Page 83 of Auctioned Surrender

“I know, Layla. It would have been preferable had you not heard it. Then I could have left you blissfully unaware and safe from danger.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I’m not what you’re looking for, Dereck. I told you my life doesn’t seem conducive to being submissive. I guess it’s better if we both know the truth before it gets too late into the relationship,” I tell him.

He slides his fingers through the dark hairs of his chin. “Perhaps, princess,” he says, caressing my cheek.

I fight hard with everything that I have, willing the tears not to come, and they don’t. They hold back, just like the emotion ready to explode from my chest.

Dereck’s about to say something else, but his phone buzzes, and he takes a moment to read it and scowls. “We’ll finish this later, but for now, we should get going,” he says, opening the door for me as we leave the condo and head to the elevator. Ramon pulls up curbside with a fancy silver jeep and steps out. “I could learn to like that ride,” he says, grinning at Dereck as he gets out and tosses him the keys.

“Great job, Ramon. Thanks for getting it here so quick,” Dereck says, walking to the passenger side and opening my door.

“Thank you.” I slip into the luxurious leather bucket seat, but he doesn’t answer, just closes the door behind me and walks to the other side of the vehicle, seemingly deep in thought.

When Dereck gets in, he fastens his seat belt and glances toward mine. He seems satisfied since it’s already buckled, and with that, he eases out of the exit zone, heads down the end of the drive, and then takes a right onto the road that will lead us out to the highway.

His phone rings. Dereck hits a button on the steering wheel that engages the speaker system overhead. “Hey, Murph. I have you on speakerphone, and Layla’s with me. We’re heading out to the docks,” he says.

“I don’t like you going without a full team, Dereck. Trent and Liam are on their way to meet you, but the other guys are still out of town, and I haven’t heard back from another call I made to get a little extra help yet.”

“There’s no way around it if we’re going to get Layla’s sister before that ship leaves port,” he tells Murph.

“Alright. We’re locked into the security system cameras on the dock and can at least help you with intel from here,” Murph says. “Wait a minute. I just got a message from the Larussio crew. We’ve got backup, Dereck. We reached out to Chase Prestian, and he contacted his father- in-law to get men to help us. They’re on their way, courtesy of Carlos Larussio, whichmeans mafia against the mafia, so we’re going to owe Carlos a debt of gratitude when this is over.”

“I’ll take that debt. The crime side of the Larussio Family may be mafia, but they’re not snatching women and sending them to a life of sexual slavery, like Bernatelli and his bunch; that’s for damn sure,” Dereck says.

“Alright, as long as you know, they may handle things a little different than our men would,” Murph says.

“Roger that. Say no more,” Dereck says, glancing at me briefly as he disconnects.

“I’m not going to tell anyone, papi. I made my peace with right and wrong a long time ago. I appreciate their help to stop these people from what they’re doing. These women have no choice. They were snatched from their existence by any means necessary. They’re drugged, tortured, raped, and all kinds of inhumane things. I just want to find my sister and help anyone that I can. That’s all I’ve wanted to do since she went missing,” I say, wiping a tear because we’re finally so close. The last three weeks of doing whatever it took to get the tiniest threads of information are all catching up with me. My sister may have a chance. We might finally find and bring her home where she belongs, and the things I’ve done will be a small price to pay.

“Follow my lead and get in sync with my breathing, princess.”

I inhale deeply and follow Dereck’s breath, trying to calm myself, inhaling as he does, breath after breath. After a short time, my body synchronizes with the soothing rhythm of his breathing, calming me as we continue to drive toward the water.

The overhead speaker rings just as Dereck pulls off the main highway and navigates a back road toward the shore's lower edge. “Marenah’s all over this after what she went through with this guy. She said to let you know that if you want anything to hold up in court, you’ll have to wait until they’ve transferred thegirls to the boat and that it needs to be moving offshore before they can be charged with trafficking to the degree you’re going to want,” Murph says.

“Roger that,” Dereck tells him before disconnecting.

“You really know how to shoot that gun if you need it?” he asks me.

“I know how to shoot it, Dereck. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be able to help you and your men.”

“I’d rather you stay where I position you. No questions asked when I do. Can you do that for me, unless we have no other choice, Layla?”

“Always the questions that make me lie,” I tell him because until this is over, telling him the truth is impossible. I wish it were as simple as just giving over and letting him take the reins and fix this, but he can’t, and so I’m caught in this never-ending web of lies.

“The truth isn’t hard if you trust someone, but trust takes time. Unfortunately, that isn’t something we have much of, so for now, do what I ask so that I can protect you,” Dereck says.

My chest tightens. I may have already lost the one man who makes me feel completely whole, and until I took things into my own hands was more than willing to take the reins, but I had no choice once Maverick recognized me at the martial arts center.

Dereck navigates the Jeep through the overgrowth from the surrounding trees and wild bushes before slipping into a somewhat cleared area and parking. He pulls out two pairs of binoculars from the bag he’s brought and hands me one so that we can see far down the shoreline.

“Where do you think they’ll come in from?”

“The message I got back at the condo said they might be using a van. The last time we ended up on a trafficking sting, they used a semi.”

“Your team got that out of Bernatelli?”

---