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“Raizo!” I only stop when his personal guards grab my arms. But then, to my surprise, he lifts his hand and signals for them to let me go.
“Clara!” He gives me a quick once-over, then frowns. “My God! What happened to you?”
For a moment, I forget where we are. I forget who I am, and who he is.
For a moment, I’m a little girl at home, and he’s my Uncle Raizo who brings me sweets from Japan and makes my mother laugh.
And it’s easy, oh so easy, to slip into those memories when he reaches out and gently grasps my shoulders just like he used to. “Clara. Who did this to you?” he asks. He’s genuinely concerned.
My heart twists. Tears fall from my eyes without warning.
“Dad. And Martin.” I take a deep breath to hold myself together. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but there’s been a terrible mistake.”
“I’ll say there has.” Raizo looks pissed, but not at me. Whenever he looks at my face, there’s a gentleness I remember so well. He might actually help me out of this mess. His glare sharpens when he turns to his men. He snaps something in Japanese, but I recognize “Everett” and “Patterson.”
His men all nod, then a handful quickly leave. I don’t know what’s about to happen, but I can’t imagine it’s anything good.
“Clara, I am so sorry for this treatment.” He gingerly touches a cut by my lip and sighs. “Had I known you were here, I would have had you escorted to my office immediately.”
I sigh with relief at his compassion. Then?—
Wait.What did he just say?
“Oh, I’m…” I look around the room. Maybe he misheard me, or misunderstood. “I’m not here for… this. I’m not part of this.”
Raizo smiles and pats my arm. “You’re right. These women are here for the general auction. But you, my beautiful Clara…” He tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “You’re our prized lot.”
I still. Then slowly back away. “What?”
“He didn’t tell you?” He clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “Demyen’s had this whole thing arranged for such a long timenow. Months, even, if I’m counting right. Though I’ve been counting so much money already, my numbers could be off.”
He shares a chuckle with his men. Clearly, I don’t find any of it funny.
So he sobers up and presses his palms together in front of his chest. Like he’s imploring me to understand this insanity. “Listen to me, Clara. You are a wonderful, beautiful young lady and my God, do you look so much like your mother. So much that I was tempted to buy you for myself. My heart aches every time I see you because you remind me of her.”
I hate how he says it like he means it. I hate knowing that he probably does.
Somehow, that just makes it worse.
“But you owe a debt. A life debt, to be specific. Demyen and Tolya agreed that this would be the best way for you to repay them for the life sentence you caused. And I agreed to ensure you’ll go to the best possible bidder. Well…” He shrugs. “Bestpayingbidder.”
Again, he chuckles with his men. And again, I find absolutely nothing hilarious about this.
He has to be lying. He has to be. Demyen brought me here, yeah, but he also seemed to have a change of… well, at least his mind, because he couldn’t get us back out fast enough.
What’s worse than hell?
I slowly close my eyes against the echoed memory. It wasn’t Demyen who said that.
It was me.
He just took me up on my challenge.
“Don’t you worry, Clara.” Raizo smiles at me and pats my arm again. “No one will lay a finger on you until your auction begins. But…” He leans in close. “I suggest you go along with it. Because after the auction ends…”
He doesn’t finish the thought.
And with that sudden, wicked gleam in his eyes, I really don’t want him to.
