Black Romance Chapter 1

Jessie

Fifteen years old

––––––––

"Sit . "

Folding my hands together, I sat on the hard wooden chair against the back wall . I didn't say a word, because I wasn't allowed to unless he permitted it .

It was one of the new rules Virgo had so kindly decided I needed . I couldn't lie, it was hard as hell to not ask questions, to not answer back with a snotty comment or attitude, but I was trying .
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Every day it felt like I was drifting further and further away . I wasn't myself . But how could I be? This wasn't my life .

My life stopped at nine years old . All of this was just a scary nightmare I couldn't escape .

"I have some men coming today . " Standing above me, he played with the ends of my hair . His touch a false tenderness, one I had learned to see right through . "I don't want you asking questions, I don't want you looking at them, I don't want you to do anything unless I tell you to . Do you understand?"

"Yes . "

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, Sir . "

Patting the top of my head, he walked towards the long table in the center of the room . "Now these men, my sweet child, are not nice men . " He was speaking into the air, his head facing away from me as he looked over the table .

So they're just like you?

The snippy question burned behind my eyes, searing my retinas like a neon sign . But I held onto the silence, choosing not to let it out .

That was my solace, my way of twisting his rules into a game of my own . He might have told me not to speak, but in my mind, I was refusing him an answer . It made me feel like I had more power as if I was controlling this dreadful situation .

The sad reality I was living in was actually better if I felt like my silence was a choice and not forced .

There was a dark box sitting near Virgo's chair that he kept shifting and adjusting . He'd move it to one side, then push it back over to where it was before . I watched him from the corner of my eye, spinning and twisting that box as if it made a difference .

Kicking my legs back and forth nervously, I could feel my stomach as it twisted into corded rope . I had never been in one of his meetings before . For the entire six years I had been with him, he never once let me sit upstairs for longer than a few minutes, keeping me hidden away in the depths of the basement .

But there was something different about him that day, something about that whole situation that didn't feel right .

My legs swept over the floor, making soft thumps against the wall . Tucking my hands under my thighs, I watched my feet as they moved back and forth like a pendulum . I could feel him watching me, but I didn't look up, keeping my eyes down .

"What's wrong?"

Shrugging a shoulder, I spoke to the floor . "Nothing . "

"Something's wrong, you're shaking like a damn leaf . Tell me what it is . "

Letting out a weighted breath, I mustered up the strength to be honest and ask the question that was in my head . "Why am I here for this? You never let me stay up here, you always keep me downstairs . Why now?"

"Well," he said, stepping over to me and dropping to his haunches . "You're almost sixteen, it's time for you to see what your life is going to be, what I'm going to need you for . I haven't been teaching you obedience for nothing, Jessie, there's a reason . You're going to be my masterpiece, my perfect creation . "

His masterpiece?

My eyes scanned his face, trying to figure out why he was being so open with me and what the hell that meant . Most of my questions went unanswered, and if I tried to pry too deep, the only answer I would get was a backhand across the face .

Not today . Today he was willing to actually hear me, to indulge me with a privileged answer . He answered me as if I deserved such clarity for what was about to happen . And I was sadly grateful for his kindness, even if this open dialogue between us wouldn't last .

"What does that mean?" Scrunching my brows, I stopped moving my body, planting my feet into the floor . "I know what you are, I know what you do . I'm not fucking stupid . "

"Watch the mouth," he snapped, holding up a finger to my face . "It makes a woman look cheap if she swears . And my women aren't cheap . " Crooking his jaw, he glared at me . "Things are going to change, Jessie, not yet, but soon . And men like the ones that are coming, they're going to be around . You need to be around them, you need to understand how to behave with them . That's why you're up here . Watch Val, you'll see . "

Chapter end