A Virgin for the CEO

1

Silently, Arianna walked down the driveway from the gate towards the two-story rest house that seemed to tower in the darkness.

It was night, and only moonlight served as the guide to see her way.

The surroundings were quiet save for the noise coming from the crickets. It was a bit cold, but she could endure it, especially as nervousness and stress had made her sweat on her walk from where she was dropped so she could go the short distance to this place.

The noise of the night wasn't enough to drown the loud thumping of her heart, though. It caused her chest to painfully constrict, the hammering organ pushing against her ribs as if wanting to escape.

She could understand its predicament as she tried not to think of the hell she was expecting to endure in the next hour. She had read about this and heard the women in Madame Venus' kitchen talk about it.

Sex.

They gave her all sorts of advice, only to be silenced by a 'shh!' from one of them a short later on. She had gotten pale because of the terror their detailed descriptions brought her. The end advice was to tell her to look at them. See them.

They were happy.

They could feed their families, send the little ones to school.

They were surviving this cruel world somehow. The consequence if they didn't get into this trade was too dire to tell her, and some of them had gone through this and never wanted to go back again. At least, Madam Venus very carefully picked their clients, always very private and vetted. They couldn't hope for anything more.

And it would only be just one night—nothing more—for her. She could move on with her life once this night was over. Her brother would be home. Her mother would not have to worry further about mounting dept due to her heart condition for a few more months, and they would all be okay.

Except, maybe, her.

Focus.

Now that she was back to the present, she couldn't help but see how she was scantily dressed in dark red silk cloth, the color of the blood that would spill tonight. She couldn't stop herself from thinking fatalistically.

Her hands were visibly shaking. She reached the bottom of the three marble steps and stopped for a moment to lift her eyes to the house... to one of the windows there where she felt a presence. A pair of unknown eyes watching her progress. But it was so dark she could barely see if curtains blocked the glass panes of that wide window. She couldn't really see if anyone was there, and she might have been imagining him.

But her body shivered.

Yes, Arianna was sure there was someone there. A man —the man—waiting for her to arrive.

She lowered her eyes to the small porch now, dark and omi-nous beyond the short three steps to get up to it. She gulped the nervousness that blocked her throat.

She closed her eyes and, for a moment, resisted the dizziness just waiting to engulf her.

No, she couldn't get confused because she was scared. She couldn't afford to be a coward. She thought she was beyond that, had sur-rendered to the fact that there was no other choice. There was no other way but this.

She had to save Tommy. She had to do this for her little brother. Hands clasping her stomach, Arianna finally moved. She climbed the stairs and went to the large and heavy double doors.

She grabbed one of the cold, brass handles and pushed it back after a squeeze. She didn't know what to expect, but when the door opened effortlessly, she knew she had reached the point where there was no backing down and changing her mind.