Page 90 of Cherry Auction

“Shit,” Moira says, turning away from us and back towards the club. She immediately starts running towards it as fast as her high-heels and tight bondage dress will allow, pulling a phone from I can’t imagine where and texting as she goes.

Assured she’s safe, I look back at my father.

“It’s taken you long enough, my little Mati,” he finally says, climbing out of the car. I back away from him, all my muscles rigid. “I trust you’ve destroyed him just like we planned?”

“I didn’t plan anything with you!” I spit. But even as I say it, I’m not sure if it’s true or not. Didsheand him plan it?

When I was younger, she helped me survive. I see that now. She took on what I couldn’t bear. But in the process, just how far did he twist her mind? I’m not sure.

Especially when my father takes a slow step forward. “Yes you did, pumpkin. It was your idea, actually. You’ve missed Domhnall. He was your favorite doggy we ever had.”

“Shut up!” I hiss, rigid body shaking now. No. No! It’s not true. I’m frozen beyond the trembling, not able to move a muscle. “You’re lying.”

“You’ve been a good girl for such a long time now; I told you it was time for a treat. You asked for doggy Donny back. Who am I to deny my good girl anything? It’s been just you and Daddy, playing our little games together for all these years.”

My head swims with his words and suddenly I’m confused. A hand lifts to my head.

DidI actuallytry to escape my father and come to warn Domhn? Or… Or is what Daddy’s saying true? After all this time, did I stay so deep in my mind’s box that I letherjust run free? Free to be a monster just like him?

Was I just deluding myself this whole time that I’ve been the one in control?

I thought Domhnall and me were like matching pieces of a puzzle but turns out I’m just a jigsaw with pieces missing, ones from a different puzzle stapled into their place. I don’t know what’s mine and what’s not. What’s real? Am I Domhnall’s puzzle piece because that’s what she and my father made me?

“That’s my good girl,” my father coos, taking another step towards me as the light begins to dim at the edges of my vision. I start to feel dizzy. Like I’m in a dream, and I realize it’s a familiar feeling.

Oh shit, she’s back, and she wants control again.

All the light disappears when, reaching suddenly in front of my face, my father snaps his fingers. The world goes black. The last thing I feel is him catching me as I fall unconscious.

THIRTY-SEVEN

QUINN

My elbow-to-toefull PVC catsuit isn’t chafing, but it’s still hot as I stomp back and forth across the club in my thigh-high black stilettos.

I spot Caleb standing behind the sleek black equipment rental bar under-lit with pink neon light.

“Where the fuck is Moira?” I demand in my domme voice, grabbing the front of his shirt. “I can’t find her anywhere. I’ve been busy babysitting Domhn, who’s getting shit-faced in your office, by the way.”

Caleb stares up at me with the fear of God in his face. He knows how pissed Domhn gets if we lose track ofMoira on a play night. But then he looks past my shoulder, relieved, and shoves his finger out. “There!”

I let go of his shirt and spin around to see where he’s pointing. Only to see Moira, hair half out of her pigtails, tugging down on the hem of her tight skirt guiltily. Dammit, she’s been fucking off premises again. Sex addiction or no, I’m pissed at her for making trouble on a night like this when Domhn had such tense shit going on. We don’t need to deal with her shit, too.

I stomp over to her, and everyone, male and female, gets out of my way like a parting sea without me having to say a word.

“Where thefuckhave you been?” I demand, getting in her face as she looks up at me with wide, innocent eyes. I’m one of the few people in the world that doesn’t work on.

Everyone lets her get away with shit because, by an accident of birth, she came out looking like an anime doll fucked a leprechaun. She’s a devious kinky little redhead with eyes two times the size of her face that everybody wants to fuck. It happens to work out, cause she’s just as desperate to fuck them back, and she’s one of my best friends, butJesus.

“Domhn told me to make myself scarce for the show,” she says, and then those big eyes drop like they do whenever Domhn or I question her and she’s trying to hide something from us. Thankfully, for all her other charms, she’s fucking awful at lying, so the amount of trouble she gets herself into is limited.

I wave a hand, sighing. “We’ll deal with it later. Did you see Brooke? I want to make sure she got a ride safely out of here.”

Moira’s eyes fly back up. “Oh I just saw her,” she says, smiling and obviously happy to tell me something that can get the heat off her. “Back in the alley.” She jerks a thumb behind her.

“The alley…” My eyes snap up towards the back door. “What were you—” I stop even before finishing the question, eyes rolling. It’s obvious what Moira was doing in the alley. The question is: “What wasBrookedoing in the alley?”

“Oh,” Moira says, following my eyeline towards the door. “She- I- We just ran into one another out there.”

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