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  “Hostile, unbreakable, feisty.” He continued to list my imperfections. “Fight score is an even ten.”

  A collective sound of acknowledgment filled the room. There were even a few whistles.

  What did that mean? Was that bad? Was that good?

  If no one bought me, would they let me go? Or would they just kill me?

  “Two partners.” He read from the piece of paper in his hands. “Engineer. Sexual experience is limited.”

  I’m not a virgin. So no, my experience was not limited. But I wasn’t going to argue because that didn’t matter.

  “The bidding is now open.” He stepped back to the podium and ran the bidding. He set the price, and it slowly increased as more men bid on me. I was disgusted when I saw the same man who bought another woman bid on me as well. Did he really need two slaves?

  The number kept climbing until it reached a million.

  Holy shit.

  Instead of slowing down, it kept going. The bid rose higher and higher, and testosterone swirled in the room. Someone in there was going to make a fortune off my suffering. He was going to have more money than any person needed—and I would be paying that debt until I died.

  “You’re all sick fucks.” I couldn’t keep the disdain from leaving my lips. I didn’t care if I was slapped right then and there. I was a human being, and I was being treated like a farm animal.

  One man who’d been bidding on me rose to his feet. He held up his number and said, “Three million.”

  What the fuck did I just do?

  All the men turned to him, yielding the floor.

  No one else challenged his bet. Their markers were set down.

  The man who just won smiled. “Three million dollars for the feisty cunt.”

  The emcee slammed the hammer down. “Three million to the gentleman in the back. Congratulations. This beauty is yours.”

  ***

  Like I was a suspect in a criminal investigation, I was handcuffed and placed in the back seat of a black car with tinted windows. I still wore my gown and pearls. My matching pink heels were uncomfortable on my feet, but I suspected I would be a lot more uncomfortable shortly.

  The driver got behind the wheel and waited for his client to join us.

  I hadn’t seen his face, but I didn’t need to. When he outbid everyone so arrogantly, I knew he was an unforgivable beast. If I begged him to let me go, he would refuse. If I pleaded for him not to hurt me, he wouldn’t listen.

  Hopefully, I was wrong.

  He didn’t seem like the type of man looking for a beautiful woman to spoil. He didn’t seem like someone who wanted to show me off at a dinner party, buying me expensive gowns and jewelry. I detected evil from him.

  Pure evil.

  He finally joined me in the back seat without putting on his safety belt. He kept his mask on, hiding most of his features.

  I stared straight ahead, my hands behind my back. If I could flip my arms forward, I could choke the driver in front of me. Maybe he would crash, and we would all die. Or better yet, they would die, but I’d get out just fine.

  It was a nice fantasy.

  The car pulled away from the building and merged into traffic. We were on the opposite side of the road compared to what I was used to. The streets were narrow and the car petite. I wasn’t sure where we were, but we were definitely in Europe.

  When we were a mile away from our destination, my captor removed his mask. His blue eyes were bright and blue, the kind that twinkled under the starlight. For a moment, they made him look innocent. But after a single blink, the evilness in his soul shined through. He stared at me like I was prey and he was the hunter. Tension filled the air, the warning deep in my heart.

  He had blond hair that was combed back, revealing his round face. He had thin lips, the kind that were hardly noticeable. His face was covered with a thick layer of hair, reminding me of a lumberjack in winter.

  He stared at me coldly, about to pounce.

  I held his gaze, swearing then and there I would murder him if he tried to touch me.

  “Your name?” His voice sounded just as cruel as it did during the bidding. It was raspy, like sandpaper rubbing against concrete. It scratched my eardrums as it traveled inside my body. Even those simple words were grotesque. My hatred increased tenfold—something I didn’t think was possible.

  I refused to answer him. I refused to comply. If he wanted me to do anything, he’d have to work for it—without any reward.

  He chuckled and leaned back into the leather seat. “You’re going to be so much fun. I love it.”

