Page 46 of Room Twenty-Three: Tangled & Teased

“That’s Desiree, the administrator for each auction.” The manager picks up his cell. “I’ll call her again.”

“Oh. Desiree...” Erin rushes to her purse and takes out her cell. After a few minutes, she brings it back and turns the screen to the three of us.

Beau reads the newspaper ad on her phone. “Are you looking for Desire? Searching for your freedom? Need an escape? Come find me at Club Sin.”

Beau repeats the ad, but it’s Erin who says, “It’s for people who want to disappear without a trace. They use Club Sin to do it, and it isn’t Desire the clients need to ask for, but Desiree.”

“Why the auction, though?” Erin asks quietly, as though she is trying to work it out herself. “Why not discreetly leave the venue and disappear out of the back?”

“Because the girls won’t actually receive the auction payment, which probably helps them disappear,” the manager says.

Jove shakes his head. “And the ten percent being paid to the club makes it look real. Making it look like Club Sin has the problem. I suspect the ten percent paid to Club Sin is part of the payment the girl gave to disappear.”

“But…” Erin gasps. “No. I overheard two girls talking at a café in New Orleans. They were talking about all the girls who have sold their virginity at Club Sin. And for how much, with one girl saying New York is more lucrative. But another girl disagreed because Bambi sold herself for two hundred thousand dollars.” Erin swallows.

“But Desiree told you Bambi sold herself for twenty thousand the night she disappeared,” I say to the manager.

“Fuck!” Jove yells. “That’s how the girls get the money. They sell themselves twice.”

The three of us stare at Erin in disbelief when she mutters, “And I think Bambi was trying to escape an arranged marriage.”

“She’s right.” Beau points to the screen. “It makes sense.”

“Stop and go back,” Jove says as the video rolls again. “Bambi was supposed to be in room twenty-three the night she disappeared. This video shows her entering the room. But I bet she was in room twenty-three only on the night she sold her virginity and the night she disappeared, she was in room twenty-two.”

“You think someone in Club Sin doctored the video to make it look like she was in room twenty-three the night she disappeared?” the manager asks.

“Yes, it’s perfect. Otherwise, room twenty-two would’ve been searched, and we would’ve found the secret doorway. And that would be the end of the set-up.”

“The room I heard the commotion coming from tonight,” Erin says.

“Madam Sylvia is taking everyone’s attention away from Desiree,” I say, watching the woman sitting discreetly at a table.

“And what is the chance that Desiree gave these girls who want to run away a night pass?”

“And a new life,” Erin says. “Because nobody was kidnapped. Bambi was escaping an arranged marriage, and chances are the other girl was escaping something, too.”

Chapter 17

Erin

Themanagerwasrelievedthat his club was innocent of any wrongdoings. He finally called in the local cops to continue the investigation. Jove now has to explain to Bambi’s parents that she concocted the plan to be kidnapped herself.

It won’t go down well.

As we step out of Club Sin and into the cool night air, I take a deep breath, trying to calm down my racing heart. We quickly make our way towards the car. Atty opens the door for me and I climb into the backseat. Regardless of how the night ended, I still feel like I’m in a blissful daze.

Jove gets into the driver’s seat, he starts the engine, and I feel his eyes on me in the rearview mirror. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks again, his voice soft.

I nod, trying to put on a brave face. “I’m fine.” But my voice betrays me as it stutters.

Atty pulls me to him, and he lowers my head until it rests on his wide chest. I know he wants me by the way his arms stay wrapped around me the entire journey to our rented house.

Twenty minutes later, the car pulls into the driveway of the house. Jove gets out first, holding the door open and waiting for Atty to deposit me in his arms.

Atty ignores him and shuffles closer to the door. His long legs push out of the car and onto the ground.

Beau stands next to Jove with his arms crossed. “Are you for real? Just hand her over.”

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