Hold Me (18 page)

I’m almost hyperventilating as I step in front of one of the biggest restaurants in the city. The lights are flashing brightly, a red carpet stretching out all the way to the door. A guy in a black suit offers me his hand and helps me get out of the car that Raphael sent for me.

“This way, miss.” The man bows and opens the door for me. Something beeps, and a guard approaches me.

“Your purse, miss, please. You’re not allowed to enter with a phone or any recording device,” he says. I hand him my purse and he inspects it, taking out my phone. “It’ll be waiting for you here. I assure you no one will touch it.”

I’m not happy about it, but I nod, then pass through the metal detector or whatever it is again. This time it’s quiet. I almost gasp when I see the whole restaurant is empty. There’s just one table in the middle of the room and Raphael is sitting at it. Seeing his face is slightly unsettling because he’s incredibly handsome. As he gets to his feet and starts toward me, his smile broadens.

“Welcome, Lilith,” he says. “I hope you don’t find our security measures offensive. I just want to ensure your safety and discretion.”

“Thank you.” I almost cringe when he takes my hand and plants a kiss on my knuckles.

“Come.” He leads me toward the table, and I let him pull out the chair for me. Raphael being so nice to me is sickening, but not as sickening as the way his eyes travel to my cleavage. I even put on a red dress and matching high heels.

After the waiter pours some wine for us, Raphael’s intense eyes find mine. “I admit I was surprised to hear about your request. You didn’t strike me as the kind of person...”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “I haven’t met anyone who immediately revealed their deepest desires to strangers.”

“Of course not.” The corners of his lips quirk up. “I usually don’t do this, but Alessandra seems to trust you, so I decided to give you a chance too. You see, in the business I lead, I have to take all precautions.”

“I understand.” I take a tiny sip of the wine and hope Raphael hasn’t put something in it.

“Good. Then you’ll understand this.” He pulls out a phone and slides it across the table to me. “Go on. Pick it up.”

I lift the phone and realize it’s a video. I can see two people having sex, but it’s too dark to identify them and the angle is all wrong. The girl looks like me, but I know she’s not. Then, at the end of the video, Caleb’s face shows on the screen, and when the camera moves, I see myself lying naked in the bed next to him. Then the camera zooms in on my face.

My throat constricts, my mouth dry. It takes me a moment to gather myself and set the phone back down. “What’s this? That girl isn’t me.” I glare at Raphael, gritting my teeth. Caleb probably took the last part of the video when we slept together after my father’s business party.

“Insurance,” he says. “No one will ever see this video. Unless you cause me trouble, then I’ll have to share this with the world. I imagine the press would be delirious over it. And don’t think anyone would believe that’s not you or even care. I can make sure of that. And if the word gets out that you paid for all of that...”

I bite on the insides of my cheek so I don’t show any kind of reaction. If he released that video, I don’t even want to think what effect that would have on my family and me. By the time I found a way to prove anything about the video, the press would already go crazy and wouldn’t leave me alone. One more reason to hate Raphael and take him down no matter what. As if I already don’t have plenty of reasons. “I see.” I give him a bitter smile. “But if this video sees the light of day for no good reason, I’ll make sure you regret it.” Hopefully, it’s not in Raphael’s best interest to have Caleb’s face all over the news, but what do I know? He could just keep Caleb locked up somewhere if it came to that.

He eyes me for a moment, but then nods. “Fair enough.”

I exhale slowly, intent on not doing anything stupid. “Now that we cleared that up, can we finally talk about Isaac?”

“Ah yes. Alessandra told me you wanted only him, but he’s not easy to get. Everyone wants him.” He looks so pleased about himself that I want to punch him. “But if you truly want him, there’s a way for you to get him. This Saturday. But it won’t be cheap.”

“Money isn’t an issue.” And I’m sure he’s well aware of that, or I wouldn’t be here.

