Saving Simona (Alone In The World Trilogy) Read Free Page B

ruffles all along the bodice and neckline, as well as around all the hems of the dress itself, be it the collar or wrists, or dragging along the ground. To the other girls, the dress was hideous, but to Gia, it was beautiful. It was also one of the few dresses that Leander approved for his special luxury girls. If he did not approve of their choice for the night, he would make them remove all their clothes and let him dress them. Gia had made the mistake of chooses a lesser dress once, and she vowed to do so never again. Feeling Leander’s threatening hands roam her body in his dress was more than enough for her. 
    Gia stepped away and moved back over to Molly, holding her breath when the other girl pull ed the laces of the corset taut against Gia’s back. The boning dug into the brunette’s ribcage, constricting her lungs and making it feel like she was breathing through a thick layer of smoke. “Gracious, Molly, could you make that any tighter?” she breathed out once the lacings had been finished. She ran her hand against her side, pushing down on the fragmented boning as she tried to make it stop digging into her ribcage.
    Molly chuckled. “You must keep that womanly shape,” the blonde reminded her. Gia rolled her eyes before turning around and doing up Molly’s laces. Molly, too, winced when the laces were pulled tight, the fragments digging into her skin as well.
    Gia glanced down at Molly and her corsets, wishing for the millionth time that one of her lovers would have purchased her her own corset at some point in time. Leander’s had been with the ring for nearly as l ong as Leander himself, and the stays clearly showed their age. The fabric was a dark yellow, and the boning was shattered, poking through the material along the ridges. Gia’s abdomen was calloused over now, but for her first year with Leander, the soft flesh found there had been constantly in shreds by the jagged edges. The girls were not allowed corset covers, either, so the material had collected many other stains besides age as time had passed.
    Gia winked at her sister as Molly winced again. “You must keep that womanly shape,” she mocked, wrinkling up her nose and squinting her eyes playfully when she repeated Molly’s words.
    Molly laughed and swatted at Gia’s hand, her breathing shallow. “Shush, you.”
    The girls smiled at one another before their faces turned stoic, hearing heavy footsteps nearing the door. “He’s here! Get in line,” a pretty black- haired girl whispered harshly, running to the middle of the room and standing straight, her arms locked against her sides, her back erect. The other girls did the same, forming two lines. Gia and Molly followed suit, joining the line nearest to the back. The other luxury-girls were in the second line as well. Gia looked down the line, and saw that all the luxury-girls had managed to find exactly what Leander approved of. Good. No one is going to face Leander’s wrath tonight.
    A man’s silhouette blocked part of the stream of light as the door opened widely, dust swirling in the air around the blackness. “Happy evening, my beautiful daughters,” the man cooed, his voice rich and velvety. He stepped into the room, his palms turned up and his elbows perpendicular, his shoulders swinging as he walked. He clapped as he looked them over. “My, my, my. How stunning you all look tonight.”
    He approached the girls, running his fingers over their faces and shoulders as he got a closer look at them individually, the majority of the girls forcing a smile at the man as he drew close. He stopped when he reached the end of the first line, cupping the face of the girl standing there. She had hair like snow that was piled high on her head, which, in combination with her sharp bones and alabaster skin, made her look like a statue made out of the finest marble. Leander tilted the girl’s face upwards and towards the side, examining her face in confusion. “I have not seen you