Page 43 of Auctioned Surrender

“I’d take a real good look, my friend, because after tonight she’ll belong to me. You may have stolen her virginity, but there are many things I intend for her to learn from me alone.”

This man now stands between me and Bryanna and her no-good brother, who’s probably been paid a fortune to lure her here just so he can hand her over to the man in front of me. “There’s not a chance in hell that you’re taking her anywhere, asshole.”

He laughs. “I have to give you credit. You have the balls of an elephant, speaking to me with such disrespect. I wonder what they’ll look like sitting on my mantle when my men cut them off? That’s the way we deal with people who get in our way, and you are not only in my way, but have taken something valuable to me. Should I perhaps make her pay for your sins too, I wonder?”

My jaw tightens, but I manage to hold my tongue and bide my time.

He raises his hand. “No need to answer. Of course I will.”

The self-satisfied smile, just like the show of men with Uzis, is meant to intimidate me, to add to the illusion that he and this organization have everything tied up. He would do well not to celebrate so early, because I have no doubt the minute he was within five feet of me, my team has had him in their sights and are working on a plan to wrap this up. I should wait, let them do what I would do if the shoes were reversed, but this is the same man who dares threaten Bryanna. This shit is personal, so I fucking don’t!

My fist connects with that smug looking face, and then again before he even has a chance to react. I grab his lapel before he goes down, turning to keep him upright. After the beat-down I intend to give him, he’ll learn never to even think about my green-eyed Doll. As we spin, I see her walking out the fucking door and discard every other thought except getting to her as fast as I can.

Bryanna’s on her way out the back door! Find out what’s going on!

Roger that!

I text out another message to the team outside to send me an update ASAP, but I needn’t have bothered, because at the verysame time I hit the send button, one single gunshot fires through the night, sending a shockwave of fear through every nerve in my body.

Chapter 30

Bryanna

As soon as I see my brother across the room, my heart begins to race with fear. If he had anything to do with my kidnapping and the threat of harm to his own children, my innocent little niece and nephew, I will end him. I won’t feel one bit bad about it. I will not allow him to hurt my family, and if this is the only way to prevent him from doing that, so be it. I walk toward him with my hand on my purse, and the steel beneath it gives me the strength I need.

I reach him, and he has the good grace not to even pretend, so I hit the recorder in my purse, thankful to the shopkeeper for finding this little treasure for me in the back of the store where no questions are accepted.

“I know why you’re here, Bryanna, and we need to talk.”

“I don’t have a damn thing to say to you! How you can do this to your family makes me sick!”

He wrinkles his brows like he’s confused. “Listen to me, Bryanna,” he says, but I shut him down, pulling out the pistol I’ve managed to buy, but keeping it close to my body and out of sight from anyone who may glance too closely.

“Not a word. Head for the door, and I’ll be right beside you. One sudden stop, one word, and so help me God, I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

Kade looks like he’s going to say something and thinks better of it, his jaw locking tight as he does as I’ve asked.

I stay glued to his right side, making sure he knows exactly where that gun is pointed. Kade marches to the back door with me. As soon as we’re outside and out of eyesight, and partly secluded by some of the long tree branches, I turn to him. “I want answers. I want the truth, goddammit. I deserve that much,” I say, gesturing him further back into the trees.

“Deserve to know what? I got a call from a buddy of mine who said you were out here in the city stripping, and that you would be here tonight trying to sell yourself to the highest bidder. What the hell, Bryanna?” my brother says.

I poke him in the chest with the gun, absolutely infuriated. “No, you’ve been doing what you want: selfish, not taking responsibility for what you do, getting into trouble and not even taking care of your own kids, and you want me to believe you came here to help me? Who the hell set me up? Who the hell knew that if they held your children over my head that I’d do anything they wanted; who the hell knew that?” I ask.

“I did,” a deep voice from behind me says, startling me so bad that I almost drop the gun from my trembling fingers. I turn and look from him to my brother and then back again to the gun the man is holding.

“Ramiro, you son of a bitch. I should have killed you when I had the chance,” my brother says.

“Well, your buddies and that biker gang you run with almost succeeded in doing just that. Beat the hell out of me, busted all my ribs, my nose, and then left me for dead. Too bad for you they didn’t succeed. You see, it just thoroughly pissed me off. You know what happens then? I get even, and tonight we’re going tosquare up, because the way I see it, you owe me every dime I lost when you turned me into Pres for running girls, along with all the money I lost while I was healing up.”

“I don’t owe you shit!”

“That’s not how I see it, and I plan on making up my losses by earning a nice little tidy sum for your sister’s ass.”

I lunge at Ramiro, but I’m not quick enough. He steps back and trips me, causing me to fall in a pile at his feet. I grab his ankles and try to topple him over, but he laughs and kicks me in the ribs.

My brother has a gun pointed right at him, but Ramiro aims his own gun at my face. “You really wanna take that bet? She’d be dead before I hit the ground. Toss it on the ground,” he says to my brother, who reluctantly does what he says.

“You really should’ve taught your sister some manners,” Ramiro says, laughing. He looks down for a moment.

---