40. Olivia
Tony carries me to my room after the “meeting” with Lopez García. If you could even call it a meeting. I got told that the guy I had been seeing knew I was here, captured by his grandfather, then got raped.
Alex knew I was investigating the Cartel. He didn’t seem to be trying to stop me, but he wasn’t trying to help me either. I don’t know what to think about Alex, but that is a problem for another time. Right now, I need to focus on getting myself and the other victims out of here.
While here, I will try to help as many victims as possible. I can also find out where they are and who is actually holding them hostage. I assume they are at some sort of warehouse, but there is no telling. What I do know is that I refuse to let those victims have the same things that are happening to me happen to them.
Tony jerks me around as we round the corner of the hallway leading to my room. When we walk in, a box with a note on top is on my bed. Great, that’s just what I need. More surprises. “Tony, what the hell is on my bed?” I asked him with no emotion in my voice at all.
“It’s a gift from the boss. He told me to make sure that you get dressed and come down to the banquet hall by 7.”
I looked at the clock and saw that it was already 6:15 p.m. “What am I getting ready for?” I looked up at him, hoping to understand what was happening.
“Boss is having a party tonight and wants to show you off. So get dressed so we can head down and enjoy the night.”
A party? This mother fucker captured me, raped me, and now expects me to entertain at a party? I don’t even have enough energy to get out of bed half the time.
Tony sets me down, and I walk to my bed and pick up the note.
Put this on, and do your hair and make-up. No panties or Bra.
That's it? Nothing else on the note? I stare at the card for a while longer, as if something on it is going to change. I noticed the similarity in the handwriting compared to the note Alex left me. The thought alone makes me crumple up the note and throw it across the room with a scream. I can’t believe Alex is behind all of this.
Fuck this
Fuck him
Fuck my feelings I still have for him.
Fuck it all
I open the box and see a strapless, sparkling emerald-green dress. It is beautiful. I pick it up and hold it up to myself. Green is the perfect color for my pale skin and red hair. I look in the box and find a pair of black heels at the bottom, along with a velvet box next to it. My breath hitches at the anticipation and irritation of what is in that velvet box.
I lay the dress on my bed, pull the shoes out, and set them next to it. Finally, I get the nerve to pick up the velvet box and open it. Inside are a diamond tennis bracelet and a matching necklace. This bracelet has more diamonds than I have ever seen in one place other than a jewelry store.
Regardless of my family apparently being the Irish mafia, we lived a very modest lifestyle. I am assuming that was part of the act to keep me oblivious to what was happening right under my nose. I was raised to be humble and to appreciate what I had. I have never held something so expensive before, and honestly, I am scared to even wear it. What if it falls off, and I lose it? That would be my luck. I want to throw the bracelet across the room and break it. But I can't bring myself to do that. The jewelry is not the reason I have blood running down my legs.
My soul is in pieces; my world is shattering around me.
I grab my chest, my heart physically aching from the betrayal.
Forty-five minutes later, I am in the emerald dress that hugs every one of my curves just right. My red hair cascades in ringlets down my back, and my makeup is just right. The diamond necklace hangs from my neck, and these black heels are already killing my feet. Not a teardrop or blood in sight.
I walk up to Tony, sitting in the chair beside my door, playing a game on his phone. He is completely oblivious to anything around him, including me standing right in front of him.
“Tony. Are you ready?” I ask. He damn near jumps out of his skin, and I can’t help but laugh so hard I am bent over, grabbing my stomach.
“You know, for such a big guy, you scare easily. How does that work with you working for the Cartel?” Tony’s eyes are daggers. If looks could kill, I would be dead on the spot.
“Got it, big guy. No more jokes.” I say to him as I pat his chest and walk past him. Mumbling under my breath, “Fucking pussy ,” as I walk away, my heels clicking on the ground the whole way.
A whole party is in full swing downstairs when we finally get to the banquet hall. There have to be over two hundred people here, and they all look to be upper-class with their fancy dresses and perfectly tailored suits.
What is the occasion? Mentally, I smack myself in the forehead. Why do I even care? I am being held captive here; hundreds, if not thousands, of men, women, and children need my help, and I am worried about what occasion it is to have a party. What in the actual fuck is wrong with me?
Tony walks me up to Lopez García, "sweet girl. I am so glad you could join us tonight.” He says as he walks up next to me, leaning to kiss my cheek. I flinch in reaction, and he puts his hand on the small of my back. I want to break his hand for touching me, but I can’t afford to make a scene here, so I just keep my mouth shut.
