by Mia Carson
Harley choked on her whiskey, slammed the glass down, and leaned across the table as anger exploded in her. “You gave her to some man for a night? She’s not a fucking prostitute! I thought she was your damn girlfriend!”
“And as such, certain expectations are to be upheld. After all, she does work for me and should know no woman is exempt from her duty when called upon. Her relationship with me means nothing in that regard; business is everything.” Ricky stood slowly, and Harley gulped, too scared to move an inch as he leaned in, barely an inch from her face, and stayed there. The stench from his whiskey-soaked breath disgusted her, and her lip twitched as he reached up and ran his fingers down her cheek. “Your sister cost me a large sum of money for both her screw-ups, and I’m afraid I can’t let her go until she either works off her debt or I’m paid in full.”
“And how much is this debt?” Harley looked at her sister again as she shrank on her stool. For a second, she stared at her twenty-year-old sister but envisioned her at five years old, getting in trouble.
Their lives hadn’t been easy, and Harley had done her best to keep Brianna healthy and on the straight and narrow so she wouldn’t follow their parents, but after all her hard work and years of fighting, she had lost the fight. Her sister was just as screwed-up as their mom had been before she disappeared from their lives.
Ricky grinned and grabbed Harley’s chin. “She owes me three-hundred-thousand dollars for the shipment she cost me in her folly, plus the chance at landing a deal that would change my empire in this city forever. A deal that would have brought in millions in revenue.”
Harley choked as she tried to pull back, but Ricky held her fast. “I don’t have that kind of money!”
“And therein lies my dilemma. You either pay me back or she will work for me until the debt is paid. How she works off the debt will depend on how reliable I believe she still is.”
“And how long will that be?” she spat furiously. “You can’t keep her. I won’t let you.”
“If you think you’re going to call the cops on me, please do. Quite a few are on my payroll and your sister will disappear for good,” Ricky warned, his voice like steel. “Now, let’s discuss your means of paying me back.” He released her, and she sank into the booth as all the fight slipped from her body. “Unless, of course, you want your sister to work for me for the rest of her days.”
Ricky sauntered to the bar and Brianna, running his fingers down her bare arm as she shivered and tried to move away, but there was nowhere to go. “She is a pretty thing. It’s a shame to have her waste so many of her young years.”
“No, you are not going to keep her. I’ll get the money somehow,” Harley rambled as she leapt out of the booth. “I’ll get it to you. I just need time.”
“I am not a bank or a loan shark,” Ricky announced loudly. “You do not have time. I want my money, and I want a chance to close this deal again.”
Harley shook her head frantically. She had a little over five thousand tucked away in savings, and there was a small amount of money left over from their dad’s death, but it was only a few thousand. Three-hundred-thousand dollars. Short of robbing a bank, there was nothing she could think of that would give her that much money.
“Stop thinking so hard, my dear. It looks painful.”
“I need time. Please, give me more time.”
Ricky moved away from Brianna, and a strange hunger burned to life in his eyes as he neared Harley. “You are a pretty thing, aren’t you? An older version of your sister.”
Harley closed her eyes when he reached out a hand and ran it through her long strands of hair. “I appreciate the compliment.” She bit her tongue before she said anything worse.
“Oh, you should, dear. I don’t compliment many women. A fine piece, you are. You have quite a shape, and from the way your body trembles at my touch, I’d say you’re a virgin, too,” he whispered in ear.
Her eyes shot open, and she stepped backwards. He grabbed her shoulders, his fingers digging in hard. “Let me go, right now.”
“I’m trying to help you, dear. You see, I run a club beneath this one—a different club that caters to a crowd seeking…special entertainment, thrills you can’t find anywhere else in the city,” he explained quietly as he moved her across the room to a windowed wall. He nodded to one of the other men and the curtains drew back on the other side. “Take a look for yourself.”
He spun her around to face the window. At first, she wasn’t sure what she was seeing, but then her eyes widened and a strange sense of curiosity mixed with fear warred in her mind. “What…what is this place?”
“This is my club for the best sin of all: lust. Everything you could think of doing is down there, but you…you would have a special place if you agree.”
“Agree?”
Harley couldn’t take her eyes off the naked woman displayed on a table in the center of a room while a large group of people looked on. Two men and two women circled her. She covered her surprised gasp when they touched her, kissed her, and spread her legs wide for everyone to see. Just as one of the men moved his hand up her thighs, Harley whipped back around, her face on fire and a fluttering deep in her belly.
“What are you talking about? You want me…to do that?”
“Oh no, you’re too new for that, and believe it or not, the woman on the table is a guest,” Ricky explained, watching the acts going on below with a wicked grin. “No, you would be part of a different event. An auction, to be exact. An auction of virgins.”
Harley’s curiosity vanished as disbelief took its place. “You want to auction me off?”
“Yes, and don’t look so horrified. Many young women come to my clubs to auction off their virginity, and many stay and work for me afterwards,” Ricky said, chuckling. “I, of course, receive a cut of the winning bids. It’s quite a lucrative business in a city filled with so many young, desperate souls.”
“Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Because the men who bid on these auctions are not ordinary men,” he explained with a sigh. “They are millionaires—billionaires even—all looking for a good time with an inexperienced, untouched woman. If you’re lucky, you could make all your sister owes me in one night.”
Harley’s mind ran through the possibilities of what he was asking her to do. “You’re saying I would have to…sleep with this man?”
“Only once, of course. If you are selected, you are his escort for the night and conclude the evening in one of my private rooms reserved for such an occasion. Who knows? You could make more than the money owed, and that, my dear, would be for you two to keep.” He lifted his hands as he spun around and glanced at Brianna. “A fresh start for you both.”
“Just like that,” Harley breathed. “You would let us leave?”
Ricky tilted his head side to side. “Unless you choose to stay and work for me,” he said with a wink. “Many men would be happy to gaze upon you and your blue-black hair.”
Harley took a step away to ensure she stayed out of his reach. “What else do you want from me?” she asked sharply. “It can’t be this easy.”
“Very thorough, aren’t you?”
“What else do you want?” she shouted, losing it with each passing second as her choices shrank.
Ricky’s eyes darkened and his smile faltered at her raised voice. He tugged at his silk jacket and cleared his throat. “This man I am keen to do business with is a local from the area, and I would very much like to have a chance at closing our deal. I would want you to succeed where your sister failed.”
Hardly believing she was discussing sleeping with strange men, Harley forced herself to look him in the eye as she lifted her head. “Why not let me do that first and be done with it? Why can’t getting this man to close the deal be enough for you?”
“Because Mr. Devois will not sleep with a woman he does not deem of value, and to deem them of value, he must see another man—or several—enjoy their company first. He must know how much was pai
d for the pleasure of their company. He is not particular about the virgin aspect, but he does expect high quality.”
Two men. Harley would have to sleep with two men to save her sister and herself from this evil bastard. She paced away from their staring faces and weighed her options. Most natives to Vegas knew how embedded Ricky was in the city and how pointless it was to try and fight against him. A small voice in the back of her mind told her to leave her sister to deal with the fate she’d dealt for herself, but when Harley closed her eyes, she saw their meth-addicted mother walking out the door and leaving them behind with a man unable to care for two young kids. Brianna was five when their mother disappeared and never came back. Harley spent her whole life proving she was not like her mother, and she wasn’t about to prove herself wrong now.
“Deal,” she said as she turned around, squared her shoulders, and marched to Ricky. She held out her hand for his. “I’ll do the auction and I’ll take care of your Mr. Devois.”
“Harley, no!” Brianna yelled and tried to jump off her stool, but one of the men dragged her back. “Harley!”
“Shut up, Bri,” she ordered, her gaze locked on Ricky’s. “Do we have a deal?”
Ricky took her hand as he laughed quietly. “Oh, we have a deal. I’ll send a car for you tomorrow evening around six. Will that work for you?”
“Do I have a choice?” she shot back and wanted to yank her hand away, but he dragged her to his body, breathing hotly in her face.
“Shame. I’d love to put a bid on you myself and see how harsh that fire in you can be when it’s unleashed.” He breathed her in, burying his face in her hair against the side of her head before he let her go. “Brianna may leave with her sister—but remember, girls, I have eyes all over the city. You try to run and you’ll get a tour of Vegas you never wanted to see.”
Harley rushed to the booth for her purse. Once her keys were in hand, she ran to her sister, grabbed her hand, and they bolted from the bar, not slowing until they were outside. Harley wrapped her sister in a hug as she cried against her shoulder, muttering apologies repeatedly.
“I didn’t mean to… I should’ve just done it, but he scared me and he had people watching and I freaked out. Harley, you can’t do this!”
“We can’t run. You heard him.” She set Brianna back and tried to smile through her fear. “It’ll be fine, you’ll see. I’m your big sister and I’m always going to look out for you. Always.”
Brianna climbed into the truck, and Harley joined her. They drove across the city in silence, neither speaking until they were settled inside with the door locked safely behind them. Harley gave Brianna her bed and lay down beside her as she wiped the rest of her messed up makeup from her face.
“Harley, you sure about this?”
“No,” she admitted, smoothing back Brianna’s hair as she used to do when they were little. “But it’s just sex. I’ll be fine. I’m stronger than you think.” If only you believed your own words.
“You were always the strong one,” Brianna whispered as her eyes closed. “Stronger than Mom and Dad could ever be…stronger than me.” Her breathing evened out as sleep took her, and Harley disentangled herself gently from her sister’s sleeping body.
She should try to sleep, but laying on the couch and closing her eyes was not appealing. She scoured her body in the shower instead, trying to rid herself of Ricky’s touches and the stink of booze and cigarette smoke. As the water poured over her body, her mind wandered to what she’d seen through that glass window. That woman was a client, Ricky had told her. She paid to have four people touch her intimately. She rested her head against the shower wall. What would happen tomorrow night? Would she be put on display like that? Naked in a room with leering men and women eyeing her so openly, maybe even touching her before they bid on her virginity?
