Chapter Two
~ Jackson ~
"We're here, sir."
I cracked my eyes open and glanced around. It had been ten years since I'd been back to the family estate. It didn't really look like too much had changed.
There was still a tall stone fence that went around the place and big black metal gates at the beginning of the driveway. Although, I was a little confused as to why the gate was open. When I had lived here, they had always been kept closed and locked, only opening when needed.
Ground lights lined the driveway on either side, brightening up the darkness that had fallen. Still, I wasn't able to see the vehicles parked in front of the house until we were nearly upon them. Four high-end luxury cars, two sports cars, and a limousine.
A small cluster of men stood near the limousine, all of them dressed in dark suits. They glanced toward us when my driver stopped in front of the walkway, but then went back to talking as if we weren't important enough to garner their attention. Or maybe it was that they assumed we were here for whatever even was happening.
I was kind of curious as to what was happening considering this was technically my property until the will was settled, one way or the other, and I didn't remember planning anything.
"Edward, find out who all these cars belong to," I ordered. "Make sure to get pictures of the license plates, but do so discretely. I'm not sure what is going on, but I want to know who is here."
"Of course, sir."
"I'll be inside."
When the driver came around to my door, I stepped out and then straightened my tie and smoothed down my lapels before heading up the walkway toward the mansion.
The door was opened as soon as I reached it by a man dressed in a dark suit much like the guys standing by the cars. He gave me a respectful bow of his head.
"Good evening, sir. Festivities have already started in the main gathering room. May I get you a drink?"
"Scotch."
"Very good, sir. I'll bring that right out to you."
I waited for the man—I assumed he was a butler—to leave before casually strolling toward the main gathering room, which my family had always referred to as the living room. Maybe "main gathering room" sounded my elite.
What I found as soon as I reached the entryway was anything but elite. I ground my teeth together, my nostrils flaring with outrage at what I was seeing.
There were a good number of people in the room, most of them dressed as if attending a high society party. A few were dressed in servant uniforms, but they were easy to pick out as they were walking around the room offering drinks and hors d'oeuvres to people.
That's not what enraged me.
What enraged me was the small stage someone had placed in the middle of the room, or rather the young man kneeling on it, his head bent down and his arms secured behind his back with a set of padded cuffs.
I was even more enraged about the collar around the man's neck. It was attached to a chain connected to the ceiling. The man couldn't run away. He was restrained in place.
He was also naked.
I started to step forward when a wave of laughter filled the room. I tore my gaze away from the dark haired man and looked over the room again. It took a moment, but then it dawned on me that these people were having fun. A young man was chained up and they were enjoying themselves.
Was this some sort of sex party?
Was the young man to be used as a party favor? A sex slave?
Was he even here willingly?
What in the hell was going on in my father's house?
My eyes narrowed when a man in a white suit walked into the room. The moment he stopped next to the small stage, I knew the young man wasn't here willingly. Not only did he let out a small whimper, but he tried to edge away from the guy in the suit.
"Your drink, sir."
I barely caught myself from jumping. I turned to find the butler looking guy standing beside me with a drink on a tray. I picked it up, but before taking a drink I asked, "Can you point me to the bathroom?"
I knew very well where the bathroom was, but I was hoping to play dumb until I figured out what was going on here.
"Right this way, sir."
I glanced at the kneeling man once more and then followed the butler away from the main room to a side hallway and the bathroom. As soon as I stepped inside the bathroom, I shut and locked the door and then turned the water on.
I walked to the farthest wall from the door and pulled out my cell phone. I called Edward first. "Did you find out the names of the people here?"
"Most of them," Edward replied. "I'm looking them up now."
"Once you do that I need you to figure out a way to discretely disable their vehicles."
Edward sounded so confused when he asked, "Sir?"
"There's some stuff going on in here. I can't tell you about it right now, but there's a young man's life at stake. I don't want anyone to be able to take him away from here."
"I'll do my best, sir."
I knew he would.
"I'm calling for reinforcements."
I just hoped they arrived in time.
After hanging up, I dialed again, this time to Miles. It took a few rings for him to answer the phone.
"I wasn't expecting you to call this soon, Jack."
"I need help."
Miles's voice sounded serious when he asked, "What can I do?"
"I need you to get some reinforcements up to my father's estate just as fast as you can get them here."
"What's going on, Jack?"
"I decided to head to my father's estate so I could meet Daniel and talk to him. When I arrived, there was a party going on. People I've never met before were here and there's a naked man chained up in the middle of the room. I very seriously doubt that he is here willingly. I think he's a party favor."
"Where's Daniel?"
"I have no idea." I swallowed tightly as I remembered the man in the white suit. "I'm really hoping he isn't the guy hosting this bloody thing."
It wasn't like I knew what he looked like.
