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They were laughing. Having a good time while we were to be sold like livestock at the county fair. I staggered slightly when the guard behind me pushed me to move, but I managed to catch myself before I face-planted. The guard roughly grabbed my upper arm and pushed me onto the stage. The other women kneeled on the wooden floors, their heads bowed in submission, knees parted so obscenely that it gave the audience a full view of what they were offering.
Of what they were here to buy.
I kneeled, refusing to spread my knees apart. The guard growled at me in Italian, but I ignored him, choosing instead to search the crowd. I could see Drew in the back with Brittany on his arm, her ice-cold gaze on me, a cruel smile stretched across her Botoxed lips. The auctioneer, a man in his early forties, began to speak, acknowledging the generous donations given tonight.
The light of the room was dim compared to the stage, making it slightly harder to see out into the crowd. I just needed to find an escape. All attention was on the auctioneer as he described the “submissions” that were to be auctioned, so no one was watching me case the place. There were two doors in and out of the room, both marked by two armed guards. The trick would be determining which one led to freedom and which one led to a dead end that could end up getting me killed.
Drawing my eyes away from the doors, I pulled my attention to inspecting the other inhabitants, sweeping my gaze across the room until something caught my eye.
No, not something.
Someone.
Lina.
In a room filled mainly with men, she stood out like a sore thumb. She’d donned a swanky evening dress and low heels, and her head was bowed in conversation with someone who looked awfully familiar.
All at once, my heart shattered into a million pieces.
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Iscreamed his name, the heartbreaking sound of my anguish echoing across the room as tears streamed down my face. The room fell silent, and all eyes were on me. He’d come for me. He was here. I looked around the room. Where was Seamus? Had he not come?
My feet moved to go to him, forgetting for a moment we were in the middle of one of the most secure places in the city, and it was filled to the brim with guns and mafiosos. Growling, the guard behind me grabbed a fistful of my hair, pulling me back in line.
“Kiernan!” My heart clenched painfully when his emerald eyes met mine. The warmth I’d seen in them over the past week was gone, replaced by a cool indifference I saw the night of the gala. I brought my hands up to grasp at the one in my hair, pivoting on my heels so my shoulder knocked into his arm. This gave me the chance to stomp my foot down on his and plant one of my elbows in his gut. The goon released my hair when he stumbled back.
My freedom was short-lived. As I dove forward, a strong arm wrapped around my waist, hauling me back into a chest.
“Let me go!” I screeched. “Please. Kiernan.”
I clawed at the arms of the one holding me, unaware of my surroundings. In my panicked state, I’d missed someone coming up on my side with a syringe. I winced at the sudden prick in my arm, and within moments, my body had begun to relax without my permission. The guard loosened his hold on me before stepping back.
A desperate sob caught in my throat as I sank back to my knees, hands clutching at my chest as the man I’d given my heart to approached the stage. He whispered something to Tatem, who nodded before taking a step back.
“Hello,mo fraochÚn beag.” His smile was twisted and cruel. I stared up at him, casting him a scathing look and spat at his feet.
“Fuck you, Kavanaugh,” I hissed. Kiernan’s jaw clenched. “I trusted you.”
The laugh he gave me was mirthless, void of any emotion, just like I would soon be. “It was too easy to get you to trust us,” he whispered darkly. “Naïve little girl who just wanted to be loved for the first time in her life. So desperate for affection that she took it from anywhere she could. Including the two men who kidnapped her.”
Through the haze of cigar smoke and the sound of cruel laughter, his words echoed in my head like a bad Cardi B song stuck on repeat.So desperate for affection…He wasn’t wrong. I just couldn’t believe he’d said it. Any hope I’d held on to that this was all part of the plan died with those words. He’d taken my darkest secret and thrown it back at me like it meant nothing. I’d shared that with them in confidence, thinking I could trust them.
He was right. I was naïve.
And now I’d pay the price.
“Don’t worry,” he chuckled, “Crowe has got a nice buyer all lined up for Eriksen’s whore of a daughter. I heard he’s really into sharing too, and you were so good at taking us both. Weren’t you?” He ran a finger down my wet cheek. “If I would have known we had Toph Eriksen’s daughter under our roof, your stay might’ve been a little less cozy.”
Callous laughter surrounded me, filling my ears until I felt like they’d bleed.
He’d let my father sell me.
The stone in my stomach plummeted, and I couldn’t draw a full breath in. They’d done it. They’d actually let me be sold.
But to whom?
“She’s all yours now.” Kiernan took a step back to reveal the last person I thought I’d see.
