Chapter 10

In all honesty, Simon Lewis didn't know why he kept coming back. Perhaps it was her commanding tone or her jet-black hair that trailed behind her as she swept from table to table, like a whirlwind. Whatever it was, it kept him coming back to the old, dirty diner, to Isabelle. Something drew her to him, even when she flipped him off. It must be his forbidden fruit complex or something. He walked into the warehouse, fighting the twitch of his lips as he picked up the clipboard. Jace had been on his case recently, grilling him about where he disappeared to during lunch. There was no way he was going to lose his manhood to Jace's teasing.

"Lewis, Herondale's looking for you." Simon's brow furrowed.

"What does Jace want?" Lightwood shook his head.

"No not Jace, his father."

Simon kept his hands by his side to keep them from shaking as he stepped off the elevator into a luxurious foyer that was three times as big as his apartment. The structured columns and marble floor really impressed Simon as to how loaded the Herondale family was.

"Mr. Lewis...sit please." Simon had to shiver. He had never really met Stephan Herondale personally but the calm, slick tone of his voice trickled down Simon's body as his instincts begged him to jump out the window to avoid this. "So...Mr. Lewis...you have been my employee for...how many years?"

"Uhmm...about five or six..."

"Hmm..very good so would you say that you are very loyal to this company?" No shit, they supply my main source of income, not that you would know anything about that...Simon thought.

"Of course." He said, forcing a reassuring smile.

"How well do you know my son?" He asked suddenly. Simon felt the air leave his lungs at the sudden question.

"Jac- Mr. Jonathan?" Simon had to refrain himself from recoiling at the name. Stephan appraised him with cold eyes.

"Yes, I suspect you two must spend quite a while together about...business." Not exactly business...Simon nodded.

"I only know him on a purely professional level..sir." Stephan nodded and sunk into his leather chair.

"I care very much for my son Mr. Lewis, despite what everyone else says." What that you're a cold, heartless, bloodsucking leech that only does things out of his own self interest?

"Of course sir."

"I worry about him as well, most of all...where his priorities are going, where his future is headed. Obviously I am entitled to that worry as you may have observed." Simon nodded. "I hoped that you would...keep an eye on him for me...perhaps steer him in the proper direction."

"Like...spy on him?" Simon asked, dumbfounded to his request.

"If you'd prefer to be so blunt yes. I may add that this particular job comes with certain benefits...you'll get three times the salary that you work for now but it has it's consequences as well."

"What type of consequences?" Simon gasped.

"You'll find out if you decline my rather generous offer." Stephan's cold eyes glittered with a cruelty Simon hadn't seen in a human being before. Shit, he was screwed. If he refused, he was going to be turned out to the street with absolutely no money. If he accepted...he was going to let this guy coerce him to doing anything and as much as he disliked Jace, he wouldn't want to be tailing him. He could feel his gaze boring into him, already knowing his answer. Simon sighed.

"When do I start?"

0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Tessa had gotten the rhythm of things now. Sitting there in the darkness with only slants of harsh, white light piercing the black curtain in straight, fixed angles, time seemed endless. Food slid under a flap three times a day, when exactly they were delivered- Tessa hadn't gotten to that point yet. Her eyes drifted out the narrow slits to the warehouse. There were forklifts of brown packages containing God-knows-what driving in and out of the building at different intervals. This continued on for days, curling up in a ball crying to sleep, observing and eating. Those were the three main things that she would do. Will would visit her sometimes, always getting straight down to business asking her what she had seen that day. It was always in the dead of night in a hidden corner behind her crate. As much of an ass as he was, she still craved some human interaction, someone to talk to...that is until she found Aline.

At first, all she heard of Aline was her silent sobbing at night. It wasn't until she peeked through a slit in the wall to find her curled up in a fetal position. She looked thin, her cheeks sunken in as her brown eyes widened with fear at Tessa's eyes staring at her.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you." Tessa whispered. Still, Aline crept farther and farther away. "How long have you been here?" Tessa whispered, her fingers hooking onto the metal lining the small rectangular opening. Aline swallowed harshly.

"I don't know, they brought me here for weeks, months it feels endless..." Her voice turning hoarse at the end.

"My name's Tessa...where are you from?"

"I moved to China...they lured me out, found my particular preferences and took me...bought me." Tessa gasped at the meaning.

