Chapter 7
SABLE
"You're good." Leif slipped onto the piano stool beside me and sat with his hands in his lap while I played.
"I'm a bit rusty," I said.
"I wouldn't have known," he said. "I can feel the emotions in your playing. That's something no one can teach. Right?"
"My piano teacher used to say that." I finished the song and took my hands off the keys. "She believed I could do great things." She was the only one who encouraged me to chase my dreams. If not for her, I wouldn't have met Savannah.
"What do you think?" he asked. "Do you want to do great things?
You still could, you know. It's not like you're one hundred and twenty-five, winding down after a long lifetime.
You and me?" He flicked a hand back and forth between us.
"We're just getting started. You could take over the world.
Go on tour with some famous singer. Anything you want. "
"You think I should do that instead of trying to get Savannah back, don't you?" I asked.
I'd seen the expression of disbelief, then concern as we were discussing it. He thought the idea was insanity.
These men, they took risks, yes, but those risks were to their own lives, not to those of someone else. Not in the way this trap would risk me.
The thing was, I didn't see it as a risk. Savannah would have done the same for me. She would have done whatever was necessary to save me from the situation she was in right now. She would have saved me from Wolfgang if she could. She would have hidden me under her bed if I'd let her.
I hadn't. Wolfgang wouldn't have been gentle on her if she'd become involved an inch more than giving me emotional support when I was able to accept it. Had I told her how much I appreciated knowing she was there for me? If I had, it wasn't enough.
When we found her, I'd make sure she knew. And never let her forget it for as long as we lived.
"I think if there was an alternative, it'd be a better idea.
" He offered me a smile. "Don't worry, I'm still trying to think of one.
So far, the only thing I've come up with is contacting Batman and asking him to find her.
I seem to have misplaced his phone number.
You wouldn't have it by any chance?" He patted his pants, searching for it.
I managed a small laugh. "I'm sorry, I don't seem to have it either. If I did, I would have used it by now."
Leif snapped his fingers. "Damn. I'll keep thinking then." He was still smiling, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Would you really buy me?" I asked. "If I was taken and sold."
He stared at me for a moment. "Of course I would. But hold that thought." He raised his pointer finger in front of his face. His brow creased, eyes swiveled to the side in thought.
"What is it?" I asked. "Should I be worried?" I suspected the answer to that was a resounding 'hell yeah.'
"I was remembering something," he said, scratching the side of his nose. "A couple of years ago, some women were taken and sold at auction."
I let his words sink in. A growing sensation of horror rose in my chest. I was right, I should have been worried.
"You think they're going to auction Savannah?" I blinked a couple of times. "You think they wanted to auction me?" The idea of people bidding on me, wanting to own me? I couldn't get my head around it.
I was sold off to the highest bidder once before. Granted, that was without an auction, but it amounted to the same thing. I was little more than a toy. A pawn in other people's games. A token exchanged between my parents and Wolfgang.
"It's possible," Leif said. "You know what they're going to want to do, right?" He jerked his head toward the dining table where Forrest and Woody sat, their heads close together, talking in low voices. Whatever it was they were discussing, it looked intense.
"I'll do it," I said loud enough for all of them to hear.
"We don't know if that's what's happening," Leif said, placing his hand on my arm before I could stand from the piano stool.
"But you think it is, don't you?"
We had Forrest and Woody's attention now.
"It makes sense," Leif said reluctantly. "Savannah was a high-profile woman. So are you. A status symbol with men like that. Anyone can snatch a homeless person off the streets. It takes a special kind of balls to pull off something like this."
"I'm going to start pulling off balls," Woody growled.
"Me too," Leif agreed. "These 'men,' and I use the term loosely, are sick fucks. They have so much money, it doesn't matter anymore. This is more important to them. Winning at things other people couldn't possibly imagine. Owning things no one else could own."
"Getting away with things no one else gets away with," Forrest added, his expression as dark as Leif’s and Woody’s. "Exactly the kind of people the law won't touch; they're too powerful."
"People like you?" Leif asked, a hint of accusation in his tone.
"People like me, but I choose not to exploit other people," Forrest said. "Unless they deserve to be exploited."
"It's a good thing he's on our side," Leif whispered loudly. "We'd be absolutely fucked if we had to work against someone like the great Judge Forrest Cross."
"Yeah," I said absently.
He was right. Men like Forrest and Wolfgang, they had different boundaries than regular humans. Money talked, and what it said was ugly at times.
Imagine having so much money you could end world hunger, but instead you buy people, fuck with them, break them, then celebrate the victory with good champagne and caviar. Wake up in the morning and do it all over again.
