Madame

Chapter 17

Karina's POV

"You look beautiful." Andrew whispers in my ear, sending chills up my arms as his warm breath fans over my ear. Boy back the fuck up, "Thanks, it's nice to dress up after having worn nothing but baggy clothing for months." He chuckles and nods in agreement.

A handsome boy comes around the corner of the street that we're currently walking in and his eyes light up at the sight of us, "Brother!" He shouts, waving his hand in the air to get our attention.

He looks better in person, his brown hair parted to the side and his dark eyes welcoming and kind, unlike his brothers', "Yousef, don't yell, people will think you're weird." His brother scolds him, his cheerful demeanour leaving his body, "Sorry." He grumbles.

His eyes meet mine and I smile kindly at him, "Hello Yousef, I've heard great things about you." I offer him my hand and he takes it, giving it a gentle but firm shake, "Likewise." A smile plays on his lips, "Is that so?" I chuckle, bumping Andrew playfully with my hip, "You talking about me?" I tease him.

He hangs his arms around my waist, squeezing my side, "You're worth talking about." Eh, what? I laugh uncomfortably, excessively squinting my eyes as I smile, praying that I'll lose my eyesight.

We continue to walk and chat until we reach a little restaurant that is tucked at the end of a small back street, the lights outside contrasting against the darkness of the night. "My uncle should be waiting inside for us. Your uncle told you what to do, yes?" I silently nod my head, biting my tongue, "Good." He smiles, entering the restaurant before Yousef and I.

That's right, I'm going to stay silent the whole time...again. I'm an ornament per usual, only here so that they can look at my modestly covered body.

We follow a waiter down the restaurant's main floor and are brought up some stairs, past a room with shady looking men smoking hookah, then an open dining room where some people were seated.

I look to where the waiter is motioning for us to sit and lock eyes with a familiar face, "Hello, dear. Good to see you again." His voice rattles my bones and I break out into a nervous sweat. That night at the gala thing where Ahmed begged me to degrade him, this was the man that was with him.

"Sir." I bow my head, waiting for the men to take their seats before allowing myself to sit at the end of the table, my hands folding in my lap.

I fade out the voices and instead think about other things. Like how the fuck did I end up in this situation.

Elizabeth's plan changed. She was going to attack him in his apartment, assuming she knew where that was. She didn't tell me when but boy was I anticipating the night she crashes through those doors... well not her, she made it very clear she'd be somewhere else, overseeing the operation from a safe distance.

She said she'd be collecting more evidence, trying to find out where exactly he's getting the girls from and where he's putting them. Her main goal is to get arrested though, obviously. She tried to explain to me all of the legal stuff but I blanked out and just nodded my head, pretending that I understood every word that came out of her mouth.

Kinda like what I'm doing now, stupidly and absent mindedly nodding my head and smiling like the puppet I'm supposed to be playing. Hopefully she's gathered enough shit by now, I've been here for almost 72 hours and I'm not liking the thought of staying any longer than I have to.

Though Andrew has been relatively kind and gentleman-like, he still gives me the creeps, no matter how good he looks.

"It is too bad your father is gone. He would be proud of you, avenging his death, running the business, and most importantly, snagging the girl he had his eyes on for you." Ismail tells Andrew, slapping his back and gripping his shoulder.