Page 61 of Auctioned Surrender

It’s not going to take long for Dereck to clean up the mess and head back into the trailer. I slide from my seat and onto the bed in the back of the RV, crank the long oblong window open, and remove the screen. It works just like it did Saturday night after the show. I do it like I practiced, shimmying out backward and landing on my feet. I survey the area around me. Dereck is talking to the two men who watched the show from a distance. I sneak toward the hedges that line the parking lot and then take the path down to the park, letting the darkness and all the greenery around me shroud my getaway.

The rental car is parked in the clearing, right where it’s supposed to be. One person in the world knows my plan to leave R.J. and this life tonight. The only person trusted enough to leave me the rental vehicle and move my bags from my car to this one during my show, and she’s safe with Trent. I unlock the car and slide into the driver's seat of the sporty little black BMW, throw my purse on the floor, and adjust the seat and rearview mirror, slowly inhaling.

Finally, at long last, I have a name, a real lead on the person who means the world to me. I almost scream, startled by a quick rap on the passenger side window. I try to catch my breath as Dereck opens the passenger door and slides in beside me. “Where are we heading, princess?”

Chapter 9

Dereck

The park lights cast just enough light across the car to see the startled and then indignant look the fiery seductress gives me. “What are you doing here? Why do you keep showing up?” she huffs.

“You keep getting into trouble, princess. Now drive, before the men who raced out of that bar start searching the park. Keep your lights off until we get to the exit,” I tell her, pointing to the break in the curb that will allow us to navigate back to the highway.

Layla purses her lips. “You can hang out with me for a while, but when we get to the other side of the city, I’m going to drop you off. I have plans, papi, and they don’t include you!”

I hold in my laughter, but I can’t help smiling at the fiery little beauty. “We’ll see about that, Layla.”

She grips the steering wheel tighter and presses into the gas. “I’m serious. I’ll drop you off anywhere you want. I appreciate everything you did back there, and I’m sorry you got caught up in all the drama, but I didn’t ask you to follow me!”

“Uh-huh. I know, princess,” I say, harnessing my amusement at her irritation with me.

“What do you want? How do I get rid of you?” She huffs, easing onto the ramp and then flooring the sporty little car as she merges into the oncoming lane of traffic.

“You don’t. Unfortunately for you, until we know Bryanna is safe, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what you’re not sharing. If it impacts Bryanna, I will learn the truth.” I leave out the fact that the men on my team have the Bryanna situation under control at the moment, largely in part to the real-time information she was able to get from Larry.

“Why’s she so important to you,” Layla asks, her voice softening as she speaks of her friend. I recall Damian’s word of caution on how protective she is over Bryanna, and she’s certainly shown that side of herself tonight.

“Bryanna’s important to my employer. He needs us to get to the bottom of her disappearance and bring her home. Until she’s delivered, you’re stuck with me, and based on what I heard back at the RV, we’ve just stumbled into the middle of an incredibly large international trafficking operation.”

“This day just went from bad to worse!” Layla’s eyes never leaving the road while she talks. Layla is a skilled driver who weaves in and out of the fast, heavy traffic with precision and ease. My eyes fall to her high-heeled feet and deliciously slinky bare legs, all the way up to the parted robe that falls just above those luscious thighs, the ones I’d like to have wrapped tightly around my neck while I’m feasting on her pussy.

She feels my eyes heating her skin. Her chest expands prettily, with each increased inhalation, almost in rhythm to the thrumming of blood in my dick. “What’s the plan for the little outfit and the robe? Are you going to wear that to Bernatelli’s, or are we stopping to change somewhere?”

Her mouth purses with indignation. “Look, I got everything out of that slimebag that I could to help Bryanna. You know what I know, so now it’s time to part ways. I obviously can’t go back tothe bar after what happened. R.J. and his goons will be looking for me all over, and as soon as Larry wakes up, he’s going to tell R.J. exactly what happened. I have a small amount of time to get to Bernatelli’s before all hell breaks loose, and that’s not a two-person job.”

“A couple of things we should get straight since we’re going to be spending quite a bit of time together. First, Larry isn’t about to tell a soul he gave you Bernatelli’s name. They would kill him in an instant if they knew he outed the boss. I initially thought R.J., being the jealous hothead that he is, would come after you too, but I have it on good authority that he and his friends just got into a car and are hightailing it to a private airport right this very minute. So, no one’s coming after you, princess. That means we can hole up for the night, and you can tell me exactly what you intend to get out of Bernatelli and how it’s going to help Bryanna. Then we can develop a plan that doesn’t involve busting down the gates of his highly guarded mansion in your underwear.”

She squeezes the steering wheel tighter. “See, you have this entire scenario all wrong, papi. I don’t know what gave you the impression that I would take orders from you, but let me assure you, I won’t. See, I have my own set of plans, and as I said, they don’t include you, so where to?”

She is quite intoxicatingly lovely when she’s all fired up. “Take the next off-ramp and head toward the water. We’re going to stay at The Prestian Towers for the night and talk. If after that you still want to do things on your own, I’ll consider it.”

“You have to be the most arrogant, insufferable man I’ve ever met!” Layla says, taking her frustration out on the gas pedal, causing us to soar by the cars in the slow lane like they’re standing still.

“You might want to ease off the gas before you miss your turn.”

Layla’s pretty red lips purse in annoyance. She ignores me and instead lays her foot onto the gas pedal even harder. The car pulls forward so fast the intensity sucks me back in the seat. We fly by the next two vehicles, then she cuts over to the right lane, sliding through a break in traffic to get to the off-ramp before she begins to slow down for the light ahead.

I hide my amusement and admiration for her driving skill. “Okay, papi. We’ll do some things your way, but only because I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Bryanna is okay; tell you anything that will help her, but after that, my plans don’t include you.”

I take in the stark beauty of her features against the light from the city lights overhead. Layla looks both left and right and then left again. “Where the hell are we?”

“Chase Prestian, one of the co-owners who fronted our security business, owns the entire skyrise, and it serves as a resting place for my partners and me when we want to relax in the city or on a job. Take a right and then head down a mile or so. We’ll come in from the back way,” I tell her.

She nods, her eyes scanning this way and that before turning onto the main street that will take us to The Prestian Towers.

“If you take another right at the next traffic light, you can pull into the front entrance. The valet will take your car.”

Layla doesn’t say a word until we’ve reached the front of the skyrise. I open the window, gesturing Ramon, who’s on duty most nights, over to the car.

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