He’d do anything to keep her safe. James knew where his thoughts were leading. This was how it had started for the others. His possessive feeling, the need to claim her as his own, only increased the more she was with him. He struggled to stay in his office when he saw other men flirting with her.
She was not his.
You want her to be.
You can have her. Claim her. Own her.
He opened his desk draw, placing the file into the drawer. The white envelope remained unopened in his desk. He stared at the thing that was responsible for bringing Prue back into his life. James hadn’t opened the letter.
Running his fingers along the envelope, he decided not to open the letter yet. Veronica had been wrong about him. He wasn’t a monster, and he refused to be treated like one.
He stared at his computer and saw Prudence serving once again.
For the past week he’d let the taxi driver take her home. Tonight, he’d accompany her home. He liked to know she got home safe.
****
Dane waited for Rebecca to lock her door. Isabella sat on the bed. The more he saw both women the harder it was for him to keep quiet. There were men in their lives who’d be able to keep them safe. He knew he could trust them with what he knew. Both women demanded he kept silent. Their silence was going to get them all killed. He stared out of the window, which overlooked the forests surrounding the property. His prison cell had contained bars when he was in England. This was an open prison. Freedom was never going to come cheaply. His freedom always came with a price.
“What have you learned?” Rebecca asked.
“I can get her, but the price has gone up to over a million,” he said, without turning around. Dane had received the email earlier in the day. “I can’t come up with that kind of cash in the next couple of weeks.”
“We don’t even know if he’s got her, Dane. She could be lost,” Isabella said.
“No. She had a value. Her virginity will keep her safe.” Dane slashed his hand across his body. He needed to believe she was safe.
Dane wouldn’t be able to live if he thought she was being hurt.
“This needs to stop,” Rebecca said.
“How do we stop it?” Isabella asked.
“Mary—”
“Don’t say her name!” Dane yelled at Rebecca.
Both women stared at him. He was losing his mind. “There is no way out of this. Once you’re part of him, you remain part of it.”
“What has happened with the files?” Rebecca asked.
“They haven’t worked out the connection yet. It is only a matter of time before they do,” Dane said.
“I know this all started with Violet. The moment she came into the mix, everything blew up.”
“She is not to blame, Rebecca.”
Rebecca nodded her head. “I know. She’s a sweet girl. This has to do with Possession, Ravage, Green, and Black.”
“They have no idea that they were taking girls from both clubs. I don’t think their fathers knew about it, but from what I’ve seen, Possession and Ravage were used as a way to smuggle women in and out of the States,” Dane said.
Isabella gasped. “That can’t be possible.”
“I think this is the lure. Good looking girls who are charmed by the idea of this place and are drugged and taken. It is a stretch, but I think that is the link.”
“Stephen and James are not like that.”
“But what about their parents?” Dane asked.
Isabella remained quiet.
“They’re dead,” Rebecca said.
“Yeah, how did they die?” Dane asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Where I come from people die all the time, and it does not take much to make it look like an accident,” Dane said.
“Do you really think Stephen’s and James’s parents were in on trafficking women?” Rebecca asked. The thought sounded ridiculous even to him.
He shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea. What I can tell you, from the paperwork they’re going through, is that any lawyer will be able to link Dominic Green with Stephen and James along with all the men downstairs. I’m talking Tate, Kevin, Sean, and Lucas. All of them could go down.”
“They were not part of this,” Isabella said, getting to her feet.
“No?” Dane asked, walking toward Isabella. “Then tell me, Isabella. Why did you throw yourself at Eugene Black? What happened when Sean rejected you? Lucas being the devoted brother that he is, why didn’t he find you?”
Dane knew he hurt her with his words. He needed them to see how easily everything could implicate the people they loved the most.
“You’re twisting everything,” Isabella said. Tears were spilling down her cheeks.
“I’m telling you how others are going to see this thing. No one is safe, not even them. They can be the ones accused of everything, don’t you see?”
“What should we do?” Rebecca asked.
“You need to come clean to all of them. We need to get them involved before it is too late.”
“I’m not ready,” Isabella said.
“Then you better get ready. The longer we leave it, the worse it will be.”
Chapter Twelve
Two weeks later
Prue leaned against the alcove watching the couples sway together. Her break would be over soon. She sipped her drink wishing she was the one in the arms of a loved one. Working at Ravage was not the best job, but true to James’s word, the money was good. The last two weeks had been a dream. Ravage opened every night, and she worked every night. James liked to keep her close. She’d noticed the way he moved around the club whenever she was working. Every night when the main part of the club closed, he’d take her home. The driver left them to their privacy. She loved it when he took her home. They’d hold hands, and James would pull her in close. She forgot about everything in his arms. Her sister was forgotten, along with all of her worries.
James was part of her world. He made sure the cross he’d given her was always exposed for others to see. She knew why he’d done it. He was warning other Doms away from her. She’d found some information online. In his own way he was stating his ownership of her. Prue liked it. She fingered the necklace, longing for more than his chain of possession to be around her.
“You’re on your own again,” he said against her ear.
She closed her eyes feeling the shiver run down her spine. His body pressed against her back. She felt the hard ridge of his c**k pulse against her ass.