Page 59 of Auctioned Surrender

He manhandles the woman in the short pink robe up the stairs and pushes her through the door. She’s not walking into that situation of her own free will, and nothing about that scenario is okay in my book. I yank open the driver's side of the car Layla’s in, pull the john from his seat, and push him against the vehicle. “Layla can’t play tonight, understand?”

He nods emphatically. “Yeah, man.”

Layla abruptly opens the passenger side car door and bolts, racing full throttle toward the RV.

“Consider yourself lucky. Leave and don’t come back,” I tell the man, letting go of his collar before taking off after her. I reach the RV at the back of the lot moments behind Layla, but she’s two steps ahead of me and has already yanked the door wide open before I can stop her.

“Get your slimy hands off her, Larry! You touch her again, puta, and I’m going to mail your pathetic dick back to your mama gift wrapped in a little box,” Layla says, helping the young woman with a mascara stained face who is sitting on the bed.

The flimsy top underneath her robe is still on but in complete disarray, telling me everything she doesn’t need to say. The young woman’s eyes are spilling over with tears. Still, it’s Layla who holds my attention because the long-ass knife she has pressed into the man’s back has already drawn blood and is slowly trailing along his spine, leaving a slit in the material as she travels downward.

“It’s okay, Kallie. He’s not going to hurt you,” Layla says gently to the young woman.

Larry starts to say something, but Layla cuts him off. “You think you’re a big man, hurting the women? Making them dowhat you like, what they don’t want? You hear me, and you hear me good. If you ever so much as come near one of my friends again, you will see me again, puta. When your pants are around your knees, and you least expect it, that will be the last time you see your pitiful little cock, comprendo?”

“I got it, loud and clear.”

Larry may have just assured her that he would stop, but Layla and her wicked-looking knife aren’t hearing him. In one quick move, she’s sliced his shirt entirely down to his lower back. Layla grabs the back of his pants and yanks on them hard. He groans with the pain against his groin, but Layla doesn’t relent. “Step out of your pants.”

My interest is piqued, wondering how this will play out when she has his pants pulled up so tight he’s almost on his toes. “I’m finished. I won’t touch the girls,” Larry whines, looking to her, then to me, and then back to her.

“Your word doesn’t mean shit. Step out of your pants. Do it now,” Layla says, finally releasing her grasp from his pants but not removing the knife from his skin.

The wide-eyed girl on the bed has dried her tears. She’s watching Layla and the weapon she wields as the big, burly man begins unbuttoning his pants. I send a note to Trent, who’s guarding the perimeter, to come and get the young woman and take her to safety because she’s not walking back into that snake pit, not after this, at least until I know there won’t be repercussions for her once she does.

Larry’s down to his skivvies, and Layla has everything under control. Trent lets me know he’s about three minutes away, as she briefly turns to me. “They’re planning to sell Kallie locally, and it’s set up for tonight. She needs to disappear fast. Since you’re here, you might as well help.”

I turn to Kallie. “A friend of mine is on his way. Trent will take good care of you, okay, Kallie?”

Kallie’s eyes widen. She looks to Layla, who has already turned back to the man in front of her. She senses the young woman’s apprehension and tries to alleviate it. “Dereck is a good man, and his friend will do as he asks. I’ll find you when I can,” Layla says, just as someone raps on the door. She turns the asshole around so she can keep her knife trained on him while opening the door.

Trent is standing on the steps outside. I gesture to Kallie to come to me, reaching out a hand to assist her as she gingerly makes her way to the edge of the bed and then attempts to step onto the floor of the trailer.

The minute she does, her ankle rolls, and she crumples into the arms I extend. “Whoa, what’s the matter?” I ask, looking down into the still fearful eyes of the young woman who landed in my arms.

Kallie looks up at me, blinking, trying to keep the connection open, but it’s far too late. The young woman’s eyes are widened from fear, and by the looks of her dilated pupils, her condition is much worse than that. I’d recognize that look anywhere.

Chapter 8

Layla

“Come on in, Trent.” His friend steps into the RV, surveys the situation, and takes Kallie from Dereck’s arms, cradling her against his body.

“Kallie’s been drugged,” I tell Dereck. “He does that to all the girls. I don’t think the puta can handle anyone who puts up a fight. Larry doesn’t use a high dose. He likes them to come to and fight a little at the end. This one’s a sick bastard, aren’t you?” I challenge, pushing the knife against Larry’s skin just a little bit harder.

“What’s your name?” Trent asks, looking at the blonde with bright blue eyes tucked securely in his arms as he turns and walks down the stairs.

I revert my attention to her assailant. Larry probably wonders how I know so much about him and that he would make a move tonight. He most likely thinks R.J.’s been talking, telling me things he shouldn’t, but he doesn’t say a word, just watches me warily. “Did I say stop? Keep going? Slide the pants off and step out of them,” I order.

Larry is undoubtedly regretting his decision to test out the goods before the sale tonight, evidenced by the trembling of his hands, which now hang uselessly down the side of his undressedbody. Regrettably, Dereck stumbled into a scene he shouldn’t be a part of, but we’ll need to deal with that later because right now, I need information, and this man is going to give it to me.

I glance up into those steely gray eyes. Dereck’s observing me and intermittently glancing out the crack of the door, just taking it all in. I gesture the man closer to the bed and keep a close eye peeled. The minute he gets on the bed, he’ll use the position and leverage to strike, and that’s precisely what he does.

His foot comes out with the full force of his weight behind it, and when he strikes, I avert a kick that has enough strength to knock me backward and onto my ass otherwise. “Bad move, puta!” I strike out, landing my spiky heeled foot right into the center of his groin because he’s left himself completely exposed and deserving of that excruciating maneuver.

“Bitch!” he yells, but he’s insulted and hurt enough people tonight. I shut him down with a forced palm to the mouth that busts his lip wide open. I grab him by the hair and place my knife against his throat. “You set up all the big meetings. There’s a masquerade party, and Lacey’s on the auctioning block. I want an address, and you’re going to tell me, or you’re going to lose one body part at a time until you do!”

“Fuck you!”

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