“Let me introduce you to everyone, dear. They have been impatiently waiting for your arrival so they could meet you.” I rolled my eyes before he could see. This guy is so full of shit, but once again, I keep my mouth shut for the sake of my life. After a trip around the banquet hall, I met more people than not, and I hoped there would be no quiz after this because I didn’t think I could remember one name. We finally end up at a table in the front of the room next to the stage.
I am gestured to sit down as Lopez García walks towards a stage. A man in a waiter's suit comes up and pours me a glass of water, and I take a sip, wishing it were something with more alcohol content in it, but I guess it’s for the best of me to stay clear-headed during this whole thing. I have no idea what to expect at this party and need a level head to handle any possibility that may be thrown my way.
“Good evening, everyone.” Lopez García’s voice booms through the speaker. ”Tonight is a very special night, and I have a surprise for you.” You can hear the whisper of wonder throughout the crowd. I try to sit here, as if I am paying complete attention to Lopez García, and not memorize every square inch of this house to find the easiest exit.
“Usually, my annual auctions are a little more of the mixed variety, if you know what I mean.” The crowd gives a soft chuckle. Am I the only one who finds that comment disgusting? But I assume you can’t be friends with Lopez García and not like holding people against their will to do your bidding.
“But this year, not only will I have the usual product up for auction, but I will also have a beautiful woman who is quite unique up for auction tonight as well.” The crowd starts to murmur again and looks around to find the woman that Lopez García is talking about. I am also guilty of looking around for this woman. If I have a chance, I might see if there is a way to get her out of here safely before they try to get her up on stage.
When I see the shuffle of black suits behind me, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. And that’s when it hits me.
I AM THE WOMAN.
I am the surprise that will be put up on that stage.
I get up as fast as the stupid-ass heels will let me and turn to try to run out of the room before I can get brought up to the stage, but at that exact moment, Tony wraps his arms around me.
I started punching Tony in any spot I could reach. I hear some grunts, but he doesn't loosen his grip.
“Tony, Stop! Get your hands off of me!" I screamed at him. Everyone in the banquet hall has turned to face us.
“Don’t worry, Preciosa, we can still play after you are sold.” He says in my ear with a growl. I fling my head back and get a satisfied crunch of his nose. “Fuck! You broke my nose bitch!” He yells at me. You can hear all the comments coming from the crowd.
“She is a feisty one.”
“I wouldn’t mind a piece of that.”
“I wish Lopez always brought these types of women instead of the ugly ones and kids; I would buy more often.”
Tony finally gets me up on the stage, and there is an evil grin on Lopez García’s face. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, you will make someone very happy, just like you did me.” I shiver at the admission.
I look out into the crowd; honestly, every face I met earlier now looks different. Men are rubbing their hands together and licking their lips at me; women are looking at me like a piece of meat. It's as if they took off their ‘normal’ mask and became a predator. It makes my stomach get nauseous.
“Let's get this show on the road, shall we?” Lopez García says. I look at him like he has lost his damn mind. I am not a show. Fuck how can I get out of this? There has to be a way out of this building, even though Lopez García and his goons are hovering. I'm wiggling a little to judge the grip Tony has on me. It’s solid but not unbreakable.
So with that thought and courage from who knows where, I try to get out of Tony’s grip. That is when he tightens his grip on me, and I feel the cold metal of handcuffs tightening on my wrist. Well, this just got a hell of a lot more complicated. I swing my head to the left, trying to make contact with someone, and all I see is another big bulky dude in a tux, like Tony, glaring at me as he tightens the cuffs one more notch, making it grip of the cuffs on my wrists uncomfortable, and if I move, my wrist, they will end up with marks.
“Don't you dare move! The marks on your wrists will make your new Master very upset.” The other dude whispered into my ear. Tony shoves me to the middle of the stage and nods at Lopez García. Never letting go of my arms. Damn pussy has to put cuffs on me and still hold both of my arms in place. I rolled my eyes before anyone could see me.
“Well, Ladies and Gentlemen. That was a bit dramatic. I apologize for that. This here is Olivia. Not only can you tell that she is a fiery redhead, but she is also a dear Irish Mafia Princess. Her family is the O’Connor family in New York; they hold the biggest gun trading on the East Coast.” He says it with such enthusiasm and charisma that I can see how this man persuades these people.
