1. His plaything

"Strip"

A shiver ran down my spine when I heard the word that I was dreading. I was waiting for my hands to get free from the handcuffs and finally, when they were free the voice paralyzed me to my place because it sounded too familiar.

Every fiber of my being was urging me to escape from this nightmare but I found myself bound to my place with invisible ropes.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" The voice pierced through the air as he again spoke in his thick and authoritative voice which flinched me at my place, breaking the chain of my thoughts.

Slowly my shaky hands and fumbling fingers moved up to loosen the blindfold. As the fabric slipped away, my eyes widened in horror, my jaw dropped and my breath hitched in my throat looking at the man standing in front of me whom I was least expecting to be a part of this dreadful and sinful scenario.

Suddenly the room felt smaller as he looked tall and scary like a dark shadow looming over me.

"Strip!!" He ordered again, his voice tinged with impatience and I could feel a fresh wave of fear coursing through my veins.

My mind was still trying to grapple with the reality of the situation and what has transpired with me within a single, harrowing day.

Three months ago m, my brother was murdered by a Mafia gang which left me and my family completely devastated. The reason for his murder and the murderer is unknown. Even the police were not ready to help us in the matter and they dismissed us by calling it an accident. As a lawyer, I decided to collect the pieces of evidence against all the running mafia gangs and file a case against them in court.

Everything was going file and today I was about to win the case but in a nightmare twist of events I was abducted from my home, last night. And in the morning I found myself getting auctioned among those I dared to challenge and sold to the biggest highest bidder as the punishment of going against them.

I still couldn't shrug off the feeling when I woke up in a dark room, filled with masked men, whose eyes were moving on my body, vying for their chance to own me.

I protested and fought but nothing was of use because my hands and legs were tied tightly to the chair and my pleas went to dead ears while I was being auctioned like an object.

One million, two million, three million, the price of bidding are still echoing in my head and my final price is 70 million dollars. No one dare to outbid it as if the bid came from the mafia lord himself whom no one could defy.

I didn't have any idea where they were taking me because my eyes were blindfolded until now, engulfing me in the world of darkness which was waiting for me ahead.

But now that my eyes have opened and I could see everything I have become even more confused.

"Ansell?" The first thing that came out of my mouth was the name of the person standing in front of me. My voice quivered and the confusion was quite audible in my voice.

I blinked multiple times to make sure that I was not in any Haze and that what I was seeing was right.

"It's 'Sir' for you. I have bought you by paying the highest price" he wasn't sounding like the person I know. His words were harsh which blew me in the guts.

He was never so rude and inconsiderate. What happened to him all of a sudden?

And what baffled me, even more, was that he was among the mafias.

How and when?

My brain was filled with so many questions at the same time that I couldn't think of anything.

Is it possible that he has come here as my savior?

"You brought me here to protect me from all those me. Right?" I asked to confirm, staying positive even in the darkest times.

"I don't want to keep you in any misunderstanding"

He made himself comfortable on the couch, his posture oozing arrogance as he spread his arms and legs like a King on his throne, looking at me as if I was his slave.

"I haven't bought you to save you from anyone but to satisfy my needs. I wanted your body from the first moment I laid my eyes on you" he admitted with unsetting bluntness.

My heart sank in the pit of my stomach as his words sank in, revealing the side of him that shattered the image that I had of him in my mind.

There was not even one percent of emotions in those green orbs. He was looking at me as if I was a stranger to him which hurt me even more.

In these three months, he has changed so much physically and emotionally. Now everything about him screams darkness and danger, a shift that chills down my bones.

"Now come here" he commanded, patting his thigh, signaling me to sit on his lap.

I shuddered and I could feel the goosebumps rising on my skin. I always looked at him admiration but I never knew that such a devil was lurking behind that handsome face, his dirty intentions were now radiating off him.

William was right when he used to ask me to stay away from him. Maybe he knew his real face and now he is taking advantage of my brother not being with me.

The fact that I wanted to find Charming was now looking like a nightmare to me.

He was waiting for me to make any move but I stayed at my place, too afraid to move even an inch.

"Ansell, how could you do this to me when you know I am your friend's sister" I was on the verge of a breakdown.

"But not mine" he retorted sharply, his words crisp and harsh.

"But William?" I managed to blurt out, my throat tightening with my emotions as I shrugged to keep my composure "You know he has been killed brutally. Instead of standing by me, you---" "

Before I could complete myself, he lunged to his feet, his hand shooting out like lightening to wrap around my throat, cutting off my words and my breath. Panic surged through me as his grip tightened. Leaving me gasping for air.

"Don't take that wretched pig's name in front of me" his voice dipped with venom, his nails digging sharply into my skin. "Or I will make it more painful for you than it is already going to be"

I could see nothing else than raw anger and hatred in his eyes as they bore into mine. I could see his veins pulsing angrily on his neck and temple.

The once gentle emerald pools of his eyes have now transformed into a tumultuous storm, blazing with an intense fury that was enough to burn with a simple gaze.

Those eyes which once used to pull me like a magnetic force towards him with just a glance were filled with hatred for me, leaving me thinking about where I went wrong to receive this from him.

His hands, the very ones, which have helped me countless times were now wrapped around my neck, ready to squeeze the life out of me.

His closeness which used to fasten my heartbeat was now threatening me to the core.

I am sure my face has turned red due to the lack of oxygen. Just when I felt my strength waning and I thought I would die if he kept his hold for one more second he left me and I coughed loudly, gasping for air.

"What has happened to you?" I asked once I was fine. "You and William have spent your entire teenage together and you two were inseparable during those days. You have visited our house so many times, our mother used to love you so much but we never saw this side of yours before "

A sudden rage seems to urge through his veins listening to my words.

"Your brother is responsible for this!" He seethed through his clenched teeth.

William?

What has he done that changed Ansell so much?

"He is dead now" I reminded him ad the tears that I was holding all this time rolled down my cheeks as I missed my brother badly. I am still not over to his death.

"No one knows that better than me" his words slashed through the air. "because I am the one who killed him with my own hands!"

My eyes widened to the point of coming out of their sockets, the ground below me slipped and it seems like someone has thrown tons of bricks over me.

"And now you dear Leonara Eleanor "

His voice became chillingly intimate and I shivered as the temperature of the room suddenly dropped by several degrees. His finger which he might have used to kill my brother trailed down from my temple to my jaw and rested below my chin to lift it up.

"You are going to be plaything"