4
The heels were a little on the high side. Valencia had practised endlessly and now could walk straight without her knees buckling.
She was unrecognisable. Karma had worked hard to make her look a little older than she was. She wore a black wig, a slim back dress and make-up that matched the look. The dress had long sleeves, and Valencia wore it with dark stockings, so she was confident that her bruises were hidden.
He still saw them.
To his skilled eyes, watching her enter the room, Eliott Cross didn’t see just another server coming in to refill their drinks.
His two business partners were busy feeling up the women they were with, too drunk to even see that the girl walking around the room was trying her best to pull off a poor disguise.
The scarf tied around her neck hid the bruises, but every time she bent over to pick up an empty bottle, the fabric moved. He tilted his head, studying the dark purple bruises on her fair skin.
His golden-brown eyes ran down the length of her legs, too thin in the thick stockings. Her blond hair had been curled and bounced around her face, adding to the mature illusion her make-up created.
When she realised that every empty bottle on the table had been replaced, she turned back to her little alcohol cart and started pushing it.
He whistled.
She froze.
Sweat prickled on her forehead, and Valencia resisted the urge to wipe it. She swallowed hard, her body tensing under the weight of his stare.
He’d been watching her since she’d entered. His gaze carried the precision of a laser and the sharpness of a knife. It was like he could see through her. Karma had warned her not to get too close to any of the patrons, especially the ones in this particular VVIP room. They were the worst, she’d said.
Slowly, she turned back to look at him.
Eliott tilted his head, studying that expression. Wide green eyes in a slim face framed by blonde hair.
So innocent. So shockingly beautiful.
He put on a kind smile, raising his empty glass. “Refill.”
Seemingly melting with relief, she nodded and approached.
Wiping her sweaty palms against her dress, Valencia picked up the bottle of whiskey on the table before him. She was extremely careful, aware that this bottle was probably worth more than her entire existence.
Opening it, she awkwardly leaned over to pour a finger of the liquid into his glass.
His gaze hadn’t left her face even once. “More.”
She paused and leaned over again, pouring more of the alcohol.
It glimmered as it reflected light on its way into his glass, momentarily matching the colour of his golden eyes. She stopped pouring and was about to straighten.
One side of his mouth quirked up in a lazy smirk. “Sixteen?”
Valencia froze. Her eyes were wide, staring into the whiskey in his glass. Slowly, she raised her gaze to meet his.
“Desperate,” he whispered. “Here, at sixteen years old.”
She quickly straightened, pale even through her makeup. “I’m e-eighteen.”
“You’re running,” he continued, like she hadn’t spoken. “And this time, you barely survived enough to run. You can’t go back to that life, or you’ll die.”
Entranced, Valencia stared at him. “Who… who are you?”
He raised his glass and took a sip. “Me? I’m someone who can see your pain. Your desperation to be someone else. Would you… like me to help?”
Her body wouldn’t move; it was like she was frozen in place, staring down at him. She had no clue who he was, but how did he seem to see through her so easily? And… could he really help her?
“How far would you go…” he started softly. “To become someone else?”
Valencia stared at him, tears glistening in her eyes. As far as the ends of the ocean. If she could leave Valencia Raine behind and be reborn, she would do anything for it.
She didn’t speak, but he saw her answer in her eyes. His lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“A million dollars,” he whispered. “Just one night.”
Her eyes slowly widened, her face tense with shock at what she was hearing.
He raised a brow. “What do you say?”
In dazed horror, she shook her head, backing away on shaky knees.
His smile grew, and she was stunned to see how sweet and sincere it looked, despite the horrific offer he’d just made her.
“I can tell you’re panicking,” he said gently, that smile never leaving his face. With a sigh, he patted the sofa beside him. “Come. Sit here, let me explain.”
Swallowing hard, she hesitantly glanced around the room. She wanted to run out, but something within her was wired to follow orders. Sly would probably fire her if she pissed off his VIP client, wouldn’t he?
