Page 87 of Reckless Seduction
The guard roughly grabs my upper arm and pushes me onto the stage. The other women kneel on the wooden floors, their heads bowed in submission, knees parted so obscenely that it gives the audience a full view of what they are offering.
Of what they are here to buy.
I kneel, refusing to spread my knees apart. The guard growls at me in Italian, but I ignore him, choosing instead to search the crowd. I can see Drew in the back with Brittany on his arm, her ice-cold gaze on me, a cruel smile stretched across her Botoxed lips. The auctioneer, a man in his early forties, begins to speak, acknowledging the generous donations given tonight.
The light of the room is dim compared to the stage, making it slightly harder to see out into the crowd. I just need to find an escape. All attention is on the auctioneer as he describes the “submissions” that are to be auctioned, so no one is watching me case the place. There are two doors in and out of the room, both marked by two armed guards. The trick will be determining which one leads to freedom and which one leads to a dead end that could end up getting me killed.
Drawing my eyes away from the doors, I pull my attention to inspecting the other inhabitants, sweeping my gaze across the room until something catches my eye.
No, not something.
Someone.
Lina.
In a room filled mainly with men, she stands out like a sore thumb. She has donned a swanky evening dress and low heels, and her head is bowed in conversation with someone who looks awfully familiar.
All at once, my heart shatters into a million pieces.
THIRTY-FIVE
I scream his name,the heartbreaking sound of my anguish echoing across the room as tears stream down my face. The room falls silent, and all eyes are on me. He’s come for me. He’s here. I look around the room. Where is Seamus? Has he not come?
My feet move to go to him, forgetting for a moment we are in the middle of one of the most secure places in the city, and it is filled to the brim with guns and mafiosos. Growling, the guard behind me grabs a fistful of my hair, pulling me back in line.
“Kiernan!” My heart clenches painfully when his emerald eyes meet mine. The warmth I’ve seen in them over the past week is gone, replaced by a cool indifference I saw the night of the gala. I bring my hands up to grasp the one in my hair, pivoting on my heels so my shoulder knocks into his arm. This gives me the chance to stomp my foot down on his and plant one of my elbows in his gut. The goon releases my hair when he stumbles back.
My freedom is short-lived. As I dive forward, a strong arm wraps around my waist, hauling me back into a chest.
“Let me go!” I screech. “Please. Kiernan.”
I claw at the arms of the one holding me, unaware of my surroundings. In my panicked state, I’ve missed someone coming up on my side with a syringe. I wince at the sudden prick in my arm, and within moments, my body begins to relax without my permission. The guard loosens his hold on me before stepping back.
A desperate sob catches in my throat as I sink back to my knees, hands clutching at my chest as the man I’d given my heart to approaches the stage. He whispers something to Tatem, who nods before taking a step back.
“Hello,mo fraochÚn beag.” His smile is twisted and cruel. I stare up at him, casting him a scathing look and spit at his feet.
“Fuck you, Kavanaugh,” I hiss. Kiernan’s jaw clenches. “I trusted you.”
The laugh he gives me is mirthless, void of any emotion, just like I will soon be. “It was too easy to get you to trust us,” he whispers darkly. “Naïve little girl who just wanted to be loved for the first time in her life. So desperate for affection that she took it from anywhere she could. Including the two men who kidnapped her.”
Through the haze of cigar smoke and the sound of cruel laughter, his words echo in my head like a bad Cardi B song stuck on repeat. So desperate for affection… He isn’t wrong. I just can’t believe he said it. Any hope I’ve held on to that this is all part of the plan dies with those words. He took my darkest secret and threw it back at me like it meant nothing. I shared that with them in confidence, thinking I could trust them.
He’s right. I’m naïve.
And now I’ll pay the price.
“Don’t worry,” he chuckles, “Crowe has got a nice buyer all lined up for Eriksen’s whore of a daughter. I hear he’s really into sharing, too, and you were so good at taking us both. Weren’t you?” He runs a finger down my wet cheek. “If I would haveknown we had Toph Eriksen’s daughter under our roof, your stay might’ve been a little less cozy.”
Callous laughter surrounds me, filling my ears until I feel like they’ll bleed.
He’s letting Crowe sell me.
The stone in my stomach plummets, and I can’t draw a full breath in. They’ve done it. They’ve actually let me be sold.
But to whom?
“She’s all yours now.” Kiernan takes a step back to reveal the last person I think I’d see.
