Saving Simona (Alone In The World Trilogy) (3 page)

Molly laughed and swatted at Gia’s hand, her breathing shallow. “Shush, you.”

The girls smiled at one another before their faces turned stoic, hearing heavy footsteps nearing the door. “He’s here! Get in line,” a pretty black-
haired girl whispered harshly, running to the middle of the room and standing straight, her arms locked against her sides, her back erect. The other girls did the same, forming two lines. Gia and Molly followed suit, joining the line nearest to the back. The other luxury-girls were in the second line as well. Gia looked down the line, and saw that
all
the luxury-girls had managed to find exactly what Leander approved of.
Good. No one is going to face Leander’s wrath tonight.

A man’s silhouette blocked part of the stream of light as the door opened widely, dust swirling in the air around the blackness. “Happy evening, my beautiful daughters,” the man cooed, his voice rich and velvety. He stepped into the room, his palms turned up and his elbows perpendicular, his shoulders swinging as he walked. He clapped as he looked them over. “My, my, my. How stunning you all look tonight.”

He approached the girls, running his fingers over their faces and shoulders as he got a closer look at them individually, the majority of the girls forcing a smile at the man as he drew close. He stopped when he reached the end of the first line, cupping the face of the girl standing there. She had hair like snow that was piled high on her head, which, in combination with her sharp bones and alabaster skin, made her look like a statue made out of the finest marble. Leander tilted the girl’s face upwards and towards the side, examining her face in confusion. “I have not seen you before, child. Methinks you are the precious peach that Harland brought in for himself two nights ago.” His eyes narrowed. “He decided to keep you within our ranks without my permission?”

The girl nodded, her eyes downcast. “Yes, sir.” She glanced up at Leander before she darted her eyes away. She was clearly unsure of what to make of the man in front of her. As the ring did not target her for Leander himself, she never had the misfortune of knowing Leander intimately before she was properly trained in knowing the ways of pleasing a man. If Harland had brought her in, though, she
must
have had some sort of skill or experience that made him want to come back for more.

Leander narrowed his eyes further. “Well, that is peculiar news. However, I suppose Harland figured that if you were in the ring, then he could use you whenever he so pleased. I see that he forgot
that my men may not touch a single strand of the hair on my beautiful daughters’ heads.” He glanced down the line at the other girls to see if there were any other newcomers before he turned back to the platinum-haired girl. “What is your name?”

“Helene Pond, sir.”

Leander was quiet for a moment, once again moving Helene’s head side to side before he pulled her out of the line, circling her body, his eyes scanning her up and down. “I must admit,” he began, “Harland does choose nicely. I daresay that there will men of all sectors of wealth that would be interested in having you be intimate with them, once I have broken you and taught you the ways of this world.”

Helene stared down at the ground, her pointed chin nearly meeting the neckline of her Byzantium satin gown. Gia felt sorry for Helene. The brunette remembered how intimidating Leander had been when she had been taken. She believed that his charm, attractive visage, and no-nonsense personality were what caused women to cower in his presence, especially upon the first meeting.
He gets more terrifying with time
, Gia thought to herself, trying to fight a shudder as her mind flipped to different things that she had heard or seen Leander do to those who betrayed him or the ring over the years.  Gia could see that Helene was terrified.

Once Leander had finished his inspection of the girl, he positioned one hand on her lower back, and placed the other on her shoulder. He pushed in, forcing Helene to straighten her posture and stand taller. “First rule,” Leander started, pushing harder so that her back curved even more than it already had, “is that corsets
must
remain tied at their maximum. Remove your dress and correct the error.” When Helene did nothing, Leander’s quick-fire anger began to show through, and he shoved the girl to the floor, his eyes ablaze. “Now, wench!”

Helene’s eyes widened in fear, and she scrambled to do as she was commanded. She hastily ran her fingers down the front fastenings as she stood back up, the matte black buttons slipping from beneath her nimble fingers as she tried to be quick enough for Leander’s pleasing. Within a minute the smooth material slipped off of Helene’s shoulders, the open top gathering around the girl’s hips. She reached behind herself, struggling to undo the laces by herself. Tears begin to rim her eyes
when she found herself unable to grasp at the ribbon on her own, her hands falling forward as she bit at her lip nervously.

Leander shook his head and clicked his tongue. “
Tsk.
All beauty and not an ounce of brains in sight,” Leander said after a moment, shaking his head. “What a pity.” He turned his eyes to Gia, nodding her way. “My love, if you would…?”