“That’s good to hear, because there will be an auction. If you can outbid everyone, you can get an hour with Isaac on our premises. There’s one thing you need to know, though.” He gives me a warning look. “If you get him, you have to return him to me with all body parts intact. I don’t know what your fantasies are and I don’t care, but he’s very important to me. So you can do whatever you want to him as long as it doesn’t leave permanent damage.”

I nod, unable to say anything. Just what exactly does Raphael think I’d do to Isaac? I guess I don’t want to know. And I can’t believe he’s actually pretending to care, or is he? I’m not sure about anything with this man, except that he is probably mentally unstable. “I’m sure Isaac appreciates that you care so much about his well-being.” I bite my tongue, hoping I didn’t sound too sarcastic.

Raphael doesn’t seem to notice, his eyes gleaming. “He does. I’ve done so much for all of them. Gave them a purpose in life. Most of them would be dead somewhere in the gutter or looking for their next fix if I hadn’t come along and turned them into every person’s dream. Now they know just how valuable they are.”

I can’t do anything other than stare at him. Is that really what he believes? That he’s done a great deed and helped humanity? Oh God. I swallow the bile that has risen in my throat, and I’m not sure I can listen to this nonsense any longer. I just force myself to smile and nod. The waiter finally approaches with food, and I’m glad Raphael’s mouth will soon be too full to speak.

The auction turns out to be one of the most terrible things I’ve witnessed, and even the dinner with Raphael seems less disturbing now. I’m rooted to my chair. There are six men and four women next to me, their eyes glued to the stage. A man dressed in black leather pants, his muscular chest exposed, a mask covering his whole head, is standing in the spotlight and bringing in people.

When a naked girl comes onto the stage and tries to cover herself, the masked man grabs her by the hair and forces her to move her hands. “How much would you give for this beautiful piece of ass?” He slaps her butt hard and she whimpers. “She’s a pretty crier too.”

I look away as the man next to me raises his hand to bid, his cock already bulging against his pants. I’m not sure if the girl is pretending or she’s really terrified, so I study my fingernails instead. Finally, I see Isaac stepping onto the stage, his lips curled into a sneer. Behind him, I can see Caleb peering out from behind the curtain and I hide behind the woman in front of me, hoping he won’t spot me.

Is Raphael going to offer him too? Oh God. Caleb’s brows are creased, and his concerned looks seem to be directed at Isaac and at one of the men in the crowd, who has already raised his hand in the air to bid. The man is big and bulky, his dark eyes bulging from his skull. Even Isaac is fidgeting.

“This little cunt is mine,” the man yells, and Isaac growls. I glance from Caleb to Isaac, and then to the man. I don’t want that asshole anywhere near Caleb, but I came here for Isaac, and I can’t just back out now, so I raise my hand and bid. The man’s head snaps toward me and the look he gives me is pure murder, but I block his crude comments out of my foggy mind and keep raising my hand until I outbid him.

I wipe the sweat off my forehead as I come behind the stage, where someone is supposed to be waiting for me and lead me to Isaac.

“Hello, miss. I’ll escort you to your room. Your purchase will be waiting for you there,” a woman says, a pleasant smile on her face. Her blond hair is tied into a tight bun, her pink top and miniskirt fitting tightly to her curvy body. My purchase? Oh, she means Isaac.

“Thank you.” I let her lead me upstairs.

“All rooms are soundproof,” the woman suddenly says. “Everything you need will be in the room.” She stops in front of one door and offers me a small bag of white pills. “These are in case you need some assistance.”

I take the bag and nod at her. I can see the instructions written on a small paper inside the see-through plastic. Apparently, one or two of those pills can make my purchase a bit more compliant. Wonderful.

The girl opens the door for me and I enter a small room. There’s a large double bed on my right, and on the wall above it hang various cuffs and chains. The red covers look soft and silky. To my right is a door to the bathroom and an open closet filled with a bunch of sex toys. I turn around and lock the door behind me, glad that no one can open it from the outside.

