5. Chapter 5
Chapter five
Erik
The party is in full swing by the time we show up. The Montgomery mansion stretches high into the night sky, adorned with twinkling lights that even I have to admit are tastefully done. It doesn’t cover up the darkness emanating from the place, though. Nothing ever could.
Adeline loops her arm through mine as we walk up the stairs toward the front door. When I hired her for this job, she seemed taken aback by my requests, but she hasn’t asked any unnecessary questions. She knows she’s being paid just as much to mind her own business as she is to keep her mouth shut. I’ll be leaving her to fend for herself, but she assured me that she’s perfectly capable of finding another way home.
At the door, we’re greeted by a tall, slim butler. He takes my invitation for the party, his gaze snagging on the star in the upper right corner. I’ve been assuming that’s the marker for the auction invite, and it looks like I’m right.
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Hawthorne,” the butler states with a warm smile. “And a guest! Miss…?”
“Adeline,” she answers as she hands him her coat. “Merry Christmas to you, too.”
“Mr. Hawthorne, the business meeting will be held at eight o’clock sharp in Mr. Montgomery’s billiard room. You’ll find it by following the main hall all the way to the end.”
I nod, handing him my coat. “Thank you.”
Adeline and I make our way deeper into the mansion. The ballroom is filled with people, and a massive Christmas tree stands in one of the corners.
The decorations, the extravagant food, the festive music drifting from a live band by a set of windows—Charles Montgomery can try to cover it all up, but this place is steeped in pain and death. I’m surprised the place doesn’t smell like rotting flesh, since that’s what he’s built his wealth on.
“He really went all out, didn’t he?” Adeline mutters to me.
“I’ve heard he always does.”
Surveying the room, I quickly spot the Montgomery family. Daniel and Benjamin are sitting with a group that looks to be their friends, Charles is working the room, and Marissa is standing stiffly while she talks with a few older women.
My Rose is nowhere to be found, but I wasn’t expecting to see her this early in the evening. Only those who were invited to the “business meeting” know she exists. Hell, her name wasn’t even mentioned when I caught wind of the auction. Charles is milking the intrigue aspect of this for all he can.
There are a few familiar faces among the crowd, but Adeline and I keep to ourselves. I’m not here to network, even though I rarely pass up the opportunity to do so. My uncle kept my family’s real estate empire running while I grew up, but since I graduated college, I’m the one who’s rejuvenated it. Profits have skyrocketed, and we’re expanding at a rapid rate.
I thought it would be more difficult to hide my identity from Charles once I became more known in the business world, but he truly has no clue who I am. He thinks I’m a Hawthorne by birth, that I’m one of my uncle’s children by blood.
That he inherited my family’s businesses and then passed them on to his oldest son.
That I’m my own mother’s fucking nephew.
I hate it, that Charles has no idea who I am, but he will soon. For years, I’ve been hiding in plain sight, but now I’m finally ready to get my revenge for what he did to me and my Rose.
“Remember how you asked me to tell you to chill out if you started looking pissed?” Adeline asks me.
“I don’t think those were my exact words, but yes.”
Ever so discreetly, her gaze drops to my hands and then back up again. I realize they’re clenched into fists, my fingernails digging into my palms.
“I need a drink.” Forcing my hands to relax, I move us through the crowd toward the bar.
“We also need to mingle.”
Goddammit.
But I can’t be mad at Adeline. I know myself well enough that I predicted I’d be in a terrible mood during the party, so I made sure I’d have someone to keep me in check. She’s doing exactly what I hired her to do, and deep down, I’m grateful. If we just stand around doing nothing, we’ll draw attention to ourselves, and that’ll make Charles suspicious of us after he discovers Rose is gone.
That can’t happen. When I finally get her out of here, I don’t want us running to keep her safe. It’s already a problem that I’ll have to keep her hidden until I find a way to deal with her family—and whoever tries to purchase her.
One step at a time, I remind myself.
So I tuck my anger away. Adeline and I get drinks, and then, with all the enthusiasm I can muster, we mingle.
The hour drags. Sport, business, politics, family—it’s all gray and dull. I could easily work a conversation like this, weaseling closer into someone’s affections to make it easier to ask for a favor or a connection later on, but it’s all I can do to keep up. Thank fuck for Adeline. She plays her part well, laughing and adding in a sincere comment or her own anecdote here and there.
My only thoughts are of Rose, so when my watch reads 7:55, I excuse myself and make my way to the billiard room. A few others are on the same path, but most people stay where the party is, completely unaware of the sinister event that’s about to happen behind closed doors.
“Mister Hawthorne, a pleasure.” Charles grasps my hand as I step up to the threshold of the billiard room. “Congratulations on your new acquisition. A resort property in the mountains. Sounds profitable. And the deal you got Gibson to cut?” He lets out a low whistle. “You’re practically stealing the place.”
“What can I say?” I plaster on a charming smile. “My father taught me well.”
With a chuckle, Charles nods. “I’ve heard quite a bit about your old man. Would love to meet him someday. Hear he’s a bit of a homebody, though?”
“Has been for as long as I’ve known him. Terrifyingly smart, but practically a ghost. That’s his brand.” It’s one of the reasons he was able to get away with most people thinking I’m one of his own. Him and my aunt refuse to exist in the public eye.
“A strong one, I’ll give him that.” Charles claps me on the shoulder. “I’ll see you inside, son.”
My stomach lurches at his last word, but I don’t let it show. He’ll get what’s coming to him soon enough.
In the billiard room, chairs are set up to face a small area near a second door. The place is filled with men from their twenties to their eighties, and there are a couple women, too. The fact that they think they can just buy a girl like this makes me sick.