Gia stepped forward, curtsying and bowing her head towards Leander before she stepped behind the trembling girl. The brunette felt her breath catch as she looked at Helene’s naked shoulders. Covering the alabaster skin
were a series of scars, layers upon layers of glossy pink flesh lining the curve of her shoulders in a criss-cross pattern. The variety of healing in the scars made it clear to Gia that Helene had been whipped many a time, for many a moon. She wondered if it had been the girl’s father who had done it, and if that was why Helene ended up seeing her body on the streets. Had she been forced into it, and beaten as a consequence of failing a customer? Had she ran away and needed to find a way to support herself, until she could find a beau that wanted to make a dowry-less woman his wife?

Gia shook her head and came back to the
present as Helene took a shuddering breath, the full extent of the corset’s hold compressing her lungs and disabling her from getting a full breath in. Once again, Gia found herself wondering what Helene’s background was, if she had not even known how a corset was to be properly warn during the field, especially if she was brought in to be one of Leander’s girls. She clearly had not been broken or trained yet. Harland had likely brought her in just to please himself for the night, as Leander had suggested. Gia remembered Leander had told his henchmen early on that although they were allowed to look at his daughters, they were strictly forbidden from deflowering his precious money makers, which led to many of the men finding woman from other walks of life, or at least independent, non-ring associated prostitutes, to please themselves for the night.

Once Gia had finished the lacings (Helene was breathing shallowly in front of her still), the brunette took a step back and curtsied at Leander once again. “I have finished, Father,” Gia murmured, her eyes downcast and her head bowed. Leander smiled at her over his eyeglasses and took her head between his powerful hands, dropping a
chaste kiss against her forehead.

“What a good girl you are, my beautiful Georgiana,” Leander said, tilting her head up so that she had no choice but to make eye contact with him. He kissed her lightly on the mouth before releasing her face, turning back to Helene. He narrowed his eyes at her again. “This was the only warning you shall receive, child. You will spend tonight with Harland and Franklin. I do declare that you need to be broken and trained at the quickest convenience. Both men should serve you just fine.”

Once Leander had finished speaking, his eyes brightened once again, and he clapped his hands together. “You are free to go now.” The girls began to head to the door, still in their lines. “Make Father rich tonight, my little darlings!”

Gia made it all of three steps from her spot next to the man when Leander put his arm out, stopping her in her tracks. “I would like all my special ones to stay with me for the moment, please,” he said, reaching a hand out and smoothing out Gia’s hair. He smiled at her before turning to the rest of his girls.

2

“I have been asked by a very important group of men for you to come and make their acquaintance,” Leander announced as the girls gathered in a circle around him. He looked from face to face, his eyes wide as he spoke. Gia could not be sure, but his eyes appeared to sadde
n when they passed over  her. “It will be much different than your usual visits with the wealthy, and I doubt that you will be staying in town while you are in their presence. Elijah is set to accompany you to the men’s home so that the vultures of the streets do not touch my most prized possessions during their travels.” He shook his head. “I would be devastated if anything were to happen that would cause me to lose any of you.”

His eyes settled on Gia for a moment
again before they left her again, glancing back around. “Remember, loves, that you may be asked to do things you are not comfortable with doing. However, that is out of my control. The men are paying me a great sum to borrow my most beautiful daughters, and I have an agreement with the men that, should any new beauties be found, you shall assist in bringing back your new sisters. You are not to touch anything else in their possession, as are their orders. If you do, I cannot save you from whatever punishment they decide is proper. Is that clear?” The girls all nodded. “Good. Elijah will be down any moment. Until he arrives, I will allow my girls to take rest before their journey.” Leander gave a slight bow before he turned and left the room, his coattails swishing behind him.

The girls remained quiet until they were sure that Leander had left. A petite girl named Abigayle with dark blonde hair and deep blue eyes spoke first, her airy voice crackling slightly. “What do you think these men will want us to do?” she asked, her voice tight. She began to wring her hands together nervously, her lithe fingers pressing against and
running over one another in haste.

Leah, a plump girl with fine black hair and dull Cambridge blue eyes, shrugged, twirling a loose section of hair around a single stubby digit, the thin, broken nail catching on a strand. “I haven’t the slightest,” the girl commented. She coughed lightly, her heavy bosom bouncing in her corset. Gia narrowed her eyes as she looked at the girl, unsure of why she was one of the women that Leander had wanted to serve to his wealthier cliental. She was nothing special, and her over-stuffed corset strained the dress. However, she
was
one of the top requests, so there had to be
something
about her that made so many men desire her. Gia mentally shrugged before moving her eyes to the wall.

