling her words seep into the cracks in my defenses for a few seconds too long, before snapping back at her, trying to defend myself the only way I knew how to. “Disrespect me again and I will show you hell, Aria Fairmont. Don’t push your luck. Just because you’re my best friend doesn’t make you immune to my wrath.”

“I know that, Candace. Just because you think I’m below you doesn’t mean I’m stupid.” Her voice was still measured and calm as she spoke, trying not to enrage me any further. “I wish you were a better person than you are… but I love you all the same, which is more than your family can say about you.”

“Don’t go insulting my family, Aria.” I snapped back. “Don’t push it, or you’ll be my next slave.”

“I’m done, promise. I just hope you’re not too far gone already.” I could feel her choking on her words, trying not to gag at the idea of being a slave with every moment, a thought which she had much maligned for a long time. “I won’t like it. But I can put up with it… Ma’am.”

I felt my heart twisting in my chest as I looked at her. Because as much as I hated it, she had a point. I just wasn’t in the mood to hear it right now.

“Watch yourself, Aria… You’re my best friend. But if you can’t show me the respect I deserve, I’ll have no choice but to-”

BANG. BANG.

The world around us shook at the sound of it. Gunshots, two of them.

Leah…

The saddened look on my best friend’s face was simply mortified, Aria quickly clasped both of her hands over her mouth, and I could have sworn I was hearing her heart beating inside of her chest if my heart wasn’t doing the same thing.

It was the last thing I wanted to hear. There wasn’t meant to be any gunshots, it was supposed to be simple. But I stood frozen there in horror, unable to do anything about it now that it was done.

“We’re leaving.” Leah threw the door open, stepping inside as it slammed into the wall behind her, the gun strapped to her waist concealed beneath her coat as best as she could hide it.

“What the fuck did you do, Leah?” I could feel the ire in my voice trying to burn its way through my throat. “What happened? Where’s Riley?”

“Is this your girl?” Leah snapped at me, shoving something the size of her palm into my chest as she pushed me aside.

Rylie Bowie. 22 years old. Right there on the card. I stepped backwards, hyperventilating as I pulled it from my chest and stared at it. It was her driver’s license, complete with her date of birth, place of residence, eye color, and height. Covered in her own blood.

“You killed her.”

“I said we’re leaving.”

“You killed her.” I shouted at her, feeling my eyes fill with tears at the thought of it. “How could you…”

This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. She was supposed to be mine. She was supposed to be just fine… she wasn’t supposed to die.

“This isn’t what I wanted!!” I pointed it at her accusingly. “This is the last thing I wanted!!”

“Well if you don’t want casualties, then maybe you shouldn’t go sexually assaulting women in broad daylight!!” Leah snapped back at me, her eyes more wet with tears than even mine were. “Pack all of our things up Aria, we’re going home, now.”

I choked on my anger and fear, all of it becoming too real for me all of a sudden. “Why did you-”

“Don’t put this on me, St. Clair.” She slung one of her bags over her shoulder, grabbing me by the arm with her other hand, beginning to drag me out of the hotel room by force. “This isn’t my fault.”

And that’s the part that hurt the most. This wasn’t Leah’s fault. This was my fault. All of this is my fault…

“Let go of me-” I winced, digging my feet into the ground as Leah tried dragging me along by my arm. “You aren’t my mother, Leah.”

“I might as fucking well be, Candace.” She put her back into it, yanking me out of the room by force. “We’re leaving.”

↞✶↠

The walk of shame back to the car was equal parts terrifying as it was humiliating, being dragged by my arm like a child made me feel like smaller than I had in a long time.

All eyes were on the two of us as we made our way out of the hotel. I couldn’t tell if the people littering the lobby were scared of us, or if they just assumed Leah was some sort of police officer as she dragged me out of the building. Either way, no matter what angle you looked at it, they all assumed that I was the perpetrator.

And they were right.

“Now get in the fucking car.” Leah’s tears had faded away, replaced with a cold dead stare as she opened the passenger’s side rear door, shoving me inside and slamming it shut behind me.

“I guess we don’t have to figure out where Aria’s going to sleep after all…” I made a pitiful attempt to crack a joke. What else was I supposed to say?

A girl just died, and it was all my fault.

She just shook her head, glaring at me in the rearview mirror. “This isn’t something to be laughing about, Candace.”

“I know…” Leah didn’t find it very funny, and neither did I. “Where is Aria anyways?”

“She’s coming.” Leah snarled, looking around the vehicle to make sure no one had followed us out. “I told her to clean up after us.”

“After me, you mean…” I bit my lip, staring down at my feet in shame.

“Yeah. She’s cleaning up after you.” Leah glanced back out of her own window, back at the hotel. “But what else is new?”

Aria may have had her gripes with me and my family, and though I didn’t like them, I knew very well that her feelings were fair and valid, and honestly, I felt the same way towards my family sometimes.

