Page 16 of Sins and Secrets

Used… I’m going to throw up.

“Alright,” I say, trying to stop my stomach from tossing and turning as I look around for somewhere to change.

There is a curtain pulled across a small corner of the room. It’s going to do little to hide my body from everyone else, but it’s enough.

Paolo leans forward and kisses my cheek quickly before leaving the dressing room. Several of the other women in the room are glaring at me. I give them a polite smile before going to change.

This is going to be one hell of a night.

I hide behind the curtain, shimmying out of the dress and into the green lingerie that matches my eyes. I pull the garters up my legs and connect them to the slim gold belt that circles my waist.

As I stuff my dress into my purse, I try to take a deep breath. I need to convince myself that everything is going to be alright. If I don’t, I know I’m going to get on the stage and freak out.

But I have to do this for me and for Papa. We need out, and this money will be our key to freedom.

I adjust the sheer emerald bodysuit over my body, making sure that my breasts are pushed up high, as I fight my instinct to run.

While I have no problem showing off my body, this is another realm of uncomfortable. I’m going to be showing off my body in front of a room full of strangers, dangerous people who want to purchase me.

I step out of the changing area and head to a small woman at a desk in the corner. She hands me and another woman a pile of paperwork.

“There’s still half an hour until showtime,” the woman says. “You need to go through this paperwork and sign off on all of it. You have until you sign the contracts to back out. If you don’t sign the contracts or back out before you are called to the stage, then you will be barred from all future auctions.”

I nod and accept the paperwork and a pen, finding a quiet corner in the room to read over everything.

Though everything about this auction is terrifying, there is a small rush of excitement that goes along with it.

For the next two months, I’ll be a toy for someone, but I’ll be building my way out of the mafia.

That thought alone is enough to make me feel like I’m walking on air as a woman leads us to the door to the stage.

However, as I stand at the end of the stage, the gravity of what I’m doing hits me like a runaway freight train.

In a matter of an hour or two, I’m going to sell myself to a man I don’t know. I’m going to commit to spending the next two months with him, doing whatever he wants, when he wants it.

Ohgodohgodohgod! I think I’m going to throw up.

“Are you alright?” one of the other women asks, her tone hushed as a name is called over the speaker. “You look a little green.”

I nod and take a deep breath. I just have to keep reminding myself that I’m doing this for Papa and my dream resort. I’m going to give us a chance to start over with our lives.

This is the only way to get what I need as quickly as I need it.

“I’m okay, thanks.” I rearrange my curls, pulling some over my shoulder. “I just don’t know what to expect. This is my first time here.”

The woman gives me a sympathetic look. “Most of the men are going to want you to sleep with them. It will be required in the contract. You will have some room for negotiating. The men who run this club may be monsters, but they want women to keep answering the invitations. Advocate for yourself. Decide what you’re willing to do and for how much money. The worst that happens is that the purchase will fall through.”

“What happens if the purchase falls through?”

My stomach is tossing and turning as I look at the curtain that separates the dressing room from the stage. I bite my bottom lip, taking another deep breath as I try to calm my racing heart.

I just need to get through tonight without throwing up onstage.

“They don’t invite you back and you're blacklisted for other auctions.” The woman smiles as the first person is called to the stage. ‘Don’t worry, honey, everything is going to be fine.”

I might have believed her. However, it’s hard to think that everything will work out in the end when I’m standing at the lowest point of my life.

6

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