Psychotic Love (a mafia love story)

Chapter 35

ECHO'S POV

I wake up in a room flooding with cries. Violent sobs shoot through my ears from the left and barely audible whimpers seep in from the right.

These cries send my groggy brain into a spiral. Where am I? Why am I here? Why do a lot of these girls look so young?

Some of the girls hold each other and weep, while others weep alone. Should I be crying? Everyone looks so petrified. Should I be? Surely Fuller couldn't have sent me anywhere too bad. She's a cop. She wouldn't do that. Right?

I realize that I'm hyperventilating. I place my hand over my chest to calm myself, but with the wails circling around me, it becomes nearly impossible.

The metal door unlocks. Two women walk in. They wear matching sheer black robes. The curly-haired girl wears a pink lingerie set while the blonde wears a red one. The blonde wears heels. The other lets hers dangle from her fingers.

Both of them hold smiles that would be warm and welcoming if everyone wasn't utterly terrified.

"Hey everybody, my name is Nora. Now, I know y'all are probably scared, but I promise ya there's no need to be." Her country accent burns strong. It's sort of comforting.

"Myself and Kate, here," she holds her hands out to the curly-haired girl "will tell you everything you need to know to get by."

Get by? What does she mean?

"Can everybody stand, please?"

Nobody moves a muscle. We all just sit looking at the two girls in confusion.

"C'mon, ladies. We need you to cooperate. Master wants everyone ready before noon. He doesn't take kindly to disobedience. Please stand," says Nora.

Master?

The girls stand, a few at a time. I don't get up until just about everyone else is on their feet.

"Okay now come along."

We exit the small room and enter a larger one. It's a dressing room. Women sit in front of mirrors in scanty outfits doing their hair and makeup. What could they possibly be getting ready for?

"It's gonna be hard to adjust, but after a while gettin' a new owner will become excitin'," says Nora.

An owner? Suddenly, my wanting for Luca grows strong. He's probably the only person who can get me out of a situation like this. It isn't like the police can. Fuller, that dirty fucking cop put me here. All of that talk about wanting to help me was bullshit from the start.

"Stop." A voice booms from behind us.

"You." The girl from that event points to me.

Azeris Petrov. The girl who was so cold to me that night. She's lucky, I think I might have saved her life.

She walks up to me; our noses nearly touch.

"I'm going to make sure you get sold to the worst of the worst." Her Russian accent is thick but I hear the word sold perfectly.

They're gonna sell me. I remember a guy threatening to sell me over the phone. I didn't think it was actually going to happen.

I gaze into her forest-green eyes. Nothing but bitterness circles behind them. "Why? Does this have to do with Luca?"

She doesn't say anything. She knows the only reason she's targeting me is because of what happened at that event. That's so fucking petty. She acts as if I stole Luca from her. They were never together. She got turned down and now she's gonna make sure my life is worse than hell because of it.