And right now was one of those times. Aria was ashamed of me, but not as much as I was ashamed of myself. I didn’t deserve a best friend like her… and I most certainly didn’t deserve to take an innocent girl like Riley back home with me.

Just like I didn’t deserve Chloe.

Aria slammed the driver side door behind her as she climbed into the backseat next to me, struggling to catch her breath. She had issues with what I was doing, but she still chose to stick by me through all of it.

“Here.”

She was sitting as far away from me as she could, holding her hand out towards me, handing me something in her open palm.

“Huh?” At first I thought she just wanted me to take her hand, but I quickly saw what it was she was holding.

My contact lens…

I sighed, taking it from her hand with mine and holding it in my lap. “You went back to her room…”

“You said it was room nineteen.” Aria retracting her hand, gazing out the window as we got moving, trying to not even let her reflection make eye contact with me. “I wanted to make sure there was no evidence left behind… I don’t want you getting in trouble.”

“I hope you’ve come down from your sugar high, princess. Because it’s time to face the fucking music.” Leah stepped in, unafraid to make eye contact with her reflection in the rear view mirror. “I hope you’re proud of yourself, I really am. Don’t expect to earn anything from that signing event today, because you’re going to have to spend just about all of that paying off lawyers and police.”

“Why even bother?” I hung my head again, also too ashamed to make eye contact, even through reflections. “Just let them come get me… I don’t deserve protection.”

“Now listen here you pig-faced little bitch, before I have to pull this car over and smack you upside the head harder than your mommy ever had the courage to.” Leah snarled at me, returning her focus to the road ahead. “This isn’t just about you, Candace. This is about everyone you know and everyone you love, including me, whichever group you want to put me in after tonight.”

I gripped the contact lens in my hand, biting my lip as I silently sat there and listened.

“I don’t work for you, I work for your father, and I always have. I’m not here with you because I have to be, I’m here with you because I want to be.” She was choking on her words as she sped down the Seattle interstate, her rage bubbling up inside of her. “I’d do a lot for you, Candace… but I am not a kidnapper, I am a bodyguard. I’m not here to drag screaming damsels by the wrist to somewhere they don’t want to go, I’m here to protect you, but you’re really making me feel like I ought to be protecting people from you… If you want to ruin a girl's life, you’ll have to either do that yourself, or find other minions to do it for you.”

“What’s so wrong with it, Leah?” I swallowed nervously, shaking in my seat out of pure shame, trying to find any way to defend myself here. “My father does it. Cyrus does it… Claudia does it…”

“But you don’t.” Leah sighed, slowly but surely finding an exit to pull off the highway. “It’s not like I care what you want to do, I just killed a lady I’ve never met for god’s sake… I’m not trying to pretend like I’m above it all…”

“Then what is it my family is doing that I’m not?” I spat back, my voice full of fear. “What am I doing wrong they aren’t?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This just isn’t you, Candace…” Leah finally seemed to be calming down some. “You’re better than this.”

“You’re better than them.” Aria, still not bothering to look at me, interjected, all while staring out the window. “Or maybe you’re not… that part’s up to you.”

“I don’t care what you think of me after this, Candace. But just because I don’t want to have sex with you doesn’t mean I don’t love you, I do love you. It just means I’m not one of them… I’m not one of those girls you can just bend to your will.” Everything seemed to be calming down now that we had gotten away from the hotel, and everyone had gotten the time to clear their head, or in my case, sober up… like Leah was trying to. “Your father may be able to pull me along on a leash to do his bidding, but you can’t. Because I know deep down, you’re not him… and that makes me fucking untouchable to you.”

“What did he do to wrangle you?” I couldn’t help but smile hearing that. Leah was a tough woman to crack, and for once I was glad that I couldn’t break her. “What does my father have on you?”

“You and your siblings have inherited a fortune from your father, straight from the mafia.” Leah sighed, still watching me in the rear view mirror, trying to make sure we weren’t being followed. “But my father left us nothing but debt.”

Leah decided it best to pull off the road somewhere safe before continuing, finding a parking meter downtown to stop at for just a little while so that we could catch our breath and talk.

“Look… I know that what you’re going through is tough, breaking up with the love of your life is tough, sweetie. But that’s no excuse for all of this.” She rolled down the window, gazing out at the barely lit stars above. “Ben is dead thanks to me… but that doesn’t mean that I don’t miss him, because I do. The reason it hurt so much is because I loved him… he was my Chloe.”

“Then what happened?” I felt my heart drop in my chest just hearing Chloe’s name. “If you two loved each other, what happened?”

“Ben wanted kids, and I couldn’t bring myself to give them to him.”

