Page 183 of Devil's Bargain

“Emily’s clothing. She left it here.”

Ben’s head snaps up, but I ignore him. He can take his fucking jealousy and stick it somewhere!

“Get changed! Towels are in the bathroom. You need to wash the blood off you!”

Steph quirks a brow as her anger morphs into amusement. She takes the clothes and disappears into my bathroom.

“I can’t look like a jock!” Josh whines, staring at the white Henley and light blue jeans on the bed.

“You’d rather look like Jason Voorhees?”

“I prefer Jigsaw or Freddy Kruger,” he replies, then pulls his soaking wet band T-shirt over his head and uses it to wipe the blood off his hands.

“What’s this?” Matt asks, removing a silver chain from a pouch with drawstrings on my desk.

“A chain.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Sure, just go ahead and help yourself,” I drawl sarcastically when he takes the drawstring bag and walks over to Ben.

“Oh god!” Nina whimpers, looking green as Dallas cringes, saying, “You should have buried them!”

Ben shakes his head. He digs inside his pocket. “When we get her back, I will give her these as a fucking trophy!”

“Dude, what the fuck is that?!” I ask, alarmed when he empties the contents of his pocket into the bag.

Ben pulls the string taut with his bloodied hands and looks up. “Oh, this? It’s Scott’s teeth.”

I start laughing. I don’t know why but I can’t stop it. It soon dies in my throat. “You’re serious?”

“Problem?” he asks, pocketing the pouch.

I swallow thickly, my eyes on his hand inside his pocket. He slides it back out. “No.”

“How much do you know?” Matt asks, crossing his arms.

“She told me that my dad bought her. I didn’t believe her at first, but then she disappeared, and I found the details to a property…”

The door to the bathroom opens. Steph steps outside, freshly showered and dressed in Emily’s yellow skater dress.

The girls next to me burst out laughing.

“You better laugh now because this is the only time you’ll see me in a dress!”

“Mind if I take a picture?” Josh chuckles, snapping one before she has a chance to reply.

“Ben! Shower!” she orders, then looks at me. “Take a seat. We have a lot of information.”

I do as she says, watching her as I sink down on the edge of the bed.

Ben disappears into the bathroom with my pile of clothing.

“April was made a target from the beginning. Your father paid an agency to find a young girl and groom her to fit his sexual desires. There was never a money problem. The eviction notices were fake. The men played on her fear and sense of responsibility toward her mother and groomed her to like rough sex.”

“She didn’t like rough sex before?” I ask, confused.

“No, she did!” Matt replies, making it evident that he’s fucked her too. “But not like this. Scott saw something in her that made him pick her out. He built on the dark desires she already had and made them what they are now with one sole purpose in mind—to get her ready for the sale.”

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