"Okay, I'm going to make some calls and get there as fast as I can. I'll call you once I know something."
"Text me for right now," I replied. "I don't want anyone overhearing our conversation, and hurry." I shuddered to think of what might happen to this guy if I wasn't able to stop it. "I'm going to go mingle and see what I can find out."
After hanging up with Miles, I flushed the toilet and then turned off the water. I would have liked to just stay in the bathroom until reinforcements arrived, but I also could let that poor young man stay out there like that. He must be terrified.
I knew I would be.
I waited a few more minutes before unlocking and opening the door. I took my drink with me as I left the bathroom and casually walked down the hallway, sliding my free hand into the pocket of my slacks.
To anyone watching me, I'm sure I looked like a rich man in his mid-thirties, dressed well, with a confident air about me that spoke of my heritage and life in the social elite, which was exactly what I wanted them to see.
It wouldn't do for these people to think I wasn't one of them. I had no issues with people that wanted to live a free lifestyle, as long as all parties involved consented to it.
You want to swing with your partner? Go for it. The more the merrier.
You want to get your kink on? Grab a paddle and have fun.
Want to attend a sex party? Make sure you have plenty of lube and condoms.
Role playing? Costumes? Fur fetish? Whatever floated your boat, as long as it was legal and consensual.
This did not look consensual.
Pretty sure it wasn't legal either.
I loitered at the edge of the main room entrance, slowly sipping my scotch as I carefully gazed at all the people in the room. I didn't recognize any of them, but that didn't surprise me considering I'd spent a majority of the last decade in another country.
The ratio of men to women did surprise me. I counted at least ten men in the room, but only five women. I thought there would be more women, even if a majority of them were arm candy.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming."
The man in the white suit walked to the middle of the room again, his arms spread wide. There was a big smile on his face that I had the overwhelming urge to smack off.
I stiffened when he walked over to the young man and grabbed a handful of his hair, yanking his head back. My belief that this guy wasn't here of his own free will was reinforced when I saw the tears trickling down his pale cheeks.
"Our boy here has been training for most of his life," the guy in white continued. "He's young, well versed in what it takes to serve his master, and easily trainable for your needs." The man's smile turned sly. "The bidding will start in twenty minutes. Don't forget to bring your wallets."
What the fuck?
I tossed back the rest of my scotch, set my glass on the tray held by a passing waiter, and then started looking around for the butler dude. When I spotted him, I slid a hand into the pocket of my slacks and casually walked over to him.
It was hard not to run.
"Is there somewhere quiet I can make a phone call?" I asked when I reached him. I purposely glanced at my watch. "I'm waiting for an overseas wire transfer. I need to make sure that it's here before the bidding begins."
"I'm sorry, sir. Cell phones are not allowed at tonight's event."
"A land line will work."
The butler frowned for a moment before stating, "There's a phone in the study you can use."
I almost started in that direction until I remembered I wasn't supposed to know where that was. "Can you show me?"
"Right this way, sir."
I followed the man back down the hallway to a set of large wooden double doors. The butler pushed them open and then pointed to the phone on the desk.
"Thank you," I said before crossing the room and picking up the phone. I quickly dialed Miles's number. "Mr. Jackson, this is Wyatt Cranston."
"Jack?"
"Yes," I replied. "I'm calling about that overseas wire transfer I spoke with you about earlier. I'm at an auction that is supposed to begin in twenty minutes. I need to make sure that money has arrived before then."
"Christ, Jack, are you telling me they are auctioning this kid off?" Miles asked.
"That's exactly what I am saying."
"We'll be there in ten minutes."
"Excellent." I needed to give Miles more information, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. I lifted the phone away from my ear and glanced toward the butler, who was listening avidly to my conversation. "Is it a silent auction?"
"I do not believe so, sir," the butler replied.
I pressed the phone back to my ear. "It's not a silent auction, Mr. Jackson, but I'm not sure how I feel about that. Things like this really should be silent."
"We'll be as silent as we can be, but we're coming in on three Blackhawk helicopters. I'm not sure how quiet they can be."
"I understand. Just try your best."
I glanced at the butler when he cleared his throat.
"I need to go, Mr. Jackson," I said. "Please make sure the funds have arrived in my account on time. I'd hate to miss the auction."
"We'll be there, Jack."
I turned to smile at the butler. "Hopefully, the fund will be here in time."
"Yes, sir."
As I started to hang up the phone, a picture on the desk caught my attention. I recognized the older man simply because he was my father, even if he had a bit more gray hair and wrinkles around his eyes. The younger blond haired man that stood at his side was a mystery.
Until he wasn't.
My blood ran cold when I realized that the sky blue eyes staring back at me from the picture were the same ones that had been filled with tears in the main gathering room.
Bloody hell!
They were auctioning off my future husband.