Page 234 of Vile Boys

My eyes flutter back and forth between the stage and the exits around the room, trying to search for a way out. Maybe I can overpower whoever buys me and run like hell the second they try to transport me into his car.

I look around at all the men beyond the stage holding up their hands one by one to try to get their hands on me like I’m someprized jewel, but the second I spot two feverishly gray eyes I stop.

Even though he’s wearing a mask, his veiny hands and slick, combed-over black hair make my heart stop.

Could it be … ?

No, don’t trust your tired mind. It’s making you see things.

“Any more bidders?” the woman calls out.

The guy with the black hair raises his hand, and his lips part, a hint of a smile at each edge. “Five million.”

Audible gasps erupt from the audience, and even I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

“Five million, going once,” the woman says. “Going twice.”

No one says a single word.

“Sold to the gentleman in black.”

The guard comes up the stage and grabs my wrist, dragging me away, but the last thing my gaze finds are gray eyes piercing through the dark like a beam of light, taking ahold of my soul.

Could it be …?

“Walk,” the guard growls, shoving me down the stairs and into a separate chamber, away from the other girls. “Sit.”

He closes the door, and I’m left alone in the darkness with nothing to hold except the clothes on my back.

I sit down on the floor and close my eyes. There’s no point in looking when there’s nothing to see. From what others have told me, this is where they make the girls that are sold wait for their buyer to come pick them up.

After a while, the door cracks open, and I take a deep breath, expecting the worst of whoever wanted me so badly they’d put down five million for me.

“In here. Do whatever you want. You’ve got twenty minutes,” the guard growls. “Then you gotta pay up.”

I look up right as the guard steps away and in walk three men with masks on their faces, one with an umbrella, two others in suits, their figures casting shadows on the concrete floor.

One of them steps closer, and I crawl away, backing into the cold, hard wall. But he still gets closer and goes to his knees in front of me. He leans in, his hand caressing my cheek so softly I hold my breath. “Your face is far too pretty to be poisoned by so much fear.”

That voice…

He pulls off his mask, casting it aside, and I gasp in shock at thechiseled face appearing underneath, the one I’ve loathed for so long … the one I could kiss just by seeing.

“Ares,” I mutter in disbelief, a brief smile forming on my face.

How is he here?

BLAINE

Ares cups her face. “I missed that wretched smile of yours, little rose.”

Her jaw nearly hits the floor, but then she does a double take, almost like she remembers the last time she saw him she wanted him dead.

“Don’t kill him just yet, darling.” My voice makes her look up at me, and I tear off my mask too. “We still need him to pay up so we can get you out of here.”

“What?” she mutters, shell-shocked.

Caleb takes off his mask too, chucking it to the ground before running his fingers through his blond hair. “Miss me, slut?”

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