  Fun? The second he shoved his dick into my mouth, I was going to bite it off.

  “Your name will be cunt.” He looked out the dark windows and stared at the lights from the passing buildings. He wore a black suit with a black collared shirt underneath, looking just as formidable as he sounded. “Unless you tell me otherwise. Between you and me, I hope you don’t.”

  This was bad. Very bad.

  His head turned my way, and he watched my reaction. He wanted to see fear. He wanted to see terror.

  But I refused to give him what he wanted.

  “I couldn’t believe my luck when the emcee said your fight score. It seemed too good to be true. That hardly ever happens.”

  I still didn’t know what a fight score was. Was it because I killed someone? I wasn’t innately dangerous. But when I had to run for my life, I’d do anything to survive.

  “And then you told the room we were a bunch of sick fucks.” He chuckled to himself. “I’ve never been so hard in my life.”

  I wanted to hurl.

  “My cock has never soared to life like that. There you stood, a beautiful woman with perfect features in a dazzling gown. And then that mouth turned dirty, and you spoke your mind.” His trousers pressed tightly against him when his cock hardened. His hand reached for my thigh where he gave it a gentle squeeze.

  Repulsed, I slammed my thigh to the side so his hand would fly off.

  He must have expected that to happen because he pulled away, chuckling again. “I’m going to have such a good time breaking you in. You’re like a wild stallion that no one can saddle. You’re like the bull that can’t be ridden.”

  Fear crept into my veins and circulated in my blood. When it reached my heart, I was momentarily paralyzed. Being prisoner to this man would test my full strength. I would be subjected to such cruelty that I may not make it out—with an intact mind. But I couldn’t give in to the fright. I had to keep fighting. Every problem had a solution—and I would find one now.

  “When we get back to the house, I’m going to fuck you so hard in the ass you won’t be able to sit for a week. Consider it a welcoming gift.” He looked out the window like his words weren’t as terrifying as he made them sound.

  “And when we get back to the house, I’m going to kill you. Consider it a parting gift.”

  He turned back to me when he heard me speak. Instead of slapping me for talking back or telling me off, he smiled. It was a grotesque look, like my back talk just made him more excited to torture me. “I like a challenge.”

  Chapter Five

  Crow

  We stood in the alleyway, a single streetlight on in the distance. It was some unearthly hour between sunset and sunrise. No cars were on the streets. No people on the sidewalks. When the light was gone, the monsters came out.

  Cane stood beside me, the bag of money at his feet. He glanced at his black watch and checked the time. “He’s late.”

  “I knew he would be late.” He always liked to make an entrance, to make people wait in anticipation. It was the only respect he could gain—by force.

  My heart was beating dangerously slow. Just before danger, I was always calm. It was written in my blood since birth. Life-or-death situations were the kinds I thrived on. But when I was alone in my palace, that’s when the fear kicked in. The paranoia settled, and I couldn’t shake it off. I needed to break something just to stay relaxed. I needed to
cause pain just to feel good.

  My men gathered around us and formed a protective layer. The rule for the meeting was to come alone. But no one ever came alone. I wasn’t sure why we bothered saying it.

  Cane looked at his watch again, the irritation deep in his eyes. “She’s dead.”

  “Don’t say that.” No point in mourning someone unless it was a fact they were gone. I refused to go through the motions of heartbreak when it was unnecessary. It was so difficult for me to care about anything as it was. My body became frozen a long time ago.

  And it never thawed.

  “She’s dead, and we both know it.” When he looked at me, there was resignation on his face. “Sick fucks like him don’t just let people go. He’s toying with us. I know it.”

  “We aren’t the kind of people he wants to toy with.”

  “And that’s exactly why he’s doing it.”

  Finally, activity happened. Black Hummers pulled up at the end of the alleyway. No one left their vehicles until the lights had been extinguished. Soldiers hopped out of their vehicles, carrying assault rifles.

