Page 17 of Auctioned

Camden’s so-called girlfriend talked about marrying him. Ophelia was about to break up with my son.

She could have been lying. On the other hand…Topher did tell me she’d called him and said they needed to talk.

I press one hand on the window, feeling the vibrations of the harsh weather. Staring at my tattoo, a reminder of who we are and what we’re doing.

A reminder of the establishment I’m going to take down.

Of the women I’m going to save.

Of Ophelia.

In the midst of Oliver’s boasting, I decide that she wasn’t lying about coming here to break up with Topher. She looked too fucking honest when she snarled it in my face. She really did mean to end their relationship.

A sense of sick satisfaction ripples through me. Makes my blood hot, and my balls tighten.

Why would she, though? Topher is handsome. Smart. On the path to success as a partner in our law firm. He didn’t cheat onher. The man I have following him would’ve reported it back to me.

“The two layers of isolation we installed between the second floor and the attic proved their worth.” Oliver chuckles in the background. “Pretty sure she would’ve broken through the wood panels of the original construction.”

“Sounds like it.” The rain pelts down outside, as incessant as my thoughts of the woman I hold captive. In the cell I built last year as a part of my plan to deceive the three other men.

“What about yours? Forgot her name.” He chuckles, and I’m glad that he can’t remember it.

She isn’t his.

Isn’t yours, either.

“Ophelia.” My heart thuds loudly. My mouth waters as I taste her name on my tongue. I fake a yawn to mask my attraction to her. “Nothing special about her.”Liar. “Like the rest of them. Cried. Begged. Bartered.” Was about to claw my eyes out. Fucking hot. “Bored me to tears.”

“You’re joking.” He sounds surprised. He believes me. “After over twenty-one years of waiting for this, you were bored.” A pause. I stay quiet. Won’t oversell it. “No wonder you didn’t call. Fuck, what a disappointment. You sure you want to put this one up for auction tomorrow?”

No. Fuck no. But it’s better for everyone involved that we get the show on the road as soon as possible. The faster we do, the faster I can end the women’s suffering.

“Yes.”

“The night isn’t over, James.” Knowing Oliver, he’s running his hand through his brown hair. Over his jaw. Unlike me, he’s always shaved. “I could unlock Baylor’s phone, get you the addresses of some of her friends. You and Topher could go on the hunt. Grab one from her home instead of?—”

Before he can say her name, I cut in. “No. Topher chose her. I won’t meddle with his initiation.”

“So askhimto reconsider.”

“Remember my father?” The rain no longer holds my interest. This phone call is getting on my last nerve.

“Do I remember? Of course I do.” Oliver snorts. I wasn’t the only one to loathe Arthur Hawthorne. Oliver wasn’t the only one to despise Aaron Morgan. “The way he gave you hell for not torturing them until they cried. Fine, yeah. I get it. He meddled. You won’t. Keep the fucking girl. Let’s hope someone else won’t be as bored.”

“Different strokes for different folks and all that.”

“Yeah.”

Putting her up there is a necessary, temporary evil, but fuck.

It has my pulse spiking.

“Talk tomorrow.” I hang up without giving him a chance to answer.

Tomorrow, she’ll belong to the world.

After that, she’ll be hidden somewhere no one will find her.

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