Chapter 59

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“I don’t care what you have to do as high leader, I need you more with me. There’s no clue how far West will go if he snaps, again. Smothering me with a pillow ...” A growl left my lips as I glared at Eli. “There has to be a way to get the masters to come around. To see me as something more than a slave.

“They won’t. They once saw you as a Mistress, but West ruined that by the way he treated you in the meeting room. They may use the term because of your marriage to their Main Master, but if he ended up dead, you’d be back in Slave Row, or worse. We both know that.” Eli glanced across the large dining room on the first level. West was finishing up his conversation, laughing at something Master Leonel was saying. Just the look on his face made it almost impossible to hold in my desperation to be rid of him.

“I have to figure something out. This can’t continue.” I spoke more to myself, but Eli nodded in my peripheral.

Breakfast in the downstairs restaurant was supposed to go better than it had. Slaves weren’t allowed inside the doors of the master’s private dining area, yet here I was, and still I couldn’t help but feel like an outcast. Unworthy to be within these walls. They didn’t want me here. The disapproving glances, the sneers when they thought no one was looking … I was still a slave to them.

“I have to get back. West will wonder what’s taking me so long.

Stay close.”

“When will we talk more about our plans?”

I paused, glancing over my shoulder, trying to ignore the dark shadows that were beginning to plague me. “First, find that driver. We’ll go from there.” I kept my head high, making sure to meet the eye contact of every master who looked my way. It was a dangerous game, but one I wouldn’t bend on.

“Husband.” I threw him a smile as I took the arm he offered.

“Master Harper was just telling me about your little playdate with Master Kunken. I hear you helped him skin his niece. Surely, that can’t be true?”

My stomach rolled and I fought the lightheadedness. Anger was my only weapon and strength. I clung to it like an anchor, praying it didn’t drown me by mistake. “It’s true. I’m tougher than I look. Blood doesn’t bother me. I’m not really sure much does anymore.”

His eyebrows drew in as he kept my gaze. “Big difference from the sobbing girl who was kneeling at her master’s feet.” “Watch it,” West cut in.

“That sobbing girl had lessons to learn. She was taught them well. As you can see, the slave is gone. Who you’re faced with now is your Master’s wife.” I smiled as West kissed my head.

“A big change, for sure.” Master Leone nodded. “It was great having breakfast with the two of you. I look forward to the dinners when your wing is finished.”

“A few more weeks,” West assured. “We’ll see you then.”

He gave a nod to the master, turning us toward the door. The smile he sported was long gone and his change made me nervous as I let him lead me. The moment we were out of the doors, it wasn’t long before footsteps began to follow us. I knew it was Eli and the other two guards that were a constant presence. They weren’t to leave my husband’s side. It was a plus for me, concerning Eli, but he and I still had trouble speaking over our plan for the children. If Eli was near, so was West.

“I wish I would have thought about making you my wife before I put you in the place of a slave. Nothing that can’t be erased over time. You did well standing up to him. Assertive without insult. “

“Thank you. I want them to view me as your wife. I’m trying very hard to change their minds.”

He glanced down. “We’ll work on it. Just keep it up. Don’t let them talk down to you. If they do, tell me. I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you.”

Although I wanted to smile at the calculation my mind conjured, I stared ahead. There was no point in doing anything rash. Time was my friend concerning West and the masters. Only question was, could I last long enough? West was two different people. If he didn’t end up killing me,

I feared what I was capable of if pushed far enough. I could ruin everything. “So where to now, husband?”

“The wing, of course. I want to check on the progress of the cleaning and redecoration. I was impressed with the notes you gave—”

Yelling broke out around us, echoing from the walls as it blasted from the guards’ radios.

“We have a situation down here in room five-twenty-nine! All available guards, I repeat, all available guards please report.”

“What the hell is going on?” West stepped us in closer as he looked to his high leader. Eli’s radio went off before he had a chance to say anything.

“High leader, come in.”

“Talk to me.”

The guard was breathless as a loud scream broke through. “Sir, he’s fucking lost it. The master, Sir. Fuck-ing shit. You have to see this. I think we’re going to have to take him down.”

“Take down a master? Is he serious?” West’s voice boomed from next to me and he was running and dragging me behind before he got a response. The speed at which he went, I knew I couldn’t keep up. Not like this. I ripped my hand free, kicking off the stiletto’s before he could yell at me like I knew he was going to. His mouth opened and I sprinted back toward him, grabbing his hand as he led us even faster through the halls.

Yells came back over the radio and I was sucking in air as we sped down the stairs and headed to the first floor. The maze continued and it wasn’t long before I heard the guards shouting.

“Put it down! We don’t want to have to hurt you!”

A female’s screams grew as West drug me closer. Some of the guards outside the doors lowered their guns at our approach, but they didn’t appear to want to. Their weapons stayed trained toward the entrance and their eyes nervously darted between us and whoever was inside.

“What the hell is going on here?”

They parted as West stomped us to the door. The moment my mind could grasp what I was seeing, I couldn’t help but squeeze my fingers against West’s palm. The once white carpet was almost entirely saturated in blood. The bodies of two men and a woman were spread throughout the space, mangled and decapitated. From their clothing, I knew at least one of them was a master. He wasn’t wearing a suit, but from the large gold watch around the wrist, he had money. His large bicep was covered in tattoos and rested by where his head would have been. The way his broken fingers were protruding out in odd directions told me the decapitation probably came long after the torture he’d undergone.

