Herbert Wilcox poured himself another glass of champagne with his eyes fixed on the green-eyed beauty in front of him. His right-hand man was spouting words he wasn’t hearing. Herbert didn’t need to listen. He could tell she was going to be a gold mine. Herbert had his eyes on her for a while. From what he knew of her family background, she was probably damaged and in need of direction. He knew it was only a matter of time before she walked through those doors to audition as one of his girls. It was not like the girls in this part of Queens had any options. Their destinies were pretty much determined when they were born into this neighborhood. This business was as far as bright futures went for them. He scanned her lustfully and watched as color crept into her cheeks. He chuckled. She was a virgin. He could tell by the way she fiddled with her fingers and swayed around nervously. It was going to be his utmost pleasure to remedy that before she met her first client. While he was at it, he would teach her a thing or two about pleasing a man.
‘What’s your name?’ he bellowed like he didn’t already know.
‘Annabel, sir,’ she said nervously, adjusting the strap of her body con dress. He chuckled again. If she only knew that that dress wouldn’t last the night. ‘What a beautiful name!’ he exclaimed, moving closer to her. ‘I do not need beautiful names. Besides, you look like a Sarah,’ he continued with a serious tone. She took two steps back and looked down like she was embarrassed.
‘Have you ever been with a man, Sarah?’ he asked, rising to meet her. It was quick, but the pain he saw in her eyes for a couple of seconds made him reevaluate what he thought he knew about her.
‘I– I know how to pleasure a man, sir,’ she replied.
He lifted her chin so her eyes could meet his again. ‘Which one of the lowlifes in your family raped you?’ he asked.
She was stunned at his deduction. ‘I don’t know what you mean, sir,’ she answered with a straight voice.
She was an expert liar, Herbert thought. She would do well here, but she had to know her limits. ‘If you want to be one of my ladies, then you better learn never to lie to me. I know your deadbeat of a dad can’t keep his pants on even if his life depended on it. Was it him?’
She nodded slowly after brooding over what he said. She was tainted, and knowing that her dad got there first made him want to seek him out and hang him by his member. Still, she was so irresistible that his rivals would kill to have her for themselves. He had to keep her. The trick was to break her completely.
‘I have no use for damaged goods, girlie,’ he said casually. ‘You’re better off working at the bar,’ he added, pointing towards the lengthy bar swamped with horny men.
‘Please give me a chance, sir,’ she cried desperately. ‘I have nowhere else to go. Please give me one try, and I promise I won’t let you down!’
Her emerald-green eyes watered as she folded her hands together and followed him around in a desperate attempt to get his attention. He could feel his member stir excitedly. How much he wanted her! He wondered what sick tricks her dad must have taught her and couldn’t wait to find out. He stopped and turned around with a feigned look of disgust on his face. ‘Look, your old man’s done some damage. My clients can’t see that. It’s bad for business, and these are issues that you need to fix.’
‘Try me,’ she said confidently and with wide, hopeful eyes.
Oh, he was going to, Herbert thought cynically, and he sized her up again. He had to admire this sixteen-year-old beauty. In another life, she would have been a model posing for the cover of a highlife magazine. Fate brought her to him. Who was he to say no?
He drew her into a tight embrace and placed his palms on her butt cheeks. ‘I’ll give you ten minutes to get yourself ready for me. After your performance tonight, I’ll give you my decision.’
She didn’t flinch while his index fingers made little circles on her cheeks, and he pressed himself firmly against her. ‘Scratch that,’ he said huskily. ‘Follow me.’
He took her to the VIP Lounge of the bar and instructed the bouncer not to open the door unless he gave the order. As he closed the door, he watched as she scanned the exquisitely decorated room and ran her fingers through some of the furniture. He licked his lips and slowly approached her from behind. ‘Now, show me what you have learned.’
In one swift movement, he ripped her dress off and threw her on the bed, placing his manly frame between her legs. For a split second, she looked uncertain, even afraid, but in a blink of an eye, she looked like she was as horny as him.
Before he could blink, she was on top of him.
Herbert was surprised because she didn’t look like she had it in her but her desire to please made him relinquish control to her. She straddled him, and in no time, he was grunting away in pleasure. Annabel rode him like an expert and released him just as he was at the height of pleasure. He was dumbfounded at how skillful she was. She looked like she could go ten more rounds, and he was heaving like a beast that had run a thousand miles.
She watched him like a hawk as he tried to regain his composure. He tried to speak, but he was breathless. ‘How did I do?’ she said after some nervy seconds passed. Herbert could only nod, and she smiled.
Annabel Jenkins became his muse, and she retained her stage name, Sarah, for her protection and Herbert’s pleasure.
She was the star attraction he reserved for his top clients, and soon the client list grew. However, it didn’t take long for Herbert to notice that Annabel often came to work, exhausted even if she tried to hide it. Soon Herbert knew why. After tailing her to her house one Wednesday evening, he peeped through the window and watched her father pawn her off to a client Herbert rejected because he couldn’t pay his asking price.
