Page 49 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
“How do you know?” Anna demands, moving towards the other woman, her brows knitting together worriedly. The butterfly on her wrist flexes with each motion, almost as if it is flying.
“I heard him talking to his men when he was outside,” she replies, gesturing back towards the door she is leaning on.
“Oh, God,” I gasp, and I clap a hand to my face.
“An auction?” Anna asks, looking between us. “I don’t understand, why are we going to an auction?”
“Because we’re the lots,” the other woman tells her, voice taking on an edge of exasperation. I can’t blame her. This situation is sohellish, there’s almost no way to react to it that feels as though it captures the enormity of what is happening.
“We’re the, what?”
“They’re selling girls, Anna,” I tell her softly, reaching out to put my hand on her knee, doing what I can to lessen the blow of this revelation. Her eyes well with tears, and she sinks back to the other side of the van, her mind already reeling from the horror of what she has just discovered.
I feel the other woman looking at me, and I glance back at her, not entirely sure what to say.
“I’m Luna, by the way,” she introduces herself. I peer at her for a moment, trying to get a better look at her. The name rings a bell, as distinct as it is.
“Wait, did you ever come to the?—”
“The bar that Artem runs, yeah,” she replies, fiddling with a toggle on her oversized sweater. “I used to come to... find guys. If you know what I mean.”
“Oh, yeah, right,” I murmur. Shit, I don’t judge. God knows that we have all done things we are not proud of just to make ends meet. But she takes my silence for judgement, and frowns, leaning forward in an attempt to explain herself.
“I only did it because I lost my job,” she explains. “And this shithead guy I was seeing, he kicked me out and moved his new girl in, so I would have been on the streets if I hadn’t.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” I tell her gently, and she stares at me for a moment, clearly not entirely convinced that I’m not judging her right now. But, after a moment, she sinks back to the other side of the truck, fiddling with the toggles again.
The engine rumbles beneath us, and silence fills the air as we all contemplate our fate. I can’t help but let my mind drift back to the threat that he laid against me in particular, telling me that he had a particular buyer picked out for me.
And, by the sounds of it, he’s not the kind of man who lets his women last long. I can’t even think about that. It hasn’t happened yet, this sale, and I have to believe that it won’t. The other option is too much to bear.
And, of course, I have my baby to think of in all of this. The child who has been entrusted into my care, the little one that I should be decorating a nursery for right now or something. But no, I decided I knew better, and walked out into the street, practically handing myself over to Artem in any way he wanted me.
“Do either of you... uh, do either of you have kids?” I blurt out, as I look between the two of them. They both turn to me, Luna parting her lips in surprise, and Anna already shaking her head.
“No, thank God,” Luna replies. “Why? Do you?”
“Oh, my God,” Anna gasps, and my shoulders sag.
“No, I don’t have kids,” I reply. “I was just... wondering, that’s all.”
Luna eyes me for a moment, clearly not entirely buying what I’m trying to convince her of. I don’t blame her. It’s a strange thing to bring up at a time like this, unless there was a very specific reason that it should have been on my mind.
Better to keep my mouth shut. I let the sound of the wheels turn into white noise in my ears and wonder how long we have before we arrive. And what happens when we do? They’re going to march us out there just like they did to me before, treating melike nothing but a piece of meat. Even the thought of it is enough to make my stomach turn.
I squeeze my eyes shut, and send out a prayer to anyone who might be listening. I don’t care who helps me right now, I don’t care what religion I have to convert to, I will do anything, anything at all, if it means that I can get out of this. And get Luna and Anna out of this, too, because I’m certain that no woman on earth could deserve a fate like this, and that I would do almost anything to spare them from it.
But it’s not God I should be praying to. No, it’s a man that a lot of people would consider the embodiment of the devil—a brutal, possessive man, who I knew would do anything to keep this child safe.
And that’s who I think of, as I finally feel the wheels come to a halt beneath me, him, Anton. He is the best hope I have of getting out of this, even if that seems close to impossible right now.
The doors fly open in front of us, and I lift a hand as I squint into the light. Of course, Artem is standing there, big grin on his face, like all of this is a sick joke to him.
“Come on, girls,” he tells us, waving his hand in our direction like this is all some kind of big joke to him. “We’re here. And I want you to take your time to get prettied up before I put you up for sale, okay? I have some outfits backstage that I know you’re going to love...”
Anna, Luna, and I exchange a glance—and, though none of us say a word, it feels like there is a silent agreement between us that we will stand by each other no matter what through all of this. No matter what stands on the other side of that door, we arenot going to let it take us down. It’s the only chance we have of making it out of this alive.
Though those changes seem to be dwindling with every passing second.
