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Helios threw himself on the couch. Even after the longest fucking shower, he still felt dirty, his skin crawling at the mere memory of having another woman touch what should have only belonged to his MJ. “Unless one of you can come up with someone who can pass as my twin, this is the only thing I can do for her.”

No one spoke then, Helios’ words being the inarguable truth. All four of them had studied Manolito Chavez’s every move ever since he had risen to prominence as one of the world’s most successful human traffickers. He was a man who was careful to a fault, leaving nothing to chance. The only way Chavez would make a mistake was if he believed that Helios no longer cared about MJ.
 

Helios glanced at Kellion. “The photographer got some good shots?”

Kellion’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “The best.”

Helios nodded. “Make sure it shows up on the front page of as many tabloids as possible.” He glanced at Yuri. “Any news about James?”

“I’m on the last of the journals Ioniko Vlahos’ father wrote. It appears he and James Cartwright were once good friends, Vlahos being one of James’ regular sponsors. He speaks of the many clubs they used to haunt all around the world when James used to race. It’s possible James may drop by one of them. People like him usually do. They want to remember their glory days and are bitter when no one actually remembers it but them.”

“Can you really keep doing this?” Andreus demanded, no longer able to contain himself. Helios was so damn close to his breaking point. He was fucking sorry that MJ had been taken away, but he did not hold much hope that she was still alive. Manolito Chavez was a monster, and it had been two months since he had taken Helios’ woman. Unfortunately, it had also been said that no woman lasted more than a few weeks in the trafficker’s care.

“I’ll do what I have to do,” Helios said in a hard voice, “and for as fucking long as it takes until I get her back.”

“But what if she’s—”

“Don’t say it,” Helios snarled. “Don’t you fucking say it. MJ is alive.”
 

In his mind, MJ was looking at him and smiling, and he tried not to think about how she appeared more and more luminous with each passing day, more ghost than human.

Afxisi.

Rise.
 

Rise against everything that went against them.

His jaw clenched. “She’s alive, all right? I can feel it here.” He thumped his chest. “This one will keep beating as long as she’s alive. So trust me. She’s waiting for me.”

“Say she’s alive then.” Andreus ignored the warning look that the others shot at him. Maybe they were content to let their brother do something foolhardy, respecting his decision as President, but he had always liked to live his life dangerously. Even if Helios ended up kicking him out of Afxisi, no fucking way was he just going to stand by and let one of the few men he cared about risk his life so recklessly.

“Can you fucking say you’re taking every precaution to stay alive and actually
be
there to rescue MJ when the opportunity comes?”

Helios didn’t say anything.

“You’re risking too much. You’re using your heart, not your head, and that’s not what you fucking taught us to do to survive. You’re playing a dangerous game with that bitch Gracie. If she finds out you’ve been leading her on all along, she’s going to make you pay – and MJ, too.”

“What the hell do you want me to do then?” Helios shouted. “Just sit here and do nothing—”

“Fuck no,” Andreus shouted back, also shooting to his feet. “I’m saying let us goddamn help you. You can’t fucking expect us to bear seeing you kill yourself like this and do nothing.”

Helios tiredly ran a hand over his face, feeling like every second without MJ by his side was sucking the life out of him. “I can’t have any of you more involved than you already are. This is my fight—”

“This is
Afxisi’s
fight. And like it or not, we are as much a part of it as you are.” Andreus looked at Kellion and Yuri.

“We would lay down our lives for you without being asked,” Kellion said.

“Like fuck I’ll ask that.”

“Let us at least help with the costs,” Yuri said quietly. “You’re down to – what? Two, three hundred mil? That’s not going to last you forever, Helios, not with the rate you’re buying just about every politician in the world searching for MJ. We’ve got more money than we have a need for. Let us use our resources, too.”

Helios wanted to argue, but he could see on his friends’ faces it wouldn’t do him any good. “Do whatever you want then.”

A smile cracked Kellion’s face. “Gracious as ever, President. You’re welcome, too, by the way.” The light-hearted taunt served to somewhat ease the tension in the atmosphere. and they all relaxed.
 

“There is one other thing you can do to expedite things,” Andreus said.

Helios glanced at his treasurer with mock irritation. “Another fucking suggestion? Don’t you only say more than a few words when you're with Hailey?”

Andreus ignored the dig. “Ioniko Vlahos.”

Helios stiffened. “What about him?”

“If any one of us were to make a move against Manolito Chavez’s business, they’d know we’re on to him. But if it was Ioniko who did it, and if he can use his influence without getting directly involved, you could exploit it and step in as a savior at the right time. You could offer your help…”

Kellion’s eyes glinted in understanding. “For the right price of course.”

The right price…being the girl who owned the key to his heart but was now trapped in another man’s cage.

In his mind, MJ was still smiling.

But this time, her eyes were filled with unshed tears, and her voice was softer, hoarser.
 

Hurry.

****

MJ sank to her knees in front of Manolito, her every move subservient.
 

“What’s this?” Manolito might be genuinely surprised, but there was no disguising the eagerness in his voice, either.
 

