Page 51 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
I recieve confirmation a second later, and tuck my phone back into my pocket, aware that the light cutting through the dark of the room could attract more attention than I want. I lean back in my seat, taking a moment to drink the place in.
There’s nobody here I recognize from the first night, but then, I wasn’t exactly making an effort to get to know them the first time I had stumbled upon these auctions. Most of them are by themselves, only a handful sharing the table with another man; Iwonder if they share their purchases, or if they just find common ground in this darkness and want to share it with someone else.
“Excuse me, sir...”
My head snaps around, and, for a second, I’m sure I have been busted. But, instead, I find myself looking at a waiter, who is offering me a glass.
“Whiskey?”
“Thank you,” I reply, taking it from him and placing it on the table in front of me. I don’t want to look out of place here. I don’t know exactly what I’m waiting for—the certainty that Maya is here, I guess, though I want to crush this place to the ground even if she isn’t.
But still, I have to bide my time, as difficult as it feels when I’m faced with something like this.
I sip on my drink. It’s expensive, I can taste that in an instant. I suppose that Artem doesn’t want to leave an expensed spared, when it comes to pandering to these degenerates. I let the bitter flavor linger on my tongue for a moment, pressing my hand into my thigh to keep my leg from bouncing.
How much longer are we going to have to wait? And where the fuck is my brother in all of this...?
Suddenly, a light goes up at the front of the room, illuminating a stage that reaches about halfway into the space. The room goes quiet as everyone turns their attention to the stage, and, a moment later, my brother steps out under the fresh lights.
He is grinning widely. Something cruel. The certainty, I guess, to him that he has managed to get what he wants from me. Todestroy something that I would do anything in my power to keep safe.
He steps to the front of the stage, lifting his hands to acknowledge everyone in the room.
“Gentlmen,” he intones, when he reaches the front. “I’m glad that you could join me for this evening’s affairs. I know that you are the most discerning when it comes to the kind of women you look for...”
He casts an eye over the crowd, and there almost seems something pointed in it, like he is making sure everyone knows just what he means. I wonder what proclivities lie in the seats around me, what kind of shit these men must get up to if they have to source their partners through such utterly unethical means.
“And I’m certain that the women we have for you tonight will meet your standards,” he finishes up. “But I won’t keep you waiting any longer, you’ve been patient enough—let’s bring out our first lot of the night, Maya. You might recognize her—her last buyer has fallen through, and she’s already looking for a new man to take her home...”
Everything in me tenses as I hear him speak about her like that, as though she is nothing more than a thing he can pass around as he sees fit. I squint into the bright lights, and, all at once, there she is.
My heart thuds against my ribs as I see her there before me, holding her hand up in front of her face, as terrified as she had been that first night when she had been pulled into my brother’s dark games.
But this time, the urge to save her is even stronger, even more demanding, than it had been that day. Because she is carrying my child.
I need to do anything in my power to get her out of this in one piece.
I want to get to my feet and take the shot right then and there, blow my brother’s brains out in front of this room and make sure every bastard in here knows what they are in for.
But I have to bide my time.
I need them all distracted when I make the move, and that will happen once the auction begins. I can already feel the tension rising in the room, as they take her in, this beautiful woman who stands before them. It makes my palms itch to think of them imagining their hands on her, but I swear to myself that not one of them will get the chance to touch her, not as long as there is still blood pumping through my veins.
“Come on, Maya, don’t be shy,” Artem tells her, reaching back to gesture for her to come a little closer. She’s wearing some ridiculous lingerie, a pair of high heels that she is clearly struggling to walk in, looking like she should be standing on a street corner somewhere.
Her perfect body is laid out on display for anyone who wants to look. But I can’t see her like that right now, no matter how much the rest of the men in this room clearly do—because she’s not herself.
“As you can see, she’s a beautiful specimen,” Artem remarks. “And has quite a libido, too. Something I can attest to myself...”
He reaches out to touch her shoulder, and I see her freeze up, her entire body seizing under his touch for a moment. It’s so obvious to see that she’s disgusted by him, but it’s clear he doesn’t give a damn.
Fuck, maybe there is even a part of him that likes it, knowing that she is utterly put off by his very touch.
“So, we’re going to start bidding high, at half a million,” he goes on. “And I think we’re ready to begin. So, gentlemen, who would like to put in the first bid for this young woman...?”
I have my hand on my gun before I know it. This is it. The moment I will take the shot, given the chance. Whoever dares raise their hand, they are going to pay for it with their fucking lives, and that’s how I’m going to put a stop to this. My eyes are fixed on Artem, trying to figure out if I can hit him from here if I move fast enough.
Either way, he is not getting out of here alive. That much, I know for sure.
