Page 23 of Auctioned to her Stepbrothers

Honor reaches for it, but he stays out of her range.

After a pause, Kylian says, "And why are you calling?" He's silent for a moment before biting out, "I'm her family. Her brother." His eyes are on Honor, roaming over her body as he listens to whoever's on the other end of the call.

Her brother who spends his nights tying her up and fucking her.

"It's nine o'clock on a Sunday. This is harassment." Kylian clicks off the call and tosses her phone back in her bag.

"Who was it? What's going on?" I ask.

Honor snatches her purse back from my brother and stuffs it behind her on the chair as if she can regain the privacy he's violated.

She stares daggers at Kylian, but when he doesn't answer my question, she turns to me. "Bill collectors," she says.

"From…?" What kind of trouble has she gotten herself in?

"Hospital bills," she says, a mixture of sadness and disgust in her voice.

"From your mother," Nate clarifies, and Honor nods.

"Even though she wasn't sick for long, her doctors tried several aggressive treatments. Bills started coming from providers I wasn't even aware of, and even though I set up payment plans for all of them, I couldn't stay on top of things. Even the social security payments don't make a dent."

"That's fucked up," I say. At least now I know why she auctioned her virginity, though knowing the reason makes me feel even worse about our arrangement.

We've been taking advantage of her desperation.

11

NATE

SETTLING DEBTS

Honor is waiting on the sidewalk in front of the Club when Lyle and I pull up at nine-thirty. Lyle hops out of the front seat and holds the door for Honor. She looks demure today, with her hair wrapped in a loose bun at the back of her neck. Her white blouse is under a pale pink blazer. The matching skirt shifts when she climbs into the SUV, giving me a glimpse of her creamy thighs.

My cock stirs at the memory of those thighs wrapped around my waist last night, but that's not what today is about. Or, at least, that's not what this morning is about.

Lyle gets into the backseat, and I pull onto the busy street. My brother chats with Honor as I navigate through the tail end of rush hour traffic. Their easy conversation reminds me of when they were kids. Lyle was quiet back then. Dick-Ass had him so traumatized that he rarely spoke to anyone besides Ky and me. But once Honor showed up, a small, scrawny, and fairly quiet child herself, he wouldn't stop talking. Those two would chat for hours. Eventually, Lyle opened up to her mother, too.

An ache fills me as I see Victoria's gentle face in my mind's eye. I thought I knew her. I thought she'd never leave us, rushing away like a thief in the night. But no matter what she did, she didn't deserve to die so young. And Honor didn't deserve to lose her mother in such a horrible way, and then to be mired in debt because of it.

Which is why I turn between two wrought-iron gates and choose a spot in the large parking lot.

Honor stiffens as she looks out the windshield. Her pink cheeks lose their color. "W-why are we here?"

Lyle squeezes her shoulder. "To help."

Honor shakes her head. "I don't want to go in there."

My gaze settles on the ugly building in front of us. "Have you been there since your mom passed?" I ask gently.

She shakes her head. "No, and I don't want to."

"This will be the last time you have to."

"But why?" Her blue eyes are incredibly troubled.

Lyle answers her. "Because they're harassing you. Calling at all hours of the day."

"Yes, but soon the money will be in my account, and I'll be able to—"

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