Page 42 of Madam Alana

I held my breath, not capable of preventing the tears from fallingunchecked. I followed the doctor silently as my entire body went numb.Christophe kept me close, both of his hands on my shoulders lest I fall topieces before his eyes.

Celine was unrecognizable. Her face was black and blue, eyesswollen closed, and a tube was coming out of her mouth. The doctor explained itwas breathing for her.

I went to her side and lifted her hand. It too had a seriesof bruises,all ofher nails jagged and ripped.

My girl had fought, and she’d fought hard.

Still, I took her limp hand and set it within my own. “I’mhere, Celine. I’m right here. Feel my hand. Squeeze my hand…please,” I begged,and waited.

Nothing happened.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I’m sorry you suffered. I wish I’dknown. I should have come sooner.” My tears dripped down my face and fell ontoour hands. “We would have helped you, Celine. I’d have done anything to saveyou.” I cried harder.

Christophe cupped my shoulders, but he didn’t say a word, supportingme the only way he knew how.

“Please fight, Celine. Please fight for me,” I pleaded, myvoice disappearing as the overwhelming weight of the emotions plowing throughme had nowhere to go. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out as I silentlyscreamed against her battered arm, my body convulsing with grief.

I pushed through the tears, catching sight of the edge ofour matching tattoos. I shifted her arm and put my thumb over my print. “Feel me,Celine. Feel my love. Come back.”

She didn’t come back.

A few hours later, Celine’s heart stopped beating.

Chapter 15

Restin Peace

One year after the auction…

It had been four months since I’d lost Celine. Four monthsof going through the stages of grief.

Denial came first as I didn’t believe she was gone. UntilChristophe and I had her cremated, it was hard to comprehend I’d lost herforever.

Anger hit as we’d worked with the detective assigned to hercase to understand what exactly had happened. She’d been drugged. Assaultedphysically and sexually by multiple men while her husband cheered them on as ifthey were having their own personal depraved sex show. Apparently, it had beena regular occurrence at the Holt household. Something Celine never told me.Darren even admitted to the detectives that he owned Celine because he’d boughtand paid for her fair and square. Like she was a toy he could rough up and tossaside like garbage.

He’d planned the whole thing from start to finish. If thedrugs he’d purchased hadn’t been laced with something that messed them all up,they might have gotten away with it.

According to one of the other men, Darren had planned tokill his wife that night. Trade up for a newer, less broken model. After theyhad their fun, he was going to have Celine’s body dumped somewhere in thedesert and pretend she ran away. He’d been certain people would have believedit because my friend was an orphaned ex-prostitute who was used toliving on the streets.

Darren had attempted to enter a plea of not guilty so hecould go to trial and force the prosecution to prove their case beyond a shadowof doubt. Unfortunately for him, the men he’d allowed to participate inmurdering Celine had all folded and confessed to their contributions. Each hadworked out deals with the district attorney for the promise of lightersentences. Every one of them had agreed to testify against Darren.

Depression happened with every day that I woke up knowingthat Celine was not in the world any longer. Christophe did his best to supportand dote on me every way he knew how, but it wasn’t enough.

I needed to dosomething.

Celine’s death had to mean something.

The longer I thought about all that had happened from theday we’d entered the auction until the night we were purchased… I was confidentthis all could have been prevented. Darren should have never been eligible tobid on anyone in the first place. Christophe had hired a private investigatorto get more information into Darren Holt’s background and we were furious tofind out that he’d had a long rap sheet. One which included domestic batteryand assault going back decades. He’d even been accused of attempted rape, butthose allegations had mysteriously never been prosecuted.

Why had he been allowed to enter the auction? Why didn’tAngus vet his bidders? Did he not care?

No, he didn’t care. He had some rules, but they werelaughable at best, and all of them were based on the candidate’s background,not thebidder’s. He’d set up the process to protectthe ones paying for a bride, not the other way around. It should have workedboth ways. Equal consideration and safety precautions on both sides.

I got up from my desk in a huff and started to pace.

Christophe put down the piece of black chalk he was using tooutline a large piece he’d just begun and crossed the room to where I was.“What is it,cheri? I can see you’re frustrated.Want to talk it out with me?”

“When you showed up at the auction last year, whatcertification or information did you have to provide to enter? Did you fill outan application, questionnaire…anything like that?”

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