Page 5 of Master B-0361
My eyes narrowed as I stopped at the door, reaching up to grab the key from balancing on the frame.
“Someone could have seen that and got into your place.”
“They wouldn’t find much. Besides, there’s cameras. No one would be stupid enough to try to break in.”
Green lights flashed. I opened the door, waving her inside. If I’d been questioning the fear, I didn’t have to anymore. The emotion had her shoulders drawing in as her fingers fumbled with each other. She paused at the threshold, taking the smallest steps as she made her way inside the dim apartment. I could have pushed her. I could have told her to hurry. I didn’t. I wouldn’t have done that to Maggie. I wouldn’t do it to her.
“I thought you said there wasn’t much in here?”
More steps. The deeper she got inside, the more relaxed she seemed to appear. The door shutting had her spinning and her tensing up all over again.
“What are you talking about?”
She gestured around the room. “You said you didn’t have much.” As her eyes ate up my living room area, her head kept shaking back and forth. Her fingers went up and she mouthedwords as she went deeper inside. When she got to my coffee table, her jaw dropped and she kneeled, tilting her head to study the small pieces before it reared back in shock.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Do you like chess?”
“No. But…I know this set up. It’s twenty-four carat gold vermeil. Wood. Sterling silver. I know this exact board, and it costs well over one hundred thousand dollars.”
“Does it?” I walked forward. “I wouldn’t know. It was a gift.”
“A gift?”
“From my mother.”
“Oh.” The slave straightened to stand. “She must have bought those candle sticks over there on the shelves too. Same brand. Those cost over ten grand.”
My brow wrinkled in confusion. “You look too young to be a collector.”
She laughed. “I wish. My best friend interned at the place that sells them. She was obsessed. She even decorated her side of the room in the company’s famous colors.”
“I see.”
“If you could have, you would have seen how ridiculous it paired with black. I wouldn’t recommend matching the two colors. They don’t go at all.”
I tried not to smile. I failed.
“You should feel right at home.” I gestured to the black sofa and lack of color in my own apartment. “For now, you’ll be sleeping here.”
“In the living room?”
Was that relief? It sure looked like it.
“That’s right. I already have a slave, but she’s not well. If you give me a minute, I’ll go get her.” I caught my reflection on the mirror at the wall. My light blond hair was disheveled, and the gold winding leaves on the God crown had me rolling my eyes.“I’m going to change too. I’ll be back.” I paused. “If you run, and I have to come find you…”
“You’ll kill me? Like, really kill me?”
I took slow steps, not stopping until I was towering over the shaky brunette’s curvy frame.
“Not immediately, but you’ll wish I did. Life isn’t always what it seems, slave. Death is easy. Hell is surviving when you don’t have a choice. Cross me, and I’ll leave you alive, but you won’t even have the ability to beg me for death. It’s not a life you want.Trust me.”
b0842
Iwasn’t sure what sort of slave I expected my Master to have. Maybe deep down I already knew. I definitely wasn’t surprised as a tall, tanned brunette clumsily walked from the bedroom, holding to his arm. With as beautiful as she was, she could have been Miss America. A model. She could have been on the arm of the most gorgeous man in the worldby choice, and perhaps she was. She didn’t appear afraid. If anything, the way her head leaned against his bicep, I would have guessed that she adored him. They looked like a cute couple. So…why had he bought me? He said she was sick, but I’d seen who was lined up before me. I knew how much a few of the ones sold for. They didn’t compare to what my Master paid, and their looks blew mine out of the water. They were like her.Perfect.That wasn’t me.
“Eight-forty-two, this is Mae. Mae, meet eight-forty-two.”