Page 67 of Auctioned Surrender

“Sure, you’ll find a cup in the cupboard above it to the right, and your breakfast is in the microwave. It should still be warm.”

“Really? A dom who cooks? Now that’s interesting,” I say, refreshing his cup before pouring one for myself. I open the microwave and find a croissant laden with eggs and cheese.

“This looks amazing. I’m ravenous!”

Dereck gives me a wink. “You’d be surprised at my talents, but this was ordered from room service,” he says, smiling broadly.

“I don’t think I’ve slept that good in, well, a long time.” I slide into the chair beside him and bite into the flaky pastry.

“I’m not surprised, given what’s happened.” Dereck turns his laptop so that we can both look at the screen. “Why don’t you eat while we go over a few things that I learned last night.”

“You put me to sleep and then came out here to work?”

“I needed to touch base with the security team. There was a lot to do after that, and you needed the sleep.”

I nod, swallowing another bite of the delicious sandwich. “I did. Okay, let’s look at whatever you want to show me.”

He taps the screen in front of him with his forefinger. “Our team is no stranger to Bernatelli. Head of the crime syndicate inChicago, he not only pulls strings here in the city and many other states but has pretty intense connections in the underground. We know firsthand from very recent experience that another group was running women and selling them overseas out of Chicago. The fact that Bernatelli is now involved is disheartening for many reasons. The man has far-reaching arms both here and overseas already without another collaboration such as this. It makes sense that he’s in bed with anyone who will make him money, though, and that’s been his modus operandi for years. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to change. If he’s using the girls first and moving them around to different bars, he must be holding something over their heads and have plenty of supply to meet the European demand. That helps explain Bryanna being at the club, the women you work with, and perhaps your cousin and sister too.”

At the mention of Luisa, my chest tightens. I turn away because the longer it takes to find my sister, the greater the chances that I will never see her again. The very reason I gave everything up, walked out and away from everything I knew.

Dereck guides my face back toward his own. “Focus, princess, or the next plug I insert will have a remote vibrate on it so I can keep your attention focused on what’s at hand.”

I try not to let my mouth gape at his suggestion or visibly clench my thighs against the thought of the plug in my backside vibrating and how good that would feel.

He smiles. “I guarantee you, it would only be pleasurable for so long, and then the need to come would overtake the pleasure and become an intense deterrent, with denial,” Dereck says.

I close my mouth because I don't doubt that he knows exactly what he’s talking about, and pleasure sounds like a much better route to pursue. “I’ll have to remember that,” I say, still acclimating to this newfound sexual freedom and rewarded with another panty-melting smile.

“You’ll be happy with that decision in the long run. Marenah is an operative who keeps a tight rein on Bernatelli’s activities. Let’s just say that she has a very personal interest in his indiscretions for various reasons, has a lot of information, and is gathering more as we speak. I connected with her last night, and she gave me access to her files. It includes a list of all the bars he owns and co-owns. She also has a directory of the clubs that Bernatelli and his cronies are known to protect, so those places could also be spots they use to move the women around.”

I assess him for a moment because he has an awful lot of information on the man in just a relatively short time.

“He and his cronies are probably holding a multitude of things over the owners as well as the girls. Bernatelli may have lent them money in the past, maybe protects their interests, uses their clubs as a front to launder money, or just runs their girls through their clubs, but the list in the city of Chicago alone is extensive. The good news is that Marenah is in the process of getting the division that deals with trafficking up and running, and she’s all over this. Marenah and her small team are pulling in other resources to help look for your sister, but they’re going to need a few things,” Dereck says, flipping over to his email. “We need a recent picture. She’ll run it through various software systems to get images of what your sister may look like if they’ve altered her hair and makeup and such. This group Marenah’s pulling together is damn good, and the odds of finding your sister are a hundredfold better with them at the helm in this investigation than if we do it alone. Are you good with that?”

I try to keep the excitement of the possibility of finding Luisa out of my voice. “I certainly won’t turn down any help offered.”

He rubs the short, dark hairs of his chin. “What she didn’t understand, and I couldn’t explain, was what you intended to do last night. I was joking about busting through his gates in your underwear, but not kidding completely. What was the real plan,Layla? You weren’t seriously going to take him out since you need information about your sister.”

I swallow hard. The woman in me, the one who loves coming out of hiding and sharing with him the side of me suppressed for too long, doesn’t want to lie; although, my other side knows that I need to walk a fine line if I’m going to find my sister. I choose my words carefully. “I planned to go to the bar, the one Larry told us about, and see what I could find. If they’re shifting girls around and my sister hasn’t shown up at R.J.’s yet, maybe she’s there. I know a little bit about how they operate the bar scene. I heard one of the bouncers say the owner there, Sammy, is rumored to have a better relationship with Bernatelli than R.J. The club is relatively small, just like R.J.’s, meaning not a ton of men or firepower. I was hoping to slip in as a dancer. The plan was to get noticed by the boss just like I did with R.J., hoping it would help me find Luisa quicker,” I say, swallowing as his eyes darken.

The steely grays hold me captive. “You were planning to get yourself tangled into a relationship with Sammy, after everything that R.J. put you through when he found you with me? The man would have seriously hurt you, Layla, and who’s to say that Sammy isn’t just like him?”

I shrug, finishing my coffee and pushing my empty plate aside. “I’m not proud of what I’m doing or what I had planned. It’s not like I had much of a choice, though. If the owner took the bait, and R.J. caught wind and raised hell, I could have played it off as R.J. just in a jealous tirade and wanting me back for himself. I was hoping it would play to my advantage since based on what I heard at the bar, I think Sammy is looking for any reason to sink R.J. with Bernatelli and take over his bar too.”

“This guy has seen you with R.J.?” Dereck asks.

“Yeah, I think just about anyone in his circles has by now. Most of the guys meet up at least once a week, and we were athing for almost three weeks,” I say, swallowing down the shame and pushing it away. I had to do what was necessary for my sister, and I’m going to continue doing exactly that until I find her or learn that I won’t.

He’s silent, rubbing those short dark hairs on his chin, observing me with those steely gray eyes.

“Please don’t judge me, Dereck. She’s my sister, and I make no apologies for what I needed to do. I would do it again and will do it again if it leads me to her. She’s the only person I have left in this world.”

“Princess, I’m not judging you. I’m just trying to figure out why, after our conversation and the things I learned, and the resources that my team and I can provide that you feel the need to lie to me, knowing that we will help and that it will both displease me and bring a consequence you may not thoroughly enjoy.”

I’ve been frank, laying all my cards on the table except the ones that I can’t. “Nothing I said is a lie, Dereck.”

The heat of his stare burns through me. “I told you yesterday, a lie, a white lie, or half-truth all constitute lying in my book. If Sammy takes notice, then Bernatelli is sure to follow. We both know that’s what you’re after, but what’s the plan? He’s not likely to tell you anything more than R.J. did or Sammy will.”

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