Stolen Dove: Stolen Hearts Series by Blake, Carina (ebook reader 7 inch txt) 📕

to redo that section again, further aggravating my father because it’s taking too long for him. It’s not intentional, but his presence just outside the bathroom door unnerves me, causing my already tense body to shake. This whole situation makes my stomach roll. It’s bad enough that I haven’t eaten since I had a small bowl of oatmeal this morning, but I’m not allowed to eat until this is all over because he doesn’t want to risk me looking bloated. I’m just one hundred and twenty pounds, most of the weight in my boobs and butt.

“I can’t do this,” I complain, knowing that it’s pointless because he’s not going to change his mind and I have no way of escaping. I don’t just mean our tiny hole-in-the-wall apartment, but out of town. He’s made sure I have no other recourse but to go along with this illegal, immoral, super-expensive prostitution.

“You don’t have a choice. You have to do this, or they’ll kill us both,” my father shouts through the pressed wood door that separates the bathroom from his bedroom. I’ve got a hit on my head if I don’t make a lot of money tonight. That knowledge sends a chill up my spine and is the only thing driving me to look my best.

Yesterday he showed me the text message with the threat in it as a reminder that my life hangs in the balance.

Dove follows through or both of you will be chopped up after we take her for free.

I told him we should go to the police, but he told me they own the police, which isn’t hard to fathom. Money and power shape this world, and I have neither of those. Now I’m getting ready to sell my innocence to the highest bidder in order to pay off his debt. Not even my debt—his debt. My father, Donatello Falcone, is the epitome of greed and excess, wanting things he can’t have and buying stuff with money he doesn’t earn. The more he gets, the less he feels satisfied. He can sell me now, but once I’m used up, his bargaining chip will be gone.

“Do you need to see it again?” The threat is laced in his voice. If I fail to go through with this, we both die. He’s worried about his own skin, not mine. I’ve been expendable since the day my mother died. He would have gotten rid of me then, but she left a small trust to be used for my care. Every penny has been spent, and not on me.

“No.” A shiver runs through me as I consider the alternative. If I go to this party, I’ll be sold like a piece of meat for one night, or door number two, I get raped and murdered if I don’t. I suppose staying alive is my only option, so it’s the reality I have to accept.

I continue to work on my hair and listen to him pace outside the door—as if that’s going to help me get ready any faster. Now that my hair is finally completely straight, I unplug the flat iron I got for twenty bucks at the CVS. He gave me just a hundred dollars to get dolled up, as he put it. I can’t leave it down because they want my slender neck and shoulders on display, so I give myself the Ariana Grande hairstyle, straight and tight with a slight twist.

“I doubt anyone is going to buy me for half a million dollars.” He’s truly got to be out of his mind to think that my virginity is worth that much. I’m so damned inexperienced, it would probably be a terrible event. He’d want a damn refund, but I can’t get back my innocence. Hell, who am I kidding? The only thing that remains of my vestiges of childhood innocence is my virginity. I’ve spent years learning the ins and outs of shady dealings.

“You never know. Besides, they said I only need to come up with two-fifty. I’m sure your virginity is worth that at least. Some of these fuckers are twisted and get a kick out of it.” Says the man whoring out his daughter. If I weren’t afraid of being killed, I would have told him to shove the idea up his ass, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do to stay alive.

“Fine. Is this okay?” I ask, stepping out of the bathroom to show him the outfit. We live in a one-bedroom apartment that costs more than it’s worth, and my bedroom is the sofa. We have very little to no privacy.

“Well, if you weren’t my daughter, I’d pay that much for you.” I try not to throw up from that comment and go back into the bathroom and close the door, making sure to flip the lock. He’s never given me that pedo-incest vibe, but I wouldn’t put anything past him once I’m not worth as much. God, I have to make my escape. I’m not afraid that he’ll come after me, but I am scared shitless that Caesar Avanti will hunt me down even after he kills my father. It’s the only reason I don’t make a run for it.

I look myself over in the mirror and I do look good, but now I get an icky vibe about it. I straightened my long blonde hair and put it up in a tight ponytail on the back of my head, wrapping a braided strand around the tie to add elegance to a quick style. My sexy, vibrant red lipstick is the eight-hour kind that stays on until rubbed off. The only other makeup I add is a voluminous mascara to accentuate my eyes. Hopefully it does the trick. My pimp out there didn’t want me to look overdone because some of these old creeps got a kick out of innocent girl-next-door types.

“Before we leave, put this on.” He hands me a fancy long black jewelry box. I open it up