“I promise,” she said and held onto tightly to her parent. Like many times before, her mother locked her bedroom door. Violet stayed in her room. Her hands wrapped around her knees as the sounds of violence penetrated the walls. There was nothing she could do. Mother always locked her door. No matter what she heard she could never leave her room.
****
Violet opened her eyes and gasped as the stabbing pain in her heart was too much. Her mother might have been a whore, but Violet had loved her with all of her heart. Taking the soap from the side of the bath she lathered her body and washed herself. Her hair took the longest. Her usual floral shampoo was still at home. She settled on the lavender scented hair wash. When she was done and the fear of the past had abated a little she grabbed a towel and dried her body.
Would Cadeon be waiting on the other side?
Closing her eyes and taking a breath, she entered the room. He was nowhere to be seen. A nightgown lay on the bed, and she saw he’d switched the light shades on either side of the bed, casting a soft glow around the room. Not bothering to take in her surroundings she put the night gown over her head. It was s silk gown that opened to her cle**age and settled around her ankles, its colour a beautiful peach.
She found a brush in a drawer and began to untangle the mess of her mid-back length hair. Going to the salon to get it cut seemed like an unnecessary expense. Her hair grip was in the bathroom. She wore her hair down and climbed beneath the sheets. Tired and exhausted from the day as soon as her head hit the pillow, darkness consumed her.
****
Cadeon sat in his office and took another gulp of his strongest whisky. Having Violet in his house was supposed to make him feel easier. Instead his nerves were on end. Something didn’t add up about the woman in his house. Picking up the file he’d made on her, he glanced through the paperwork. There was nothing new he could find. She was an only child with no parents. Her mother had passed away some time ago. According to the file, nothing brilliant stood out about Violet Moore.
Swinging down the last of his drink, he picked up the phone and dialled his friend and lead security man, Tate Allen.
“You’re calling me a little early. Doesn’t the bad Dom come out after dark?” Tate said.
“Don’t start. I’ve got a job for you, and I’ll make it worth your while.”
“You know the only thing I want.”
They’d argued many times about what Tate wanted. Cadeon refused to give her to him.
“I told you no,” Cadeon growled.
“Then I can’t help you.”
Tate hung up the phone, and Cadeon slammed his receiver back down. Pouring himself another shot of whisky he picked up the phone and dialled his number again. Tate wanted Rebecca Black for his own. He’d found her in a sex club being abused by an ass**le who was into pain. He’d promised to help and keep her safe.
“My deal sticks. I’ll not do anything for you without her, Cadeon. I promised you I’d take care of her. Nothing has changed,” Tate said as soon as he picked up the phone.
“What about your friend, Kevin? Will he still take care of her?” Cadeon didn’t want to get into this argument.
The woman he wanted was upstairs and, he bet, lying in his bed. He wanted to go and join her. To hold her in his arms. Not have to sort through making deals with men for women.
“Kevin wants her, too. We’ll take care of her. We’ve promised you several times.”
“She’s delicate.”
“You either want us to do this job, Cadeon, or get off the phone. I’m tired of this bullshit. You can’t keep Rebecca from us forever. She’s ours.”
His grip tightened on the phone. “Fine, but I’ve got to be present at your meeting. If she doesn’t feel comfortable with you, you call it off, deal?”
“Yes.”
“I want you to do some digging for me.”
“Give me the, name, age and sex and I’ll get it done,” Tate said.
“Violet Moore, twenty-one and female.”
“Any middle names? Anything else to go on?”
“She has no living family.”
“Cadeon, do you think this girl wants to stay gone for a reason?”
Cadeon drank down his second shot. “I don’t think anything. I want to know more about her.”
“Consider it done.”
The call ended, and Cadeon placed the receiver down. He knew he should call Rebecca, but he didn’t want to disturb her yet. Tate and Kevin always unnerved her.
He imagined he was worrying for nothing. Violet was just an innocent girl and not used to being around men.
“Is there anything else, sir?” Anne asked after she knocked on his offie door.
“No. You may leave for the night.” He waited, knowing she had something to say. “Say what you’ve got to say.”
“She’s young. You should be careful with her. She’s not like your other women.”
“How do you know about my other women?” he asked.
“I’ve seen the way you are with her. Be careful. If you squeeze too tight you may lose her forever.”
“Save the dramatic words for someone else. I know what to do with a woman.” Cadeon turned.
Anne bowed her head and left the room. She’d served the Ashwood house ever since he was a boy and his dad had been in control. A possessive instinct had been passed through generation from father to son. When they found the woman they wanted to spend the rest of their life with, they refused to let them go, instead taking over and making them dependant on them and them alone.
His possessiveness rose every time Violet entered the room. He had to hold onto himself to stop himself from having her. She was young, and he was forty years old. In his head he knew he should let her go and live her life. To be in the background, waiting until she came back. His heart refused to let her go. Violet was his woman, and he wouldn’t ever let her leave him.
Closing down his computer and shutting out the light he made his way up to his bedroom. One of the light shades was still on, and he saw her lying in his bed. Her hair splayed out on the pillow, the strands still wet from her bath. Cadeon stood next to the bed and gazed down at her. The blanket had slipped down her body, the peach, silk nightgown showing through. She wouldn’t have known the gown was made to be transparent. He saw the mounds of her br**sts peeking over the edge of the bodice. He saw her ni**les, dark red and tight budding against the gown. What would happen if he leaned over and pulled the straps and bodice down, exposing her tits for him to see?