Page 11 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
“Gentlemen,” he calls out, peering into the crowd before him.
I shift slightly in my seat, making sure my face is not visible from where he’s standing. I don’t want him to know that I’m here. Whatever he is going to do, I need to see it play out in its entirety.
“Thank you for joining me tonight,” he continues. “I have some very fine offerings on sale this evening, as I’m sure you’re all here for. Once again, I’d like to extend my appreciation for your discretion in this matter, given the sensitive nature of the work I do here.”
He grins a little wider, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. The vodka I had back at the bar burns at the back of my throat, and my stomach curdles.
“As ever, payment will be rendered via wire transfer at the end of the bidding,” he continues. “And trust me when I say that I predict a battle over the woman we have with us tonight.”
No doubt about it. He is selling girls. Fucking auctioning them off to this room full of men as though they are nothing more than livestock.
My jaw clenches. There are lines in the sand, lines that can never be crossed when it comes to all of this. And selling people, selling women, knowing what they will be used for? That’s a line Ihave long-since laid down, one that I imagined even my brother would not be foolish enough to overstep.
“Without further ado,” he continues. “I’d like to introduce you to our guest for the night, Maya...”
He gestures behind him, and, just like that, a woman stumbles out from the back of the stage. As soon as I lay eyes on her, my stomach drops.
Her blonde hair is messy, untamed around her wide hazel eyes. She looks around the room with horror on her face, and it’s clear she has no idea what’s going on here. She wraps her arms around herself, trembling, her entire body tensed as she prepares for whatever might be thrown at her next. And to make it all worse…
I know that girl.
I recognize her at once. How could I not? It might have been months since the night we spent together, but that day has been burned into my brain ever since.
Her body tangled with mine, the way she trembled beneath me in the moments before she came, the sound of her breathing intensifying as she went over the edge. I had left soon afterwards, sensing she didn’t want to be involved with someone like me, but I have let my mind drift dangerously in her direction a few times more than I would care to admit.
But I guess she’s part of this world, at least, more than I could have imagined.
Because she is standing next to Artem, who has put his arm around her and pushed her towards the front of the stage, where the lights seem to blind her.
“We’ll start the bidding at twenty thousand,” Artem announces, leering at her with a grin on his face. “Though I can attest to the fact that she is worth so,somuch more than that.”
Rage courses through me, the way he is talking about her as though she’s nothing more than a piece of meat. That fucking bastard. How long has this been going on?
My own brother, pulling something like this behind my back. If I had known, I would’ve shut this down months ago, making him pay for even letting his mind stray in this direction.
“Twenty-five thousand.”
A man’s voice cuts through the quiet, snapping me back into the moment. I look around, and sure enough, a man at the table next to me has raised his hand. The woman—Maya, if that is her real name—retreats into herself, her eyes becoming vacant.
“Thirty.” Another voice places a bid.
I stare at her, the room narrowing to the sight of her standing right there before me. I need to get her out of this mess, in any fucking way I can.
I could pull my gun, slam it on the table, tell these fuckers that I’m going to make them pay for thinking they could dare get away with this, but I can only imagine there are guards on the door ready to spring into action if anyone tries to play hero.
No, if I’m going to get her out, then I need to play by the rules of this place, no matter how sick and fucking twisted they might be.
I raise my hand. “A million.”
A silence falls across the room as everyone turns to look at me, clearly stunned by the enormous bid.
But I cannot risk letting her fall into any other hands.
As soon as I have her out of here, I can find out what my brother’s been doing, figure out how many other women there are who are going to need my help, but for now, all I care about is getting her out of this place in one piece.
Artem squints in my direction. Does he recognize my voice? If he does, he’s doing a good job of pretending otherwise.
“A million,” he announces, and I withdraw into the shadows once more. I don’t want anyone to see me here. I can only imagine how my enemies would spin it if they knew, that I was paying money for the ownership of a woman. there is nothing else I can do, and I’m not willing to walk out of here until I know she is safe.