"You were an escort." Aline nodded, letting a few tears slip out.

"I was so stupid...they took me here...to see him..." Her entire body shook at the name.

"Him? Who's him?" Tessa asked, her heart was beating to finally hear the name that caused this much torture to them all. Aline shook her head.

"He...he..."She shuddered, holding herself. Cold shock trickled in as Tessa realized what he did.

"Oh...you don't have to-"

"They talk about him sometimes." She whispered. "They say that he's going to keep on going, buying girls from different countries, building a collection." She spat the last word out with disgust. "Fell...I think that's his name. He visited me in my cell...I was the first." Her voice quieted into a murmur. "He took me right there, on the stone cold floor." She shuddered. Tessa found the lump in her throat hard to swallow as she tried to fight back the burn of tears in her eyes. Oh God...what have I gotten myself into?

0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Jace fell back onto his bed, hearing the elevator ding shut. Must be one of dad's late night "visitors" Jace thought as he stared out at the expansive skyline. His mind played the scene over and over again. He didn't know why he was so affected by her or why her words hit him so hard. He was Jace Herondale, son to the most powerful man of Earth. The opinion of some lowly prostitute shouldn't have such an effect of him.

He sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. But it did. There was just something about her that drew her to him. It was dangerous for him and her both but that didn't stop it from being so addicting. Her very presence made his mind scramble and at the same time made him so very aware of her. He turned over and slid between the covers, thinking of the fiery red head that he couldn't seem to get out of his mind.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Days, weeks drifted by as Tessa coaxed Aline into giving her more information. The more information she got the more she wanted to get out of there. She shuddered as she heard of how they got girls in here, sometimes they broke into their homes and sometimes they were snatched off the street, disappeared, never to be seen by anyone again. They always made sure never to get a girl with too many connections.

"No one tries really hard to look for you if no one cares." Aline told her one day. Tessa's mind whirled at the thought. Was she one of them? No family, barely any friends, she was just another girl who got in the crossfire of this. There was no one out there looking for her. Tessa put her face in her hands. No one cared.

Time passed with Tessa surviving each day with barely a thin layer of calm to keep her composure. It wasn't until one night where everything changed. Tessa was snapped awake to footsteps...too early to be Will's... There was a murmur of voices as they approached her crate. She held her breath as they walked past here. Oh God...Aline...She thought with dread. There was a small shriek and scuttle as the door creaked open. Tessa couldn't bear to watch what was happening. The yowls of pain and grunts showed that she was putting up a fight...a fight she couldn't win. There was a loud thud as the screaming went silent. Tessa huddled in a corner, her fingers clutching her arms so hard they almost drew blood. The heavy silence hung in the air as finally the creak of the door slamming shut interrupted it and then the sound of a dragging body.

Tessa didn't know how long she stayed in the position until she heard the footsteps again. She froze, not daring to breath.

"Tessa?" It was Will! She rushed over.

"Oh God Will let me out! Let me out now!" She sobbed. The shock of the horror was broken as she slammed against the hard metal.

"Shh...calm down. Don't hurt yourself." He glanced around and there was a jangling of keys as her door slid open a bit. Tessa did the rest herself as she pushed it open and fell into his arms sobbing.

"Don't let them take me." She gripped his shirt as her body shook. She could feel his hands rubbing her back in soothing circles.

"What the hell happened?" He murmured. But she could only shake her head and sob.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Clary just wasn't into it today. Her body was out of synch and she came home with the weight of disappointment of her chest. She threw her bag down and collapsed on the couch, exhausted. This couldn't happen again. Her emotions couldn't get the best of her while she was on the job. Men didn't want emotions, they wanted sex. Clary shuddered. That is all men want. She was to provide them with that and only that. She wasn't their girlfriend, she couldn't cry or scream.

She never had emotion for men before so why was her mind filled with one. She growled in frustration as she tugged at her hair as if it would make the image of the golden angel erase from her mind. She was so sick of him and his ways. She was sick of it all. She cradled her head in her hands. She was sick of the sadness and guilt and anger at him, at everything. She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. Izzy wasn't due for a few hours now but- Her thoughts were interrupted by the ring of the doorbell.

She hesitantly made her way to the door and looked in the peephole. With a gasp, she quickly undid the locks and opened the door.

"Will?" She gasped.