His room was in a goddamn basement.
It was actually a pretty nice room, but it had a big flaw: it didn’t have any windows. While Aiden wasn’t exactly claustrophobic, he’d never liked staying in a room without windows. He couldn’t imagine being locked up here for a year. But then again, that was likely the point.
It was now glaringly obvious how the asshole intended to avoid getting in trouble with law enforcement. If Aiden refused to help him and then tried to report him when Rahim let him go, what would he even accuse him of? The bastard could claim that he’d saved Aiden out of the goodness of his heart and allowed him to enjoy his hospitality without putting a finger on him. The fact that Aiden had to stay in a windowless room for a year was a small detail.
“You’re joking, right?” Aiden said, looking around the room.
“As I said, you can improve your situation if you cooperate. Take your shoes off. I’ve never understood how people in the West live among the filth you bring into your house from outside.”
“Fuck you,” Aiden said, turning and glowering at Rahim with as much hatred as he could muster—and currently he could muster a lot. He was normally laid back and easygoing, but right now he felt as far from easygoing as it was possible to be.
His angry look was wasted. The bastard didn’t even blink, his expression as unimpressed as ever. “Take your shoes off,” he repeated softly.
Aiden glared at him.
Rahim stared him down.
To his shame, Aiden was the one to look away first. Scowling, he took his shoes off. It was a small thing—he didn’t really mind taking his shoes off when his hosts requested it—but for some reason, it felt like a much bigger concession this time.
“Gadiel should join us momentarily,” Zain said.
Right on cue, there was the sound of footsteps.
A brown-haired guy entered the room—presumably Gadiel Rahim.
The guy was very handsome. Incredibly handsome, actually. He was about Aiden’s height—and a few inches shorter than his brother. The family resemblance was definitely there, but his features were much softer than his brother’s, and it wasn’t just because of the age difference. Rahim—or Zain, since they both were Rahims—was ruggedly handsome in a brutal sort of way, while Gadiel’s handsomeness was more refined. Gadiel’s skin was paler, and something about his features—and his striking bright blue eyes—made it obvious that he was mixed race. Unlike his older brother, he could easily pass for a white guy, and not an ordinary-looking one. His features were exquisite, of perfect symmetry, except for his mouth, which was a little too wide for his face.
Gadiel said something to his brother, the questioning tone clear as he glanced curiously at Aiden.
Zain said something back, and Gadiel’s stunning eyes widened as he did a double-take at Aiden.
Aiden scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “What, is he telling you that he bought a sex slave for you?”
For a long moment, there was only silence.
Gadiel was gaping while Aiden glowered at Zain.
“You can’t be serious,” Gadiel said at last, his English as good as his brother’s. His accent was vaguely British. “You bought him for me? I can hook up myself!”
Zain’s expression became pinched, irritation coming off him in waves. “I wasted millions on covering up your latest hook-up,” he said flatly. “The money is nothing compared to the favors I now owe to people I’d rather not owe anything. Clearly you can’t be trusted. From now on, you’ll have a discreet option here in my house, since you’re so incapable of grasping that you might end up in prison—or worse—every time you want to suck a cock.”
Gadiel flushed. “Zain,” he muttered, managing to look both like a kicked puppy and a very resentful child.
“Don’t. It won’t work anymore. I’m fed up, Gadiel.” Zain glanced at Aiden, his dark eyes flashing with displeasure. “He’ll stay here until you leave for England next year. He’s the only option you have—”
“No, I’m not an option!” Aiden cut him off, crossing his arms over his chest.
Zain shifted his heavy gaze to him, his lips twisting in derision. “I thought Gadiel was the only idiot in the room, but it seems you also lack the intelligence to make the right choice.”
“You—you—”
“Hey!” Gadiel said at the same time. “I’m not—”
“Silence,” Zain said.
They both shut up.
Aiden flushed, resenting his own compliance.
“If you’re both determined to be idiots, go ahead,” Zain said before looking at his brother. “That means you will not even look at men for a year. No flirting, no touching, no hooking up. And you know I’ll know if you attempt to lie to me.” Ignoring his scowling brother, he looked at Aiden. Something flashed through his eyes. “Enjoy my hospitality. I hope you like the room. I’ll see you in a year.” And with that, he stalked out of the room, leaving a tangible and rather awkward silence behind him.
Aiden pursed his lips, eyeing the younger guy warily. Gadiel looked harmless enough, but sometimes appearances could be deceiving.
