Chapter 23 #2
Either way, I couldn’t keep Aleks with me indefinitely.
As much as he seemed to enjoy being with me, he had a family that he wanted to get back to and who were eagerly waiting for him to come home.
And Dante and Magnus now understood the danger Aleks faced so they’d take steps to make sure no one could ever get to him again.
They’d do all the same things to protect him that I was.
And I still needed to find Gio.
Even if Stylianos was out of the picture, Gio was still out there.
I couldn’t have the life with Aleks I wanted, even if by some miracle we found Gio. There were too many kids like Gio and Aleks and the boy Luca had been forced to leave behind who needed to go home.
I forced myself to let go of thoughts of a future without Aleks as a couple of men approached the seating area we were in.
“Mr. Black?” an older man with carefully groomed gray hair said as he used Luca’s online alias.
Chances were good he knew who Luca really was, but the guests usually referred to each other by their online monikers.
The man reached out his hand toward Luca.
Luca didn’t react to him at first. Instead, he glanced at me and then waved his hand. “Get me a drink,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
It was all part of the plan… getting Luca a drink would give me the freedom to check out the initial layout of the building.
Since no one would dare touch Aleks while he was with Luca, I didn’t hesitate to walk away from the pair.
I overheard the man whose hand Luca finally deigned to take mention how lucky Luca was to have found such a prize, and I knew the fucker was talking about Aleks.
I glanced over my shoulder to see my brother looking at the man like he was nothing more than a bug he’d inadvertently stepped on and messed up his fancy shoes with.
I had to give our father credit for making Luca such a stunningly convincing actor.
Aleks, for his part, didn’t even flinch or respond to the comment. I wished there was a way I could show him how proud I was of him and that I was there and always watching out for him, but I couldn’t interact with him in any kind of meaningful way in public or it would all be over.
I scanned the room as I made my way to the bar.
There was only one marked exit besides the front entrance and both were heavily guarded by several men.
There was another doorway that wasn’t marked.
There was one guard there along with a smaller man dressed in a tux.
I watched as two men and a young girl stopped in front of Tuxedo Man.
He said something to one of the men and pointed behind him, then gave the man a slip of paper.
I felt my stomach drop out because I knew where the men were taking the girl.
I confirmed it when I reached the bartender and ordered Luca’s drink.
As I waited I asked, “Are there private rooms?”
“Yes, sir,” the bartender said as he motioned toward where Tuxedo Man was standing. “Douglas will get you all set up with one.”
I nodded and mentally told the girl to hang on just a little longer.
I took the drink he slid me. “Restrooms back there too?” I asked.
The man nodded. “Don’t let your boss fuck his pet in there, though,” the guy said crudely. “Management frowns on that.”
I wanted to punch him but managed to force out a chuckle.
“Good to know. Thanks.” I nodded at him and grabbed the drink.
By the time I reached Luca, all the other chairs around him and Aleks were taken.
Most of the men were alone, but one had a young boy with him.
The boy was in his early teens and very petite with feminine features and long black hair.
In reality, I couldn’t be completely sure the child was a boy.
He or she was sitting on the man’s lap and was fondling the man discreetly through his pants.
The kid had dead eyes.
Just like Aleks’s had always been.
I schooled my features into a mask of indifference as I went around the chairs and set Luca’s drink down on the table next to him. When I went to stand behind his chair, one of the men said, “Vaughn, it’s good to see you.”
“Mr. Stark,” I said with a nod. It wasn’t the fucker’s real name…
he was just an avid fan of superheroes. I’d never worked for him, but he’d tried to lure me away from Marcus at one point.
The man was extremely wealthy, but he wasn’t a big player.
He bought and sold kids like they were a new pair of shoes, and he preferred girls.
“A shame what happened to Marcus,” Mr. Stark said. After Marcus’s death, people hadn’t bothered with his alias anymore. “I was so happy to learn you weren’t at the home when tragedy struck,” the man said to me. “You were always such a valuable asset to our community,” he added.
If I hadn’t wanted to slit the guy’s throat, I would have found the situation humorous.
He was clearly still looking to add to his security team.
“And of course, the news that Aleks had survived as well was like we’d won the lottery or something,” he said with a chuckle.
