She had no idea why his words were hurting her so badly, and she could only stare at him when he looked around the room. She looked around as well. It wasn’t that bad…she’d been in worse places, but she looked at it from his point of view.
The window had been card boarded up and taped in place with duct tape, most of which was peeling back, and someone had put big nails in its place. The dresser was only a shell of its former self, as all the drawers had been removed for some reason. There was a mattress but no bed. The sheet that had been on the bed she’d rolled up and thrown in the corner, as it smelled like urine. The closet, really just a tiny hole in the wall that someone had put a bar across, held one hanger that looked like at one point it had been used to jimmy a car window. Then there was the stain on the floor. She knew it was blood and from the scent, it was fairly fresh. When he turned back to her, she lifted her chin. It might not be up to his standards, but it was her home for now.
“There’s a woman here with me.” She looked at Ray and the other two men. Ray was herding the other men out as Steele continued. “Not them. It’s the woman who died right there. She wants me to tell you something.”
“Go to hell.” She started to go around him, but he moved to stop her. “I’m supposed to believe anything that comes out of your mouth? I don’t think so. Go away and leave me alone. And tell the woman I’m sorry for her death, but it doesn’t involve me.”
Steele put out his hand and then curled it around something. Almost as soon as she realized what he was doing, the arm and hand appeared in his. Then as she watched, Kari saw the woman form, her body becoming solid and her wounds visible too. Christ, he was showing her the dead woman.
“They broke in when I was sleeping.” Her voice was tinny and soft, but Kari could hear her just fine. “I’d run from my abusive husband, finally, and this was all I could afford. But the barrier that I’d put up didn’t even slow them down.” The woman looked around the room. “The first one raped me right there. He didn’t care that I screamed, didn’t even pay any attention to my fists as I tried to beat him off my body. But he took me hard enough to make me bleed. Then the second man rolled me over. His penis was in my bottom before I could think what he’d been about. The third then the fourth man took me too, sodomizing me over and over until I was hurting and bleeding so badly. When the first man came back, he pulled me from the floor and pulled me to his penis. He said for me to suck him. I tried to—”
“Stop.” Kari didn’t want to hear anymore and the woman nodded. “You should have had help.”
“I screamed and screamed but no one cared. They looked in at what they were doing to me and left me to die.” Kari looked at Steele when the woman did. “He is a good man. We all know him. There is not a person on my side of the world who has not heard of Steele Bennett.”
The woman pulled from his hand and disappeared. Kari wondered if she was still there, but knew that there was little to nothing she could say to the woman. She didn’t care that this man was known to every spectrum in the world. He didn’t want her any more than she did him.
“I suppose you think that’s going to change my mind and I’m going to simply do as you say now.” He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “And do you usually get your way?”
“Usually. And when I don’t, I get it eventually. I’m like that.” She didn’t doubt it. And with women too. She’d bet that they’d do whatever he wanted to him or with him. “You’ll save yourself a lot of time if you simply do what I told you now and not make me have to resort to brute strength.”
“In the event you didn’t realize it, I’m not one to simply do what someone tells me. Especially big overgrown men who think that they’re king shit.” He smiled, and she felt her heartrate pick up. Christ, he was gorgeous when he did that. And she had a feeling that he didn’t do it often. “I’m a big girl, and I can take care of myself.”
He had her pressed against the wall again so quickly that she nearly let her cat go, and he was moving his mouth over her throat in a way that had her hoping he’d bite her. But he lifted his head and stared down at her.
“No biting. No intercourse without protection.” Her body didn’t just freeze up, but it felt as if he’d taken a frozen pike and slammed it into her heart as well. When he let her go, he took a step back and she fought hard with herself to not lose it. When he moved to the door, she realized he thought she was going as well. But she wasn’t and it was high time he realized she was not at his beck and call. He turned to her again, and she could see that he’d take her with or without her consent.
“They have your things. Your money too.” She looked around the room and realized that he was right. “Come with me now and I’ll find you a place to live and a job. No strings attached.”