  One of the men opened the back door of a vehicle and out she came.

  Vanessa.

  Even from here and in the darkness, I could see the infinite bruises covering her body. Her arms were black and blue, scars on top of scars. The corner of her mouth was caked with dried blood from being slapped so many times. Her eyes were black from being punched. She could barely stand because her muscles had atrophied, and she was weaker than I’d ever seen her.

  I saw red.

  I couldn’t think about what he’d done to her. I couldn’t think about the months of torment he made her suffer. All those nights I slept, she was being whipped and beaten.

  He was constantly on the move and virtually untraceable. I worked tirelessly to get her back. I put off work just to make it happen. Even when everything seemed hopeless, I didn’t give up.

  Because she wouldn’t give up on me.

  The ruthless tycoon hopped out of the vehicle behind her.

  My hand immediately went to my gun. It took all my strength not to draw and fire a shot right at his temple. I daydreamed about his blood spraying the soldier behind him. I fantasized about his body hitting the cold pavement. I relished it like a dream come true.

  “Crow.” Cane brought me back to reality with just a word. “Think about our sister.”

  My hand squeezed the gun before I released it.

  He grabbed Vanessa by her hair as he walked her forward. She was in a flimsy bra and old underwear, covered in dirt and sludge. She didn’t look like the same person I remembered. He could be handing over a completely different woman, and Cane and I wouldn’t know it.

  “Here she is.” He pushed her forward, making her fall to the pavement.

  She whimpered as her bare knees collided with the ground.

  It was her. I recognized her voice.

  My spine tightened in ferocity. I was so angry I could breathe fire. I wanted to drop a nuclear bomb and kill us all. It would accomplish nothing but death, but I still relished the idea.

  “I brought my end of the bargain.” He stood in a black suit with a black collared shirt underneath. “Where’s yours?”

  I nodded to one of my men.

  They placed the bag of cash on a crate with wheels then gave it a hard push. It traveled across the distance separating us until it reached their end of the alleyway.

  One of his men opened the bag and counted every single bill, making sure he received each penny that was due. He used a machine to quickly count it and make sure it wasn’t counterfeit.

  Time dragged on forever.

  Vanessa slowly rose to her feet, her knees red from the collision against the ground. The strong and proud woman I used to know was completely gone. She was broken beyond repair. Even though we were getting her back, she would never be the same. She would be fucked up forever after the terrible things she experienced. She looked at Cane and me then started to cry.

  My sister never cried.

  She was made of the same stuff we were. She was hard as steel and ruthless as fuck. You could break all of her fingers, and she still wouldn’t crack. But she’d experienced enough to make her break—a million times over.

  “You got your money.” I placed my hand on my gun. “Now let her go.” When she was back to safety, I would take a shot. I didn’t care at this point. My blood screamed for murder. I had to do it. I had to annihilate him.

  “You heard them, sweetheart.” He pushed her forward again. “Go.”

  She wobbled on her feet before she found her footing. Then she slowly walked away, taking forever. She glanced behind her like she wasn’t sure if it was a sick game.

  “Vanessa.” Power rang in my voice. I needed to bring her back to the present. I needed her to cross the distance between us before that sick motherfucker changed his mind. I pulled my gun out of the holster, just in case.

  She turned to me, tears in her eyes.

  “Get your ass over here now.” We could deal with her problems later. Right now wasn’t the time for her emotional abuse. “Move it.”

  She walked faster, reaching the halfway point. Her arms circled her waist to fight off the chill. Her bare feet hit puddles of water, but she didn’t seem to care. Her body was numb to everything.

  She was almost there, back on the right side of this battle. We would take her to the hospital and check her in at a mental facility. Without hearing a single word from her, I knew she wasn’t the same person. The woman I knew as my sister was dead. Now all I had left was her corpse.

  “She’s taking too long.” He pulled a gun out of his pocket.

