“N-no, Sir.”
“I didn’t think so. I’ll do what I can. Just pray I can make a deal. If I can’t…”
If he couldn’t he’d have her killed.
Brian got back to the house well after dark. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Mina. In an unsettling turn of events, he’d come to see himself as her protector. The idea of protecting Mina from Lindsay was so absurd, he almost laughed out loud in the entryway.
He was about to go downstairs when he heard voices coming from the conference room next to the shrink’s office. That was… odd. There wasn’t a meeting scheduled. Were they having meetings without him now? Things had been tense with the partners ever since Vivian. It was as if her presence—and his threat—had finally set them against each other in a more permanent way.
They were all on one team; Brian was alone on the other. Which was ridiculous. They couldn’t do this shit without him. And they knew it.
“What in the hell is going on?” he demanded when he crossed the threshold.
The partners were seated around the table with Lindsay at the head, clearly running this meeting, which was weird because usually Anton ran the meetings. Attached to empty seats around the table were computer monitors where several men had joined the video conference. Brian recognized them all as previous buyers.
Several modest photographs of Mina fully clothed were scattered across the large table. If Lindsay was running it like a normal sale, the potential buyers had been emailed their own copies as well. But it wasn’t a normal sale because the photos they normally shared were pornographic. Even their medical photos were sexualized and would be at home under the bed of any fetishist who got off on the darker implications of gynecology.
Not innocent like this.
What the hell was going on?
“Gentlemen, I apologize for the interruption,” Lindsay said. He turned to Brian. “We’re holding the auction now.”
“For Mina?” he asked unnecessarily. It was too soon for this. It didn’t feel right, and those photos… Something was very wrong. In the pictures, it looked like she’d been crying.
“Yes.”
Brian’s stomach dropped, but he masked it with anger. “She hasn’t even gone through the training protocols. Are you that worried about what I’ll do to her?”
“Our guests are aware of her state of training and the nature of the contract. We’re all agreed that many of our training protocols would be useless in this unique circumstance and that it’s better to go ahead and sell her to a trusted buyer who can work with her from the ground up and protect her in ways we might not be able to. And yes, her safety from you is of paramount importance to me. I’m sure you won’t guarantee her safety, will you?”
It was looking more and more as if Mina were the singular person in all the world who Brian might be able to successfully guarantee safety to. The idea of her being ripped away so soon—before he could sort through his feelings—enraged him. He pulled out a chair and sat at the table uninvited.
“Shall we start the bidding, then?” Lindsay said, ignoring him. “Given the special circumstances involved and that you are all valued clients, we’ll start at the reasonable bargain of one hundred thousand dollars.”
“One hundred thousand,” said a Japanese man on one of the screens.
Lindsay seemed quite pleased. “Thank you Mr. Matsumoto. Mina would do well to end up with you.”
He nodded.
“Two-fifty,” another said.
“Five hundred,” Matsumoto said.
“Seven hundred,” still another said.
Brian looked down to find himself white knuckling the edge of the table, his jaw clenched.
“One million,” Matsumoto said.
Why did this guy want her so much? She was untrained. She had too many boundaries for the contract. And she had the scars. A hundred thousand was reasonable given the circumstances, and Matsumoto had just gone up to a million? Sure, Mina was beautiful, but something was wrong about this sale. Lindsay had rushed it. Was he sure about these guys?
Maybe Brian was paranoid. Why did he even care? The bidding somehow climbed to one and a half million with Matsumoto still in control.
“Two,” Brian said, his mouth disconnecting from his brain entirely.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Lindsay hissed.
Brian covered his own shock at the words that had just tumbled forth. He could still take it back, but instead he said, “Bidding. I’ve got the money.” At the house all his needs were taken care of, and he got an equal cut with the other partners of all sales after house expenses and paying those in their employ. His money had been sitting around collecting interest.
“Is this some kind of shakedown?”
“No, I assure you, Mr. Matsumoto, that is not the case here. Brian, stay out of the bidding. I wouldn’t sell Mina to you if you were the last man alive. Scrap Brian’s bid, and we’re back down to one and a half million to Mr. Matsumoto. Are there any other bids?”
The others shook their heads and bowed out. Matsumoto smiled broadly. The man who’d just won Mina might have followed the house rules up to this point, but Brian knew a predator and a sadist when he saw one. He could smell his own. There was something about the Mina situation that was bringing out a darker side to the man, one that Brian refused to allow to materialize.
“Five million,” Brian said, “And you can keep my cut of it, personally, Lindsay.”
Lindsay just blinked. Matsumoto looked livid. If the man had been there in person, a physical fight would have broken out. As it was, Matsumoto could only sit fuming behind the monitor. After all, it wouldn’t do him any favors to unleash his rage for all of them to witness. It might bring into question his ability to hold his temper and control himself—things absolutely vital to Mina’s safety.
If Brian knew Lindsay like he thought he did, this kind of offer was way too much money for him to leave on the table in favor of one less than a third as good.
“Gentlemen, I’m going to have to have a private meeting with my associates. Mr. Matsumoto, I will call back as soon as this is sorted. Again, I apologize for this unprofessional display.”
“I told you I’m not selling her to you,” Lindsay said after the conference call disconnected. “I don’t know what sick games you want to play with her, but I made a promise.”
“I won’t hurt her. I’ll follow the contract.”
“If you believe him, you’re crazy,” Gabe said. “He was making threats toward her just this morning.”
Anton observed quietly. He ran the meetings and arranged the sales, but Mina was Lindsay’s pet project, and the doctor was determined to manage everything himself.
“I didn’t want her locked in the cage,” Brian said.
Lindsay raised a brow. “Why not?”
“I don’t know! But I want her. Matsumoto will hurt her. Something’s not right about his bid.”
“Something’s not right about your bid! In fact, your bid is far more shady than his. He’s had Elsa in his care for six years without a single blip on our radar, and she seems fine. Meanwhile, I’ve never seen a woman leave your dungeon without an ugly mark to show for it!” Lindsay was shouting now, all attempts at restraint abandoned. “You expect me to believe you’d pay five million for this girl you just met who as you pointed out is untrained and that she’d be perfectly safe with you when you’ve shown me nothing but signs of sociopathy the entire time I’ve known you?”