Page 22 of Auctioned Surrender

He guides me to a table at the back and pulls out a chair. It’s early, but it won’t be for long. “Please let one of the waitstaff know if there is anything we can do to assist you between now and the time the auction begins. The MC will go over the rules before he starts the bidding,” the man says before making his way across the room.

I slide into my chair and take in my surroundings. There are three bartenders who are serving drinks, each wearing a black and blue uniform. Five of the eight stools are occupied, all by men dressed in black tuxes or expensive suits, and each wearinga mask similar to my own. I count three topless waitresses making their way from table to table, and one eventually stops to take my order.

She writes down my selection, then keeps moving, while my attention shifts to the door. Every once in a while, someone I recognize from downstairs walks in and finds his seat at a table in the room. The number of attendees walking through the door is surprising. I count eighteen in total, including myself, all wearing black suits and a matching mask.

The lights in the room dim, and two burly suited bodyguard-types take their positions against the double doors, facing the interior of the room. Another man comes out in a black suit and crisp blue shirt, also wearing a mask, and introduces himself as our MC for the night. He begins to recite the rules for not only the bidding but for the auction itself, including where and when the winners will be allowed to pick up their prizes.

The music changes, and he shifts off to the side as three spotlights create circles on the floor of the stage. My breath catches as I watch Bryanna so bravely walk out onto the floor, and I have no doubt in my mind that she believes this is what she needs to do in order to ensure those she loves remain safe. While I don’t know the details of what these bastards are holding over her head, all the intel that came back point to the same patterns these people use to gain control over their victims, and I would bet money that this is exactly what we’re dealing with now.

Bryanna has been dressed in a simple, but short as fuck, little white dress, probably intended to emphasize her virginity, and making it almost impossible to focus on the operational aspects of the night.

The bidding starts, and my jaw clenches tightly as the excitement level of the men in the room begins to rise. I’m well-armed with more money than any of these fuckers can even think about having, at least that’s what I’ve been told, and there’snot a chance in hell I’m letting any of these vultures claim Bryanna. I can’t let them know that, or throw my hand, though. Bryanna’s here for a reason, willing to sacrifice herself for that cause, and I’ll be damned if I’m the one who puts her family and whatever else she may be protecting at risk.

I bid one or two times on each of the first two girls, just to keep my cover. When the auctioneer starts the bidding for my green-eyed Doll, my heart begins to race. I ease into it slowly, raising my paddle every once in a while, methodically increasing the dollar amount by a million or so at a time, and after we get too high, the other men drop off, and there’s only one fucker left bidding against me. He is persistent, and there’s no doubt he’s our man. I keep the bidding going for a short time with small increases, but after awhile, I’ve got enough information about the bidding, this slimebag’s part in it, the camera in my lapel is probably full, and I just want Bryanna off that goddamn stage. “Fifteen million dollars,” I call out from the back, raising my paddle high in the air.

A hush goes over the entire room as the crowd waits to see if the bid will be countered, but not one other paddle raises in the air, and the room suddenly quiets for an uncomfortable amount of time until the MC finally proclaims the winner. My opponent, who’s closer to the center of the room, turns to face me. I stand and walk toward the fucker, extending a conciliatory hand as I reach him, and nodding to the two others at his table, who don’t try to disguise the fact that they are sizing me up as I do.

I intend to shake hands with each of them, hopefully peacefully, but I’m prepared for anything, and then make my way to the predesignated winner’s area as the MC instructed at the beginning of the auction. It’s where I’ll pay in cash for Bryanna, she’ll sign paperwork, and we’ll leave this place with enough intel to find my sleazy opponent wherever he lives, trail the fucking trafficking ring, and end Bryanna’s worry for good.

I glance up at the stage, fully intending to see curiosity if not confusion riddling her lovely features as she recognizes me; instead, her green eyes begin to flicker, and with no other warning, Bryanna’s legs buckle beneath her, and she crumples into a pile of arms and legs in the middle of the fucking stage.

I want to run to her, pick her up, make sure she is physically okay and that her breathing is steady, but my opponent, a balding rotund man, finally extends a hand with knobby fingers to me with a wide grin on his face. “I was going to congratulate you, but now I extend my sympathy. What a pitiful little prize you’ve won.”

