Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“Oh.” I kept my eyes on the water.
“Every slave that leaves to be owned gets a room named after them. When they come back, they’re brought to the room. Their reaction can have consequences. Your former family name was Macleod, wasn’t it? Your father’s name David?”
My eyes moved to her face.
“I saw the plaque go up two days ago. They may make up a backstory. It may contain some truth. Be prepared for either.”
I swallowed hard.
“I’ve been here ten years. I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen one of those plaques go up a dozen times. Not every master brings his slave back, but if he does, the slave is taken into a room with her former name. If she reacts poorly, her master finds out that she’s holding onto her old life. I’ve seen masters punish or reject slaves for their reaction. Three were left for re-training after that. Only one of those three was taken back by her master. I would hate to see that happen to you. It seems like you got a good one. I hope.”
She moistened her lips and then continued. “I wanted to warn you, so you can steel your emotions, if you still have those old emotions. I’m guessing you do, judging by your eyes when you came back here.”
I was in shock.
“Cleo deserved what she got. You deserve this warning. You didn’t deserve to be treated like a pariah while you were here and we didn’t want to do that to you but I’m sure you understand that we only did what we had to do.”
I nodded. “I did understand.”
“This is my thank you for paying her back just a tiny bit of what she is owed. One of the patrons, Mr. Jackson, he really likes me and he’s due here next month. He likes to watch punishment porn while he fucks. Maybe I can request he play that one so that I can see it. And maybe, if there is a God, one day she’ll get paid a little bit more of what she’s owed.”
I moistened my lips. “Thank you, Truly. Truly.” I smiled a little.
I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell her so badly that Dare was going to try to take Kruna down. I couldn’t.
She didn’t respond.
“I won’t forget this.”
She smiled and shrugged.
“It could’ve been you that went with him, you know?” I said. “He asked for a redhead. You’re on the shortlist.”
“I know,” she smiled sadly. “He’s a good one?”
I nodded. “So good.”
“You deserve that.”
“You do, too.”
She shrugged. “Someday my prince may come.”
“I hope so.”
She got up. “Hope ain’t worth much in here. You know that. Hard not to hope, though, seein’ what you got. Is it true that you’re in the same family as Monalisa?”
“Yes.”
“She is the shit.” She smiled fondly. “Tell her hi from me and Lulu.”
“She is. I’ll tell her.”
“She never had to see her plaque.” She got to her feet and wandered down to another part of the pond and looked in. “And she never had to come back after her master died. We’re all happy for her. Can’t sit here too long. We’ll draw attention. If we don’t get to talk again, good luck out there.”
“We’ll talk again,” I promised. And that was all I could say but I tried to tell her more with my eyes. She smiled a resigned, sad smile.
I got up and casually wandered the other rooms and then left the slave quarters, smiling at every face that glanced my way.
I felt for these girls and the couple of men here. I really did. And I prayed that God would help my Master get them freedom.
I thanked God that Truly gave me that warning. Even if Dare didn’t plan to leave me behind or punish me at how I reacted to seeing my old name on a plaque; it might’ve complicated matters. I felt like I was already failing at my X to Y plan. I couldn’t fail: I represented my Master and failure would put him and all the plans to get these girls free at risk.
I typed a very quick note on Dare’s phone, which was in our room, telling him there would be a room named after me and to hide reactions from them, that they’d be measuring my reaction to see if I was being obedient.
When he came back after cocktail hour, to fetch me for dinner, he first took a shower and then used his phone to call his office to check in. I knew by his face that he’d read the message. We’d discussed on the beach that I’d leave a note there to tell him if there was something valuable in my secret discussion with Truly.
He kissed me, not saying anything about it, and then we got changed and headed to one of the larger private dining rooms, where a meal for all present partners was held.