Page 57 of Coal Hearts

I sucked in a breath.

No.

He can’t.

My eyes shot to Henri who stepped forward. His nostrils flared as he studied the three circlets nestled in black velvet. “You collar all your jewels?”

“Of course.” Victor nodded smoothly. “Hold this.” Passing Henri the open box again, he took out one of the smaller cuffs. “Give me your left arm, Ily.”

“And if I don’t?” I asked with ice.

“Then I will toss a condom at Roland here and let him fuck you.”

Henri sucked in a breath; air refused to enter my lungs.

“It would be my pleasure.” Roland snickered. Grabbing my left wrist, he shoved my arm forward. “Cuff or my cock. Your choice.”

All my power was stolen by images of abuse and assault from faceless men.

How many times would they expect me to submit?

How many men were members?

How long would I last before I lost every inch of my sanity?

Tears burned my eyes as the golden cuff snapped around my wrist. Tight but not too tight, cool but quickly warming, far too thick to be broken.

“The other one if you will, Roland.”

With a chuckle, Roland shoved my right arm forward. The clink of my gemstone bracelets mocked me. Each one I’d carefully selected for our trip. Moonstone for safety while travelling. Rose quartz to open my heart to repairing things with Sam. Howlite to help me sleep in strange places, and black tourmaline to protect me from other’s negative energies.

Turned out, not a single gem had worked.

Victor slipped each bracelet off me with gentle, almost fatherly fingers, then placed them into his pocket. “I’ll ensure these are added to the jewelry taken from my other girls. You’ll see them again when you’re taken to the jewel quarters.”

“You don’t steal them?” I asked, hating how frail my voice sounded. How sad and forlorn as the pressure of everything squatted heavily in my heart.

“Why would I steal jewels when I have the most priceless ones imaginable?” He smiled gently as he snapped a matching cuff onto my right wrist. A small solid ring of metal dangled off the cuff, tinkling as I moved.

Victor flicked the ring. “These are for the chains that will hold you in all manner of positions. The cuffs cannot be undone without a special key, and the convenience of you wearing them at all times means you’re ready and available to play whenever the mood strikes.”

My knees wobbled.

I no longer wanted to ask questions or learn answers.

Each one was worse than the last.

Victor plucked the final golden circle from the box in Henri’s clenched hands. “Henri, would you be so kind to lift her hair and remove her necklace?”

Shifting directly in front of me, Victor added, “I know most stones, but that one I’m unaware of. Is it jade?”

I blinked at my pendant. A green aventurine flower of life symbol that Krish had bought me online. He’d given it to me for abundance and prosperity after I’d complained of not having enough money to buy all the rocks I wanted.

God, Krish...

I’m so sorry.

I didn’t answer. Nothing on earth could make me share the pricelessness of my pendant with this bastard.