" Where are you taking me?" I angrily spat and fought against his iron grip on my wrist.

"Back to the basement." He said harshly. I froze and stopped moving altogether.

"No." I whispered. He turned around and glared at me. "Please." I said desperate to change his mind. " I'll do anything just please don't make me go down there. You have a heart. I know you do, use it for once." I said softly and looked up at him slowly trying to gauge his reaction to my words.

Slowly his face twisted into a harsh glare and he yanked on my arm. Hard. I stumbled forward almost tripping over my own feet. " No." He said loud enough so that anyone in the corridor would've heard it. " You don't know anything about me."

" what happened to you from yesterday night to now. Your acting like a complete dick. I was down there for hours and you want me to go back. No freaking way in hell!" I yanked my arm back, and stared back at him with just as much hatred as he looked at me with.

" Watch your tone girl." He stepped forward menacingly. My first instinct was to step back, but I held my ground. I couldn't let him have an the advantage of knowing I was terrified. " If you knew what happened last night you wouldn't be in such a great mood either." He said darkly.

"Well I'm glad I don't then. We don't need 2 assholes running around this place." I mumbled looking down. After I said it I mentally punched myself in the throat. Why would anyone say that to an already pissed off wild man, that sticks people in dark rooms with rats and other rodents I didn't care to know about.

I was surprised when he puffed out a small breath. I looked up quickly and saw that he was trying to hide a slight smile. I smiled wider than I should've just knowing that I made the cold hearted beast smile. Then he turned and walked away. Just like that.

I almost called out to him and asked where he was going, but then again I didn't want to push my luck. I watched his suit clad back move swiftly away from me. I couldn't help but wonder where he was going, or rather who he was going to. I shook my head and scoffed at myself for 1 he was a billionaire and probably had to work and be to meetings 2 I shouldn't care.

I turned my back and shuffled off the other way. I turned a corner and ran straight into a large man dressed in a gray expensive suit. If I had to guess what the brand was from my limited knowledge of men's apparel, I would guess it was Armani. I glanced up to his face. He was older with grayish stubble lining his jaw. He looked like he was in his fifty's, but on the other hand he also looked like he could kick my ass.

" Um. I- Uh sorry about that." He looked at me and raised a stern eyebrow down at me. " Sir." I squeaked. I thought maybe he might smile. But obviously it was pushing my luck to think that I could make 2 men with boards stuck up their butts even smile slightly.

He furrowed his thick brows and took an intimidating step forward. I took a cowardly one back. He narrowed his eyes " You must be new here. The whores aren't supposed to be in this area." His voice was low and menacing.

I winced at the fact that he called me one of the whores. Did I look like a whore? I wondered to myself as I glanced down at myself. I grimaced as I looked down and saw the mess that was my cloths. They were covered in dirt and grim from that wretched room. " I- I'm sorry Sir I didn't know. I am new, I was just trying to find my way back to my room." I looked away from his accusing eyes and studied the floor beneath my feet. " I'll just be on my way then." I started backing away slowly.

He shook his head and laughed cruelly. " Oh you're not going anywhere until I take you to my nephew and let him punish you." At the word punish I started to panic. If the Rat Room was my punishment for speaking out of turn I couldn't imagine what it would be for an infraction like this one. He grabbed my roughly by the elbow and started to drag me back down the way I'd come.

" No, please. I didn't mean to be here I was just trying to find my room."

He scoffed. " Right like I haven't heard that one before. Snitches like you, think your so clever but you aren't." He said and I struggled harder once we stopped outside a set of large oak doors.

" I'm no snitch!" I yelled. He knocked on the door. " I was forced to come here. Don't you think that if I was a rat I would be here intentionally." He studied me closely until the a deep " Come in" came from the other side of the door. I shook my head frantically. He just smirked at me and pushed the door open then shoved me inside. I stumbled in the room, almost landing flat on my behind. I turned and glared at the man.

" Matthias. What is the meaning of this." Joseph said from behind me. I whipped around and looked at him. He was already staring at me.

" I found her down by the conference rooms." Matthias explained.

Joseph nodded and tilted his head slightly while his eyes stayed trained on me. " Thank you Matthias. You may go." He immediately ducked out of the room, leaving me standing there in my dirty clothes, with a man that had kissed me one day then locked me in a room with rats scurrying around the next. I looked anywhere around the room except him. I noticed the room was mostly made of dark wood. One wall was entirely a bookshelf filled to the brim with books. The other wall to my right was mostly windows that went from the floor to the ceiling giving you a nice view of the flat lands and in the far distance you could see downtown.

" Do you like the view?" He asked stepping around his desk.

" Um. Yes. It's very beautiful." I took a quick glance at him. He was staring out the windows as well.

I looked back to the view feeling safe for the moment knowing that he was preoccupied. " It is even more so at night." He said and turned to me. I could feel his stare on the side of my face. Then he was standing right next to me. " You just can't stay out of trouble can you?" I stepped back and saw that his face was now hard, void of any emotion. The calm relaxing Joseph was gone, and what replaced him had anxiety swirling around in my stomach.

