by Haley Stuart
There are two different auctions. There seems to be one for common girls and some private auctions, which is where I and a few other girls are right now. There is a girl next to me that looks as frightened as I feel. She is literally shivering even though she is wearing that heavy fabric over her lingerie. I reach over and place my hand over hers, and her frightened eyes meet mine. I try to give her a small smile of reassurance, but I must not have looked too convincing, because tears fill her eyes and she bursts out into loud sobs.
In total, there are about ten women sitting in this room, and they are all important somehow, because we hold higher value over the general auction. I can remember listening to my father talk about these kinds of things when I have been younger. Never have I thought I will be the poor soul stuck in one.
“Oh my god, you’re Luca Pasquino’s wife.”
I turn around and see a girl staring at me in shock. I have no idea who she is, but she looks to be older than me by a few years.
“Who are you?”
She looks around before shuffling toward me. “I … uh, I was …” Her cheeks burn red as she tries to explain it to me. “I was one of Luca’s father’s concubines. You know, when he was alive.”
I look at this woman who is sitting in here with me. She looks around my age, maybe older. And she is having sex with Luca’s father? Sick bastard.
“He told me about the wedding. Luca’s wedding. He showed me pictures. That’s how I recognize you. You’re very beautiful. Luca is very lucky to have you.” She then realizes what she is saying. “How on earth did you get here?”
I take a deep breath before responding, the weight of what is going on triggered by that question. This whole time, I have felt numb, shutting off my emotions and trying to keep it that way. But now the tears I have held back are starting to resurface and threatening to spill over.
“They kidnapped me, and because I wouldn’t help them with taking Luca down, they’re throwing me in an auction so that he can’t find me.” A sob breaks out of my throat.
“Oh no,” she whispers with her hands over her mouth. Her eyes widen. “They?”
Before I can respond, the girl next to me pipes up. “Please, what are they going to do to us?” she whispers to her.
“They sell us by value. They make the ones that are known for their affairs with the crime bosses go first. Like me.” She opens her robe, showing us the lingerie beneath. “They coordinate us by color. See? Girls like me wear gold. The next ones that go are the most valuable, because, well …” She trails off as she stares at the girl next to me. “They’re virgins. They wear white. And they cost a lot. Usually, there’s something unique about you, which is why you’re in the private auction.”
Her eyes meet mine, and they are filled with pity.
“And the ones that go last are the most important. They aren’t virgins, but they have a very important significance. They are a major crime boss’s daughter, sister, or … wife. Some form of relation to them. Most of the men that come to these are very important men, so having someone like you is very useful. Which is why you wear red.”
I stare at her in horror.
“How do you know all this?”
She looks away, a little embarrassed. “I’ve done it before. Women like me serve a purpose, and once our boss gets tired of us, he sends us back. But we know what men like them like, which is why we are of some value.” She shrugs, as if it were not a big deal, but I feel as if I am going to vomit. I am about to be auctioned off. To the highest bidder.
I look to the girl that is telling us all this with pleading eyes. “Please, whoever you get sold to, you have to find some way to get into contact with Luca. You have to tell him what happened and where I was last,” I beg to her with tears in my eyes. I know in the back of my mind that this is stupid of me to want Luca to find me, but human nature is to flee to what you know. And right now, Luca is all I know. And he is my only hope. I am about to be sold to God knows whom, and I am terrified.
The door opens, and a man comes in, roughly grabbing the first woman as the auction begins.
* * * * *
I am the last one. The most valuable. My heart is hammering in my chest, and the tears are a never-ending stream as I am led into a dark room with a spotlight being shone on me. The speaker overhead sounds.
“Elise Pasquino, nineteen years old. Not a virgin, but the wife of the North Mob’s notorious Luca Pasquino.” The robe is ripped off me, and I am stuck sitting in the middle of the room in a pair of sexy bra and underwear.
“Let’s start the bidding at $100,000.”
* * * * *
The robe is back on me, and I am being rushed, to where, I have no idea. I can hear the sound of the door, and the heat hits me, so I know we are outside. But then I am met with the sound of a door, and I am roughly pushed inside of a car. The towel around my eyes is soaked with my tears, and I strain to hear any kind of noise.
A deep voice comes out of nowhere, causing me to jump.
“My, you are exquisite.”
Chapter 34
Elise
I sit in the room with nothing more than a pair of lingerie on and some heels. Alexander. He refuses to give me his last name. Just Alexander, he says. I don’t know what organization he works for. I don’t know who he is, in all honesty. He injects me with some kind of sedative that puts me to sleep, and the next thing I know, I wake up in this large study with him in front of me.
He is sitting across from me, studying me very closely. Slick black hair is pushed back away from his face, and cold blue eyes stare at me. I am shaking in my seat, not just because I am cold, but because I am scared. This man looks like someone you do not mess with.
“Stand up.” His voice pulls me out of my thoughts. I immediately stand. He stands with me and walks toward me, his eyes dropping to Luca’s name embedded in my flesh. He runs his thumb along the skin, and I immediately take a step back out of instinct, not wanting him touching me. A small smirk appears on his face.