I wonder where Isaac is. A sound catches my attention and I walk to the other end of the room. A gasp escapes my lips as I see Isaac sitting on the floor next to the bed. Thick chains around his wrists and legs make it impossible for him to move. A piece of duct tape is covering his mouth, and there’s a spiky collar around his neck.

He’s glaring at me and tugging at his chains. I look around the room, searching for cameras. If I just free Isaac, do nothing, and someone sees it, I’m not going to walk out of this place alive. Not that I’d ever have sex or anything in front of the cameras anyway. I make sure to inspect every possible corner, but there doesn’t seem to be any kind of device. I assume Raphael wouldn’t risk angering his clients, especially because he probably already has some kind of a video of them. I doubt he’d let anyone in here otherwise.

I pad over to Isaac and kneel in front of him. He flinches away when I reach out for him, but there’s nowhere he can go.

“It’s okay,” I say, more to myself than to him, and gently place my hand on his head so I can peel off the tape. He spits at me as soon as the tape is off, but I ignore it and lean in to whisper into his ear. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m Caleb’s friend.”

He just looks at me for a moment, then burst out laughing. “That’s just fucking hilarious. You don’t look like Jade at all.”

“Jade? Who’s Jade?” I blink.

“Caleb’s friend.” He glares at me. “His only true friend, aside from me.”

“You’re Caleb’s friend too?”

“What did I just say, you dumb bitch?” He rolls his eyes. I take a look at his chains, then frown.

“Where’s the key?” I ask.

“In the drawer.” He nods toward the nightstand at the other end of the room. As I get to my feet, I can feel his eyes on me.

The key is the only thing in the drawer, so I go back and crouch in front of him. “My name is Lilith and I need your help.”

His eyebrows shoot upward. “Help?”

I wave the key in front of him and nod at the chains. “I’ll take those off.”

He laughs, shaking his head.

I remember the pills the girl has given me, and how Isaac took the pill from Raphael’s fingers, even when he was angry as hell. I take out the package and Isaac’s eyes widen slightly. “I’ll give you these too.”

He swallows hard. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He sighs and bangs his head against the wall. “Okay.” His blue eyes meet mine. “But if this is a trick...”

“It’s not.” I start unlocking Isaac’s chains and keep a little distance from him because I’m not entirely sure he won’t jump at me as soon as he’s free.

When the chains are off, he just rubs his wrists and watches me in surprise. I pick up the bed covers and offer them to him. He doesn’t move, just stares at me, so I dump the covers over his lap and throw the pills at him.

“You’re Caleb’s Lilith, aren’t you?” He gets to his feet, ignoring the covers that have slid to the floor, but he’s gripping the pills in his hand.

It’s my turn to be surprised. Has Caleb told him about me? “I guess I am.”

“You’re the crazy, beautiful girl who pays a lot of money to play video games with him and take him to movies. He can’t stop talking about you. Haven’t seen him smile that way either... not since... Heather.” He looks away, frowning, then meets my eyes. “What do you want?”

I sit on the bed and sigh. “I don’t know if you’re going to believe me, but I’ve got to try. Caleb doesn’t want to tell me anything, but I... I think he’s being held against his will. Like you.”

“Am I supposed to congratulate you for putting two and two together?” He tilts his head. “Or do you want me to tell you that yeah, Caleb would have so invited you on a date if he could?”

“No, I want to help you. Is everyone here...?”

He shakes his head. “Some are just junkies. Would do anything for Raphael as long as they get their fix. And some enjoy the whole thing.”

“Okay. What can you tell me about Raphael? What does he have over Caleb and you?”

“Doesn’t matter. No one can do anything about it.” He chews on his lip. “Believe me, we tried. Didn’t end well.”

I reach into my bra and pull out a small box.

Isaac raises an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

I open the box and show him a small camera. “If I want to talk about this to the cops, I need evidence or at least a testimony. If you let me record an interview with you or something, I can assure you it will go to an honest cop. Even if you get arrested, I can help you.”