Page 35 of Vicious Savage

ATTILA

In a perfect world, Nestor would have been my ally. We would have hated Coyin just as fiercely as one another. Yet any business I’d do with him would have to result in me handing him Luna on a silver platter. I just won’t do that. I am, after all, a man of honor.

Castillo has literally dragged Luna onto the stage. She’s wearing a dress so short, it wouldn’t be hard for someone to simply angle their head and look up the skirt to her crotch. A seismic anger swells within me as I think of men fawning all over her.

And her so called father. That piece of shit. His death at my hands will be the most pleasure I will ever take in putting someone down. The way he looks at her, like he despises her beyond all reason, stirs something deep in my gut. I don’t know how she managed to get through life with that much hatred weighing on her.

Castillo manhandles her, forces her to stand up straight so in her heels she can look much taller than she actually is. She towers over him, but she may as well be a mouse for all the venom he directs towards her.

I watch as her eyes swivel around the room; it takes her but a few seconds, but that turn of her head changes everything. There’s a flicker of disappointment on her face as she realizes she can’t find what she’s looking for. Possibly me. Possibly The Jekyll. Maybe even someone else. Or her brothers.

Defeat caresses her face like an old friend, but just as quickly as it touches her, it drops out of sight and she stands straight, pushing her shoulders back in defiance. She’s going to face whatever comes her way with dignity and grace. She can worry about everything else later.

There is silence amongst the guests as the auctioneer asks for a starting bid. Complete and utter silence. Even I am surprised. It’s not that the girl is not desirable, so I wonder what has them holding back. I can only imagine everyone’s wondering what the punch line is. They could be making an enemy in Nestor Gamboa. And they could be getting swindled by the not so trusted Coyin Castillo; what sort of a man would sell his own daughter, after all?

The auctioneer rattles on, repeating all of Luna’s attributes, which I’m sure he pulled out of his ass. How he has the nerve to undertake this job is beyond me. I drown out his voice as I look at Luna. Despite the cheap and tacky dress she’s wearing, I can’t take my eyes off her. I just want to storm that stage and grab her and drag her off and out of this house of horrors. I haven’t thought about what I would do with her beyond that point, but I know I can’t leave her here to fend for herself. I can’t leave her in the care of her father. And I won’t leave her at the mercy of some random man who will probably treat her even worse than her father does. I’ve heard the stories. No one here tonight comes with anything other than cruel intentions.

“Five hundred thousand!”

The words break into my mind as a man in the back yells out the opening bid. I wonder if Coyin paid him to get things going. The woman sitting beside him has removed her mask and set it on the table, and I realize that the man is a local jeweler known for his rather nefarious tastes in young girls.

Another hand rises, and the bidding is at six hundred thousand. I turn to Luna and see her eyes widen in surprise and worry. I don’t understand why she’s surprised, but then, how would she even know how these things work? She could fetch millions if the right person were looking. Whatever Nestor offered her father obviously wasn’t enough, otherwise he wouldn’t be auctioning her off this way.

“Seven hundred.”

The bidding continues, with several men and a woman getting bids in. When the biding hits a million dollars, it drops to fifty thousand dollar increments. Luna shifts uncomfortably from one foot to the other, expecting the worst. Her father is still standing beside her, and he pulls at her arm, daring her to move again.

I’m not in the least surprised when the bidding hits one point four, but I do eye the bidder with dubious eyes. A tobacconist whose cigars are exported all over the world. With more money than he knows what to do with, but in this instant, he looks bored. Like he came to shop but wasn’t expecting much, and now he needs to move on.

The majority of the guests have now removed their masks. They sip champagne and eat a ridiculous amount of food as they watch on, the auction their entertainment for the night.

When the bidding stalls at one and a half million dollars on the jeweler, Castillo looks perplexed. This is obviously somewhat short of what he’d expected, but he can’t lose face now and retract his daughter. He has to keep going, even though the disappointment he feels has never been more apparent on his face than now.

I stand, one of the few with his mask still fixed firmly in place, and button the front of my jacket. I know my shoulders fill out my suit like a footballer’s, making me a formidable sparring partner. No one would dare question me, even without knowing my name.

“Two million dollars,” I say, walking slowly towards the stage. I’ll need about fifty steps to get there, but I don’t anticipate any problems and I take my time. Luna’s lips are parted as she looks my way, and I see the moment she recognizes that it’s me. She manages to maintain her composure, even with all my attention directed at her. “I’ll pay two million dollars for her, and I doubt anyone has the nerve to bid above me.”

I reach the stage and climb the short steps until I’m standing looking at Luna. I ignore her father, although the corner of my eye rests on him for safety’s sake. His proximity is too close to ignore, and I may be here with backing, but this is ultimately his home. His people. He knows the lay of the land better than we do.

37

LUNA

My breath catches as he comes to stand in front of me. He holds out his hand for me to take it, and I’m momentarily dumbfounded and stare down at his hand like I’ve never seen it before. Which works out in my favor because I realize how it would look if I just took his hand and rode off into the sunset with him.

My mind stutters… what is he even doing here? Who is this man that has such a reach that he can just appear randomly out of nowhere? Here, in my father’s home?

He flutters his fingers, urging me to take his hand; still, I don’t move. It’s only when my father speaks that the spell is broken and I turn away from Attila.

“Not so fast,” my father warns, throwing an arm out in front of me. It’s a move that has nothing to do with protection and everything to do with ownership and payment. “Who are you?”

“Does it matter?” Attila asks, turning to face my father. If it were at all possible, I could swear that my father shrunk back at that moment.

“Of course it matters. I need to know who I’m transacting with.”

“You invited all these people here tonight,” Attila reminds him. “Therefore, you’re transacting with one of them. The who is not important.”

They’re loud enough that the guests can hear. Murmurs start circulating amongst them, and everyone turns to watch on in curiosity. Interested in the man who bought me. The enigma who won’t give a name and is eager to get me home to his bed.

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