" I was just trying to get to my room, I swear." I said and thought about putting my hands in the air, but decided against it not wanting to seem anymore weak than I already was. He was advancing towards me slowly, carefully. I stood my ground and watch him take his slow deliberate steps. " I didn't mean to be somewhere I shouldn't have been. No one told me I wasn't allowed there."

He stopped inches from me. If I leaned forward at all we would be chest to chest. He cocked his head to the side. " Is that so?" He said and peered down at me curiously.

I nodded, all the while forcing my eyes to stay locked with his eyes, and not wander south. " Yes."

" Very well." He stepped back, and I heaved a heavy breath of relief. He moved and sat down in his plush leather chair. He started typing on his laptop, I almost felt like he forgot that I was here. After a couple minutes of standing there awkwardly he finally looked back up. " What are you still doing here?" He said harshly. " Get out."

I raised my eyebrows. He never told me to leave. I opened my mouth to ask him if his mother ever taught him any manners. He narrowed his eyes at me and I closed my mouth, thankfully before any sound escaped them. I nodded once and flung the door open, then shut it harder than necessary behind me. " Stupid, little, son of a bitch" I was mumbling under my breath. No doubt the maids thought I was crazy talking this aggressively to myself. I started cursing louder to myself when I hit another dead end. This house would be the death of me.

" Excuse me miss. Is there something that I can help you with?" I whipped around and found a young woman. Maybe 15 and about 5'3". She looked up at me with innocent hazel eyes. Her tan skin contrasted with her light blonde hair.

"Um yes, I-uh need to find my bedroom." I said slightly embarrassed that I didn't know where to find my own room.

She only smiled. " What is your name?"

"Jessica."

"Ahh yes your the new girl. I heard about you. I will show you to your room." Without another word she turned on her heel and sped down the hall. " You were actually pretty close. Your room is just around the corner." She said over she shoulder. I scoffed. Great.

We turned down a familiar looking hall and stopped in front of the my door. " Thank you.."

"Carrie." She said quickly. She almost seemed as if she was bouncing.

I smiled a genuine smile at the young girl. " well thank you Carrie. I hope I'll see you at dinner."

At that her face fell. " Oh.. Well I am not allowed to sit in the dining room. None of the slaves are. The seats are saved for the bosses household. I am only a servant."

I frowned. " oh. I'm sorry I didn't know or I wouldn't have brought it up."

She smiled lightly and shrugged. "Not your fault. Your new after all." Her mood picked up once we were switched topics. " I have to get back to work. We have a lot to do before the prime minister comes." She hurried off down the hall, leaving me with questions. Prime minister? Why was there a prime minister coming?

I pushed the door open and walked into the plain room. I wondered if all the girls rooms were this plain. If maybe Joseph liked plain. The walls on in the halls were white. The floors were white. everything was white except for the occasional picture and piece of furniture. Then again his study was more wood than white. Maybe he just liked the classic look.

I jumped when I heard someone pounding on my door. " Miss I was asked to escort you to the dining hall." A deep male voice said through the door. I hurried to open the door and stepped out of the room. " Follow me." I stepped in line behind him and stared at his back. For it seemed that all of the men here were semi good looking. All at least 5'11". I suppose that to work for Joseph you had to fit a certain physical requirement.

We stopped outside the same doors I stopped at this morning. I cringed thinking about what had happened a mere 5 minutes after I walked in the dining hall this morning. I sucked in a deep breath and pushed open the heavy wooden doors.

It was like everyone paused to look and see who had come in late. I blushed hard as everyone's eyes stayed glued to me. I bowed my head to try and avoid their scrutinizing stares. I looked up through my eyelashes at Joseph as he started to speak. " Jessica. How nice of you to join us."I couldn't speak. My vocal cords felt like they were frozen. My mouth couldn't form words, so I just stood there like a fish out of water. " Are you going to sit? Or were you planning to just stand there the whole time?"

Now normally someone would say that as a joke, or maybe even say 'just kidding man.' At the end of the statement, but not Joseph Copland. No he was all business, and had no time play around. I swallowed hard and looked around for a seat. I almost broke out in a huge grin, but contained myself not wanting to look like an idiot in front of so many people. I hurried and sat in one of the only open seats that just so happened to be right next to the only friend I had here.

" I saved a seat for you." Cameron leaned over and whispered in my ear. " I was hoping you would see it."

" Thank you for saving it for me." I said blushing lightly.

"No problem sweetheart." He flashed me an award winning smile and got back to eating his food. I laughed lightly at him and went to put some food on my plate. I took a quick glance to my right at Joseph. He was glaring at me. I shrunk down in my seat a little bit more and picked at the mashed potatoes I had spooned onto my plate.

He must be angry because I had broken one of his rules yet again by being late. Yea that had to be it.