Herbert waited till morning to lynch Annabel’s father when the latter was walking Annabel to work. His men left him close to death before Herbert warned him to leave Annabel alone. Herbert felt warm and feminine arms hug him from behind, and he gently pulled her towards him. ‘Thank you,’ she said before resting her head on his chest.
He chuckled.
‘I’m here to protect you, minx,’ he said as he stroked her beautiful golden curls. This development frightened him because he had taken expensive steps to ensure that rival gangs stayed away from his price. Meanwhile, her father was running a side- gig, and he didn’t know.
As if this wasn’t enough, his right-hand man whispered something shocking in his ear one night.
She was planning to elope.
He almost choked on his drink. ‘Are you sure?’ he yelled, grabbing the messenger by the collar. ‘Her mother couldn’t shut up about Annabel’s plans to take them out of the neighborhood and return to school,’ the man squirmed.
Herbert released him and hit his fist on the bar-top. Who did she think she was? Didn’t she know that she belonged to him?
When he saw her that evening, he acted like he was oblivious to her plans and introduced her to one of the captains of the NYPD. Annabel had never had to attend to a cop, and she was nervous, but Herbert sold it. ‘She might look shy, but well, she isn’t famous for nothing!’
The captain smiled and ran his right index finger down her left arm. ‘Such beauty,’ he complimented. ‘How much?’
‘Plenty,’ Herbert replied with a gesture. Annabel looked away. She didn’t know why she felt like a piece of meat when negotiations happened in front of her.
‘I’ll pay,’ the captain announced and dragged Annabel forcefully to him. She grimaced in pain, but he didn’t loosen his grip.
‘We are going to have so much fun tonight!’ he whispered in her ear and dragged her towards one of the VIP rooms.
‘I’ll have complimentary drinks sent to your room!’ Herbert called from behind them.
The captain threw Annabel on the bed and took off his clothes in a flash. Annabel had never been so afraid in her life. The man looked like a raging bull. ‘I’m going to make you scream,’ he boasted as he showed her his goods. Annabel gasped and had to stop herself from running out of the room in fright.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and a sparsely- dressed waitress with a tray of expensive bubbly and a couple of champagne glasses walked in. ‘Courtesy of Mr. Wilcox,’ she said as she placed the tray on the center table.
She popped the bottle and took her to leave.
‘Stupid lass!’ the captain cursed. ‘I can’t let the champagne go to waste now, can I?’
He leaped off the bed, grabbed the champagne bottle, and poured champagne into both glasses while watching Annabel.
‘Come and have a glass,’ he offered as he downed his first in a hurry.
Annabel crawled off the bed and took the glass he extended to her.
‘Drink,’ he insisted. ‘I’m not a bad man. I will treat you right if you are good to me.’
She put the glass to her lips and sipped some of the liquid. She had to admit this was the best champagne she had ever tasted and wondered how much he must have paid for her services.
After they finished the bottle, the captain led Annabel back to the bed and mounted her. His first thrust was so painful that Annabel yelled while digging her fingers into his flesh. That seemed to excite him as he increased his intensity, forcing Annabel to lay back in exhaustion and resign to observing.
Then he shocked her with a slap across the face. ‘I didn’t pay all that money for a statue!’
As she tried to oblige, he hit her repeatedly, forcing Annabel to fight back. ‘You’re hurting me!’ she yelled, punching and pushing to no avail. He was too strong, and her violent acts excited him more.
‘Good,’ he replied, pinning her to the bed with one hand and hitting her across the face with the other. ‘You belong to me.’
Annabel felt a cut on her lip and tasted blood in her mouth. She had never experienced this at work before. Herbert never let it get this far. She turned to her right to reach for the panic button in case of emergencies, but she couldn’t get to it.
But she couldn’t give in because if he continued hitting her, she was sure to sustain lasting bruises or worse.
‘Get off me!’ she ordered, trying to push him away.
‘You are a wild one, aren’t you?’ he teased. ‘I’m going to tame you.’
He hit her again, forcing Annabel’s head to turn to the left, and her eyes caught a wooden statue.
Instinctively, she grabbed it and hit him across the head. He fell backward and hit his head against the bed stand before landing on the floor.
It was quiet except for the pounding of Annabel’s heart. Was he..? She held on to the statue as she slowly approached the captain.
He wasn’t moving.
Or breathing.
At that moment, she knew her life was over. She attempted CPR, but she knew her efforts were futile. There was no pulse. Trembling, she pressed the panic button and curled up like a ball on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably.
Surprisingly, Herbert opened the door and stopped when he saw the captain lying awkwardly on the floor.
He turned to Annabel, who had her back to him, ‘ Sarah, what have you done?’