“Mr. Oak here” – he used the hand he was holding his drink with to point at the man who had the child on his lap – “was actually disappointed he’d already made a purchase…
said he’d have made an exception on his age preference for Aleks. ”
The man laughed heartily and took a drink. Mr. Oak shot him a glare but it was clear the man was correct because the fucker then leered at Aleks.
“Yes, I believe you reached out to me about an exchange,” Luca said in a bored voice as he reached for his drink but didn’t take a sip.
“Your… ‘acquisition’ is quite lovely, but Aleks and I are still getting to know each other, aren’t we, my sweet?
” Luca dropped his hand to Aleks’s head and Aleks obediently looked up and nodded.
My gut wrenched painfully because I could see Aleks was one hundred percent there… no escaping into his head, no blackout.
He was hearing, seeing and feeling everything.
“Yes, Sir,” Aleks said softly, reverently.
I wanted to throw up.
Luca touched his chin briefly in what one could have almost called an affectionate way.
But then his expression hardened, and he motioned to the floor and Aleks immediately dropped his eyes and went silent.
“Of course, if the price were right and I found something that was more in line with my tastes…”
Luca let the words drop off and took a sip of his drink. We’d made it clear online what Luca was actually looking for.
A teenager with fair hair and light eyes.
I forced myself to listen to the conversation as the men talked about different pets they’d had and had either lost or gotten rid of for one reason or another…
they could have been talking about cars for all the emotion they showed.
Almost forty minutes had passed before Luca reached his hand up to motion to me.
“Yes, sir?” I asked as I stepped around the chair.
“Take him to the bathroom. I don’t want to be interrupted during the auction.”
“Of course, sir,” I said.
Aleks didn’t move until Luca told him to go with me.
Then he carefully got to his feet, keeping his hands folded demurely in front of him.
Since I was allowed to touch Luca’s property for this purpose, I took Aleks’s arm and led him toward where Tuxedo Man was still standing by the back hallway.
I discreetly rubbed my thumb into Aleks’s upper arm, but he didn’t react.
He couldn’t.
I shouldn’t have even done that much, but I wasn’t as strong as him.
When we reached Tuxedo Man he asked, “Private room for how many, sir?”
“Just the restroom,” I said.
“Of course. Down this hall and to the right.”
I led Aleks down the hallway. All the private rooms had letters on them and there were keypads on the doors.
Which meant the little slips of paper that Tuxedo Man had been handing out were the codes for the doors.
I tuned out the sounds I could hear coming from the other side of some of the doors and hoped Aleks was doing the same.
The bathroom was clearly marked and empty.
I ushered Aleks inside and closed and locked the door.
I quickly scanned the room for any video cameras.
There usually weren’t cameras at these things, because not only did they take too long to set up, but it wasn’t like these people wanted their activities recorded on film in any way, shape, or form.
“It’s safe, Aleks,” I said after a moment. “There aren’t any cameras or recording devices.”
I began to reach for him, but he put out his hand to stop me. “No,” he whispered. “Don’t touch me.”
Shock reverberated through me.
And hurt.
So much fucking hurt.
“Aleks—” I began in disbelief, but he shook his head and lifted his eyes to meet mine. They were swimming with tears but somehow, he managed to keep them from falling.
“I’m okay, James. But if you touch me, I’m going to lose it and I won’t be able to go back out there.”
His words made me feel both better and worse at the same time.
“It’s almost over, baby. Just hang in there a little longer.”
Aleks stiffened his spine and nodded, then wiped at his eyes. He went to the bathroom mirror and checked his face to make sure there wasn’t any proof of his tears. He was careful not to look at the collar or his outfit. He returned to me and sucked in a few breaths. “I’m ready,” he murmured.
“When we go out there, I’m going to look around a bit to see if there are any doors leading outside back here.
If someone stops us, I’m just going to play it like we got turned around while trying to head back to the main room, okay?
We won’t have long to look around so just stay with me and move quickly. ”
Aleks nodded. “I will.”
I wanted to hug him and tell him how amazing I thought he was, but I knew he was right… if he showed even any of the emotion he was feeling, he’d break down completely.