Page 2 of Promise of Hellfire

“I’ll make him something to eat while you’re gone. Hopefully, he’ll sober up some soon,” Ethan mumbled, running his hands through his hair.

I pressed a quick kiss to Ethan’s cheek. “It’s fine. Don’t let him answer his phone like this.”

Dominic and I took the elevator down to the parking garage. “Sorry about Hunter tonight.”

“It’s not your place to apologize for his actions, Dom. I can’t imagine what he’s thinking right now. He grew up without a father and then finding out who his sperm donor is? How many people can claim their father tried murdering their girlfriend?”

The ride to the warehouse was relatively silent, both of us lost in thought. I stared out the window, looking at the holiday lights still decorating the cityscape and thinking of how Christmas had been just a few days ago.

New Year’s Eve was two days away. I’d never been big on celebrating it before now because I usually had work, but this year was different. I didn’t have work, but I suspected it wouldn’t be safe to do anything other than hang out in the apartment. Just this afternoon, Ayers made a not-so-veiled threat to murder me. Add running Oliver’s business for him, and I also doubted I would have the time.

When we finally pulled up outside of our destination, I took a cursory glance around the neighborhood. Other than Murray, who waited in the black beater car next to us, no one was around. I didn’t have the key to go inside, so I rolled down my window and motioned for him to do the same. “Get in the back.”

Dominic placed one hand inside of his jacket pocket and raised an eyebrow. No doubt he had a gun placed there. Just in case.Murray’s gaze darted around before he finally nodded and climbed out of his car. After he settled into the seat, he turned to me. “Where’s Hunter?”

I managed to suppress an eye roll. “Hunter is indisposed tonight. My offer still stands to call Tony or Joey, if you’d like. I’m sure they would love to talk to you.” It was unlikely he would want to deal with Oliver’s two most trusted “employees”, especially after the last run-in they’d had. A vision of Chandler tied to a chair with tears streaming down his face flitted through my brain, and I suppressed the urge to shiver.

“That’s okay,” he said, looking down at his feet. “Really.”

“What’s going on with the Ruby Rose, Chandler?” Dominic asked, hand still tucked in his pocket.

Chandler took a quick breath before words started spilling out. “This afternoon, Bennett and Ayers came in. Not unusual. They were laughing about something I couldn’t make out. A few new guys were sitting with them today. Ayers started talking about how there were fresh goods this month, including an ex-stripper from Inferno. Something about how bids were starting at $10,000 and the girls are locked in the basement.”

Bids only meant one thing: an auction. This was worse than I imagined. I’d just assumed Ayers had kidnapped Lexi to get back at Oliver. Trace mentioned before his death that Ayers wanted to take down everyone in the old guard. Instead, he was going to sell Lexi and God knew who else to the highest bidder.

Bile rose in my throat and I swallowed roughly. “Did they say when? Or how many other girls are involved? What kind of condition are they in?”

Murray shook his head. “I couldn’t make everything out, but I managed to get a picture of who was sitting there when they weren’t looking.”

“Brave, but foolish. Are you certain that no one saw you taking it?” I asked, and Murray shrugged. If Ayers discovered the photograph, he was as good as dead. “I need you to send this to me. Maybe we can identify who else was there. Find someone that we can make talk.”

Murray pulled out his phone. “I don’t have your number.”

I took it from him. “That’s an easy problem to rectify, unlike the rest of this.” I programmed my number into his phone and handed it back. He pushed a few buttons, and a notification popped up. “You’ll text me if anything comes up or you discover something new, right?”

The man nodded before climbing out of the car and driving away. Dominic held his hand out. “Let me see the picture.” He zoomed in on the faces. “Shit. I know some of them.” He closed his eyes. “That’s Samuel Palmer, chief of Strathmore PD, sitting next to Ethan’s dad.”

I opened the car door and jumped out, hoping the fresh air would quell the nausea that struck me. I took several deep breaths in before staggering next to the building and doubling over, unable to stop myself. Dominic rubbed my back as I heaved until nothing was left in my stomach. Not that there was much in it to begin with besides coffee. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve.

“We’ll find a way to stop this. The first thing you have to do is tell Ethan. You’ll need to contact Oliver and then we can make a plan.” He put his hand on my lower back and led me to the car. After I was settled, he passed me a bottle of water and I rinsed the acidic taste from my mouth.

“Lexi and I, we don’t exactly get along, but I would never wish this on anyone.” I just hoped that we weren’t too late.

When I walked back into the penthouse, Ethan and Hunter were sitting at the breakfast bar with plates of pasta in front of them. Hunter shoveled a large bite into his mouth as I filled a large glass with water. Looking between the two of them, the mood seemed grim, and they had no idea it was about to get worse.

Smudge lay on the couch curled into a ball, sleeping peacefully, completely ignoring my arrival. She had settled into her new life of luxury. I stepped beside her to stroke her soft fur, and she purred. Ethan looked over longingly. The two hadn’t quite made peace with each other yet. I was certain it was because he was too eager, and Smudge could sense his weakness.

“How are you feeling now?” I asked Hunter. He looked better than he did earlier, but that meant nothing.

“I’m fine,” he grumbled, never looking up.

“Good, because I don’t want to repeat myself later,” I stated, raising my eyebrows. “You know how you mentioned enormous sums of money coming into the Ruby Rose that you couldn’t explain? It’s because they are auctioning off women.”

Hunter dropped his fork and looked at me with wide eyes while Ethan simply clenched his jaw. “Like an escort service? Are the girls being held against their will? Or…” Hunter asked.

“I don’t have any proof yet either way, but Murray said they’re being kept in the basement, so my best bet is they aren’t there willingly.” I took a sip of my water. “It actually gets worse.”

Ethan cocked his head to the side. “For some reason, I already knew you were going to say that. What else is there?”

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