Page 82 of Auctioned Surrender

“Just spit it out,” I tell him.

“There’s a shipment of girls going out tonight. We have the location, but Bernatelli couldn’t assure us that the girl’s still alive.”

“Text me the address,” I say, disconnecting and reconnecting with Murph. At the same time, the address pops into my phone.

“There’s a shipment of girls going down at the docks. I’ll send you the address,” I tell Murph.

“I’ll round back with Trent and Liam. Most of the men are on the case with Bryanna, and if you’re at The Prestian Towers, then you’re closer than anyone. I’m looking up the scheduled shipments for tonight. There’s only one boat on the list, and it’s supposed to leave shore in less than forty minutes, so you’re going to have to move and come in quiet or with a diversion,” Murph says.

Layla shifts, causing me to glance down, finding her wide awake. She’s listening to the conversation and watching me warily with those intent dark brown eyes.

“Call me back with the details in the car. I’ll get ready and leave now,” I tell Murph, sitting up with Layla in my arms.

She immediately detangles herself, gets up, and starts to dress, but she’s still listening, widely interested in the one-sided conversation.

“Roger that; I’ll get it figured out on the way to the boat. Keep Bernatelli on ice in case we need him later. We’ll figure out what to do with him then.”

“Got it. Be careful, Dereck. These fuckers don’t mess around,” Murph says.

“Roger that,” I say, disconnecting and heading for the bedroom while Layla finishes putting her clothes on. I crouch onto the floor by the bed, pull out a large black case, and place it on the bed before opening it.

I hear Layla’s intake of breath behind me as I collect the items I’ll need from the arsenal.

“You have anything for me, or are you going to let me go in unarmed?” Layla says.

“That’s easy. You’re not going to put yourself in harm's way.”

“This isn’t going to be one of the decisions you make for me. This is my sister. I’m going whether you like it or not. You get to decide if I drive with you or follow.”

“That’s not how this relationship works.”

Chapter 21

Layla

Dereck turns, penetrating me with those deep dark gray eyes that see right through my very soul, and at this moment are making my heart pound with apprehension. Luisa means the world to me, and he wants me to sit idly by and wait without doing a thing to help my sister? As much as I have come to care about him, want to submit, there is no way that I can do that.

“I’ve seen your weapon of choice. How are you with a gun?” Dereck asks. I sigh a breath of relief that he’s not going to fight me on this.

“Good. Damn good.”

He rubs the dark hairs of his chin, contemplating, but finally nods. He selects a sleek black Glock from his arsenal and a magazine of rounds. I watch his strong, confident fingers sliding the magazine in before pulling it back to load one in the chamber. He then pulls the magazine out of the gun and tops it off with the missing round.

I frown. “Different way to load a gun?”

He turns, knitting his eyebrows before handing it to me. “You have a round of fifteen with one in the chamber. Loading it from the magazine instead of dropping it directly in creates less wear on the mechanisms over time,” he says, handing me a pair ofgloves. “I assume you still have your own. Take this as a backup,” Dereck says, giving me a knife that rivals my own.

“Give me a minute, and I’ll get another pair of shoes,” I tell him, heading to the bedroom to throw on my running shoes and grab my bag.

When I reach the living room, he has two Kevlar vests, one of which he tosses at me. “Put this on,” he says.

My eyebrows raise, taking in his stern demeanor and the military-grade equipment. “I can help you if you need it,” he offers.

“I can manage.” I grab a long-sleeved shirt out of my bag and slip it over my head before strapping myself in and securing it in place. “There. All set.”

“Let’s get going then. In case you didn’t hear this part of my conversation, Bernatelli’s crew is heading toward a boat docked down by the lake. It’ll be making its way out of port in about half an hour, so we need to move fast,” Dereck says.

“I did catch that, Dereck, but I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. It was impossible not to hear with the phone less than six inches from my ear.”

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