Chapter 17 #2
A fair-skinned woman with long wavy hair sauntered onto the stage, entering from the opposite direction from where I came.
She flashed a phony smile in my direction as she approached the podium.
Fake bitch. She knew I was there by force just as much as anyone else in the room, so there was no need for me to return the niceties.
Then again, she might not exactly be there by choice either.
I only had a second to consider that before she picked up the microphone from its stand.
“Gentlemen, do we have a treat for you this evening.”
I zoned out as she introduced me and read out my credentials as if I were a show dog. My father stood just a few feet away from the stage, watching me with rapt attention.
“The opening bid has been adjusted, although we do have a goal in mind. With that being said, we will open the bid at two hundred and fifty grand.”
Shock sent an electric current through me as I watched a hand shoot into the air. Things were moving so quickly that I didn’t even see half of the men bidding.
“Remember, fellas, you’re gonna have to dig deep if you want bloodline access to the Morgan Family Mafia and all it has to offer.”
Lonnie Jefferson, one of my dad’s oldest friends, blew me away when he nodded his head, promoting the woman to move higher in the bid.
“We have a million. Can I get one point two five?”
A finger shot up.
“A million and a quarter. Do we have a million five?”
“Miss Smith, we have an offer submitted from the Black Family Cartel,” a man announced from the back of the room.
“Excuse me?” my dad asked, whirling around to look in their direction. The man hurriedly rushed to the stage and whispered in the auction attendant’s ear. She cleared her throat before speaking into the microphone.
“Ok, guys, we have a bid for five million dollars!”
“Is this a joke?” my father roared. “The Blacks haven’t attended an auction in years. Who is even eligible? Neither of their sons are in the business. Where the hell is Timothy Black?” he asked, looking around as if he were appalled.
“He sent a representative, apparently,” the woman stated.
“The Blacks weren’t even invited. Somebody better tell me what the hell is going on right now!” my father demanded.
“Apparently, their people only arrived moments ago.”
“So not only are they here uninvited, they submit a bogus bid and had the nerve to show up late to my auction.”
The crowd shifts, gradually parting to make way for the intruder. It felt like my knees would give out any second as the energy in the room changed with each breath I took.
“Come here, mama. Get down from there,” Sawyer ordered, extending his hand to me.
My feet felt like lead, but both my heart and head were screaming for me to go to him.
“Sawyer,” I mouthed.
“Who the hell is this clown?” my dad yelled.
“Aye, shut the fuck up with all that hollering. I submitted a legitimate bid, which has been verified by your own people. Zenia is mine. Now either I take her the easy way or the hard way. I really want you to say the hard way. Please say the hard way.”
“Mr. Morgan, we have in fact verified the legitimacy of their submission.”
“I don’t give a damn about legitimate. This man was not invited. The Blacks have not participated in these auctions for over a decade, and now all of a sudden, I’m supposed to believe this is not some kind of scheme cooked up by my conniving daughter!”
“Zenia, you didn’t hear me talking to you?” Sawyer asked, returning his attention to me.
Finally, I was able to will my feet to move, but my father yelled out, causing me to halt my steps.
“Don’t you fucking dare. No one goes anywhere until this auction is finished.”
Sawyer moved so fast that I barely had time to blink before he pulled out a gun, cocked the hammer back, and put it in the center of my father’s forehead.
“Come to me, mama. You don’t have to be afraid of this asshole anymore.”
This time, I managed to get the lead out as I scurried to the steps on the side of the stage and down to the floor.
As soon as my feet hit the floor, one of my father’s men grabbed me.
I didn’t have time to react before his head flew back and blood spattered on everything behind us.
My eyes ballooned as Sawyer pointed a second gun at the crowd.
“Call your goons off, Zahad, or the next one is going in your head,” Sawyer commanded.
“Stand down! Stand the fuck down!” my father bellowed.
Never had I ever seen him take orders from someone else.
“Now as I was saying, I am Sawyer Black, Timothy and Diane’s oldest son.
I have just as much right to be here as anyone else in the room.
Just because my family decided not to make their money from human trafficking doesn’t mean that I’m not eligible to show up to play your sick and twisted games when necessary. ”
“What the hell do you want from me?” my father asked.
“Your daughters. All of them.”
“For five million dollars, you can take this one. She’s no good to me anyway. You’re actually cheating yourself big time.” My father chuckled.
