Merry with a Gambler (Love Beach Holiday Collection)

Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

Boots

Most of the customers came for the boat parade, waiting and watching as the decorated ships float by. Nyla and Pax have staggered fire pits along our part of the beach to give a little ambiance to the evening. They’re also supplying tarps to sit on and blankets with the bar logo to anyone who forgot to bring their own.

The guys in the food shed have made a variety of holiday induced snacks as well as sweet treats. They’re also offering spiked hot chocolate.

Not everyone likes the crowds at the pier. The tourists bring in a lot of cash and profits but add an equal amount of congestion that locals sometimes resent. The way Nyla and Pax have set up the Sandy Sipper is going to appeal to locals who just want to enjoy the show and the evening with friends. This is going to be a big draw in years to come.

Even though we’re fully staffed, tonight has been crazy as hell. There hasn’t been a quiet minute.

I’m glad. It’s kept me busy and the worry over Stack at bay. Just before he left, he warned me again that he wouldn’t be home. I’m supposed to behave and do what Pax and Silk tell me. If I’m good, he promised to make me scream when he got home.

I’m on the patio, clearing tables when shouts and screams breakout. Looking up I watch as a drunk falls, toppling two tables on the lower deck and then tries to start a fight. Pax, and two of the wait staff go to handle it while half the patrons push into the area I’m trying to clean. Suddenly all the outside lights go out. Everyone is bumping and shoving to get out of the way. Something pricks my shoulder in the jostling, and I try to move aside. A thick arm wraps over my shoulder and a cloth covers my nose and mouth. I struggle but almost immediately feel weak and disoriented.

“Are you okay, dear?” I glance up to see Big Tipper, but his face is distorted and vile looking. Just before my world goes black, my father pushes around him to wrap an arm around my waist.

My head is pounding, my stomach feels queasy. I try to move but my hands are bound behind my back and my legs are restrained. Something covers my eyes, preventing me from opening them.

Memories of being hidden in a closet flood my mind. My mother’s voice echoes from the past. Keep your mouth shut and don’t make a sound. If they find you, you’ll be sorry.

Long learned responses kick in and now I lay, frozen in the moment, too afraid to move.

Breathe. Again. Again. Just breathe. Keep it together, Boots.

Stack will find you. You’re his. He said he was a selfish bastard. He won’t lose what belongs to him.

I’m not sure how long I lay there before I feel a draft then voices behind me.

“She should be awake by now. How damn much did you give her?”

“The same amount I always give them.”

My stomach churns. That’s my father’s whiney voice and the other belongs to Big Tipper.

The bar, the drunk, the tables, the fight. My father. The one thing he was always good at was creating the diversion so my mom could lift whatever they were trying to steal.

“She’s smaller you idiot. You have to adjust for size. If she dies, it comes out of your cut. Get Karen, she’ll have a couple tricks to wake her up.”

This time when I feel the air shift I listen and can hear sounds, but once the door closes, nothing. The room I’m in must be soundproof.

I try not to panic. Stack will find you ….

“Wake up, sweetie. You’ll feel better once you move around and get some water in you. Then I’ll get you something to eat.” A cool cloth whispers over my face and neck. My eyes flicker open.

A woman is sitting next to me. Her dark brown hair is pulled up in a messy bun. Perfect makeup highlights her gorgeous eyes and full lips. As she leans forward to wipe my face, her ample cleavage threatens to spill out of her low-cut top.

Her dark eyed gaze meets mine. “There we go. I knew you were in there somewhere.”

Using her forearm to help me lean forward, she places a couple pillows behind me so I’m sitting up. Whatever restrained me before is now gone and I’m on a bed. The room isn’t huge, but still subtly elegant in shades of gray and black. My legs are stretched out before me. I’m sitting on a coarse heavy blanket that covers part of the red satin bedspread on the rest of the bed.

The woman presses a mug to my lips. “Drink this broth. We need to hydrate you a little before we can give you food. You’ll feel better after that.”

“Where am I?”

“Ah honey, that doesn’t matter. Just know if you’re a good girl all will be taken care of. Now drink. We need to clear the drugs they gave you from your system.”

“I don’t understand. Who are you?”

She sighs and sits next to me. “Drink first.”

I swallow some of the broth while I study her.

“I’m Karen, your new house mother. You have a new job and living arrangements. As long as you do what you’re told all of your needs will be met.”

“I have a job and a home.”

“That was before you got this new one.”

“I don’t want a new job or home. I want to go back to my old one.”

“Well dearie, that’s not possible. You have a debt to pay, and you aren’t leaving until it’s paid off.”

“Wha-what do you mean?”

“Your purchase price. The boss paid big bucks for you, and you need to work it off.”

“Wh—who did he pay?”

“Don’t know the guy. He’s a new supplier.”

Why did I even ask. I know.

“Now, you need to do what you’re told and not cause trouble. Finish the broth.”

“What happens if I don’t do what I’m told?”

Her expression turns hard. “Well, then things get difficult and painful.”

When the broth is gone, she gives me crackers and more water. After I finish, she helps me undress, then slides a panel on the opposite wall to the side exposing a full bathroom. “This is your room. We don’t move our girls around. Hurry up and shower. Be sure to shave, including your pussy.”

I’m given more crackers while she dries my hair and arranges it in two braided space buns on top my head. “Your hair is perfect for this. You’re going to be so popular. I’ll teach you how to do your own makeup another day. We’re short-staffed tonight and I need to have you ready.”

She hands me a strappy-back high cut thong, then affixes a pair of starburst pasties with an attached chain to my breasts. Grabbing a tin of thick make-up, she dabs it on the small hickey Stack made. “This stuff is a dream. It’s going to cover up all the bumps and bruises when you walk the floor. No one cares once you’re in your room.

“It will be a couple weeks before they can get your breast implants, so this will have to do for tonight.”

Pulling a pair of six-inch heels from her costume bag she hands them to me, but frowns once I have them on. “No, those don’t work. Put your boots back on, let’s see how that looks.”

Smiling, she gives me a once over. “Oh yes. That’s it. We’ll call you Space Nova. The boots and the buns will be your signature.

“Okay, just chill. I’ll be back in a few minutes before you start work and walk you through what to do during the intro. Do not mess up your hair or makeup. Be a good girl and just sit still.”

I wait on the edge of the bed shivering, frozen on the inside and out. My own father sold me. Parents, I correct myself. I’m sure my mother had something to do with it. I wonder how much they got for me. Probably not that much. They always told me I was worthless. They never cared or wanted me.

Stack will find you. You belong to him. Just hold on.