PROLOGUE
She woke up with a start, not knowing where she was. The room was dark, but she could make it out as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.
She was in a large bed with satin sheets. When she looked around, she could see no other furniture, but there were large throw pillows on the floor.
Moonlight seeped in the windows, giving the pillows a satin appearance. She could also see unlit candles and two doors in the room. She climbed out of the bed.
The cool air in the room chilled her bare skin, but the plush carpet kept her feet warm. She walked to one door and tried to open it, but it was locked from the outside . She walked to the other door and reached out slowly , afraid it would be locked, too . She grabbed the knob and turned it . The door opened.
She was in another room now. There were more unlit candles and a pack of matches. She lit all the candles and looked around. This was a very large bathroom with a table covered with cosmetics, fresh -cut roses, a large Jacuzzi , and everything else a bathroom would have.
She knew that she could not leave , so she returned to the bed . She wrapped herself up in the sheet and fell asleep as a tear slipped down her cheek.
"It's time to wake up and learn your duties." She woke up and looked at the person by the bed.
"Duties?" She asked sleepily.
"Yes Mistress , your duties , but first you will be bathed and fed."
"But what are my duties ?"
"Do not concern yourself with that now . It has been a long night and we haven't much time . Now, please get up and follow me."
She got out of the bed and when the chilly air hit her, she remembered that she had no cloths on . She blushed from embarrassment and grabbed the satin sheet and wrapped it around herself.
"You need not be embarrassed . You were chosen because of your beauty."
"Chosen? Could you please tell me what is going on ?"
"As I said , we haven' t the time. I have already drawn your bath. Now, come on."
She followed the other person into the bathroom , dropped the sheet , and climbed into the bath . An hour or so later, after she had been bathed , dressed , and fed , she was taken into a lounge . It was a very large room with expensive , comfortable furniture and large bookcases filled with old books.
After about five minutes, a tall, slender man entered the room . When she saw his face , the events of the previous night came flooding back , as tears welled up in her eyes.
She recalled everything from the day before . Her father came home drink and started yelling at her mother and her little sister . Then he hit her mother . She remembered her mother screaming and her little sister running to hide. That was all she could take. She grabbed her keys and drove to a club where she knew her friends would be .
When she got to the club, she found her friends and told them everything that had happened. A man in the corner heard the story , and invited her to join him at his table. She accepted and he ordered her a drink.
"For a price," he said, "I'll solve your problem."
She knew what he meant.
"I don' t have much money, sir. " She said sobbing.
"But a beautiful , young girl like yourself must have something . " he said smiling as he ordered her another drink . She sat for a long while, drinking her drink and thinking.
"My dear," he said "I don't make this offer to make many strangers. I choose only those who I feel can make the best use of this offering . Think about how much happier your mother and sister will be."
With that , her ordered her another drink. "I don't have much at all , sir , but if you will do this, I'll give you anything you want ; anything I can give you."
The man smiled at her , and whispered something to another man, probably his bodyguard. The bodyguard escorted her out of the club and into a limo. She fell asleep on the seat of the limo and the next thing she remembered was waking up in that large bed.
Now she was sitting face to face with the man who killed her father. " What does he want from me?" She thought . " I promised him anything I could give him."
"Well my dear," he began, "you have promised me anything I want and after careful consideration , I have decided that it is you that I want . Now, now . Don't look so sad . I am a wealthy man. You will have an easy life . You will be able to come and go as you please, so long as you please me. You have a choice , though. You must pay my price , somehow . You can marry me, and be mine in life , or you can choose not to marry me and be mine in death. Think about it. Think of how good your life will be if you stay here with me."
With that he left her to her thoughts and locked the door. She thought about it. She had had a hard life . She had worked since she was fifteen, graduated high school with a 4 . 0 grade point average, and now she was nineteen and struggling through college . She had dealt with an abusive , alcoholic step-father since she was seven. Quite frankly, she was sick of the hard life .
Here , she would have servants to look after her , a man who desired her , and more money than she knew what to do with. All she had to do was please him . Just as she decided on her answer , he returned .
"Your decision?" He asked.
"My decision," she smiled "is yes."
This seemed to please him very much . "Then we shall be married tomorrow night . Later, your duties will be explained to you, but for now , I have business to attend to . " Again he left, but this time, the door stood wide open .
To be continued. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