I couldn’t help but blush thinking about it. I didn’t really want kids, but I distinctly remembered Chloe freaking out when she got her tubes tied. Hell, if Riley had lived, she very well could have gotten pregnant just from a single night with me. It was hard to think of myself as anything but my father’s son. “If you didn’t want kids, then he shouldn’t have married you-”

“But I do want kids, Candace. We both did… I wanted kids just as badly as he did, and I still do…”

“If you both wanted kids, then why-”

“Because look at the life I’m living Candace. I’m not living the way I am because I want to, I’m doing it because I have to.” She turned around in her seat to look me in the eyes as she spoke. “But you don’t have to be like him, Candace… and if you were my daughter, I’d be ashamed of you for failing to see that… but more than that, for being so reckless and putting yourself in that kind of danger.”

“Why do you care about what happens to me?” I took a deep breath, looking up from the floor, finally ready to make eye contact with her again. “Why do you live the way you do if you hate it so much?”

“For the same reason that I couldn’t give Ben kids, Candace… I owe a lot of money to your family, and I’m still working to pay it all off…” Leah held me there, not letting me look away from her as she spoke. “I refuse to be like my father, Candace… I won’t bring a child into this world just to suffer the same fate that my father forced me into. I won’t let my daughter inherit my debt like I inherited from my father. I’m going to work my god damn ass off until that debt is paid off, so that way if I ever have children of my own, they won’t have to be like me… they won’t have to be in debt to anyone, not to your father, not to your sister… and especially not to you.”

“Leah, I-” I bit my lip and faced out the window, unable to keep my composure. “I’m sorry…”

“That’s why it hurts me to see you doing shit like this, Candace… you’re acting like your brother, but you never hear about the girls that Cyrus fucked to death before he eventually found Liz, do you?” Leah turned back towards the steering wheel, rolling the window back up now that the tension in the car had cooled down. “You never hear about Sydney.”

She was right, I had never heard the name before. “Who’s Sydney?”

“My sister.” Leah clearly didn’t like talking about her. “Just like me, she worked tirelessly for the family, acting as one of his goons for the longest time, before he decided he’d rather have her on his cock… and when she couldn’t satisfy him, she died. Put down by your family’s hands.”

“Just like my mother was.” I looked at the contact lens in my open palm, a tiny little shield I used to hide my true nature from the people around me. To hide the scars left to me by my mother.

“Yeah. Just like that.” Leah sighed, kicking the car back into gear. “So sit there, shut up, and behave… we’re finding somewhere else to stay for the night.”

“Alright…”

“Try again.”

“Yes, Ma’am…” Those words didn’t often come out of my mouth, but when they did, it was because they were earned, and I hadn’t earned those words from anyone. “Whatever you say…”

“I’m top dog here, Candace.” Leah went on. “Not you, me.”

“Yes, Ma’am…” I repeated, my heart still full of dread.

“Say it.”

“You’re top dog, Ma’am…” I sighed, holding my clenched fists to my chest. “I’m sorry…”

“I forgive you… now let’s go find a hotel to drop you two off at-”

“Actually, if you don’t mind… I remembered where it was I wanted to go earlier… If I could request a stop, Ma’am?”

“Right…” Leah smiled at me in the mirror. “Where are we going, kiddo?”

↞✶↠

Hounds and found. A pet shop. That’s where Tallie was trying to send me, a pet shop.

Hearing the words top dog helped remind me of that.

“I have a body to dispose of, so unless you two want to help with that, you’d better stay here and wait for me to come pick you up.” Leah saw us off, staying in the car. “If either of you are gone by the time I come back, don’t expect any more help from me.”

“We’ll stay put, promise.” I smiled, holding my hands out for Leah to toss me my new phone, having set it up for me. “Be safe.”

“For the record, I am one of those girls you can just bend to your will.” Aria was standing outside the door to the shop, staring up at the sign. “I won’t like it, but I am the kind of person that you can pull around to do your bidding, even if I’d rather not to.”

“Would you like to?” I stood beside her, staring her in the eyes as she turned to look at me.

“Fuck no.” She grinned, making it impossible to be sure whether or not she was being truthful.

“Dispose of this for me.” I held out my hand, placing the blue eye contact into her open palm. “In as permanent of a manner as you can.”

“How come?” Aria just stared at it, confused as to why she was being asked to do something like that.

“Because I’m not going to hide behind it anymore.” I didn’t have to tell her why I wanted it done, but I did. “I’m not going to look in the mirror and pretend I’m a better person that I am…”

Aria looked down at it for a few moments before looking back up at me, opening her mouth and bringing her hand to her, tossing the contact lens in her mouth before swallowing it, still looking me in the eyes.

“Show me~”

She listened, opening her mouth so that I could be sure she swallowed it, and sure enough, it was gone.

“Good girl.”

She blushed, shrugging the little bit of praise off. She wanted neither the punishment of being a slave, nor the pleasure that came with it.

I smiled, pulling out my phone to take a quick picture of her before she closed her mouth. There was a voicemail on there from an unknown number, who I could only assume was Claudia again, but she’d just have to wait. For now, I just wanted to get a picture of this.

Perfect~

“Can we please go in and look at cats now?”

“Actually…” I blushed just thinking the words, let alone saying them. “I was more thinking about seeing what dogs they have~”