Page 137 of Voracious

When they don’t give her a response, just a dirty look like she’s a piece of shit, she taps the person in front’s shoulder and says the same thing.

“Make her shut the fuck up,” Chris seethes in my ear.

“That’s against the rules,” an older woman snarls and wipes her blouse. “Please refrain from touching me.”

Luciella sits back, lost, eyes wide, staring at her twin brother as he struggles to stand still, swaying on the screen. Base falls into the camera shot, and the guard drags him out of the way.

Kade lifts his hand to try to shade his eyes from the light but misses completely, his hand flying to the side.

I want to find him and hug him, to drag him away – bid billions on him. He gave me enough, but I don’t have a number or board or anything.

Instead, I raise my hand, and not once do I get noticed as the bids start from three million. Four. Five. When they reach eight million, I lose hope and drop my hand.

Kade, the boy I fell in love with as a teen, who had all my firsts and planned a whole future for us, the one person in the entire world that kept me going while Chris put me through hell, is now sitting at eight million for bids.

I gulp and cover my mouth as the blonde daughter argues with her mother down front when she calls the bidding to an end. An old, overweight man is handing his board to Archie.

Just when we think it’s all over, Bernadette stands at the podium once more, smiles at the crowd and says, “We have two special guests with us tonight, and I want you all to put your money where your mouths are.” She gestures in our direction, and the spotlight moves to us. “Stand, chair forty-nine.”

Luciella grips the chair in front of her, and I swallow and glance around us. Everyone is staring, waiting, and when a guard walks over and presses a gun to Luciella’s head, I gasp, and she whimpers and stands.

Kade and Base are forced into chairs in front of the screen and ordered to watch.

But when Base manages to lift his head and sees the girl stepping onto the stage, he jumps to his feet. “Fuck no!” His voice comes through a speaker. Base steps towards the camera just as Kade starts fighting with a guard. His words are slurred and forced out. “We had a deal. You let her go, right fucking now. Me for her, that was the deal!”

“Things changed, Prince.” She nods to her men. “Sit them back down.”

Kade drives his fist into someone’s face, but the butt of a gun hitting the back of his head knocks him to his knees, and I wince, wishing this was a nightmare I could wake from.

“Chris,” I whisper.

Nothing.

“Don’t fucking touch me! What the fuck are you doing there?” His words are aimed at Lu, who stands in tears, trembling. “What the fuck!” He punches one of the guards and when Lu is shoved forward with the barrel still to her skull, he raises his hands and stops. “Fine! Fine! Lower your fucking aim!”

Kade’s drugged gaze is back on camera. The rage in those eyes… He’s silent, letting Base do the yelling, but he’s mad. Really fucking mad as he fists his hands and grits his teeth.

They drugged him – both of them. They both sit, begrudgingly.

My friend looks terrified.

Bernadette tips her head, and the guard lowers the gun to his side and forces Luciella forward. “And chair forty-eight, please stand.”

“Stacey Fields,” I whisper. “Stacey Fields. Stacey Fields. Stacey Fields,” I keep saying, repeating it like a mantra, but there’s no response from Chris.

The guard drags me up, and I hold the purse containing the USB drive to my chest as I’m hauled to the stage, standing beside Luciella in front of the packed room of sickening faces staring at us – studying us.

My heart is racing, the lights bright in my eyes, everyone watching us be positioned on the platform like Barbie dolls.

The screen is silenced behind me as a chair goes scattering, and I glance over my shoulder to see Kade trying to tackle three guards, yelling so harshly his face is red, veins bulging on his temple. The black cover is gone from his mouth and neck, and I can see a scar there.

“Kade,” I say, a tear sliding down my cheek.

Cassie gives me a look as I face forward. “Why is she here?”

“Be quiet,” Bernadette snaps.

Cassie is sitting at the front of the crowd, her eyes red and swollen as she covers her mouth. Probably upset from Kade being sold – even though it was her mother who caused it. She trains her gaze on me, studying me as the bidding begins.

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