“Let’s make something clear,” Aiden said. “I don’t care what your overbearing asshole of a brother says, but I’m not a sex pet and will never be your sex pet. Come close to me and I’ll punch your balls so hard you’ll never even think about sex again.”
Gadiel backed away, covering his crotch protectively. “Um… Look, this really wasn’t my idea, okay? I need to… go and digest all of this. Maybe I’ll be able to make Zain change his mind.”
Yeah, good luck with that.
Before Aiden could express his skepticism, Gadiel was gone.
***
At first Aiden thought things weren’t all that bad. He had a nice room, he could sleep as long as he wanted, he was left alone, and he was fed well.
But by the end of the week, he was bored. Very bored.
By the end of the month, Aiden felt like screaming. Just to hear his own voice. Any voice.
He’d never been claustrophobic like his brother Jordan, but now he was starting to understand what it was like to hate enclosed spaces. His room might be rather big, but it still had the same four walls he had to stare at all day long. The only people he saw were the silent male servants who brought him food three times a day, and those barely counted as interactions, since the men either didn’t speak English or were ordered by their asshole of an employer not to speak to him.
Christ, Aiden felt like he was going insane. He’d never been one of those people who were happy with their own company. He was a sociable, tactile person. He liked talking, he liked touching people. He’d always needed people around him to feel happy. This lack of any human contact and entertainment was making him more than a little anxious, his anxiety rising with every passing day.
By the end of the month, he couldn’t do it anymore. “Tell your employer to come here,” he said that day when he was brought lunch. “Tell him I won’t eat until he does.”
The man ignored him, as usual, showing no sign of having heard or understood him, and left.
Aiden plopped down on his bed and waited.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, the door’s lock clicked and Zain entered the room, looking extremely irritated.
Aiden sprang to his feet, feeling inordinately excited to see him. Talking to that asshole was still better than talking to no one.
“You interrupted an important business meeting. What do you want?”
Aiden crossed his arms over his chest, hating how small he felt in this man’s presence. It wasn’t even the two or three inches Zain had on him. Something about this man’s sheer presence made him seem so much more imposing than he physically was.
“Let me leave,” Aiden said. “Your brother clearly has no intention of using me. He won’t change his mind. He seems to have some human decency, unlike you.”
“He’s a horny teenager incapable of keeping it in his pants. I’ll give it another week or two before he comes here, his horniness overruling his supposed human decency.”
Great. Fucking fantastic.
“About that,” Aiden said. “You do realize that I’m straight, right? I have no experience with men. How am I supposed to keep your brother’s interest for a year when I’m completely inexperienced when it comes to men? You would be much better off hiring male escorts who actually know what they’re doing!”
Finally that seemed to give the bastard pause. His eyebrows drew together.
“He’s a horny teenager,” Zain said at last. “Even bad sex with an attractive person seems good to horny teenagers. And escorts aren’t an option—even using the most discreet agencies is a risk. My father has eyes everywhere.”
Aiden raised his eyebrows. “And buying him a sex pet isn’t a risk?”
“Actually, buying you really was much less risky. As far as our authorities are concerned, you are nothing. Legally you aren’t even in this country. You don’t have a family or friends to spill Gadiel’s secret to. No one knows that you’re here, except for me and my people, and they’re absolutely loyal to me.”
Aiden’s stomach knotted up.
What Zain said was true. This man could do anything to him, even kill him and dump him in the ocean, and no one would be the wiser. No one would know or care.
Aiden said quietly, “I don’t know if there’s a concept of hell in Islam, but I hope you know you’re going to burn in it.”
Zain’s expression remained unmoved. “Noted. If that’s all, I’ll return to my work.” He turned toward the door. “Don’t bother me with temper tantrums anymore. I don’t have time for them.”
Temper tantrums?
“You ruined my life!” Aiden snapped, stepping forward, his hands clenching into fists. “You stole my freedom! I’m going crazy in this room! But apparently, not wanting to be locked up in this room for a year is a temper tantrum—look at me when I’m talking to you, you asshole!” He shoved hard at the taller man, forcing him to turn around.
For a long, charged moment, they just stared at each other, Aiden’s harsh, unsteady breathing the only sound in the room.
“I hate you,” Aiden said, his voice shaking with feeling. He might normally be a laid-back, good-natured person, but he felt nothing like that now. He hated. That feeling was burning in his chest, eating his insides like acid, demanding an outlet.
Those dark, emotionless eyes just looked at him for what felt like an eternity before the bastard turned away and walked out of the room, the lock clicking shut after him.
Aiden deflated like a balloon, feeling so defeated he was close to crying.
But the next morning, the lock on the door was gone.