After a moment of listening to Leah and Abigayle giggle and laugh at one another, Gia turned to face
Hester. The blonde struggled  not to laugh, failing miserably when Gia contorted her body and pretended to be a dragon, her shoulders arched back to mimic wings. Breathy giggles filled the room as Hester couldn’t hold back any longer. Gia quickly broke down as well, her own giggles echoing off the walls as they increased in volume.

As Gia stopped laughing, Elijah made his way
into the room, shaking his head at the raucous of the five girls’ chattering and laughter. The man was the most lenient of Leander’s followers, and he was always nice to the girls whenever he happened across one of the them, be it while they were working, or when he was sent to their room during the day. His presence, however, was enough to make the girls sober up. They got into a line, curtsying one by one as Elijah nodded at and greeted each girl individually. “Good evening, ladies,” Elijah said, jerking his head to flip his light brown curls away from his eyes.

“Good evening, Elijah,” the girls said in unison.

Elijah smiled at them, standing back against the doorway and holding the door open, his arm extended out towards the hallway. “Shall we?”

The girls followed the arm, walking one by one into the dim hallway, the light from the candles lining the wall just barely casting a glow on the dusty, rotting floor that led to the stairwell that would take the girls to the outside world. Leah went first, the rest of the girls following behind her in a line, with Elijah at the tail end. The trap door was open, so once the girls had reached the final set of
stairs, they found themselves back in the woods.

Gia shivered as gooseflesh erupted over her neck and upper chest, the chilled air hitting any area of exposed flesh.
At least the sky is pretty tonight,
Gia thought to herself as she turned her face upwards, taking in the full moon and bright stars. There was not a cloud in sight, and the brunette found herself able to see hundreds of glowing spots in the sky. Her favorite stars were the ones that gathered in groupings of three or more, as it reminded her of a story that her mother had told her once when she was a young child. Amelia had said that every time a star appears in the sky, it is the spirit of a good person who passed away. Gia had always imagined that these groupings were made up of good spirits, who were enjoying a social gathering in Heaven. She hoped to be one of these stars after she, too, had passed from this world. She would watch over her sisters and keep them safe, and enjoy conversations with people that she would never get the chance to meet while working for Leander. Who knew, maybe she would even talk with the sisters that she had lost over the years.

“Be careful,” Gia heard Elijah comment from her left. She turned to look, and saw Elijah standing
near Hester. The girl was pushing herself up from the ground, her dark red braid now coated in dirt. She hastily ran her fingers over it, trying to get some of the dust away so that she would look presentable for the men that Leander spoke of. Her green dress was layered in dust, as well, the color now closer to grey than it was the pretty olive green it started out as. After a moment, Elijah decided to help, his hand lingering on her bodice as he turned to her. “You must be more careful of your movements, love,” he said, his voice soft. Hester gave him a small smile back before brushing off her skirt. He smiled back, kissing her lightly on the forehead.

Realization hit Gia, and she let out a small, “oh.” She had never realized before tonight that Elijah and Hester had fallen for one another. That was an extremely dangerous tryst to pursue, especially if Leander caught whiff of either of their feelings. They would both be killed before either had a chance to even say “Hallelujah.” Well, Leander may go easy on Hester, but Elijah? The leader would not be gentle with one of his men who blatantly disobeyed his strictest of orders. Gia quickly said a small prayer for both of their safety
before turning back forward, watching out of the corner of her eyes as Hester continued to try and clear her dress. 

Once the dust had settled back onto the road, Elijah pulled back and gave her another smile before he stepped back in front to continue to lead the group. The light-haired man was in his mid
- thirties, which made transporting the girls to the clients much easier. To a passerby, it would appear that Elijah was simply a man escorting his young daughters back home after a long night of fun. No one would question a thing unless they knew one of the girls specifically.

“Good evening, sir,” a passing man, tipping his hat at Elijah a moment later. Elijah nodded back and mumbled a small
How do you do?
before turning back to glance at the girls, making sure that they were all still accounted for and safe. Once he was reassured, Elijah glanced around his surroundings his eyes casting quick circles as he made sure that he had not been followed by anyone other than his intended. When he saw the coast was clear, he walked the girls into a courtyard next to a gray stone building, guiding them into a moon-shape near the doorway.

“Alright, ladies, this is where I leave you,” Elijah co
mmented as he straightened his cravat and waist coat. “I will be back within the week to gather you for Leander once again, unless I receive word that you will be gone longer than expected.” He walked towards a door in the side of the building, knocking out a pattern against the oak before he nodded his farewell towards the girls, his eyes lingering on Hester before walking away.

