Trapped By The Ruthless King

chapter 2

A Cage of Gold

The black SUV raced down the streets of the city, departing from the only house I had ever been familiar with. The only noises disturbing the oppressive silence within the car were the droning of the tires against the road and the intermittent blare of a far-away horn.

Stiffly I sat two huge men, their sharp suits and impenetrable gaze immobilizing. Not only were they bodyguards; they were enforcers silently reminding me of the influence of the guy in front of me. Arthur. With legs crossed and fingers idly drumming against his knee, he sat there as if he had just completed a transaction instead of forcibly dragging me from my existence.

My nails sunk into my hands, fists balled. My voice was calm, but my heart thumped hard in my chest. "Where are you going me?"

Arthur hardly glanced once in my direction. "Home."

I shuddered. "You mean your house."

He slightly smirked as if he were amused by my defiance. "You pick up fast."

Fury burst in my throat, hot and quick. "You can't just."

The piercing glare he sent me stopped me dead in my words.

He said coolly with a voice of silk over steel, "You haven't got a place to argue." Your father assigned you. You belong now to me.”

I took a sharp breath in.

Now I own you.

The weight of those words settled over me like a chain. I blinked fast to avoid crying and looked out the window. I would not be weeping. Not in front of him.

Minutes dragged into infinity before the sport utility vehicle arrived at a huge mansion. My breath locked. This was a stronghold, not just a residence.

Enclosing the estate like a cage, great walls soared. Protectoresses armed combed the perimeter with sharp, calculating eyes. Cameras were doting outside, watching, recording. My stomach churned.

If I had considered escaping, the sight of this site killed it right away.

The door opened and Arthur first descended, his movements flawless. Gripping the leather seat as if it might somehow help me grounded, I hesitated. A powerful push from the man next to me broke that delusion. Stumbling out, I caught myself barely before my knees met the polished marble driveway.

Arthur faced me. His face didn't show grin, but there was something close to humor there.

"Are you not accustomed to this?" he wondered.

I straightened, pushing my shoulders back. “Being kidn*pped? I can't say no.”

His lips twitched, the ghost of a grin flicking about the perimeter. Olivia, you were not abducted. You got traded. There is a distinction.

I felt nauseous. Exchanged. Just as a thing. Just a requirement needing compensation,

I suppressed the bile rising in my throat. “What are you asking for from me?”

His dark eyes fixed themselves on mine, and I saw for the first time a spark of menace. Something impossible to read.

You'll realize it quite soon.

Under the Cage

Although the luxury felt somewhat stifling rather than inviting, inside, the property was still more magnificent. The polished marble ran under my feet and the floors sparkled. Crystal chandeliers hung from above, throwing complex patterns of light over the dark wood-paneled walls. It was lovely. Cold. Unyielding.

Arthur moved with a practiced authority at the head of the line. I had no other option hence I followed. The two fellows who had ridden the SUV with us lagged; their presence was a silent menace.

In a large living area with a roaring fireplace, its heat did nothing to alleviate the cool seeping down my back.

Arthur waved his hand toward the couch. "sip,"

I didn't go.

He started to look awful. I did not ask.

Although my jaw was clenched, I sank myself into the soft cushions, sensing like a pinched beast. Across from me, he sat, examining me with the calm of a hunter waiting for its prey to err first.

"You seem like your mother."

The words smacked me. I grew tense. "She was familiar to you?"

Writer Andrew Jobling has a slow nod. He had an inscrutable look: not well but enough. She was strengthened. She battled.

I gulped. "And what became of her?"

He did not respond right away. The quiet weighed down and suffocated.

At last, he said that she lost."

I shivered.

I made myself look him in the eyes. Is this to you a game?

His lips twisted a bit. Not go. A sale.”

My fists clenched. "a transaction you caused me into."

Arthur rose forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Your father had been a more honorable man; we wouldn't be here; you believe I enjoy coercing people's hands?" Still, he was not. He bet. He came out on the losing side. And now you would be the collateral.

Fury smoldered in my chest. " so what now? Do you anticipate me to perform as the obedient little prisoner?"

He laughed, the tone sinister and sarcastic. No, Olivia. I suppose you will fit.”

The tension between us was thick when a knock at the door broke it. A woman who came in for a visit was in a very nice black uniform. She acknowledged Arthur and then turned to me.

“This is Evelyn,” said Arthur. “She’ll be with you during your stay.”

My stay. As if I was a visitor in some tropical island hotel when in fact I was a prisoner in a prison that looked like a palace.

Evelyn did not react in her face. “Would you like me to take you to your room?” I wanted to shout. To demand freedom. To struggle. But the logical part of me understood that I had no means. Not yet.

I tried to make my voice sound normal. “Fine.”

Arthur sank back with his eyes on me as if he could hear what was running through my head. “Have a seat, Olivia. This is your new home.” I turned away before he could see the anger that was building up in my eyes. Home. A prison, beautiful as it may be, is still a prison and I have been imprisoned.