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“This one will do nicely,” Luka says, grabbing my arm.
Edgar clears his throat nervously and smiles. “I see you have a preference for this woman, but it would be unfair to keep her to yourself all night. We would prefer if she mingled with some of the other guests as well.”
Luka looks like he is going to deck Edgar for the mere suggestion that I talk to anyone else, but then he takes a deep breath and nods. “Fine then. But I will smoke alone, thank you.”
He stalks down the hallway towards the main lobby, and Edgar smiles after him.
As soon as he is gone, however, Edgar roughly grabs my arm and leads me to the bar.
“You are here for the satisfaction of our guests,” he snaps, dragging me along faster than I can walk in my heels. “Keep your feelings to yourself, do you hear me?”
I don’t answer, and Edgar pauses outside the bar.
“Do you hear me?”
“Yes,” I say, glaring up at him.
When we walk into the bar, Edgar is smiling again and politely leads me towards the group, bowing as he walks away.
I feel alone without Luka in the room. Being able to look up and see him watching me helped me feel safe. Without him here, however, I realize how precarious my situation here is. At any moment, I could be sold to someone else.
If someone outbids Luka, it is all over. And there is no telling what Luka will do if that happens.
Several of the men who didn’t show much interest in me before Maddie’s outburst now move towards me as I enter the room. Just as Luka feared, drawing attention to myself only means more competition for him when it comes to bidding.
I take a deep breath and try to ground myself.
Luka is here to save me, but I can’t depend on him. We are in this together, but I have to be strong on my own. Just like I told Maddie, I have to play their game and be cunning or I won’t survive.
None of us will.
11
Luka
After the woman’s outburst during the dance, the night’s event is transferred to the bar and never makes it back to the ballroom.
The guests seem content to drink and mingle with women, most of them acting as though the disturbance never happened, but I can’t forget it. Not when Eve spends all of her energy catering to the poor woman.
Between every man she talks to, Eve cuts across the room to check on Maddie.
I love Eve for her kindness and determination, but right now, it is putting our entire plan in jeopardy. As much as I want to trust my wife and allow her to do what she thinks is best, her heart is overriding her brain. We can’t save everyone. It simply isn’t possible.
I would love to end the LeClerc Cartel for good, but I can’t do it in the next four days. The only thing I might be able to do is get my wife out of here so we can find our daughter.
That’s the only fucking option. So, that is my priority.
To keep Edgar and the other guests from getting suspicious, I briefly talk with a few of the other women, but it is hard to pay attention to them when my focus is locked onto Eve.
Since she ran forward to help the woman in the ballroom, more bidders seem to be paying attention to Eve. I can’t see the bidding board, but I can only assume she has several more bids under her name.
Eve cuts into a conversation between Fox-Face and the weeping woman, sending the girl away, no doubt to keep her from breaking down again.
I can’t stand watching this for another moment.
She is talking to the most odious man in the room, and—Edgar be damned—I want to talk to my wife.
I sit my drink down on the bar and begin making my way towards her to interrupt, but before I can, Edgar claps his hands again to draw everyone’s attention.