“Put down the machete Master Gilpner and no one is going to hurt you.” West let go of my hand, stepping more into the room. For the life of me, I felt myself follow. I couldn’t stop looking at the scene. Looking at the woman’s dismembered head. Her face was all but mush. Where once sat a nose, was now flattened and unrecognizable. Swollenness and dark bruising encircled eyes that were peppered with broken blood vessels. I wasn’t sure on her ethnicity. There was so much bruising. So many lacerations on her face that the blood smeared across it made it hard to tell. But still, she stared right at me from behind drooping lids. All I could see was me staring at myself. That could have been me. That could be me.

“What Master Max did was wrong. He shouldn’t have had his slave embarrass you as she did. I understand that. But what’s done is done. You’ve gotten your revenge. You don’t have to make this harder than it has to be. Put down the machete and let’s go for a walk and cool off.”

The hand that held the large knife rose, but the man didn’t speak. He didn’t even seem like he was in the room with us while he paced and grunted.

“Master Gilpner. Put down the machete. Let’s go.”

West took another step forward, but I barely noticed as movement darted in my peripheral. I narrowed my eyes staring between the bedroom door and kitchen that were closely together. Had that been real this time?

My mind was suddenly spinning and I wasn’t sure.

“Put … it down,” West said, more angrily.

“Mistress, you need to step back.” Eli’s voice registered, but the moment I went to face him, a whimper stopped me. My head jerked back to the area between the two rooms and I inched further into the living room to try to see.

“There’s … someone.” I paused, glancing at West and then Eli. They both had their attention on the master. He was watching me, pointing the large blade in my direction. And he was moving, circling the room, wide, as he seemed to be trying to make his way around West.

“You see no one,” he said, slowly. “You see no one.”

“That’s right. She doesn’t see a thing. Put the weapon down. Let’s go on that walk.” West moved more in my direction and the guards were quickly coming to surround him on the far side of the living room. Their guns were still drawn as they waited. Cold metal from the door connected with my arm and Eli stayed at my side at the entrance.

More whimpering, and it was turning into light sobbing. The master blinked rapidly, growing more agitated as it continued to get louder.

“He made a fool of me. Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, Master Gilpner,” West assured. “You’re a very important man. He deserved what you did. You’re not in trouble. Put down the weapon. I’d hate for one of my men to have to shoot you because of something you might do in the heat of the moment.”

“No one will ever look at me the same here, again. They laugh at me now! They laugh!”

“They won’t be anymore. You showed them. You shut them up with what you did. Now put down the fucking machete.”

West’s irritation was growing by each response, but I was confused by his words. Was he really going to let this master off? Allow him to get away with the murder of another master and a slave? That wasn’t the law.

Bram wouldn’t have done that.

I craned my neck to the side, trying to peer more into the opened kitchen area. With the way the cabinets were, they were hiding whoever was crouched down behind them. What scared me even more was the cries didn’t sound like a woman, or even a man. They were younger. Not childlike, but not adult either.

“There’s someone back there. Do you hear them?” Eli glanced over at my whisper, nodding. “Well, the man is getting closer. He’s got a big knife. What if …?” West glanced over his shoulder at me, glaring. I knew he couldn’t hear what I was saying, but he didn’t want me talking either.

“I think it’s a kid,” I mouthed.

“We’re running out of time Master Gilpner. Come with me. I’ll have this mess cleaned up before we return, and we’ll pretend this never happened.”

“I don’t want to leave. I’m not leaving!”

West’s jaw tightened repeatedly as his lids lowered with rage. “Then you’ll allow me to have this mess cleaned up. Without that,” he growled, pointing at the machete. “I need Master Max’s body. Do you know what I’m going to have to do to cover up his death? He’s a fucking celebrity! Do you think his disappearance isn’t going to make headlines? Do you know how much money you’re going to be paying now to make up for this? Your humiliation and revenge just cost you. Don’t let this happen again. That’s your warning. Do whatever the fuck you want to with your slave, but you touch another master, and you won’t be leaving Whitlock alive.”

West spun, heading for the door when a girl darted around the corner. I couldn’t think, couldn’t process what I was seeing as my mind tried to grasp the sight. She didn’t have hair and her face was so drawn in, she looked like a skeleton. Even her arms and legs were like bones. It all registered, even her young age, but nothing affected me more than the look on her face. I knew that fear. I had lived that fear in my first years here. She was more than terrified. And she was past the point of desperation.

Arm’s locked around West’s waist and I knew he hadn’t seen her coming. His whole body jolted at the surprise.

“P-please, Master. Please.”

“Jesus! Fucking …” West’s pried the arms from around his waist, but they glued themselves around his legs as the slave hugged to him for dear life. The man was already coming forward with murder in his eyes. He was going to take her back, and West would give the girl to him. I knew that like I knew I needed air to breathe. I didn’t think. I grabbed Eli’s gun and threw my hands up to where I was pointing at the man. To hesitate would have been useless. It wouldn’t have gotten me anywhere. My finger snapped back once. Twice. And I couldn’t stop.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Weight crashed into my side hard, but I only saw one thing. Blood … a dead corpse falling to the ground.