Friday had cried herself to sleep. I just let it go. She's had a hard enough time being under Kuza's iron fist. I came over to her side of the car and opened the door. Running my hand down her arm, I shook her awake gently.

"Sweetie, wake up. We're home." I said.

She looked petrified when she realized what happened. "I'm so sorry, Master. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's fine, Honey. Let's get you inside and get you to bed. I can tell you're tired. How much sleep were you getting at Mike's?" I asked as I helped her out of the car.

"Maybe... 3 or 4 hours a night." She muttered, "He would leave me in bondage ropes a lot and I was scared to sleep because I was worried my circulation would get cut off in my sleep or he would find me asleep."

He's so fucking inhumane. I know he won't treat Angelo that bad. It's hard to get bad at Angelo. He is extremely obedient and it would take a lot of work on Kuza's part to find reasons for punishment. Friday, though, she was still young. She made mistakes like any young slave would.

I led her inside, holding the door for her. "What about food? When was the last time you ate?"

"Thank you, Sir." She murmured, "Um, usually I got eggs at breakfast time and that was it."

"And your last shower?"

"I can't remember..." She shamefully admitted, hiding her face from me.

I sighed and began to walk towards the cellar door. "Go take a shower downstairs and I'll get you some food."

"Thank you, Sir... Master." She corrected herself.

"Sir is fine." I opened the door to the basement but put my arm in front of her when I heard voices down there.

It was easy to pick out the voices. Ghost's feminine one was hard to miss and Shae had a rather low, commanding type of tone. I knew Ghost was going to try shit with Ricky. I'm sure the second he realized I was gone, he was eager to touch my little pet. No one touches him. Funny how I used to say the same thing about Ghost.

"I'm the Mistress of the house!" Ghost snapped at him, "You do not back-talk me."

"Master is the person I answer to, and he told me you weren't supposed to touch Ricky." Shae replied. Good boy.

"Look, I'll make this real clear. I can make your life fucking miserable if you don't hand him over." He hissed.

"Go ahead. You're not taking Ricky anywhere."

Ghost stomped his foot loud enough I could hear it from here, "Why are you all so fucking loyal to him?! What exactly do you have to gain from it? Huh? He hits you and forces you to fuck for his entertainment. You have to live in this basement like an animal. Why don't you try to run? Why do you just give up like this?"

"Because I am no one! My birth was never recorded. I do not exist as far as the government is concerned. If I did run, they would find me and they would either beat me close to death or kill me. I would rather live in a house with roof over my head and a purpose in life, than be in a coffin six feet under." He snickered bitterly, "But you knew that. I've heard people talk. You used to be like us. I had never heard of a slave getting set free until you, and you take it for granted."

The distrinct sound of a slap snapped the silence. "Don't you ever speak to me like that! Unlike you, I was somebody before I was a slave. I was sold into it and I refused to ever submit to my captors. You're fucking weak. You have nothing to gain from this, so just give me the damn slut."

"That's where you're wrong, but I'm not going to tell you what this means to me. I'm not letting you touch Ricky. Both for his sake, yours, and mine." He hissed.

I decided that was about time to intervene. Friday cautiously followed behind me as we descended the creaky stairs. Ghost whipped around to look at me as I walked in. His eyes burned into my like the fires of Hell. I could tell by the way he was dressed, in just jeans and loose tank top, that he wasn't in the mood to try to fuck his way out of this.

"Look who's finally home." He patronized me. "Nice of you to let me know you were leaving this morning. Where's Angelo? And why do you have that fucking whore back here?"

Friday shied behind me. She's had enough from Kuza. I'm not letting Ghost start in on her too. I put my arm over her overprotectively and replied, "She was too weak to take the Dom she was with. I traded Angelo for her. I've got someone else in mind to take her. If I recall properly, you used to like her."

"Who says? I'm a good actor." He scoffed.

"Shae, I want you to take Ricky and Friday upstairs. Get them some food. Anything in the kitchen, I don't really care." I instructed him.

"Yes, Sir." He replied.

Shae put his arm over Ricky's shoulder and escorted him towards the staircase. Friday followed behind tiredly. They may be slaves that see and receive violence on a daily basis, but I didn't want them to see what was about to happen. Prior to the last few months, Ghost and I had an aggressive relationship for awhile now. I denied it and forced the thought that I loved him more than I wanted to hit him.

Once they were out of sight, I grabbed Ghost by the neck and slammed him into one of the support beams. He grunted, then spit in my face. "You couldn't control me when you owned me. What makes you think you can now?"

"I still own you." I seethed.

Then I threw him into the dresser closest to us. He recovered quickly but I tried to pay attention to grabbing ropes from the drawer. Ghost shoved me to the side and took the ropes from my hand. He threw them across the room, raising his lip at me.

"Truth be told, I never really was yours." He said.

I stood back up straight, wiping the blood from my lip after he had pushed me into the armoire. "If that's true, then I suggest you take that ring off your fucking finger."

"I thought it was mine." Ghost scoffed.

"I thought you were mine at some point too." I turned around and opened another drawer, grabbing handcuffs. "Angelo told me what you said, about leaving me. I'm nothing but a wallet for you to reach your hand into when you need it. You've been playing me this entire time. You never loved me."

"That's a fucking lie!" He shouted.

I grabbed his wrist just as he pointed his finger at me. My dead eyes burrowed into his angry soul as I threw the cuff onto his arm. He tried to jerk back from me but I was stronger. I was only an inch or two taller than Ghost, but I do a lot more psychical work than he ever does. This little bitch never lifts a fucking finger. I dragged him over to one of the beds and handcuffed him to the headboard.

He fought like Hell and tried to even bite me. Nice try. I've seen it all. There's nothing you can do to shock me at this point. Ghost, of all people, would know that.

"I've pushed you to the point of almost dying before." I grabbed the engagement ring on his finger and slid it off. "Somehow, you still never learned your lesson and you never fucking will. Tomorrow I had someone important coming over to the house and I will not have you jeopardize that deal. I'm leaving you just like this for the next twenty-four hours. When I do untie you, I expect you to start packing. I'm sending you back to your parents, once and for all."

I turned my back on him, ignoring all he was yelling at me. If it gets too bad I'll gag him. I'm sure he won't continue once I'm out of earshot. He just wants to be a little bitch. I've reached my limit. I might be getting softer the older I'm getting, but there is a point in which I can't take it anymore. I'm not going to continue to let him push people around, quite literally. He's toxic to me now and this fucking ring is just a symbol of that.

When I walked into the kitchen, all the slaves instantly stiffened up into a waiting position. I looked at the almost empty plates to see that Shae had given them some grilled chicken that was left over in the fridge. Good. They could use the protein.

"Thank you for feeding them. Did you get any food yourself?" I asked Shae.

"Yes, Sir." He responded.

"Good. Down the right hall, there's a guest bedroom with a shower. I want you and Friday to go wash up in there and you're going to sleep in there tonight too. I'm going to head to bed myself." I latched my finger inside the ring on Ricky's collar, "Come, my little raccoon. It's time for bed."