“I didn’t know she was an ol’ lady at first. When he came to the hotel, he saw Natalia, and he said until he got Mary, he would keep her. I met him at the barn, which is where all transactions, drug, human, and whatever else related goes down. He said there was going to be an auction. The last one of the year. Natalia would be in it if I didn’t comply, but then I started thinking, what’s the harm? Moretti doesn’t remember her anyway, and she’ll be alright. She’s a smart girl. She can get out of this—”
I stop him from talking by grabbing his shoulders and shaking them “—Where is the auction? What time does it start?” I remember Mason warning us that her father was going to do something like this.
“It’s at my hotel. Elevator, east side, takes you to a level no one has ever seen before.”
“What about the attack on the club a few months ago?” Reaper asks. “I knew it was fucking fishy that that college kid happened to shoot us up after working your club. That was you, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Maximo says. “I wanted to be on top. I wanted to be the one that controlled Vegas. I told you the truth, please, let me go. Please. I’m sorry.”
Reaper gets in Maximo’s face. “When we get back, I’m going to soak in your fucking soul, Maximo. You better count down the hours of your life as a free man.”
“Please. I’ll work for you. I’ll put all my men at your disposal. I’ll give you money. Anything. Please, just let me go. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Save it,” Reaper snaps. “I don’t want your money. I don’t want your apology. I don’t want shit from you but your goddamn heart beating in my hands as I crush the life out of you.”
“Please, just let me go. I’ll do anything. I never meant for our alliance to end up like this.”
“You should have thought about that before you decided to fuck with the Ruthless Kings.”
We storm out of the playroom and lock the door.
Leaving him alive is hard, but there is no more time to waste.
I have to get to Mary before someone buys her.
They don’t even know that what they bid would never be enough.
She’s fucking priceless.
My energy is gone.
I’ve been starved, slapped, jerked-off on, but at least my dad hasn’t had sex with me.
That’s the one silver lining in all of this.
I told him I didn’t want to marry him, because maybe when someone buys me, they won’t be as cruel as he is. Maybe I’ll get lucky.
He’s kept me drugged with a tranquilizer to keep me in line over the last ten days. Not enough to knock me out, but enough to keep me loopy. I’ve taken a thousand pictures in lingerie. I’m sure they are posted on every website imaginable. My father even made a brochure, so when the buyers come in, they have something to reference while they hide behind tinted windows.
Right now, all of the women are in a room, shoulder to shoulder, shivering from the cold and shock of the situation. There are no windows, no fan; it’s a basic, plain room with four walls and a door we can’t go out of.
“Mary?” a familiar voice says from behind me.
I turn around and gasp when I see Natalia, Moretti’s daughter. She’s a little younger than me, and I can see the innocence in her red eyes and wet cheeks. “Natalia, what are you doing here?” This is the first time I’ve seen all the women. I didn’t know if I was going to be the only one or what, but of course, I’m not.
Men always think they can do whatever they want to us.
“My Uncle, Maximo. He gave me up,” Natalia cries.
I’m not surprised. Maximo has always rubbed me the wrong way.
“Everything is going to be okay.” I wrap my arms around her and bring her in for a tight hug. “They are going to find us, okay? They will.” I have to believe that, or I will be lost the moment I step out onto that stage. I’m wearing a sheer bra that crisscrosses in the front, black lace panties, and stockings. My hair is down, but I’ve been ordered to play with it and give the buyers a show.
Natalia is wearing a light blue teddy, a short sexy nightgown that showcases her small chest and flat stomach.
“Do I hear three million?” my father announces over the speaker that’s attached in the right corner of the room. “Sold!”
I almost expect to hear a slam of a gavel, but it’s quiet.
“Next up, we have a special guest,” he says, quickening the pace of my heart.
The door opens, and a man I’ve never seen before surveys the room. He’s tall and buff, reminding me of a bodybuilder, and his eyes fall on me. He doesn’t ask; he doesn’t gesture for me to come to him; instead, he reaches out and snags me by my hair.
“No!” Natalia screams, trying to hold my hands to keep me from being dragged out the door. “No, Mary! Please, don’t do this,” she begs while the other women cry along the back wall, away from the door.
The guy still doesn’t say anything. The way he has my hair has my scalp burning. I reach up to grab his hands to take the pressure off, but he trips me with his big boot and proceeds to pull me across the floor.
The hallway turns into a long tunnel the further away I get from the room that holds a dozen women. The walls are grey, the floor is black, and it’s like I’m sliding along pools of ink. I’m waiting to sink into the ground. The tile is so spotless, so shiny, that as the light shines against it, I know it’s going to suck me under into the unknown.
My captor’s boots pound against the floor, loud drums that strike fear into my soul. When he comes to a stop, a door opens, and he throws me into the room. I roll to the middle, and the carpet leaves burns across my skin. I’m too afraid to get up.
But I do.
I push myself up onto my hands, then again to get to my feet. I’m surrounded by black glass. I can’t see what’s on the other side, but I have no doubt it is sleazy men in expensive suits debating if they want me.
Lifting my chin, I do my best to show I’m not scared of what will happen to me. My heart is ripped out, and I know my fate. Anything these men do to me will be nothing to the pain I already feel.
“Gentlemen.” My father’s voice is heard over the speaker again. “This lovely lady is named Mary St. James. She’s beautiful, feisty, and has hair you can grip for days while you pound into her from behind. She’s only ever been with one man, and that’s me. You’re going to want to get your hands on this one.”
I fling my hair over my shoulder and give every window the middle finger.
My father laughs over the intercom, and a red light flashes above one of the windows.
“Oh, we have a bet coming in already,” he whistles. “The betting is starting at 5 million. We can do better than that. You’ll never have a pussy like it. It’s tight, hot, and wet.”
The way my father talks about me makes me sick. I can barely stay on my own two feet, and he is lying to them.
He is not the only man I’ve ever been with, and I hate that I have twelve years of memories to prove he wasn’t a dream, but—shudder—experience.
Another red light goes off, then another from the left, one more to the right. It’s a light show, and they won’t stop flickering.