‘You’re not the only one I care about.’

‘Do you care about them more?’ she asked, filing away his admission without acknowledging it or rather making a big deal of it. ‘That’s the only choice, you pick them or you pick me. Own it and face the consequences.’

‘Interesting advice, we’ll see if your opinion changes when you learn the truth.’

‘We’ll see,’ she said, and they shared silence for a few seconds before he turned and left.

So she was left here, in her old quarters again. She didn’t like it, but for an hour she would handle it. Dax portrayed such strength, like he was a man who could do anything he set his mind to. But he answered to others and it was those others who would ultimately decide their fate.

Chapter Twelve

Ivy didn’t think anything of Dax being a few minutes late to retrieve her. She didn’t even think anything of him being an hour late. Movement upstairs had started again along with the rumble of voices and so she deduced that Dax was having trouble getting rid of some of the party guests.

Hour upon hour went by, night time came and the voices stopped, then the movement ceased, and all she could do was wait. The last time she had heard a car engine was half a day ago, there was no way for her to know who was still here, if anyone, or if she was completely alone.

Pacing was a useless waste of energy that she might need later. Without food or water, she had no way to replace her stores and so she conserved it by remaining static. She told herself that Dax couldn’t have forgotten about her, he wouldn’t have. Except he’d stated that if it came down to a choice, he wouldn’t choose her. She couldn’t believe that had meant leaving her here, indefinitely, forever, to die. So she would have to bide her time and hope that he would be back in the morning.

Except he wasn’t. The only way she could judge time was by the watch that he had left behind. It was the only evidence left of their joining, the only evidence that he had been here with her at all. The fact that Dax hadn’t come back to her was concerning, but the fact that Bruno hadn’t appeared either was downright disturbing.

By the morning of the second day she was beginning to feel the heat – metaphorically speaking because the air conditioner in the gym was still on, so she was getting plenty of fresh air. Unfortunately, there was no water and no food. She had to face the reality that something might have happened to Dax, which prevented him from coming back. If his cohorts had figured out that he had spent the night with her instead of with Fifi, or if Fifi had reneged on her part of the deal and told the others the truth, then maybe Dax had been removed from the equation altogether.

At almost midnight, on her second day alone in this basement cage, she was startled awake by something she didn’t see or hear at first. Fighting the haze of sleep, she identified the noise of footfalls descending on the gym stairs. Those hurried footsteps provided her with the reminder of where she was and what was going on, which brought her to her feet.

Rushing to the bars, she held on as tightly with her hands as she did with her sealed breath. The urge to call out for him was almost overwhelming. As soon as the door opened, she recognised how lucky she had been not to shout, because Dax wasn’t the one coming to her aid, it was Bruno.

‘Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about you,’ he said with a jovial smile and immediately came to unlock the door.

In the past when he had come to retrieve her he had never been in this good of a mood. Even more surprising was the bottle of water that he handed her, without punishment or command. ‘Is everything ok?’ she asked, expecting the other shoe to drop.

‘Worried about us?’ he asked, taking her hand to lead her out of the cell and through the gym.

She let him forge the path because she was too busy downing the water and replenishing her hydration. He took her straight upstairs and into the living room, where she hoped to see Dax. Ivy’s hopes were dashed, Dax wasn’t present, but she wasn’t alone with Bruno either. A blonde woman stood in front of the entertainment centre. She was short and quite flat-chested, which made Ivy wonder if this was Bruno’s pick or Dax’s.

‘This is Rita,’ Bruno said, guiding Ivy down into the place on the couch usually reserved for Dax.

‘Ok,’ Ivy said. ‘It’s nice to meet you.’ But the blonde didn’t speak.

‘Rita is here to look after us. She’ll be doing all of the chores from now on.’

Looking around the abode it was clear that the remnants of the party had been cleared up by someone. Ivy speculated as to how long she had been asleep for tonight because she hadn’t heard anyone moving around. That being said, Rita was so slight that she could probably stomp around using all of her strength and still not draw attention to herself.

‘Is she…?’ Ivy wasn’t sure of her own position in the household now and she had no Dax to guide her. She knew that she was supposed to be compliant but she wasn’t being given orders and so she wasn’t sure on how to carry herself.

‘Ask your question,’ Bruno said, giving her some much needed direction.

‘Is she here against her will?’

Suspicion cast over Bruno. ‘Would that be a problem?’

‘No,’ Ivy said. ‘I mean, it’s not my business at all, but… well…’

‘What?’ Bruno snapped.

‘If she’s here of her own freewill then we know that she’ll follow your instructions. If she’s not, then she’d be a flight risk and will have to be watched at all times. That’s the only reason I was curious.  I wouldn’t want to leave her alone, have her flee, and let you down.’

Bruno’s suspicion waned and eventually became a smile, her answer had pleased him. He still believed that she was the dutiful slave, which was exactly what Ivy wanted him to think.

‘Rita won’t be going anywhere,’ Bruno said. ‘But that was a very good observation. Dax told Mauri that you were smart, he was right.’

So Dax was still around, or at least still alive, and that gave her hope. Her relief was broken when the front door opened and Dax walked in. The sight of him gave her joy, until she saw the bruise around his eye and the cut above his brow.

‘Master,’ she said, pouncing off the couch, but remaining on the spot.

Dax was as startled as she was by her proclamation. The desperate word had come out of its own volition because of their audience. Perhaps she had been trained in ways that she hadn’t yet understood, the gesture had been automatic. Right now that was unimportant, what mattered was why her lover was bruised, and why he had abandoned her.

‘Have you fed her?’ Dax asked Bruno, tossing the door closed.

‘Not yet.’

‘Make us food,’ Dax ordered Rita without looking at her, then snapped his fingers and pointed at Ivy. ‘You get upstairs now.’

Nodding, Ivy tried to ignore the tight space in her guts that was filled with butterflies. The fluttering insects were reproducing so prodigiously that there was no more room for the anxiety and anticipation.

Running up the stairs, she tossed off her dress and leapt into the shower to clean off her spell in the cellar. Spending no more than a few minutes there, she wanted Dax to be in the bedroom when she came out. After taking another long drink of water from the faucet, she departed the bathroom to find him on the bed, pulling his tee-shirt off over his head.

‘What happened?’ she asked, hurrying to his side to help him, though he didn’t seem to need help. Bruises on his ribs made her wince, but he was unaffected. He tossed the tee-shirt onto the floor and she caught sight of the cracked blood on his hands. ‘Oh my god, have you been fighting?’

‘Any other girl says that about her man and it’s a bad thing,’ he said. Reaching behind him he tugged something out of his back jeans pocket and brought it around to hold it up in front of her face. ‘Daddy brought home the bacon for you.’