Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“Wait.”
I freeze, the guards stiff beside me.
“Is that a bruise on her cheek?”
“No, sir,” the guard lies. It sure as hell is. He’s the one who struck me.
“Speak, woman. Did one of them strike you?”
If I tell him yes, they’ll seek their retribution. But if I tell him no and he finds out I’m lying, I’ll be punished.
“Tell me.”
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Who struck her?”
No one speaks.
“Woman, you have my permission to look at the guards here and identify the one who hit you.”
Oh, God. What is he doing? If I point out one of them, they’ll kill me.
“Do it,” he orders in a low, commanding tone. I have no choice.
Shaking, I look around the small cell until I see the jerk that hit me earlier. I close my eyes briefly before I point a finger in his direction.
“It was him, sir,” I whisper, before I drop my head.
“She lies!”
I don’t look at anyone. I told the truth. And I’m being sold anyway, so it doesn’t matter. My life is forfeit now.
“It’s an easy matter of finding out whether or not she is lying,” the man in charge says evenly. “Video footage will confirm who defied my instructions.” The guard freezes and I feel something rise in me. Relief?
He pauses. “Come here.”
It takes me a moment to realize he’s addressing me. The guards release me, and I walk to him on shaking legs. I have no choice.
When I reach him, I keep my eyes cast down. To my shock, he runs a thumb down the side of my cheek.
“You will bruise,” he mutters. “No auction tonight.”
“We can cover it up, sir,” one of the guards says. “If she isn’t brought out tonight, we’re short numbers.”
He curses. “Fine. Have one of the staff cover it up, but be quick about it. I want her on display tonight. We have no more time to dawdle.”
“And you,” he says to the guard. “I told you not to touch them.”
He removes a gun from a holster on his hip, points it at the guard, and pulls the trigger. I scream when his body hits the floor, but the other guards don’t move.
He’ll kill you if you touch her.
“Walk,” the guard clips. Shaking, I go where he instructs, and we climb a small flight of stairs, as another guard removes the body of the man killed, and the leader who pulled the trigger wipes his brow with the back of his hand.
The boat begins to move, and I lose my footing. I grab the railing to steady myself, trying to keep my eyes down, but it’s hard to remember. There are people up here, and I want to see. I sneak a curious look. I can’t see much, but I can surmise this floor is wall-to-wall luxury, like a decadent, five-star hotel. Men in expensive suits sit drinking at round tables, while dancers perform on a stage before them.
Where are we? What will happen to me tonight?
Will I be sold?
And then what?
Chapter 10
Nicolai
I sit at a table, nursing my drink, with two of my new companions. Future brothers, as it were, though I can’t even bring myself to think about that yet. About what I’m doing tonight will mean.
We have clear, specific orders from our future pakhan.
Fetch us three virgins at the auction.
Train them.
Bring them to us unharmed.
It’s our initiation into the Boston Bratva.
The Boston Bratva has a temporary alliance with the Russian Thieves, our rivals. I have ties to our rivals I wish I could forget, and hate that I’m being forced to align myself with their illicit operations. But I will do whatever it takes to find Marissa. If my sources are right, she could be here tonight. At the very least, I hope to find out more about her whereabouts. Where I can find her.
If she isn’t, I’m back to my search. But if she is…
I swallow hard. If she is, tonight I will buy her. Without betraying our history. Who she is.
That I love her.
We were instructed to spend our own money to purchase our tributes, our buy-in to this brotherhood. I don’t know what I will do with her after I have her, how I will walk this razor’s edge without falling… how I will claim her as mine and take her. But if I can at least find her, I’ll have that much more control over taking her with me forever.
We will arrive in Boston in three days’ time, bearing our tributes, but first we solidify connection with those responsible for the auction. This is our chance to prove allegiance to our future brotherhood.
And if my sources are right, it’s my chance to find Marissa.
I watch as people take their seats in the elite circle, some alone and others with companions, mostly men but a few women as well. Dressed impeccably, talking amiably, drinking cocktails as if we were trading stocks and not humans.