Page 93 of Ruthless Savage

I know Karen is out there, sitting in the audience with Adam, and I’m completely mortified already. They’re gonna see me naked on that stage.

Oh my God, what am I doing? What am I doing?!

The woman slips the see-through white dress off the hanger and approaches. It’s exactly the same as the ones I saw the girls wearing when I watched the auction. My entire body there for everyone to see.

“Arms up, sweetie.”

She holds it out, and when I raise them, she drops it over me.

“You’re quite stunning.” She gives me a slow once-over. “The winner will be a very lucky man. Or woman.”

A single seductive brow hikes up, and I want to crawl into a corner and die.

“Now for your mask.” She moves to the closet and removes a white one made with lace and feathers around the eyes.

She helps me put it on, then runs her fingers through my hair and fluffs the strands over my shoulders. “Now you’re ready. You will be the third one up, so it will give you some time to prepare. Once the act is done, you will come back here to collect your money. Understand?”

“Yes,” I whisper, nausea battling in my throat.

“Smile,” she says. “Today you become a woman.”

Yeah. Sure. That’s definitely how that works…

I roll my eyes in my head.

“Now come.” She starts for the door. “We must wait backstage.”

“Okay.”

Nervously swallowing down my fear, I follow her down a long corridor lined by a few men with weapons in their holsters. They don’t stare at me or make me feel uncomfortable, which is a relief. They seem to have their minds trained on their task, which includes just standing around and looking scary. They’re doing a pretty good job.

We arrive at a large backstage area, and I count about fifteen girls here, all nervous-looking, all seated in the chairs. One blonde woman is playing with her hair, her foot bouncing. Another is drinking something red through a straw. Probably liquor.

“Would you like a drink? I’m Esther, by the way.” She glances at me behind her shoulder. “I can get you whatever you want. There’s a bar over there.”

She points to the left, and I see it, with a guy serving a woman who’s dressed like Esther.

“No. I think I’m fine. I can’t handle too much alcohol.”

She laughs. “Of course. Well, go have a seat, and they will let us know when it’s your turn.”

I scurry to an empty chair, and a young woman beside me glances at me.

All our masks and dresses are the same, and I can see her brown eyes.

“Hi,” she says. “I’m Susanna. What’s your name?”

Can’t tell her that. Especially with how different my name is, but they allowed us to pick our own stage names on the application.

“I’m Ellen.”

“Nice to meet you.” She brings her chair closer and whispers, “Are you nervous too? I’m second-guessing this entire thing. All I wanted was money to pay for college. But this was stupid and now it’s too late.”

“I’m sorry.”

I feel bad for her. I’ve lived a privileged life. I’ve never had to worry about money, but so many people do.

“It’s fine.” She sits up straighter, as though that’ll make it all okay. “It will be over soon. For both of us.”

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