Page 36 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 2

He tilted his head to the side. “Are they in some kind of trouble?” His question was gentle, not pushy, but held a thread of real concern.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. My focus was on getting a lot of money as soon as I could, but that has taken me years. Last I spoke with my mother was six months ago when she was visiting my grandmother. She’s in a nursing home.”

“I’m sorry, honey.” He squeezed the back of my neck.

“It’s okay. She’s been there a long time. But that’s, um, the only way I’m able to reach my mother.”

“Why can’t you just call her?”

I moved back, removing myself from his hold and crossed my arms over my chest protectively, not sure how much I was ready to give. He already had a major concern to worry about. And his thirteen-year-old needed him. Me and my family issues were not his and shouldn’t be. Technically, I was nobody to him. Regardless of our signed contract, or our mutual attraction to one another, he didn’t owe me anything. I was the one that owed him. My time. My body. My life for three years.

“Talk to me, Maia. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s happening.” His eyes and voice were pleading.

“My, uh, stepfather is not a good man,” I finally admitted.

“In what way?” He hitched a hip up and onto the barstool while I stayed planted a couple feet away, rocking myself as I decided what all I should share. The kind of man Rhodes was, he might take matters into his own hands, contact the authorities on my mother’s behalf. That couldn’t happen. I’d been down that road too many times, and it only ended with my mother severely beaten.

“He…” My throat was so dry I couldn’t even get the words out.

“Does he abuse her?”

I nodded.

“Physically?” he asked.

Another jerk of my head in the affirmative.

“And your siblings? Does he hurt them too?”

“Probably. I mean, it was his MO when I lived there. But I wasn’t his blood relation. They are. Mom went into the marriage as a single mother. I honestly don’t know. I was kicked out of the house as a teenager. I haven’t seen my mother, brother, or sister in person in years.”

Rhodes inhaled a full, deep breath. “And the money you’re getting from our marriage…”

“I plan to use it to help them escape him. Start a new life far from him and his demon spawn.”

“He had a child of his own when they got together?” He confirmed.

“Yeah.” I whispered, not wanting to get into anything regarding Derrick or my history with him.

“And since you’re referring to him as a demon, I can’t imagine he’s any better than his father?” He surmised.

“He’s worse.” I deadpanned.

Rhodes’ closed his eyes. “Okay.” He rubbed at his forehead tiredly. “First things first. We’ll meet up with Emily in France, while also trying to get ahold of your mother. What did she say the last time you spoke with her? Was she okay?”

I shrugged. “She always says she’s surviving and to take care of myself. And to stay far, far away.”

His nostrils flared, and he grumbled under his breath while scraping at his jaw, his mind at work.

“What about calling the cops? Having them do a wellness check on her and the kids at the home?”

My entire body went stone cold as gooseflesh rose on my skin. “We can’t call the cops,” I croaked.

“Why not? Wellness checks are a normal part of their job. We can make an anonymous call…”

I started to shake. “We can’t!” I snapped, my voice rising while renewed fear coiled low in my gut.

He sighed. “Why not? You have to give me more, Maia, if I’m going to be able to help. I need as much information about what’s going on as possible.”

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