Page 44 of Seducing Selena

“As I was saying.” I heard the scrape of metal on china. “I have a new source of merchandise.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

There was a silence before Derek spoke. “Are you going to tell us or are you waiting for an invitation?”

Delano laughed. “I’ll tell you enough, if you agree to the terms.”

“What are they?”

“Forty percent of the profit, as I have to pay the supplier.”

Seb snorted. “When we’re taking the risk of hosting the auctions? I don’t think so.”

“Sixty, then. With the amount of product we’ll be moving, it won’t make much of a difference.”

I sensed surprise in the air. “That will be fine,” Nick said.

Across, beneath the table, I saw Delano’s hands settle on his lap and smooth down to his pants pockets, and the movement was intentional. Smooth. It looked like he touched something before he began speaking.

“The system—”

Behind him, the door opened, and Delano ceased speaking as the one named Steven came and brought the plate Seb asked for. I took the chance, bumping my head into his leg a few times before looking up at him. He looked down casually, and I widened my eyes, shaking my head.

He looked back up as soon as the door opened, but touched me on the head. At least he knew there was something wrong. “Pardon the interruption. Before we continue, you will allow Steven to pat you down.”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t trust our staff or our slave, but given what we’re discussing, we can’t be too careful.”

I was glad I couldn’t see Delano’s face, but I heard the icy coldness in his voice. “Fine.”

He stood, and Steve’s feet approached him. I caught his face briefly as he patted Delano phone, pinpointing the pocket. A phone. I turned and looked up at Sebastian, whose head was tilted and looking at Delano.

“It’s recording,” Steve said.

Derek’s voice. “Shut it off.”

“Do you have a reason not to trust us, Christopher?”

“Can’t be too careful.”

“I suppose not,” Seb said. “Leave the phone on the table where we can see it. You’re dismissed, Steve.”

The door opened and closed. Nick cleared his throat. “Continue.”

There was a tense silence, but finally, he continued “As you know, the problem with the merchandise we use is making sure there aren’t too many questions about where they come from. One of the largest untapped markets for this is the foster system. Not while they’re in it, of course, but there are plenty of Omegas in the system, and once they’re aged out and not tracked by the government, they’re easy to procure before anyone has had a chance to notice them settle.”

My stomach rolled. So young. He wanted to steal Omegas who wereso young.

“Let me guess,” Derek said. “You won’t tell us where you get the information.”

“Someone who’s willing to pass on the names of those aging out. For a price. I won’t tell you who, because then you wouldn’t need me. But I assure you, this is a good plan. My other markets are dry at the moment, but as you well know, our clients are ravenous.”

I closed my eyes and pretended I couldn’t hear them. They were doing this over and over and over and the women who were sold probably went through things hundreds of times worse than me. If you looked at it objectively, I was lucky. They gave me a choice, and had been kind in ways I hadn’t anticipated.

What happened to them that they would turn to doing this at all? It didn’t make sense, given what I knew of them.

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