Chapter 5 #2
"The girls will be brought out for us to look at?" I say, ready to be done with him.
Leo's eyes tighten on my face, but he nods. "In small lots."
The lights dim, making him glance up at the ceiling and smile. "It's beginning. If you have questions, you can bring them to me."
"Perfect," Ransom agrees. Hale tenses, but Ransom points to three seats near the back of a cluster of lounge chairs. He doesn't have to tell us twice. We move as a unit, Ransom in front, Hale at the back.
As soon as I sit down, I open the file Leo handed me.
The first page is a photo of a young Latina girl with wide brown eyes and too much blush staining her cheeks.
She's dressed in a filmy white babydoll that I can see her nipples through and posed with her knees up, hands pressed against her pussy.
My stomach churns as I read the short bio, which lists her name as Alessia and says she isn't a virgin.
Flipping through the book, I clench my jaw.
All of the girls are posed differently, and the status of their virginity is noted.
Some of them aren't even named, just given numbers.
I make myself look for Noemi, not finding her until I'm near the end of the stack.
I take one glance at the photo—of her wearing a see-through white lace dress and clutching at her full tits—and I slam the folder closed.
Ransom glares at me as I struggle not to kill everyone here and get it over with.
Every member of this little club will die. Maybe not today, though.
I’m on the hunt for one girl today.
Finally, Leo steps onstage and claps his hands.
"Gentlemen, we have something truly special for you tonight.
This is only our second Sleeping Beauty auction—all the girls have been heavily dosed with Gloss, rendering them immobile and perfectly aware.
They make lovely dolls for you to play with.
" He gestures to someone offstage and a man wheels out a trafficked girl in a light pink doll's box.
The man stops and sets her upright, revealing the pink restraints at her waist, wrists, and ankles that hold her in place.
Her blonde head tilts to the side and stays there, midair, while her innocent brown eyes swivel to Leo.
She's damp with perspiration but unable to block Leo from reaching out and squeezing one of her small tits, wrenching it in a way that should make her cry out.
She doesn't respond except to drool as she looks on. A man in the audience claps as though Leo has done something great and several more chuckle.
Kill them. Burn this whole place to the ground. What are you waiting for? Beast whispers.
I clench my jaw. Soon, I promise him.
I look at Ransom, lifting my chin. He gives me a subtle nod and I can breathe a little easier.
The auction begins, the first couple of girls going for between three hundred thousand and four hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
When Ransom leans over and whispers, "Should we let someone buy your girl?
We can meet our men outside and pick them off as they leave. "
"Fuck no," I grate out, loud enough that a couple of the men look my way. "I'll win her first. Once she is secured, you can bet I'll be hunting down each and every one of these fuckers."
"The other women?" Hale leans in.
I suck my teeth, looking at the young girl onstage. "Let me get Noemi out first. Then we'll try. Her safety matters most."
The brothers nod.
I force myself to be still until Noemi is brought onto the stage. She's in a group of three girls, all with the same wide eyes and see-through white dresses. They are made up like slutty dolls, their hair brushed and curled at the ends, their blush belying their frightened pallor.
As soon as bidding on Noemi begins, I make an aggressive bid. "Five hundred thousand."
A balding man in a dark blue suit glares at me and says, "Five-fifty."
"Six hundred," I fire back. Like fuck I'm going to let this guy win. He looks like he'd be perfectly at home preparing your taxes. The fact that he's here probably means he's into some deeply fucked up shit.
"Seven hundred."
"One million dollars."
His cheeks redden. "Million and a quarter."
"Two million." I narrow my eyes on his face, trying to let him know that he won't bid against me again if he knows what's good for him. Two million is a rounding error. I've spent more on a car I don't drive. The look on his face tells me he can't say the same.
Two million is nothing to save Noemi, but this guy is really starting to piss me off.
He purses his lips and waves at Leo, indicating that he gives up.
"Sold!" Leo says, grinning. "That was a surprise."
Noemi is wheeled away, her eyes darting back and forth over the crowd. I force myself to be still for a minute, then stand up and head to the back where the girls are kept.
Two armed guards meet me. "Stop. No sampling the merchandise."
I nearly flinch at Noemi being referred to as merchandise, but I raise my hands. "Just direct me to the guy in charge of taking payments."
The guards exchange glances. "The auction already took your info. You just have to wire the money to the number you were given when you signed up."
I text Ransom the wiring instructions. He’ll move the two million out of one of my brokerage accounts. Inside forty seconds, Ransom sends back a thumbs-up.
Ransom likes moving my money around. He says it's the closest thing he has to a hobby.
"All right." I look at the guards. "Now let me have my girl."
One of the guards tilts his head, listening to his earpiece. His eyes come back to me, narrowed in suspicion. "Mr. Rendon? Funny thing. Mr. Vitelli says the mayor doesn't remember vouching for an Adam Rendon."
The other guard's hand drifts toward his waistband.
“Sorry, what was your name?” I drawl. This motherfucker is about to add his name to my list of guys to capture at the end of this little game.
“Brent, sir.” He makes a faint tasting-a-lemon face. “I need to straighten this matter out before we go to the next step.”
“Brent. Brent.” Gotta remember his name. I keep my face bored. Inside, I’m on high alert. "Call the mayor back and tell him the man he doesn't remember just spent two million dollars in his name. See how fast he remembers."
“Yeah.” There’s a long beat while guard relays it through the earpiece. I count seven of my own heartbeats. Then a crackle. The guard steps back, tension seeping from his posture. “Sorry, Mr. Rendon. Evidently Mayor Pendleton was mistaken.”
It’s hard to keep the smug smile off my face. I've burned Pendleton's name down to the studs to keep my cover. Ransom is going to be furious that I’ve expended a favor. But fuck it. Worth it.
After getting an okay from another man, the guards step back and let me into the room where all the girls are kept.