A Beautiful Prison Read Online Free PDF Page B

few young women standing by them. The guy behind her pushed her toward one of the seats. He shoved her down on it and took a few steps back when the woman came forward. She didn’t speak or make eye contact with Ruby, and she wondered if this was a kidnapped woman that hadn’t gotten bought. Ruby’s hair was brushed and left down, lotion was applied to her exposed skin, and a floral perfume was applied to her pulse points. She didn’t fight, because the drugs were thick in her, and she had a hard time focusing. This felt like some kind of grotesque episode of behind the scenes of a sex-trafficking auction. The other girls in the room were quiet, but when Ruby glanced at them she saw silent tears rolling down their cheeks.
    “Please, I need your help.” Ruby said in a whisper and stared into the woman’s face. She couldn’t be more than twenty, but there was an age around her eyes and mouth that spoke of a life lived a hundred times over. There was no reaction from the woman, so Ruby tried again. She had to, because once she was back in the hands of these men, they would haul her away and the nightmare that was now her life would start. “Please, please look at me.” There was a flicker in the woman’s dark eyes. The girl moved to the side of her, blocking the view of the door.
    “You must be quiet or we will both be in trouble.” The young woman had a thick accent, maybe from South America. She ran the brush through her hair once more. Ruby looked at the table where make-up and brushes were laid out. Before she could say anything else to the woman, plead with her female-to-female, she was hauled out of the chair and pushed out of the room with everyone else. Ruby’s heart pounded hard and fast, and beads of perspiration started to dot her forehead. They had bound her hands once more after her shower, and the rope dug into her flesh. She was led toward a different door at the end of a long hallway, and when it was opened she saw that it was dark outside. A cool breeze whistled by, moving the tendrils of her hair from her shoulder, and sending chills through her body.
    A dark limo sat a few feet away, and a wave of déja vu slammed into her. Was the man that bought her the same one that she had seen on the bus and then watched get into the limo back in Fort Hampton? That didn’t seem very likely since he could have just taken her without having to go through all of this trouble.
    An older man climbed out of the driver’s side and walked around to open the back passenger door. He didn’t speak, didn’t even look at her. She was led forward again, but she was scared beyond belief at what was inside the dark confines of that vehicle. She couldn’t see anything aside from a pair of legs encased in what looked like a suit, and black, shiny dress shoes. Ruby’s tongue was so thick she thought she would choke on it. And every step she took felt like she was meeting an executioner. She started struggling once more, and although she knew it wouldn’t make any difference now, and that she still had the fogginess of the drugs in her system, she couldn’t do this willingly.
    “Please, God, please let me go.” She tugged and pulled at the two men holding onto her arms, heard their grunts as they struggled with her, and although there was no way she could overpower them, she tried. But everything inside of her stilled when a hand slowly emerged from the interior of the car, palm up, and fingers curling inward like he was trying to coax her forward. That small moment of stunned fear at seeing that masculine hand with those long, strong-looking fingers seeming to reach for her, was enough of a gateway for her captors to pull her all the way forward and push her into the limo. The door slammed shut behind her and she scrambled off the ground and onto the seat. Pushing herself against the side of the car, she heard the locks engage and stared with horror at the man seated right across from her.
    He wore a dark, expensive