When she finally settled down enough to sleep, she texted Karen first to let her know she wouldn’t make it into work at all for the few hours she was supposed to be in. Her boss wouldn’t be too upset either. She hadn’t called in sick for a year. If she had to give her virginity away in less than twenty-four hours to a stranger at an auction, she needed some time to prepare herself and pray she was doing the right thing.
Pray whoever purchased her for an evening would be nothing like Ricky Delugio. Brianna might think she was superwoman, but Harley was very close to falling apart.
Chapter 3
Sam picked up his leather jacket from the back of his desk chair and slipped it on. Marcus appeared in the doorway to his office, grinning like the Mad Hatter. “Ready to go?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m ready. You going to tell me anything about this place at all?”
“I told you, it would ruin the surprise, and that, my friend, is what tonight is all about,” Marcus assured him as they walked towards the elevator. “Man, I can’t wait to see your face.”
Sam pursed his lips as he shook out his black, shoulder-length hair as the horrid aching in his gut intensified, which had started last night as he dreamt about a woman, the woman he feared he would never find and who he was meant to be with.
“You’re not making me feel any better,” he grunted.
Marcus clapped him on the shoulder. “Trust me. You driving?”
“I don’t trust your driving.” They slid into the all-leather interior of the burnt-orange McLaren. Sam pulled the door down and started the engine, revving it before he floored it out of his parking spot in the underground garage and took off for the main drag. Bright lights flashed around them, drawing tourists into casinos and fancy restaurants. Sam had wanted to move out of the city, but living in a house alone never seemed appealing enough to make it happen.
“Could you try not to kill us before we get there?” Marcus asked as he bounced in his seat. “Jesus, man.”
“I didn’t buy a fast car to go slow,” Sam informed him with a fake smile but slowed down anyway. “Where are we going, oh great navigator?’
“About another mile, then pull up on the right. They have valet parking.” Marcus watched out the window and pointed to a dark purple-and-black awning over a set of stairs leading down. “There it is! Welcome to Seven Deadly.”
Sam parked along the curb and peered down the stairs through the passenger side window. “That sign says Martinis on Rick,” he pointed out.
“Ah, that’s just the main bar. We’re going to the club underneath it.”
“Care to tell me what this place is?”
“A club that caters to a very different kind of crowd. The main bar is for the majority of the population, but I am not most of the population.” He winked and stepped out, calling for Sam to hurry up before they were late. Marcus tipped the valet and rushed around the front of the car. Sam reluctantly let the kid—who barely looked eighteen—into his over two-hundred-thousand-dollar car. “Your car will be fine. Come on! I want good seats.”
“Marcus, you know those feelings of me not trusting you? Yeah, they’re coming back,” Sam said as Marcus grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the steps. They walked down and were motioned inside by a large bouncer dressed all in black. “This is it?” Sam glanced around the brightly colored club with pulsing music, a crowded dance floor, and neon lights. “I’m going home now.”
Marcus steered him through the club. “Trust me, you want to see this.”
They reached a set of double doors at the rear of the club with snakes engraved in the wood. Marcus knocked twice, and when the door opened, he flashed a card to the man waiting just beyond.
“Ah! Welcome, gentlemen, please step inside,” the man said with a grand smile. “Does your friend also have an auction card?”
“Oh, I have his, too,” Marcus said and dug a plain white card out of his pocket.
The man shone a black light on them both and nodded. “Very good, sirs. Please enjoy the auction. Is this your first time here?”
“Mine, no, but the first time for my friend.” Marcus gave Sam a little nudge forward.
“
Well then, please take your time exploring all the Triad level has to offer. I assure you, you will not be disappointed.”
Marcus and Sam walked farther down a short hall until they reached another set of doors. Sam heard music from the other side, but it wasn’t as loud or as pounding as the club. His gut sinking with trepidation at what his friend had dragged him into, he slipped his hands into his pockets and shook his head.
“What are we walking into? And what the hell is this auction?”
“You’ll see, and trust me, you will want to give me a raise after tonight,” Marcus reassured him. “Welcome, my friend, to your newest sinful delight.” He knocked and the doors opened immediately. “You are about to have the time of your life.”
Sam stepped slowly into the open-plan floor of the new space and froze. There was a circular bar in the center of the room with several naked men and women displaying themselves openly on a long, rectangular table out of reach of the bar patrons. He counted five different doorways leading off the main room, and in between, booths in every available space with curtains hanging from chandeliers to give privacy if needed. Sam heard several loud moans of pleasure seeping out from the closest booths, and he grabbed Marcus’ shirtfront.
“Did you bring me to a damn sex club?” he snarled, not sure if he was mad because he was so caught off-guard or mad because being around women was the last thing he wanted right now.
Marcus knocked his hand away with a laugh. “You’ve been sulking for a while. And no, this is not exactly a sex club. There is clearly sex happening around us, but this, my friend…this is so much more. This is an experience. You can watch, you can participate, or you can bid on a beautiful woman or virgin of your choice to accompany you for a single evening.”
