Page 31 of The Billionaire's Betrayal
The screen lit up, and the image of Pamela, wearing a blue shirt and jeans, appeared before him. She sat on a chair, like the ones in Alexa’s office, and had a mug of coffee on the side table next to her.
“Hi. I’m Pamela Johnson, twenty-five years old, from Texas.”
“I’ve read your application, Pamela. Why do you think you’d be a good fit for the auction?” Alexa’s voice sounded. He couldn’t see her on camera but could tell she was close to Pamela.
Pamela stared straight into the camera, without a flinch. “Because I’ve waited to meet a nice guy for a long time, and that hasn’t happened. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and at least make some money off of my virginity.”
“Sounds practical enough. Do you understand whoever bids the highest will have you at their service for a maximum of thirty days? We have some rules in place to guarantee your safety—no violent acts, no sex unless you agree. But we can’t pick the highest bidder for you. He might be sixty years old, unattractive, annoying.”
“I understand. I grew up on a farm. I can work really hard, and I can certainly pretend for one month.”
“Good. Also, is there someone in your life who would be against you doing this? Your parents, a boyfriend, a concerned friend?”
The camera zoomed in on her, and Pamela looked at the floor for a moment, before facing the lenses again. “My mother has passed. No one will be concerned about me. I have no one else.”
Her words were like stones thrown at him, coming from all angles. After her mother had passed, she’d become even more aware of all she’d lost by being the unclaimed daughter of Craig Taylor. And all that Brooks had gained—the intact family, the alive mother, the wealth, the opportunities.
Suddenly, the reason why she’d done this dawned on him. “She wanted to make it on her own.”
Alexa paused the clip and looked at him. “What?”
“She wanted the money to become rich on her own, to stick it to our father, who never gave a shit about her and didn’t think she’d amount to anything.”
Alexa inched closer. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
He removed his hand from hers, drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair. “She thought she had no one else. She died believing she didn’t have anyone,” he said, sadness wrapping around him like a heavy blanket. God, he’d never forgive himself. “I always took pride in doing the right thing. In being a better brother than my father had been a father.”
Yet, none of this had mattered. He hadn’t done enough.
“Brooks. I’m showing this to you in the spirit of transparency, but don’t take her words at face value. Candidates know we ask those questions, because if they say they have a jealous boyfriend or a conservative father, we might turn them down. We don’t want any trouble, so when someone comes from a family that seems like they would come after us, we avoid that person. She knew if she mentioned you, we wouldn’t consider her.”
“All this time, I held you accountable for what happened to her. For having this platform, where she could come and sell herself.” He inclined his head, needing to say it to Alexa. His icky family had sent her to House of Alexa…and who knew, maybe she’d have gone somewhere worse. “I appreciate you asking those questions.” Could he still say Alexa didn’t care about the auctionee’s safety? No.
“Don’t dwell on it. Wherever she is now, she wouldn’t want you to feel this way.”
Alexa reached to him and encircled him in a hug, a hug he hadn’t realized he needed until he leaned his head on her shoulder and a long sigh escaped. Once again, her nearness alleviated some of his pain, his guilt, his truth. Pamela wouldn’t have turned to the auction if he’d been there for her. She’d lost her mother, and she’d never had a dad. She’d had him, and he’d been selfish and impatient. He’d expected her to go back to being the fun carefree friend she’d been before her life had changed.
He caught a whiff of Alexa’s cologne and closed his eyes, thankful for how his muscles relaxed and his brain no longer hurt. “Thank you, Alexa,” he whispered in her ear, unsure of all he was grateful for.