  “Fire!” Cane reacted quicker than I did and aimed his gun.

  I’d been concentrating on her, and his movement escaped my notice.

  He pointed the gun directly at my sister and fired.

  I had a nanosecond to react. All I could do was charge. I ran to her as fast as I could, the muscles in my legs screaming from the exertion. My hands grabbed her frail body, and I shoved her to the ground.

  But it was too late.

  Her head jerked forward as the bullet entered the back of her skull, making blood spray through the front. It got all over my face and jacket. Her eyes locked to mine just before the darkness descended. Then she was gone, dead before she hit the ground.

  I knew she was dead, but I couldn’t accept it. I shook her, hoping she just passed out. I pressed my ear to her chest and listened for a heartbeat. I listened for a breath. I listened for anything that would tell me she was alive.

  There was nothing.

  Gunfire erupted around me as the battle raged. I momentarily forgot about the war. I forgot about everything altogether when I saw my little sister dead on the concrete.

  The Hummers pulled out of the alleyway and took off, taking their leader with them. Shots still rang in my ears, and some of the soldiers were taken out. We lost some of our own. Maybe a few more of them would have been saved if I hadn’t lost my focus.

  Cane jogged to me when the coast was clear. He kneeled beside me and looked at our dead sister. She looked like a beaten whore tossed out after being used. He breathed hard as he stared at her, not shedding a single tear.

  I didn’t either. A lifetime in this business made me forsake human emotion. I didn’t understand sadness or despair. I didn’t understand happiness or joy. All I understood was rage.

  And that’s what I felt now.

  My brother said one word. And that word was enough to tell a complete story. He told me what we would do to the man who butchered our family. He told me what our next move was. “Bones.”

  Bones fucked with us. And it was our turn to fuck with him.

  Chapter Six

  Pearl

  He made good on his promise and fucked me just the way he said he would. I fought him as hard as I could, but he tied me down with painful ropes and shoved his dick inside me.

  It hurt.

  All I co
uld do was lie there and take it.

  I felt disgusting.

  Dirty.

  I wanted to cry, but I refused to. I refused to give him that satisfaction. He didn’t deserve my screams or my tears. He wanted to break me because he knew it would be a challenge.

  But I wouldn’t budge.

  When he was finished, he took me again and again. The night passed in agony, and I thought I would rip in half, right down the middle. By the time he was satisfied, I was barely conscious. I could only lie on my stomach because my backside hurt so much. And I knew I couldn’t even consider using the bathroom again.

  He leaned over and pressed his lips to my ear. “I’m going to do that every single day until you cry for me. And between you and me, I hope you don’t.” He smacked my ass before he walked out.

  When I was finally left alone, I went to the bathroom and cleaned myself up. I was covered in his come, and he’d penetrated me so many times I actually bled. I got into the shower and stood under the warm water because it was my only safe place. I had a bedroom, but it didn’t have a door. He could come in whenever he pleased. But whenever I was in the bathroom, he didn’t bother me.

  Rape was a lot more painful than I realized. I finally understood what it meant when people said it wasn’t a crime of passion but one of violence. He didn’t get off on being inside me. He got off knowing I was in immense pain.

  I knew being in captivity would be degrading, painful, and scarring. But I had no idea how bad it would be. My captor was a psychopath, and he would do a lot worse things to me the longer I stayed there.

  It’d only been a few days, and I already wanted to crack.

  I wanted to sob my heart out and pray for a miracle.

  I wanted to curl into a ball and die.

  I wanted to forget who I was and travel somewhere else, drift into a realm where thoughts didn’t exist. I just wanted to be there, hovering on a level of semiconsciousness.

  But I had to stay strong. I had to follow the plan I laid out for myself. I needed to find a weapon and kill him. That’s all I had to do then I could run out of there and return home. I could return to Jacob. I could return to my job. I could return to sleeping soundly at night, knowing I would never be hurt.