I wanted to grab a fork and ram it into their eyeballs. Was that something people did? Whatever, it sounded good to me.
"How do we do this?" I asked.
I couldn't exactly take out a double-page ad in the newspaper offering myself up for auction. I mean I could, but that would be weird. Not to mention people who moved in the shadows weren't going to answer an ad like that. Right?
"I'll talk to a few people," Leif said. "If this is what's going down, they'll know where and when." He didn't seem to like the idea very much. Of course he didn't. Neither did I. This whole thing was twisted as fuck.
"Once we find out if it's happening, we can plan," Leif added.
In spite of himself, he seemed to have things worked out in his head. He didn't look any happier about it though. If anything, he looked more reluctant.
This wasn't a random attempt to snatch me and send me somewhere my men wouldn't find me. This was potentially much worse. Carefully planned, meticulously executed.
That begged the question, who would plan something like this?
Now I was imagining a party planner with a sick twist. Someone with a clipboard of items ready to tick them off.
Venue? Check.
Guest list? Check.
Invitations? Check.
Flowers? Check.
Music? Check.
Women held against their will? Check.
The right people paid off? You better believe they'd check that one off.
"How much?" I asked.
"How much what?" Leif placed his knuckles against my cheek, slowly stroking my skin.
"How much would someone like me and Savannah be worth?" Was it vanity that made me ask, or morbid curiosity? Both, I supposed.
"Enough to make it worthwhile," he said. "A couple of million maybe."
"Really?" I let my gaze linger on his eyes. "How much would you pay for me?
"Right down to my last dollar," he said, without hesitation. "The downside to that being I couldn't buy you the things you deserve."
I smiled softly. "I can buy my own things."
"Excellent," Leif said. "I'll bid on you, win you, then be a kept man." He waggled his eyebrows.
I shoved my elbow into his side. "You don't want that."
"No, I don't want that," he agreed. "I want to be your equal. But if it came down to it, I'd still spend my last cent on you. I'd even borrow some from Forrest and Woody. Between us, we'd outbid everyone there."
"I don't know if that's sweet or completely fucked up," I admitted.
"I think it's hovering over the line between both." He chuckled.
"How much would you pay for me?" Woody called out.
His eyes smiling, Leif pretended to think about that for a moment. "You'd have to pay us," he said finally.
Woody picked up a pencil from the table in front of him and threw it roughly in Leif's direction. It landed a few feet short, rolling across the floor with a clatter.
"Asshole," Woody told him.
Leif rolled his eyes playfully. "As if he expected any other response from us."
I glanced in Woody's direction. "I might pay a few million for him. He's kind of cute." He was, in a homicidal maniac kind of way.
Woody grunted. "I'm extremely fucking cute. And I'm good with my hands. I'm worth more than the rest of you put together."
Forrest raised his eyebrow and smirked. "We're all worth a small fortune."
"Big fortune," Woody corrected. "Big like my cock."
"That's exactly why they wouldn't pay money for us," Leif said. "They'd be intimidated by the size of our cocks." He nodded as if that settled the matter.
"Of course they would," I said, putting my hand on his knee.
That was why the assholes did the things they did, wasn't it? To make up for the small sizes of their penises. Why else would you not take care of other humans?
"If you had one, it'd be bigger than all of ours put together," Leif said.
"Hell yeah it would." I didn't believe that for a moment, but maybe I could unleash my inner badass with big dick energy at some point.
She had to be in there somewhere, didn't she? After all, I was a survivor. That meant I was a badass already, didn't it?
Forrest pushed his chair back from the table and strode over with a thoughtful expression on his face.
Not for the first time I wondered what he saw in me. He was attractive, distinguished, intelligent. A man like him could have any woman he wanted without having to pay. Any of them could.
Yes, I was high profile to an extent, and I was relatively cute.
Smart too. Okay, maybe I did deserve them.
Maybe I deserved to have them care about me.
I wasn't running away from them. Not that they'd let me.
I suspected if I tried, they'd follow me, and keep on following me until I gave in to them.
Honestly, I had no desire to run away. They made me feel safe and wanted. I could get used to that.
"Leif," Forrest said, breaking through my thoughts. "See what you can find out. I'll talk to a couple of people I know. Woody?" He spoke over his shoulder.
Woody grunted. His way of saying, 'Yeah, what do you want?'
"I want you to take Sable shopping," Forrest said.
Woody's head jerked up. "What the fuck?"
"Shopping?" I echoed. "I don't need anything."
"I have something in mind and for it you're going to need a new dress," Forrest said simply, "You can take my black card if you need to." He started to reach for his wallet.
I held up my hand. "I have my own, but thank you. Did you have something in mind?"
I listened as he started to describe the perfect dress.