Looking for some source of comfort, she glanced at the two women in the room who were busy with the other two men. She’d seen them around before. Surely, if things took a bad turn, they would protect her. Right?
Rolling her hands into fists to stop their trembling, she slowly went over and sat down beside him.
He smiled. “So obedient. How lovely.”
When she stared stiffly at the floor and didn’t meet his eyes, Eliott scoffed in amusement. Cute.
In a few moments, he held his phone in front of her, and Valencia stared down at the photo of a handsome boy.
She blinked, frowning.
“My son,” he answered her unspoken question. “He’s seventeen years old. Sleep with him tonight. And a million dollars is yours.”
Eliott’s jaw clenched as he looked down at the image of his son.
Their empire was massive, one that had been in their family for years. Eliott’s circle included too many connections formed by his great-grandfather and his grandfather for him to allow his only heir to be gay. It would ruin too many things.
He would do anything to fix Evander’s image and rid him of the damaging rumours floating around lately. This girl was the perfect person for it.
Unknown, poor, desperate. Exactly what Eliott needed.
Biting her bottom lip, Valencia stared at the boy in the photo. His hair, unlike his father’s brown hair, was blonde, but he had the same golden eyes. He was laughing in the image, sitting cross-legged on green grass.
Looking away, she shyly shook her head.
Eliott smiled, putting his phone down. He sighed. “Okay, fine.”
Surprised at the easy acceptance, she glanced at him.
He gave her that kind smile again. Valencia had seen too much cruelty in her life to be fooled. She saw the evil in his eyes as clearly as he’d seen the desperation in her façade. They saw through each other, but he was the only one who thought his pretence was successful.
“So, what are you going to do?” he asked. “Stay here?”
She rubbed her arm, suddenly cold.
He nodded. “You’re coming from a place where they beat you for fun. Treated you like dirt and made you wish you could wake up a different person. And this is the best place you’ve found to run away to?”
She tensed, trying to steel herself against his words, but finding herself listening anyway.
“Then I wish you luck,” he muttered. “In a few years… that’s going to be you.”
Raising his hand, he pointed past her to the other side of the room where the other two men and their girls were.
Following his pointing hand, Valencia looked and immediately wished she hadn’t. One of the women was completely topless, wincing and forcing sounds of pleasure as the man with her roughly mauled her breasts.
The other girl was in an even worse position. On her knees between the man’s spread legs, she bobbed her head up and down, gagging noises gurgling out of her when he forcefully held her head down.
Valencia whipped her gaze away, tightly shutting her eyes like it would erase what she’d seen. She was constantly seeing things in this place, and it never ceased to shock her.
“Is that what you want?” he murmured. “I’m giving you a way out, sweetheart. You think you’re safe here because the girls are nice to you? They’re going to turn you into a whore just like them. But me? I’m offering you more money than they make in a year, in a single night.”
Her eyes were dazed, but he knew every single word he spoke went through her head.
He decided to give her that final push.
“You’re running,” he whispered. “But how long can you run until they find you and drag you back?”
Her eyes widened with horror.
He leaned closer to her ear. “I’ll give you a new life, more money than you’ve seen since you were born. You wanna change your name? Go somewhere nobody knows you? Start over? I can make it happen. Just say yes.”
Valencia stilled, disappearing into her mind. A… new life.
She swallowed hard, tears slowly slipping down her cheeks. One night. Compared to a possible life of slavery. Her heart ached, and she fought to hold back tears, but was powerless to stop them from pouring down her cheeks.
She wanted to leave Valencia Raine behind, didn’t she? She wanted to be reborn and leave behind everything she knew.
It was an opportunity she couldn’t miss.
Biting her lip, she slowly looked at him. Eliott waited.
Finally… she nodded.
Valencia was numb. After all, her mother had been right, hadn’t she?
What’s the big deal about sex?