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I hear chatter break out in the audience as Richard points to the woman’s chastity belt. I don’t want to look at any of them, so instead, I look to Alexander, who is staring directly into my eyes. “I can’t believe this is actually happening.” I feel the tears sliding from my eyes; Alexander’s thumb catches them, wiping them away.
“The bidding is now open, who will give me an opening bid of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds?” Richard’s voice booms around us. It only takes thirty seconds for ten different bids to ring out. By the time Richard declares that auction item number one has been sold, the total has reached one and a half million pounds.
Jones walks around to the front of the podium and glares at us. “It’s time to leave now, sir.” Commotion breaks out from the other end of the arena, and men dart out of their seats, scattering all around the place.
Alexander stands with me in his arms as if I weigh nothing at all. We walk down the stairs and make it back to the floor. That’s when I feel the hard push of something against the back of my head.
“Drop her now, Black.” I don’t need to turn to know who is issuing the commands. I’ve heard his voice all night long already.
~ Chapter Twenty-One ~
Alexander
Richard’s eyes have a lookabout them. In the many illegal gun deals I have done, especially with the cartels in Mexico, I’ve seen that dead, void expression staring back at me before. The eyes of a killer and not someone to mess with. And that wouldn’t scare me at all, if it wasn’t for the woman still in my arms. I can’t act the way I normally would in a situation like this.
The gun barrel is pressing against her skull, and her eyes flutter shut, preparing herself for the bullet that will end her life. I won’t let that happen though. I’ll die myself before I let her come to any harm.
“Drop her now and step away. I won’t tell you again, Black.” Richard’s eyes don’t leave any room for argument. I pull her close to me and kiss her forehead, then let her slide down my body. Once she is standing on her own, I take a step away from her. She instantly reaches out for me, but stops in her tracks when Richard’s hand encircles her wrist.
“Let me go, you creep,” she spits out at him, trying to pull her hand from his grasp. He spins her around and repositions the gun, pressing it firmly against her forehead.
“Stay still, pet, or I’ll shoot you where you stand.” He steps in closer, and I see her take several quick breaths, her chest rising and falling in succession with each inhalation, where her beating heart is no doubt racing right now.
“Shoot me then. I’d rather die than go anywhere with you.” A small smile forms on my lips. My spitfire, even in the face of danger, speaks her mind. As much as I love this side of her, this just isn’t the time or place for it.
“Maybe I should shoot your master then?” His gun leaves her forehead and points at me. I stand as still as a statue, looking at the gun for a moment before glancing at Rebecca. Her eyes are large, and her face shows an emotion I never wanted to see again after the night I found her in the woods. Fear.
“I was going to offer you the fifty million you wanted, Alexander, but since you’re here now and I can kill you, I think I’ll just take her for myself, and keep my money.” Richard’s face morphs into a smirk. He thinks he has won.
Rebecca struggles and finally gets out of his grasp, coming to stand between us. “Don’t kill him, please. I beg you.”
“Rebecca, move out of the way; I can’t have you being hurt. Harold?”
As soon as his name is mentioned, Harold takes Rebecca from in front of me, and I lunge at Richard, knocking him on to his back. My fist connects with his face and I am immediately gratified when blood starts pouring from his nose. I’m raising my fist again when I hear a gunshot ring out and extreme pain blooms in my chest. Richard pushes me off him and I lie on my back, looking up at the ceiling. Rebecca’s face appears above me. She looks beautiful, and even in the low light a halo appears over her head.
“Harold, we need medical help now, call the paramedics,” she calls out, and I feel incredible pressure where the pain is. “It’s okay, my love, you’re going to be okay,” she whispers to me. Her fingers come up to cup my face, encasing them within her grasp. She’s shaking.
I swallow, knowing that I need to get the next words out just in case they are my last. “I love you.” Her eyes are locked on me, her mouth opening and closing, but I don’t hear what she says. My eyes are heavy and I can no longer keep them open. I feel her lips against my own and I know that this must be what heaven feels like.
~ Chapter Twenty-Two ~
Rebecca
The man who loves meand promised to spend his life with me lies on the ground blood pouring from a wound in his chest. I kiss his lips as his eyes close, letting him know I am here with him. I move my hands from his face to his wound and apply as much pressure as I can, trying everything in my power to keep him here with me. Then I feel someone grip the my biceps and I’m being pulled away.
Harold leaps up to try and get me, but Richard’s gun goes off once again. Luckily it only hits Harold in the arm, but still I can’t let anyone else be hurt because of me.
“I’ll come with you, Richard, just stop shooting those I care about. Please, just let me say goodbye.” He releases his grip on me, and I run to Harold. I lean in so I can whisper in his ear. “Alexander trusts you with my life, so you know that my bracelet is a tracking device. Find me, please.” I feel the tugging on my arm again and am being pulled away.
We walk through the crowd and I keep quiet, not wanting anyone else to be injured because of me. We finally exit through a large steel door and I’m shoved into a waiting black town car, no doubt there to provide the quick getaway Richard needs. Once inside, Richard keeps his gun trained on me, while he makes several phone calls. I try to listen intently to every single one but none of it makes any sense.
Except for one.
“He won’t be an issue, I killed him, and I have his woman. When I’m finished with her, I’ll give you a call.”
My stomach twists in knots and I feel bile making its way into the back of my throat. Alexander is dead, and it’s all because he fell in love with me and we plastered it all over the internet to share with the world instead of keeping our love quiet. Our hope was to try and take down Richard and his filthy trafficking ring along with some of Alexander’s other enemies. If only we had decided not to do anything. But then it would only be a matter of time before they came for us. We could have had more time together. Enough time to get married and even have a baby.
The car comes to a stop sometime later, and I curse inwardly for not paying more attention to how long we travelled or anything we passed that could have helped give me an idea as to where we are now. I am pulled from the vehicle, my head pushed down to look at the pavement, before being dragged into a lobby and then into an elevator. Finally, the pressure on my head is gone, and I slowly roll my neck from side to side, before looking up. Richard reaches out and selects the button for the penthouse on the inbuilt computer pad in the wall and the shiny chrome elevator starts to move. When the doors open, we are in a large open space, sparsely furnished. I am shoved from the elevator, and I almost fall flat on my face, saving myself at the last moment with my hands. I am then pulled up by the hair and dragged along until I’m in the middle of what I presume is a living room based on the lounge suite and expensive rug. He finally lets go of me and steps back. I peer up at him and see him unbuttoning his shirt, his jacket already at his feet on the ground.