Disgust made her want to throw up, but she forced it back, knowing this was the only way to remain alive and untouched. Two months. Sixty-three days to be exact. That was how long she had been gone, and each day it became harder and harder to believe that Helios would be able to find her.

Pleasing Manolito had also become more difficult. There were just so many ways to make herself bleed and break her bones until she ended up killing herself. Each day, she could see the interest waning in his eyes, gradually being replaced by a chilling kind of boredom.

That lack of interest terrified her. Manolito, bored out of his mind, would not care what happened to her, and she couldn’t afford to let that happen.

Swallowing, MJ forced her hands to move, unbuttoning his pants and pulling his zipper down. Soon, his semi-erect dick sprang free, a flaccid scarred length of flesh that was almost as grotesque as Manolito’s disfigured face.

Again, the urge to throw up hit her, and again she ruthlessly forced it back.

Please God, please, please, please let me get through this.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Excitement had Manolito’s saliva hitting her face.

She kept her smile in place even as she felt his drool trail down her cheek. In many ways, Manolito Chavez was no different from James. To earn James’ approval, she had learned to do what he wanted. And for Manolito, to keep him happy and earn another day to live, she just had to stay…damaged.

“Slap me.”
 

His eyes widened. “W-what?”

“Slap me—” She had barely finished speaking when he slapped her, hard enough to make her head turn sideways. It hurt, but she knew the pain wouldn’t be enough for him.

“Slap me harder,” she made herself beg coyly. “Make me bleed.” The words came out of nowhere, the thought behind it borne out of her plain desire to keep living. “Wouldn’t you want me to bleed while I suck on your—”

No more words were needed.

He slapped her, repeatedly, until she lost count. And then he was pinching her nose shut, forcing her to gasp and for her mouth to fall open. He shoved his dick into her mouth, and tears pricked her eyes before they started to fall.

In her mind, she could feel the imaginary Helios coming out from the dark—

No,
she screamed inside her mind.
I don’t want you to see me like this.

It doesn’t matter, brat. I love you—

No, please,
she begged.
Please. Please. Please. Don’t look at me now. Please.

And as the specter of Helios began to fade, Manolito forced her head further down, his dick pushing at the back of her throat. In seconds, he was coming, tears, blood, and semen mingling inside her mouth.

Chapter Seven

James stared with ill-disguised hatred as Manolito Chavez lovingly stroked MJ’s head, which was lying on his lap. Stupid cunt thought she had Manolito wrapped around her little finger, but not for long. He bided his time, waiting for the Sicilian millionaire to leave the room before getting up from his post and stalking towards MJ.

Pulling out the newspaper he kept stuck in his jeans’ back pocket, he threw it at MJ’s face. “Thought you’d like some morning reading,” he sneered.

MJ forced herself to open her eyes as something swatted her face. She picked it up gingerly, realizing that it was a day-old tabloid. Unfolding it, she sucked her breath in when she saw its headlines. Holding the paper between her hands, she walked to the wastebasket and it was there she tore the offensive thing into pieces. Something inside her whispered she was making a big mistake…that she was missing something here, but MJ was in too much pain to listen to the more sensible part of her.

Even with her eyes closed, the pictures on the tabloid still burned in her mind.
It can’t be him
, she thought feverishly. It must be an old photo, drummed out by Herod Andreadis. Or maybe it was—

A sob caught in her throat.

The photo had Helios inside the penthouse suite of a hotel, which had only been completed this month. The Christopoulos family owned the hotel, and she and Helios had been invited to attend its grand launch. Now she knew Helios was able to attend…but not with her.

No, no, no, no—

Panic waltzed back into her imagination, mockingly repeating the words MJ was screaming inside her mind.
 

It was only when she heard James laughing above her that MJ realized she had sunk to her knees. “It’s not true,” she whispered, but the lack of conviction in her voice made her flinch.

“It is true, you stupid cunt,” James jeered. “Want me to bring you old issues? All of them has Helios in it, with different women in his arms each week.” The misery in her face filled him with glee, and when he looked down at her, he didn’t really see MJ. It was the face of MJ’s father he saw, crumpled with pain and defeat.
 

Too bad Vlahos was dead. It would have been better if he had been alive. James would have sent snapshots of MJ’s injuries over the years, and this would have been his crowning glory.

“You should get up,” James said brusquely. “You wouldn’t want Manolito to see you like that, would you? He might realize that you still love Helios Andreadis, and…”

The door behind them swung open.

MJ froze, the sound of it filling her mind with terror.

“If I realize my little dear still wants her Greek lover, what would I do?”

MJ’s teeth sank into her lip as Manolito pulled her head back by the hair. Their eyes met just before Manolito’s gaze turned wild with rage. He spat at her face, and she couldn’t even react, every part of her immobilized by fright.

He wasn’t just angry
, MJ thought numbly. He was livid, murderously so.

He spit at her again, and she didn’t even blink.

“You thought to string me along for the ride while you wait for your young Greek lover to rescue you?”

She started to shake her head, but this only seemed to inflame him more. The last thing she saw was Manolito’s boot-covered foot heading towards her face.

As everything went dark, imaginary Helios fell to his knees.
Let me see you, brat.