The girls waited silently in their line, unsure of if they were allowed to move without the command from their temporary leader. While it seemed unlikely that they would be in trouble for moving, they did not know what these men could be capable of, and there was not one of them who wanted to test it out and see their power. For all the girls knew, one step from one girl could lead to the death of all
five.

It took less than a minute from when Elijah knocked on the door until a slight man pulled back the door and looked out, his dark blue waist coat straining against his chest as he held his binoculars in his hand, peering out into the courtyard. He turned his head side to side slowly, the apparatus panning  across the girls. After a moment, he pulled
his head back and stood back against the doorframe, ushering the girls into the building. “Come, come!” he called to them, beckoning them with his fingers. “Quickly, now! Hurry in!”

Gia lead the line, taking quick steps to the doorway, where the man was still frantically waving his hand towards them. She quickly curtsied at him before stepping into the hallway. He rolled his eyes, gesturing with his fingers that the girls were
still
too slow for his liking. Once all the girls were in, he swung the front door shut with a muttered, “Finally.” He circled them, his eyes scanning up and down the girls as he judged the quality of the product that he was transporting to the main chambers of the house. Gia kept her eyes on him nervously until he passed her. It was then that she noticed the regality of the home she was standing in.

Gia felt her eyes widen and her breath catch as she examined the hallway. There was a thick patterned carpet on the ground, shades of garnet and yellow ochre dancing and twirling around one another in shapes, lines, and paisley sections, mint green fleur de lis lining the hallway every few feet. The walls were the same dark gray stone as the
outside, only upon the interior, large paintings of women in all sorts of positions hung upon the masonry. There was an oak table pressed against the wall, a small, iron candelabra resting upon its top, the dark red candles matching the garnet shawl that was being used as a table covering. Gia had never seen a hallway as beautiful as this one, and she had seen rooms and homes from every walk of life. It made her wonder just how wealthy these men she would be serving truly were.

“This way,” the hurried man pressed, quickly walking behind the girls and shooing them with his hands to a door at the end of the hallway. Once the girls were a few mere feet away from the door, the man ran to the front of the line, knocking three times before throwing the wood open and walking in, his arms bent and his fingers outstretched. “Our prospects have arrived!” he exclaimed before the man stood back, running his fingers through his silver hair as he held his arm out, pointing out to the girls where to go.

Gia, still at the head of the line, stepped into the room first, her legs trembling slightly beneath her pantalets. Her boots clicked against the wood floor that met the carpet at the doorway. It appeared that this room was a dining room, as there was a large birch table in the center of the room, another iron candelabra resting in the middle of it. Seated at the table was a group of five men, each one appearing far more wealthy than even Leander himself.  

“Thank you, Asa,” a red-headed man said, nodding at the silver-haired man. Asa nodded back before scurrying out of the room, his coattails flapping behind him. The man turned to the girls, his viridian eyes flashing as his eyes scanned thei
r bodies, settling uncomfortably on Gia. He licked his lips. “Well, hello there, beautiful,” he said, bowing his head slightly as he took in her faux-sophisticated appearance. He cocked an eyebrow and ran his tongue over his teeth.

Gia curtsied. “Good
evening, sir,” she said in response, doing her best to avoid making eye contact with him. She stared at the large, dark freckles on his nose instead, counting them out until the red-head finally looked away.

The man stood and made his way towards the girls. “My, my, my. What a lovely bunch dear Leander has brought for my men’s pleasure tonight. I could never have imagined a group this perfect when he said that he would give me only the best.”
He circled the girls, taking each of them in individually. His eyes scanned their bodies appreciatively as he approached them, darting his tongue out to dampen his lips as he stared. He stopped a few feet away from where Gia was standing, turning to glance back at his men. “Before we begin, I daresay I should introduce each and every one of us, so you know who it is that you are serving. My name is Isaiah Foundling.”

Isaiah gestured to a man farthest away from the girls, with thick, dark brown hair and blue-grey eyes. “That there is Eldon Matthews.” He turned back to the girls, casting his eyes over them once again. His eyes landed on Minerva, a tall brunette with chocolate brown eyes. “Name?”

“Minerva, sir.”

“Minerva. What a lovely name,” he commented, nodding. He held his hand out to her. When Minerva took his hand, Isaiah spun her around before gently shoving her towards Eldon. “You shall be in his company tonight.”

Next, Isaiah held both of his hands out to Hester and Leah. “You two, my darlings, are going to spend time with Rudolph and Stanley.” He turned them towards two young men. These men were identical in every aspect except for their eyes (one had green, the other blue), and looked to be no older than twenty, at the very latest.  Both men smiled as Hester and Leah stepped towards them.