Page 17 of Savage Assassin

“No,” I tell him curtly, my jaw tightening. “You should have let me leave with her earlier today when I arrived, instead of putting it off for a meeting that he was never going to honor. But,” I add, before Ricardo can speak, “there’s no point in arguing about that now. Elena will be put up for auction in two days. All that’s left to do is decide what we’re going to do about that.”

Ricardo presses his lips thinly together, clearly thinking. At last, he lets out a sigh, glancing at me.

“Did anyone important see you? Anyone who might recognize you?”

I shake my head. “Just foot soldiers. I doubt any of them got a good enough look for me to stick in their heads.”

“And Diego Gonzalez? Does he know who you are?”

“He has no reason to. Not by appearance and probably not by name. Why?” I narrow my eyes at him. “What are you thinking?”

Ricardo frowns. “I think we find a way to get you an invitation to this party, under an assumed name, with my funds at your disposal. You go to the auction and bid on Elena, making certain you win her no matter the cost. And then, once she’s in your possession, you take her and go to Boston. No more stalling, no other plans. Just get her out of here.”

My gut reaction, the moment I understand where he’s going with this, is one of sickened shock–and the instant urge to tell him no,absolutely fucking not.

I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life. My hands will never be clean of the amount of blood I’ve shed. But I’ve never hurt a woman, or violated a woman, and I sure asfuckhaven’t ever bought an unwilling one. The closest I’ve come is paying an escort for sex, and that isn’t anything like buying a kidnapped woman at an auction.

Ricardo must be able to read my expression, because he lets out a sigh, shaking his head. “It’s not real, Volkov. You’ll bid on her, win her, take her to Boston, and hand her over to her sister. Aren’t you supposed to be good at faking identities?”

“It’s harder to fake not having a moral conundrum over something that vile,” I tell him tightly. “But I’m aware it’s fake. I’m also aware that it’s the easiest way out of this. Storming the compound isn’t a viable option, and breaking in to rescue her isn’t good either. So since this seems to be the best path we have, I’ll do it.”

“Good man.” Relief washes over Ricardo’s face. “There will be a plane ready at the hangar you were supposed to take her to before. Just get her out of there and out of the country. I’ll deal with whatever fallout comes later.”

I nod. “I’ll do my best.”

“Your best is getting it done, Volkov,” he says sharply, and I feel the words straight down to my core.

More than anything, I don’t want to fail Elena. I want to get her to safety, because if her being in Diego’s hands was a horrifying fate, this is worse. I can only imagine what one of the overstuffed pricks who buy women from men like Diego Gonzalez will do to her–and I don’twantto imagine it.

“Just get me an invitation,” I tell Ricardo. “And I’ll get your daughter out and to safety.”

I hope that this time, it’s a promise I can keep.

Elena

I’m so terrified I can barely think straight.

I’d expected to be taken to Diego’s mansion, to meet him and be lectured about how I’m meant to marry him to take my sister’s place, peppered with lewd comments about how he can’t wait to have me in his bed. I’d steeled myself for all of that, and then to be bundled off to some room where I’d be told to sleep and get ready for preparations for a wedding sooner rather than later.

I could never, ever have expected this.

I’m too stunned to keep fighting as the men march me towards a large building on the left side of the compound, tripping over my feet as I try to keep up with their brisk pace. All I can hear is Diego’s voice, over and over again in my head, telling me that I’m going to be auctioned off.

I’d been so close to escaping, too.Just a little further, a hundred yards maybe, and I could have gotten out. I could have gotten out past the walls and kept running. Even if I had no idea where to go, even if I ended up in some town without Levin or a plan or a way to get back home, it would be better than this.

This is so much worse than what I’d thought would happen. Marrying Diego would have been bad enough, but the auction is a fate so terrible that I can’t fully comprehend it. As Diego’s wife, I would have had some measure of protection–it wouldn’t have kept him from abusing me emotionally or physically. Still, he would have had to treat me withsomecare, as the wife of an eminent cartel boss and the mother of his children. It would have been miserable in so many ways, but compared to this–

There will be no protections from what the man who buys me will do to me, and no shortage of rich men eager to violate and debase Ricardo Santiago’s daughter and pay handsomely for the privilege. Being sold to one of them won’t stop my purchaser from taking money from the others to share me–once he’s gotten the prize of my virginity, of course. I’ll be passed around until they’re done with me, then sold off again to a brothel–or worse, killed.

I’m not sure which fate is worse. And I know that whatever happens between the end of the auction and how this all ends, it will be more terrible than I can imagine–and I have a vivid imagination.

Too vivid for a circumstance like this.

The door to the building I’m taken to is flung open, and I’m marched inside to a row of cells. Most of them are filled with women dressed in short, silky slips, all of them in varying stages of cleanliness. Several of the cells have multiple women in them, but I’m taken to a cell of my own, at the very end.

“Enjoy the accommodations,princesa,” the guard holding my arm says sarcastically as he shoves me into the cell, slamming the door shut and locking it before I can even think of trying to bolt out–as if that would do me any good. If I couldn’t escape my own home, I can’t escape this.

The other women are gathering at the front of their cells as the guards walk away, looking at me curiously. They’re all young–a few look older than me, but some look considerably younger. That’s all they have in common–otherwise, there’s so much variety that I know Diego was telling the truth. These are all women he plans to traffick, that he’s been waiting to sell at his planned auction–where I’m going to take center stage.

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