Taking a seat near the back, I sip the whiskey I grabbed on the way over. The smoky, spicy taste expands on my tongue, but it does little to distract me from the burn in my chest. Even though I have no intentions of purchasing her, I feel like a monster, making Rose go through this. But this is the only way.
I toyed with kidnapping her from her room, but I’m not confident that she could make the jump from the roof to the tree, and then the climb up and down the wall afterward—especially with increased security around the perimeter for the party. That means the only way in or out is through the front door.
No, I have to wait. Once the auction is over, everyone will return to the party, and so will I. Only after others start leaving will I grab her. That way, when Charles discovers her missing, he won’t know which of his guests to go after.
It’s painful, being this close to finally saving her but knowing that she could still slip through my fingers. I take another swig of whiskey, hoping to soothe the ache, but it still does nothing.
At eight o’clock exactly, Charles closes the door and turns to his audience. “Welcome, and thank you for coming. I’m sure you’re all eager to feast your eyes on my darkest, best-kept secret. Only immediate family and our most trusted staff are aware of her existence. She’s been kept here her entire life. Never even stepped foot outside the walls surrounding my home.”
There’s a sort of vindication that comes along with hearing him say the words. It swirls together with the deep hatred I’ve always harbored for the man. This is why Rose didn’t think she was real. Lies fed to her by her own father, solely so he could profit off her later.
“…completely innocent,” Charles is saying. “A virgin—never even been kissed. She’s the perfect Christmas gift to keep to yourself… or to share.”
“How will we know she’s actually yours?” a man calls out from the front.
Charles’s smirk has my throat tightening with repulsion. “Oh, trust me, you’ll know.”
With that, he opens the second door. No one enters the room, and only after he hisses out an angry command does Rose tentatively step over the threshold.
My mouth goes dry at the sight of her. Her brown hair is down and hanging in loose waves, covering her shoulders. The light pink nightgown she’s wearing barely covers her, dipping low to show off her breasts and hugging her thin frame.
“I present my youngest, Raina Montgomery. Only twenty years old and the picture of beauty.”
His words don’t even register in my mind. Rage fills me at the tears glistening in Rose’s eyes. Charles yanks her roughly into the center of the room, and seeing them side by side, I understand what he meant. There’s no denying that Rose is his child. She has his sharp blue eyes, and their nose shape is almost identical.
Rose’s bottom lip begins to tremble as her eyes dart around the room. There are probably two dozen people in here, all leering at her while her father shows her off like she’s a fucking animal. Her gaze skirts over me, just another face in the crowd.
It’s me, my mind calls out. Look at me, Rose.
“Turn around,” Charles commands, and when she goes stiff, he laughs, and some of the men join him.
They like this—love it. Her innocence, her fear.
It only makes me want to kill them all more.
When Rose doesn’t budge, Charles forces her to turn around. He pushes her hair to the front to expose her shoulders and back.
“Gorgeous,” I hear someone mutter.
“Your own personal toy,” Charles says, making Rose turn again, this time so she’s facing the front. “Yours to train however you’d like. Trust me, she’s highly impressionable.”
Disgust roils in my stomach at the wave of laughter that ripples through the room.
“Bidding starts at one million.”
From there, the rest of the auction is a blur of shouts and laughter. I go stone still, not bidding, only focusing on Rose and the horror in her eyes. At some point—probably to drive the bidding higher—Charles has her kneel in front of everyone and open her mouth. She looks confused, like she doesn’t understand why, and it only makes the crowd more enthusiastic.
Only once the commotion stops do I realize that the auction is over. That my Rose has been sold for 1.8 million dollars to a short, stocky man named Ivan. He’s glowing with pride, and when he lays his eyes on Rose, a predatory sneer takes over his face.
He places a hand on her shoulder, making her wince. “You’ll look so pretty with my collar around your neck.”
Over my dead fucking body.
I stay in my seat until Ivan hands over a check and rejoins the party. Rose is still standing next to Charles, tears silently running down her face. The room has mostly emptied by now, and I silently beg her to look at me, to know me, but she doesn’t.
A serious-looking woman steps into the room, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Do you want me to take her?”
“Please,” Charles replies. “Put her in her room, and I’ll let you know when Ivan is ready to leave for the night.”
Her room. It’s where I assumed Charles would be keeping her after the auction, but it’s good to have confirmation. One less thing to second-guess myself on.
The woman places a hand on Rose’s arm, looking almost sympathetic for a moment. She pulls her back the way they came, and the moment Rose disappears, it feels like my heart is being ripped out of my body. It’s exactly the same as when Charles tore her away from me all those years ago.
“Erik! You’re still in here,” Charles says, sauntering over to me, his expression smug. “What a great turnout, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Quite impressive.”
“I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t bid at all. Was there a reason?”
“I prefer blondes,” I lie.
Charles chuckles. “Oh, my boy, you have much to learn if that’s all that stopped you. My wife dyed her hair religiously until she passed, all because of a single comment I made.” He taps his temple. “You just have to infiltrate their minds. Or force them to do what you want, if that’s what you prefer.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
He smiles, and in this moment, there’s almost nothing I want more than to wipe the satisfaction off his face. Almost.
Instead, I down the rest of my whiskey and stand. “Beautiful party, by the way. I can’t think of anything better to get in the holiday mood.”
“Christmas is my favorite time of the year. It was Lydia’s, too. We go all out.”
“It shows. And now, if you don’t mind, I should get back to my guest.”
“A girlfriend, maybe?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Well, don’t be shy tonight, then. There are plenty of single young women here, and I’m sure you could easily steal one away for the night.”
“Oh,” I say with my first genuine smile of the night, “I’ll be sure that I do.”