Page 34 of Defending Van

This should be what he had been hoping for all along, ever since he realized there was something different about Makayla Adair. This meant that Prey would be able to go in and rescue her shortly. It also meant that he’d be able to focus again without the distraction of the woman who made him uncomfortable.

But it didn't feel like a good thing.

Because at least while she was here, he could keep an eye on things, he could watch over her as best as he could. His cameras would catch everything she did, and he could continually verify that she was alive.

None of which he could do once she walked out these doors.

Once she left this building, everything became a wildcard. He would have zero control over who bought her, and zero control over what they did to her. He couldn’t pull any kind of rank to ensure she was protected, like he had when he’d been the one to find her escaping yesterday. There would be no rules for her new owner, the man could do anything he wanted to her, and nobody would stop him.

While Prey would do their best to reach her quickly and remove her from the situation any way they could, there were absolutely no guarantees, and that gutted him. Just because the odds were in her favor didn't mean anything. She could very easily slip through the cracks, especially if she was being listed on one of the other human trafficking auction sites instead of being sold through Azure directly.

The kind of men who purchased sex slaves from Azure wanted someone perfectly trained, who was obedient and submissive, who would do anything asked of them without complaint. Sure, they might like to hear the women scream, cry, beg, but they also expected them to be well-behaved. Which, from his and Prey’s point of view, usually meant they had a good chance of getting to the women and removing them before they were killed. It wasn't a guarantee, but it evened out the odds a little in their favor.

However, the kind of men who purchased women through some of the other trafficking networks Azure sometimes connected with wanted something else entirely. They wanted someone wild, who would fight them every step of the way, who would be rebellious and hard to control. They either wanted to enjoy breaking the woman themselves, or they were looking for someone to keep short-term.

Van didn't usually try to find out what happened to the women after they were sold, but he had heard a couple of the horror stories. A woman was purchased for a party of wealthy Chinese businessmen, there were twelve of them, and they’d held the woman down and passed her around for the night, taking her hard, treating her body like a toy to be used and not a living, breathing person. She hadn't survived the night. Raped to death. Her body was discarded in an alley when Prey moved in to rescue her. Another who had been purchased by a man who enjoyed raping women as they were dying, who had slit her throat then raped her as she bled out. That particular man bought two women from Azure before they figured out that was his plan and not a one-off. Prey had ensured he was killed the second time, “accidentally” of course, so Azure wouldn't figure out they had a traitor.

What if Makayla ended up being bought by a man like those ones?

What if she was dead before anyone got to her?

If she was, he couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault. She was a woman who put everyone else before herself. She’d obviously worked hard to overcome the trauma of her childhood, and she’d embraced that trauma, used it to help guide others out of the darkness and into the light. She’d spent more of her time here trying to reassure and comfort him than he had offering her any comfort or reassurance.

From the moment he saw her take the caning without a single scream, he’d known she was different, he just hadn't allowed himself to believe it. Because no one should be different, no one should mean anything to him, and no one should ever be seen as anything other than a tool to further his own goals.

But everything had changed when the cool blade of the knife had touched his skin, and he’d realized he’d underestimated this woman enough that she’d been able to escape. No one had ever gotten that close to killing him since he ditched the foster system and got away from all the abuse. It had earned her a spot in his … well, he couldn’t say heart, because despite what Makayla insisted, he wasn't sure his functioned anymore, but it made her important to him, and for once, he wanted her to have someone to rely on. Someone who would put her first instead of her always putting others first.

That’s what she deserved, what he should have done for her, but he hadn't. Because if he did, he’d have to admit she was right. That he hadn't completely shut off his emotions, that they still existed, repressed but not disappeared.

Coward.

It pained him to admit that’s what he’d been, but it was true, nonetheless. And now it was too late to try to figure out a plan to get her out, or to go back in time and do something different, letting her escape either time she’d done what should have been impossible.

Forcing a neutral expression on his face, he tamped down all the million thoughts zinging through his mind, urging him to do something, to stop this, and instead gave a shrug. “Okay,” he said, then kept walking.

“That’s all you got to say about it?” Henry asked, sounding disappointed.

“What did you want me to say?”

“Thought you liked this one. She finally got you away from a screen for a bit.”

Another shrug. “Her smart mouth was mildly amusing, and I did find it enjoyable that she managed to knock Josh out cold and almost escape.” Because he knew it was expected of him, he chuckled and gave one of his cold, empty grins.

Henry laughed too. “He’s never going to live that one down.”

“Neither should he. If Josh wants to play with the big boys, then he has to stop acting like a toddler in a diaper. I’m going to go and start uploading her profile. Where is she?”

“Marvin took her to a room like thirty minutes ago, I think,” Henry replied.

Fighting back a sigh, he knew that was more than enough time for the man to have done something to her, and Marvin would pounce on the opportunity to get a little alone time with her before she was sold. Usually, everyone would have had more one-on-one time with her and the other women, but given they were in the process of getting this place set up and scrambling to get a new system in place at this location, that hadn't happened.

“If I don’t interrupt him, he’ll be at it for hours.” He sighed this time, not hiding his irritation.

“Let me guess, you're in the middle of a movie, and you want the profile up quickly so you can get back to it,” Henry teased as Van started walking.

It didn't take him long to find which room Marvin had Makayla in, because he could hear the moans coming from it. Moans that may as well be coming from a porn movie, the little gasps and ragged whimpers added to it. If he were any of the other guys, he’d be rock hard already. But none of this got him off, which was why he pretended the whole thing bored him and spent more time on his tablet than with the women.

“Ready to beg for it now?” Marvin asked from behind the closed door in front of him.