His dark humor was short lived when Sawyer hit him across the face with the barrel of the gun.
“Shut the fuck up. You’re no comedian. I would tell you not to quit your day job if it didn’t involve selling your own daughters for profit. I’m not leaving those girls in your grimy-ass hands. I want all four girls.”
“You’re crazy.”
“I may be, but we’re not leaving without them, right, baby?” Sawyer asked, glancing at me.
“Baby?” my father quizzed.
“That’s right. Where are the twins, Dad? You said they would be safe if I did this!”
“Don’t worry, I already got ’em, mama. They were locked in a room down the hall. I just need to make sure that after I pay Zahad and this organization five million dollars for each of you, I don’t have to also blow this muthafucka up to make sure they don’t double-cross me once the deal is done.”
“You can’t muscle your way in here making all kinds of demands just because of the Black Cartel’s standing. Last I knew, Timothy’s oldest son was out of the game.”
“Consider this my welcome back ceremony.”
Someone grabbed my arm, and I snatched it out of their grasp as I turned to look at them.
“Nicholas?”
“Reed said he really wished that he could be here, but that’s a conversation for another day. I need you to come with me.”
Instead of focusing on the words I probably needed to hear more than anything, I turned back to Sawyer. With a single nod, he gave me all the reassurance necessary to make me move.
“Go with him, mama.”
“Come on. Your sisters are in the chopper,” Nicholas stated as I followed him toward an exit.
“You stupid bitch!” My father barked, causing me to look back in time to see him lunging at me.
Sawyer didn’t give him a chance to take a full step before he fired a single shot, sending a bullet though his head.
I should have been horrified, watching the man I loved murder my father.
Instead, I felt lighter. My own father’s murder would have set me free if it weren’t for the already ongoing auction.
Suddenly, gunshots erupted from every direction.
“Sawyer!” I screamed as he pivoted and fired more shots.
Gunfire continued to ring out as about twenty armed men filled the room.
Nicholas literally dragged me out of the room as I screamed Sawyer’s name until my voice went out.
He promised that he would do whatever was necessary to save me, even if it meant risking his own life. That was never what I wanted.
Nicholas carried me onto a helicopter, and I practically collapsed into my sister Zora’s arms.
“It’s OK, Sis. You’re safe now,” Zuri told me.
As relieved as I was to see my sisters, I couldn’t even focus on the feeling for worrying about Sawyer.
“They shot him, Nicholas. I think they shot him,” I murmured as tears blurred my vision.
“He’s a soldier, Zenia. Don’t count him out,” Nicholas assured me as he climbed into the cockpit.
My head hurt so bad that I didn’t even feel like processing the fact that he was about to fly the freaking helicopter. Stranger things had happened. Just moments ago, I was being auctioned off to be a sex slave before being rescued by my brand-new man.
Sawyer and I were still new. I had just realized that I loved him, and now he might be gone. It was too much. My head pounded as the chopper lifted off the ground.
“Nicholas, don’t leave him!” I demanded.
“I’m following his instructions, Zenia. He’s not coming with us.”
“I can’t leave without him, Nicholas. This isn’t right.”
“I love him too, Zenia, but this was the plan. I get you out.”
“Fuck this plan.”
“He’s going to be OK, Sis,” Zora said, pulling my head back down in her lap.
“I love him, ZoZo.”
“I know, baby.”
“I can’t believe this is happening.” I sobbed.
There was no use in arguing; we were already in the air and moving. Through the agonizing headache and the possible loss of the man I loved, something occurred to me.
“Where is Zara?”
Everything was a blur as we moved from the helicopter to a small airplane. The seats were cozy and luxurious, but none of that mattered. I needed Sawyer. So far, no one had an answer about where the hell Zara was. That possibly meant that she didn’t make it out of the building.
I tried to focus on being grateful that the twins were there instead of beating myself up about not being able to save Zara. I didn’t realize how relieved I would be that Nicholas wasn’t flying the plane until he sat in front of me.
“You drink?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“What would you like?”
“Something dark, no chaser.”
He chuckled before waving a woman over. “Yes, Mr. King?” she asked.
“Bring over a bottle of scotch and a couple of glasses. You sure you don’t want any chaser?”
I simply shook my head.
“Coming right up.”
“Don’t count him out, Zenia.”