“I see Luca’s temper hasn’t improved.” His voice is dripping with irritation. “We’ll have to have that removed. I don’t want to be looking at his name each time I want to fuck you.”
I immediately gasp and stumble backward, trying to put more and more distance between us. My eyes are filled with tears that spill over.
“Please … don’t …” My voice comes out shaky and low.
His eyes flash, and an evil smile I know all too well spreads across his face. “Damn, you are beautiful when you cry. I can see why Luca may have enjoyed seeing your tears. I know I will.” He steps closer to me. “And the sound of your voice begging … damn, if it doesn’t make me want to take you now.” He steps closer to me again, and I step back.
“L-Luca won’t like it if he finds out you’ve had sex with me.” I am literally grasping at straws, saying anything and everything I can to get him to change his mind out of sleeping with me.
Out of nowhere, he grabs me, pushing me into the wall. I cry out in pain as my back collides with the hard wall. He roughly presses his forearm into my throat, and panic blooms immediately in my chest.
“Mention his name again.” I can’t even if I want to. His forearm is pressing roughly into my throat. A smile crosses his face as he watches me uselessly struggle. “I can’t hear you. Say it. Say his name.”
My vision is blurring, and my throat is burning from the pressure. He leans in so close to me I can feel the heat radiating from him.
“If you ever say that name again, in my home …” He laughs before continuing. “I will kill you. Luca is no more. He will never find you, as far as I’m concerned. I am the one you belong to now. So you better learn to respect me before you get yourself killed.” His face is murderously serious as he watches my frantic struggles.
He lets go, and I greedily suck in air and rub my throat, trying to soothe the burning pain.
“I am a man of … different tastes. Do as I say, and we’ll get along fine. But I can
’t promise you that you will always enjoy what I say.” He walks away from me in my corner, and I close my eyes, counting to ten.
One … two … three … four … five … six … seven … eight … nine … ten …
I open my eyes and jump up from my spot on the floor, flinging the door open. Lucky for me, this room is the only one in the hallway. Blood is rushing in my ears, and I pump my legs as fast as they will go in the heels. I don’t have the time to stop and take them off. I turn left and breathe a silent prayer, as I can see the foyer right in front of me. My heels clatter loudly against the floor as I near the massive oak door. I immediately grab on to it, flinging it open and running into the outside.
My footsteps falter, and my pants are frantic. I can see my breath coming out in front of me. Snow. Everywhere. It is so thick I can see nothing but white surrounding me. Mounds of it. My body immediately breaks into violent shudders. I open my mouth and let out a loud scream. The tears rolling down my face are leaving a burning trail from the temperature.
I am roughly yanked up from the ground, and I can feel warm arms around me. I don’t even try to struggle. A deep chuckle reverberates throughout my entire body as Alexander laughs behind me.
“You should not have done that.”
I can only cry as he drags me farther and farther into the house.
* * * * *
“I can’t hear you, Elise. How many is that?”
I open my mouth, trying my hardest to speak to say anything, but I can’t even catch my breath. Each time I breathe in, more pain explodes all over my body. If I think Luca is cruel, damn, am I so off. Alexander likes to use belts. Not just normal leather ones, but belts that has jewels embedded in them. So that each strike leaves a marring bruise on my skin. And he never lets up either. He starts on my ass and slowly makes his way up my body. My arms are roughly bound above my head, and they are the only things holding me up.
I feel his fingers underneath my chin, and he pulls my face up to meet his.
“Elise, I’m talking to you.” He tilts his head slightly as he studies me. “How many is that?”
I still open my mouth again and try to speak, but nothing leaves my lips except a hoarse squeak.
A smile crosses his face, and he laughs at my predicament. His hand moves from my chin to my jaw, and he tilts my head to the side. I don’t have the energy to struggle. I squeeze my eyes tightly shut as his lips slowly trace my neck to my collarbone.
He pulls back and stares at me. “Will you ever run again?” He looks at me expectantly, and when I don’t answer, he roughly snatches my face in his hands. “I said, Will you run again?”
I frantically shake my head no, loud whimpers accompanying the movement. With Luca, I at least know he has some form of twisted love for me. And he knows when to stop. But this man has nothing to lose. No feelings for me. And I am assuming by the way he speaks that he hates Luca. I am scared more than I have ever been before.
* * * * *
I lie on my stomach on a cushioned bench as Alexander places more ice packs on my back side. Each time it touches my skin, I whimper in pain. There are deep-purple welts on my back side starting at my legs, going up to my midback. Alexander sits right next to my body and traces the welts. I bite my teeth in pain, trying not to make a sound, in fear he might do something.
“I’ve known Luca a long time. He always had the better things in life. Including you. That’s why I wanted you so bad. When I heard whom you belonged to, I knew I had to have you. To be able to say that you fucked and broke Luca Pasquino’s wife is something any man would be more than happy to say.”
He places another pack on my back.
“I won’t have sex with you yet until I feel you’re ready. You’re still too fragile for my taste. I’m going to enjoy breaking you.”
He stands and walks to the door. When he opens it, a frightened-looking maid is on the other side. He whispers something to her, and she nods, walking in the room with a suitcase in her hands.
