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“Thank you.” My knees knocked against one another as he inspected my new dress. “I had a really nice day with Cassie.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” He continued to hold my hand, caressing his fingers along mine. “I hope her friends treated you well.”
“How did you know her friends were with us?”
“There isn’t much I don’t know.” He pressed his lips together. “Cassandra knows better than to keep secrets from me.”
I didn’t respond, because what would I say? I didn’t know these people, and I didn’t want to get caught in the middle of anything.
“I’ll deal with her later.” He let go of my hand. “Right now, we need to discuss you.”
“What about me?”
“I know who your father owes the money to.” He went back to his desk and took a file out of the drawer. “Your father has quite the reputation for borrowing money and stiffing people.” He tossed the file on the desk. “I’m surprised his bad habit took this long to catch up with him, but eventually when you live that kind of life things can spiral out of control really fast.”
“If you know who it is, can you help me?”
“Do you want my help?”
Cassie said Jude dealt with dangerous people. If these men were as bad as I thought they were, maybe Jude could make them leave me alone.
“I know this is a big ask and you have no reason to help me. You’ve already done more than anyone else ever has for me, and I’m not sure why you’re doing any of it, but I am grateful. If you know who these men are, maybe you can tell them I have nothing to do with this debt. I don’t even know where my father is.”
“They don’t care.”
“What kind of people take out the debt on a family member? That’s not fair. Where would I even get that kind of money? They don’t seem like very good business people.”
“They know you can’t pay it.” He sat down. “At least not with money, but they will get the debt repaid.”
“How?”
“They plan to auction you off to the highest bidder.” His gaze raced up and down my body. “Trust me, you’ll get them their money back and then some.”
“Auction? Like sex trafficking?”
When Jude nodded, his green eyes weren’t as bright.
It was like the man with the tattoo said. He would have me first. How many would there be? My stomach churned when I thought about strange men bidding to have sex with me.
“No.” I sat on the sofa across from his desk as the angst settled inside my chest. “That can’t happen. I have to go. I need to get far away from here. Can you help me do that?”
My father had already put me through so much during my childhood. We were always running from something. Staying with people we barely knew. Relying on them to help us, and when the welcome wore out we moved on to the next place.
“I have a solution,” Jude said. “One that will benefit us both.”
“What is it?” A sliver of hope coursed through me. “Can you make them leave me alone?”
“I can.”
“How?”
“I’ll be the highest bidder.”
Chapter 6
Jude
My statement hung in the air between us. Emmie’s squirming intensified, but I didn’t expect her to accept the offer right away. Getting her to say yes would take some persuading. In the end, I would get what I wanted, especially since I had wired a half million dollars to Caleb about an hour ago. I wasn’t about to let my newest investment walk out of here.