“She sits five feet five inches tall and is a solid one hundred and twenty pounds, not an ounce of fat on this woman, ladies and gentlemen. She works for the San Diego Police Department. So, as you can see, our little mafia princess is straddling both sides of the law. Imagine what else she could be straddling.” He says with a chuckle, and the whole room chuckles and murmurs their agreement.
“Ok, now for the good parts.” Lopez García says, grabbing my arm and spinning me around. As Tony loosened his grip so Lopez García could spin me, I tried to knee him in the balls and run, but this man, I swear, has balls of steel because he didn't even flinch when I made contact. He just tsked at me and grabbed my arms tighter.
Lopez García comes up behind me, grabs the bottom of my dress, and pulls it up. I spread my legs out so he couldn't move them any further. He bends toward my ear and whispers, “Don’t worry, dear. There is a reason I chose this dress for you.”
Tony grabs a knife from the sheath on his belt, puts the blade between my breasts, and cuts down the center of the dress. My cheeks flare red with anger as I try to grab the opening and forget my hands are cuffed behind my back. The sudden movement caused my wrists to split open. I feel the trickle of blood running down my hands and dripping off my fingers.
“No! Stop!” I yelled as I tried to move so he couldn't cut any more of my dress, which was stupid on my part because it caused his knife to shift and cut a line from my sternum down my stomach. The dark rage in Tony and Lopez García’s faces intensifies, becoming terrifying.
“Look what you did, you fucking stupid girl!” Lopez García growls, then slaps me across the face. My head snaps to the side, and I feel the bruise forming on my cheek. The whole crowd gasps at the smack.
As soon as I catch my barring, I turn to Lopez García and spit the blood pooling in my mouth at his face. He gets a sinister grin on his face as he wipes off the blood and spit, then grabs the two halves of my dress and rips it the rest of the way down, throwing it to the side so I am now in nothing but my heels and jewelry.
“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, the last of the viewing before we start the bidding.” Lopez García says, turning back towards the crowd.
Tony pushes my head down so I bend at the waist, and he kicks my legs to spread me open more. The crowd starts to comment on me. The worst part is that it is loud, and they talk as if I am not even here to hear them.
“Look at that pussy. It looks tight as fuck.”
“She is a brat that I would like to get hold of.”
“I wonder what all she has done with her tight ass.”
I feel completely exposed and defeated. I don’t even have the willpower or fight in me anymore. My breathing hitches, and a single tear falls down my face.
Tony lifts me back up and turns me around to show the crowd my tits and the front of my vagina, which has not been shaved since I went out with Alex.
"Oh, look at her pubs; they are as red as her hair. I can't wait to dive into that." A guy in the front says.
“She has some nice tits!” A girl comments.
“Can we start the bidding already?” I hear a male further back in the crowd.
“Alright, ladies and Gentlemen, we will start the bidding at thirty-five thousand dollars. Do I hear someone for thirty-five?” Lopez García says.
“Thirty-five,” the guy in the front, who said he liked my pubes, says out, raising his little fan-looking thing with a number on it.
“Forty,” I hear from a female.
“Fifty,” I hear another female say.
The numbers keep going up. Eventually, we reach three hundred fifty thousand dollars. I don't know how a non-virgin would go for that much. But it seems like I am worth something around here. It's disgustingly flattering that someone would pay that much for me. Then again, these are the same people who also willingly buy children, so I really shouldn't be so shocked.
“One million dollars,” I hear yelled from the back of the room. My jaw dropped. Who on earth just said that? It can’t be real! There is no way that Lopez García will say no to that. At this point, I am as good as sold. I can't see who it is, but I can hear everyone in the crowd start to whisper to each other and talk about this guy who bid so much and the woman he is with.
“SOLD! For One Million Dollars to the gentlemen in the back!” Lopez García is basically salivating at the mouth when he is speaking. I glance at the crowd before being pulled backstage. I looked up and saw two figures walking towards the stage.
Alex and Rachel… My heart falls to my stomach. My heart flutters in excitement and aches from the betrayal. Rachel looks pissed and ready to kill everyone in sight, and Alex looks neutral like he doesn't have a care in the world. Fucking shocker; when he was behind all of this.
I hear the low rumble of Alex’s voice over all the chaos.
“She comes with me!”
That’s the end for now….