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I couldn’t look too eager, not with Gio, but there was no way I was letting anyone outbid me tonight. I had to bide my time, just like my father had told me as I was leaving his house.
“If you bid too early, he’ll become suspicious, son. Take your time, observe everyone and everything around you.” He patted me on the shoulder, a sad tilt to his lips. “Only place your bid when the time is right. Then get out of there as soon as you can.”
“Got it.” They were the only two words I could manage to grit out past the anger that was consuming me.
“I’ll be at Lorenzo’s waiting for you.”
“Eighty thousand?” Gio asked. Dammit, that had happened in the blink of an eye. I glanced around the room, waiting for the man directly in front of me to raise his hand, but when he shook his head, I knew this was the right time.
I placed one finger in the air, high enough for Gio to see. He couldn’t see my face this far back though. It was a strategic move on my part.
“Eighty-five?” Gio asked to the man in the front row. A clip of his head was his answer, and then he came back to me, “Ninety?” I raised my finger again, quickly glancing to Bailey who was staring at the floor, her arms wrapped around her waist. She was trapped in her own head. I just hoped I could help her out of it once she was free of this fuckin’ place.
“Ninety-five?” Gio asked the man in front. He nodded again. We went back and forth like that for what felt like hours, but it was mere seconds until Gio asked the man in the front row, “One hundred and ninety-five?” The man shook his head. “Anyone else for One hundred and ninety-five thousand?” He scanned the room, as did I, and when there were no takers, he looked straight at me. “Sold, for one hundred and ninety thousand dollars.”
I stood, finally bringing my face into the light and showing Gio who had bought his “special” one. His body froze, his nostrils flaring as he stared directly at me. He didn’t like that I’d bought her, and with the way he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, I had no doubt that this wasn’t the last we were going to hear from him. He knew I’d gotten her, deep down he knew I was up to something, but he couldn’t do a single fuckin’ thing about it.
The problem was, he was stupid enough to go against The Enterprise and the Beretta Mafia, so I had to keep my guard up. I had to play it safe. I had to have a plan past getting Bailey the hell out of here.
I stood there, not knowing what to do now, but as a man in a dark suit walked up to me, he told me to follow him. I did as I was told, listening to Gio as he pulled another person up to the front with him and started the bidding. Each step away from the crowd of men had my muscles loosening a little, the tension starting to leave my body. I’d bought Bailey. She was coming home with me. She was finally going to be free.
Not yet though. I had to be careful to not get too ahead of myself. We were still trapped here. Until we were out in the city air and back to my car, there was no way I was going to celebrate.
“Just through here,” the man said, waving his arm in front of me. I’d never seen him here before, or the woman that was sitting behind a desk with paperwork waiting on it for me to sign.
“Sign and then make payment,” she said, her voice robotic. I signed the piece of paper, not reading a single word, and pulled out my card. Normally a transaction this high would need approval, but I wasn’t a normal person. I was part of the Beretta Mafia, my last name was Pagani, the rules never did and never would apply to me. So I swiped my card, paying the amount without a blink of my eyes.
“Trevor will take you to pick up your goods.”
Your goods.
I ground my teeth together at her words, hating how she was referring to Bailey. Was she even aware that they were sellingpeoplein there? If she was, she clearly didn’t give a fuck. Every part of me wanted to tell her what I thought about her, but I knew I couldn’t. I had a mission, and I was too damn close to finishing it to jeopardize it.
So I followed Trevor through the small room and out of another door. I’d never seen this part of the building before, but I could tell this was the front that they used for “normal” people. The walls were pristine white, a clean aura to what looked like a shop front. It was dark outside, the street visible through the large window. No one would ever have suspected what was going on in the recesses of this building.
“Wait here and your package will be delivered to you.”
Three leather chairs were lined up against the right wall, and although I didn’t want to sit down, I knew I had to. I needed to calm myself. I needed to get the hell together so that when Bailey came out here, I could do everything in my power to protect her, from the men here, but also…from myself.
CHAPTER 10
BAILEY
“Sold, for one hundred and ninety thousand dollars.”
I blinked, my head still down and my gaze focused on the ground. I was trying to process what Mr. Pozzi had just said, but it didn’t…I couldn’t…
Sold.
Sold.
I’d been sold. I was leaving this place.
I turned my head, glancing at Seven who looked a mixture of happy and sad. This was the end for us two. I hoped that she would be okay, but also,Iwanted to be okay too. I wanted to go home. I wanted—
“Remember what I said,” Mr. Pozzi ground out, gripping my arm. “You’ll always belong to me.”
My breath caught in my throat as I looked up at his black eyes, evil personified shining inside them. Once he knew I’d heard him, he let me go, pushing me in the process. I stumbled backward, but a body behind me stopped me from falling.
