Chapter 101 Meddled

Chapter 101 Meddled
Embarrassment mixed with horror flooded me. How could I have been so stupid? Of course he’d have cameras, if not in the office, then outside of it.
“I didn’t know exactly what you’d been looking for, but when I saw the book had been moved and the clipping was on the floor, I knew I needed to give you something to come after.” He shook his head. “I’d told Gavin you weren’t right for us, that you were the kind of person who meddled in things that didn’t concern her. You ask too many questions, and don’t know your place.”
At least he running his mouth was keeping me pissed off enough to not give in to the fear hovering at the edges of my mind.
“I figured that if you saw me tell Annie to take the files to my Manhattan office, you’d suddenly decide to take me up on my offer to talk about a job.” He ran the tip of one finger down the underside of my arm. “I got there early and told Annie to pretend I wasn’t there yet. I knew that as soon as she gave you the chance, you’d come in to get those files. Even if they weren’t what you’d been after originally, you wouldn’t be able to resist snooping. You thought you were so clever, but I was one step ahead of you. I’m always one step ahead.”
“You’re a bastard, you know that?” It was hard to come across as tough tied to a bed, but I thought I managed pretty well. “Preying on innocent girls. Raping them. Selling them to the highest bidder.”
“You see, Carrie, that attitude is exactly what Gavin was supposed to fuck out of you.” He leaned closer so that his mouth was against my ear. “I do have to ask though, before I get too caught up in our fun and games. Did you like what I did to Annie?”
I didn’t say anything, but he didn’t seem to actually want a response.
“That little show was all for you, you know. Since I knew you were there, watching, I wanted you to see that I can do what I want, and no one can stop me.”
His tongue flicked against my earlobe and I shuddered in revulsion. Up until that moment, I’d been telling myself that he’d just tied me like this to restrain me, that he wasn’t going to do anything. Now I knew that was a lie.
“Not that she wanted me to stop,” he continued. “All of my girls are trained to love what I do to them, what I have them do to me.”
“I saw her face, Howard.” I spoke through gritted teeth. “Trust me, that wasn’t enjoyment I saw.”
He grabbed my hair and yanked on it, twisting my head around so that our faces were less than an inch apart. “Then why is she sitting there in my office instead of going to the police?”
“Because she’s scared of you,” I said. “But I’m not.”
He laughed and released my hair as he sat up. “You think that was the first time I’ve fucked her? How do you think she got the job? I don’t hire anyone who doesn’t bend over and spread them in the interview.” He stood. “Well, women anyway. I don’t do men.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. My heart began to pound. Maybe he wasn’t going to rape me. Maybe he was just going to kill me. At the moment, I wasn’t sure which one to hope for.
“Shall we move this along?”
I realized now that he’d already taken off my shoes and thigh highs while I’d been unconscious. Easier to tie my ankles, I supposed. I would’ve wondered why he hadn’t just stripped me completely, but I already knew the answer. He wanted me to be awake when he cut off my clothes. He got off not only on the power, but on the fear and pain as well.
He ran his free hand up over my calf, then over my skirt and up to my blouse. I tried to jerk away when his hand reached my breast, but there wasn’t anywhere to go. He grabbed one, squeezing hard enough that I let out a hiss of pain, then did the same to the other.
“Do you have any idea the time and effort that goes in to training someone for what I have them do?” He lowered the knife and cut off the top button. “I’m not some pimp who grabs girls off the street and turns them out to any trick with ten bucks. I only cater to high-end clients with refined taste.”
“So you’re a high-class pimp?” It probably wasn’t a good idea to backtalk to someone with a knife just above your chest, but I couldn’t just lie here in silence. I may not have been able to move, but I could talk, and words had always been my go-to defense mechanism.
Howard scowled. Apparently he didn’t like my question. “My girls don’t just lie on their backs and take it. I groom them to learn how to read a man’s desires and respond accordingly. I do train some for specific purposes, ones whose masters want to humiliate them, I don’t degrade, leaving that pleasure to my client. Ones who are to be left intact, I don’t fuck. But most of my clients are looking for women who can and will do whatever they are told without complaint.”
The last button fell away and my blouse was hanging open, exposing my bra and a pale strip of skin down my stomach. Howard leaned down and put his knife through the thin cotton, easily ripping up one sleeve, then the other. He let the ruined shirt lie in pieces under me and moved down the bed.