Mr. Billionaire, Care to Make an Heir?

7

Nina

When I hear my door being unlocked, I’m expecting Mindy’s shy smile, but the door opens, and it’s Ruby standing there with my breakfast tray, her face lit up in a cruel grin. She sets the tray on top of the dresser hard enough to jostle the silverware and make my orange juice spill over.

“I knew I’d get one hell of a response for you, but even I wasn’t expecting the bid to go so high.”

As disgusted as I am, there’s also a small spark of hope. If she’s getting that much for me, then maybe I’ll just have to suffer through one night and be done with all this. One night of hell to be free. I tell myself I can do that. I’ll get a kick-ass therapist after I walk out these doors and cut all ties with my family.

“Then my debt will be paid?” I ask, trying not to sound as hopeful as I feel.

She laughs and swats my question away like I’m an i***t for even thinking it. “Of course not. I get 75% of everything you make, and then you have the fees for your room and food. It’s going to take you a very long time to work off your daddy’s debt.”

“What? I didn’t agree to that. That big of a cut is ridiculous.”

“Your parents agreed to it, sweetheart. Now, stop being such a delicate little flower and eat your breakfast. You need to look healthy tonight.”

“It’s happening tonight?”

She gives me a wink and starts to leave. “It is, and I’ll give you one last piece of advice. If you’re thinking about trying anything, don’t. The man who won the auction is not a gentle man. I wouldn’t anger him if I were you.”

“Please don’t do this,” I beg, running after her and grabbing onto one of her arms. She roughly jerks it away and pushes me hard enough to send me sprawling onto my ass. The sharp pain as my tailbone meets the hard floor shocks me into silence.

“If you ever dare to lay your hands on me again, I’ll send Bruce in here to teach you a lesson you won’t soon forget.” She lets out a soft laugh and straightens her shirt. “He likes you. I told him he couldn’t touch you because you’re a virgin, but after tonight you won’t be one, so maybe I’ll let him have a little fun.”

I wrap my arms around my legs and rest my forehead on my knees, wondering how in the hell my life has come to this. After Ruby leaves, I stay on the floor for what feels like hours before finally forcing myself to shower. I ignore the breakfast tray and the lunch tray, knowing I’ll just throw it up. My heart starts to race when I hear my door being unlocked. I take a step back and cross my arms over my chest when Ruby steps in. She’s wearing a red dress that shows off her amazing curves, and the diamonds around her neck make me want to strangle her with them. She’s clearly not hurting for money. She’s just greedy and willing to use us to make her bank account grow. I hate her in a way that surprises me, in a way that I hadn’t thought I was capable of.

She runs her eyes over the jeans and T-shirt I’m wearing and grimaces. “You’ve got to be f*****g kidding me. He paid a million dollars for tonight, and you’re going to greet him like this?”

“I don’t want to do this,” I remind her. “You’re forcing me to do this, and now you expect me to dress up for my impending r**e?”

“Oh please,” she says, walking to the small closet beside my bathroom. She opens it and starts looking through my clothes. The sound of metal hangers scraping along the rod works on my last nerve as she roughly shoves aside things that don’t make the cut. Finally, she grabs a black dress that I’d bought on a whim but never worked up the courage to wear. It’s silky and strapless and falls to mid-thigh.

“Put this on and do your hair and makeup.” She shoves the dress at me and points at a pair of black heels at the bottom of the closet. “Wear those too.”

She leaves after I’ve turned to follow her orders. My mind flits around while I get ready, desperate to latch onto anything that might even remotely resemble an escape plan, but all of them are unrealistic. A tiny spark of hope still lives deep within me, though, some desperate belief that something miraculous will happen to get my ass out of this mess. Maybe guilt will eat at my dad and he’ll change his mind and come get me, maybe I can reason with whoever this man is and convince him to let me go, or maybe I’ll be able to kick him in the balls and somehow make it past Bruce.

By the time my door opens, I’m dressed like Ruby wanted, but I’m shaking so badly I can barely stand. She walks in, eyes running over me, appraising me like I’m her prize cow at the county fair. I expect her to yell at me to get myself under control and stop shaking, but she only smiles and runs a finger up my arm.

“He’ll like how scared you are. Please him and you might even earn yourself a tip.”

I don’t say anything. I’m too damn scared to speak.

“Here are the rules,” Ruby says, standing in front of me and hooking a finger under my chin to roughly jerk my face up so I’m forced to meet her eyes. “They can do whatever the hell they want to you, but they’re not allowed to hurt you so badly that you can’t still perform your duties for me.” Her eyes narrow. “If they don’t wear a condom, I want to hear about it immediately.”

I try to jerk my head away, disgusted that that’s the only thing she cares about, but she tightens her grip on me, holding me in place.

“You’ll do better if you just accept that this is your home for the foreseeable future. I can see the hope in your eyes, Nina, but it’s only going to bring you heartache and hurt you all the more.”

“Why the f**k do you care?” I ask, fighting like hell to keep from crying.

She raises a dark, manicured brow at me. “How the hell do you think I learned how to run a place like this?”

My eyes widen at what she’s saying. “You used to have to work in a place like this?” When she doesn’t deny it, I grab her wrist and push her hand away. “You make me sick. You know exactly what you’re putting us through, and you’re still choosing to do it.”

Ruby shrugs, not even attempting to look sympathetic or remorseful. “I swore I’d get myself out of that hellhole and that I’d never let myself be in the position where I would ever have to go back. I’ve built a name for myself and a reputation, and I have enough money to guarantee I’ll never have to be the one spreading my legs ever again.”