She doesn’t look at me once as she unzips the suitcase and starts setting things into place in the room. Everything that she takes out is some form of lingerie. She places them all in drawers and unzips another pouch of products that go in the bathroom. As she steps into the bathroom with shampoo and conditioner in her hand, something catches my eye from the suitcase. There are tampons and pads. I stare long and hard as my heart rate starts to skyrocket. The woman walks out of the bathroom and grabs the products.
“Ma’am, please … what’s today’s date?” My voice comes out groggy and raw. And if the room weren’t silent, I don’t think she would have heard me either.
She shakes her head at me and doesn’t respond. I am assuming because he has told her not to speak to me. Tears are already forming in my eyes.
“P-please … please, I’m begging you, what’s today’s date?”
She sighs and looks at me. “It’s the nineteenth of February.”
My heart slams into my rib cage. No, no, no, no, no …
“I can hardly see why it would matter, miss. You’re never getting out of this hellhole …”
The woman is still rambling on, but I can’t hear her. I’m late. My period. It’s late.
Chapter 35
Luca
I can feel the bone smashing under my fist as it connects with this man’s face. He staggers back, falling flat on his back, completely knocked out.
“Matteo!” I bark at him. “Finish him off!”
I don’t even turn around as Matteo steps over the unconscious man’s body, firing several rounds into it. Fuck! I am literally going crazy. Elise is gone. Fucking gone! Right from under my damn nose. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, and every time I try to close my eyes, I hear that bone-chilling sound of her screams as the car crashes. That is the last thing I hear before it shuts off.
We can’t even track her. The chip is last activated at the sight of the crash. And by the time we get there, the police are already tainting it. There is no trail or anything. Her driver is already dead when we get on the scene. Which is lucky for him, because I will have killed him myself since Elise is missing.
My resources in the police department can’t give me anything on the crash. Each time they try to access it, their access is denied. So I try asking my contacts in the federal agencies. None of them has gotten back to me. I am such a fool! Why I’ve let Elise leave the estate without me, I don’t know. I’ve let my damn emotions get the best of me, and now look where we are.
Someone has her, and whoever it is takes her for the hell of it, because I haven’t received any threatening calls or ransoms. And that makes me all the more worried. At least with a ransom, I can negotiate her safety and find whoever it is before they hurt her. But with this person … well, there is no telling what they are doing to her.
“Luca—”
“What!” I shout.
Matteo is standing next to me and cringes at my tone. He is probably the only person that can get near to me lately. I know I won’t hurt him or kill him on accident because of who he is to Elise. So as of late, he is my right-hand man. Romelo is doing some serious tracking, trying to find Elise, and Nicolai is doing my duties for me.
“It’s Romelo,” he says, holding the phone out to me.
I yank it from his grasp, walking away toward the car. “What is it?”
“I think I got her trail.”
For the first time in weeks, relief floods through me. “Where?”
“There’s a pawnshop in the next state over that has her wedding ring.”
I immediately feel anger boiling up within me. “She ran away?” I hiss.
“Not likely. I spoke to the shop owner, and he said an older woman came in and pawned it. And get this. She sold it. So she didn’t want it back. I tracked the information he gave me to a woman named Sophia Vitale.” He pauses, waiting for me to catch on.
“Russian?”
“Yes. I followed her for a few days. She seemed to be working in an old
factory, but it turns out the factory is actually an auction house … for women.”
“Fuck!” I shout, punching the wall next to me with all my might. The weak plaster gives way, and my whole hand flies through.
“We’re coming now. You have my utmost thanks.”
“Actually, I just did the heavy lifting. Matteo was the one that found out about the pawnshop. Thank him.” He hangs up before I can respond.
I look out the corner of my eyes and see Matteo leaning against a car door. He looks like I feel. Exhausted. In all my rage, I haven’t thought about how he feels in all this.
When he has found out the news of Elise, he has broken down. Apparently, he has said some things to her he now wishes won’t be his last words to his newly found sister. He has been working just as hard as everyone else. And I have been screaming at him every day. I walk over to him, trying to rein in my anger. This is what Elise will want.
“Matteo, we think we may have a lead on Elise.” I place a hand on his shoulder. “Romelo told me what you did. Thank you. We’ll find her.”
* * * * *
The next day, we are standing in front of the auction house, waiting. All my men are behind me, waiting for my signal. Without hesitation, I step into the auction house that may have been responsible for my wife’s abduction, and unleash the bloodbath.
About an hour later, we have everyone rounded up. The women that are to be sold are all in another room. Lucky for us, today isn’t an auction day, so we don’t run into anyone but the scum that runs this shithole. The Pasquinos don’t do sex trafficking. Which explains why they’ve put her here. They know we won’t think to look.
I step over the girls. They are all shivering in fear. The men are all tied up, and some have looks of hatred, while others have fear in their eyes. And for good reason. I keep walking up the hallway in silence until I am standing right in front of the woman I am looking for.
“Sophia Vitale.”
Her shivering increases as she slowly looks up at me. I make sure to keep my face blank of any emotion. I squat in front of her and pull the ring out of my back pocket. This is the second time I’ve had to buy it out of pawn.