It takes effort not to go to Bryanna, or to keep my hands from balling into fists, or from sending them flying right into his mouth. “Indeed. This girl is hardly in the condition the auction marketed or assured of us. I hope next time you’ll give me a chance to redeem myself by picking a girl who can at least stay on her feet,” I say, shaking my head and playing the part of a real bastard, while inside my blood is pounding like a fucking freight train.

His head rolls back as he laughs out loud at my vulgar joke. I envision a solid upper cut to his chin. It takes him out and leaves him panting for air on the floor in front of me. My hand tightens, fisting at my side, just itching to heave it.

“You sure you want to throw in the towel so soon? You could always bid on a few of the others they’ll bring out later? The night is early, and I’d even take this one off your hands while you play,” the bastard says.

“Another night, perhaps. Tonight I have my sights set on making sure these dealers learn a little lesson. The bid I placed was for a consensual virgin. Instead they try to pass off a woman who’s half drugged-out and unconscious on the floor.”

He looks me up and down and nods. “Agreed. I’d be as pissed as you, but just before the bid I heard they added an evenyounger virgin to the roster for later tonight, and she’s coming home with me. Be a good sport and take care of your winnings,” he says, handing me a card. “Oh, and there’s another party on my yacht in a couple weeks. You won the lady fair and square tonight, my friend, but I want a chance to redeem myself, even if she won’t be a virgin by that time. I always get the woman I want. No one outbids me, and I came halfway around the world especially for her. Consider yourself invited and make sure you show up,” he says.

Chapter 16

Bryanna

The pain in my head is absolutely throbbing, a slow, dull ache that permeates my temple, making it difficult to open my eyelids more than a slight bit at a time. The room is dim, but the little stripe of light filtering from the crack underneath the door causes me to squint back the blinding pain, and my stomach wants to wretch from the effort.

I give myself time before trying to raise my head, but it’s no use, my body is too weak, and my head is too heavy to lift from the pillow beneath me.

“Bryanna, time to wake up. Open those pretty green eyes for me.” The deep masculine voice is so familiar, yet so very far away. The heat of a hand grazing my cheek keeps me from falling back into a deep sleep, causing a steady buzz that permeates my senses as I fight to gain consciousness.

I strain to reopen my eyes, and when I do, a firm finger tilts my chin, forcing me to look into the deep blue eyes that are watching me intently. “You gave me quite a scare, Doll.”

My stomach rolls with sudden recognition and memory. Damian! I try to sit up, but my upper body feels like it’s weighted down, and as hard as I try, the effort is futile.

He strokes my cheek with his finger. I don’t know how he knew where I was, or how he managed to take me away from the auction, but if I’m with him, my niece and nephew have little to no chance of surviving, if they are even still alive.

I manage to push myself up, intending to tell him that I have to get back to the auction, but he clamps a hand over my mouth and glares down at me with intensity. “Listen to me, Bryanna. Tell me whatever you want, but you do it quietly. They don’t have audio or camera in this room, but I don’t know who can hear us outside that door. Understand?”

I choke back a sob and nod. “What have you done, Damian? Where are we? We have to go back. You have to take me back to the auction. If you don’t, my family will die. Do you understand what I’m saying?” I half whisper, pleading with him to listen this time.

He doesn’t answer right away. I push my palms against the steel wall of his chest, but there’s no strength behind the motion, and he easily restrains my wrists with one hand. “Stop, Bryanna. The worst is over, Doll,” Damian says.

He thinks he can help, or outsmart these people, but he doesn’t know how they work or what he’s done by taking me. My breathing is starting to come faster and faster, and my heart races as I think about what could be happening at this very moment and what will surely happen if I don’t make him turn me over to my captors. “You have to listen to me. If you don’t return me, these people will kill my family. Do you understand me? You have to take me back. There is no choice in this.”

His grip on my wrists lightens, and his eyes penetrate mine. “Bryanna, the only way that your family is safe is if we take these sons of bitches out. Do you really believe these people will honor a trade they make for you for your family’s safety?”

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