When I'm done, Gerald is waiting in his study.
I hover in the doorway, not wanting to cross the threshold. Not wanting to enter the lair of the evil man who's managed to trap me because I wanted so badly to believe in something good.
God, I feel stupid now.
He looks up from some papers on his desk, his eyes cold.
"Come in. Sit." His tone brooks no argument. I perch on the edge of a chair, tense as a bowstring.
"Here is what will happen."
Gerald leans back, steepling his fingers.
"You will go to clubs, bars, anywhere you can find lonely young women. Chat them up, get friendly. Then invite them back here under some pretext."
His lips curl.
"You can be quite charming when you put your mind to it."
I frown as pain sears through my head. It's like the gravity of what he's asking me to do is hitting me full force. He doesn't even have to touch me to have a physical impact on me.
I don't want to ask questions, but I also have an almost perverse need to know where I would be leading these women if I do what he's asking me.
"And what happens then… to them, I mean—"
He waves his hand at me as if impatient at my question. "Once they're here, we dose them with a sedative we've acquired. When they wake, they'll find themselves...indisposed. Ready to be sold to the highest bidder."
He shrugs.
"Simple as that. If you do your job well, your daughter stays safe and untouched. If not..."
He leaves the threat hanging.
I stare at him, unable to form words around the horror choking me. He wants me to lure unsuspecting women to their doom. To a fate worse than death.
And if I don't, Yara…
Bile rises in my throat again, but this time I swallow hard and manage to keep it down. For now.
Outwardly I remain motionless, frozen.
Inwardly my mind races, searching for an escape from this nightmare.
There has to be a way out.
There has to be. I must find it, or die trying.
Gerald stands, smoothing his jacket. "You have your orders. Now get to work. And be warned, I have no patience for subpar results."
He exits the room, leaving me alone with the devil's bargain he's forced upon me.
I remain motionless for a long time after he leaves, trying to process the depravity of his demands.
Lure innocent women to their doom or watch my daughter suffer and possibly die.
There is no choice at all, and we both know it.
When I can finally move again, I go to Yara's room and gather her in my arms, clinging to her as she babbles about her day. The thought of anything happening to her makes me feel physically ill, a cold knot of terror taking up residence in my stomach.