I lean forward and kiss her on the forehead. “Go back to sleep, love. I’ll keep the nightmares away.” I pull her close to me, wrapping my arms around her. Her breathing evens out as she drifts off.
“You always come for me,” she whispers against my chest as she settles deeper into my embrace, finally falling back to sleep.
“And I will always find you, love,” I whisper against her hair. Remembering my promise to her all those years ago when I found her the first time.
“You and McKenzie will be expected to come earlier in the day to see everything,” Gil says. I take a deep breath, keeping my irritation at bay. I wonder if Kenz knows the next auction is coming up. It’s still a couple of weeks out, but preparations are already being made. “I know this probably isn’t the best time for you, but we have to keep up appearances, and you’re next on the roster.”
“We’ll be there,” I respond. Almost every council member that was there when I first started attending auctions all those years ago is out. I’ve slowly pushed them out. There are a few left, including Gil. I knew when I first met him he was different. I found out he joined because his wife’s sister had been sold against her will. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to rescue her. But they have bought several girls throughout the years to help them get out of an impossible situation.
He supports my idea of having the auction being something that’s voluntary. Those who want to auction themselves off can fill out an application and put in their wants for a buyer. They can choose what kind of relationship they have with the person they buy. Whether it’s sexual, dating only, or friendship. The choice is theirs.
Having the first daughter sold as some ritual to become a council member is barbaric. Unless she wants to be sold. My first goal was to remove Marcus from the council. I was able to do that within the first year after I bought Kenz. He still comes to auctions, but he doesn’t have any power to make decisions. My second goal was removing the senator that bought Anna.
It proved difficult when he did become the vice president, but he had a heart attack and died while he was in office. Sometimes I wonder if Rex somehow found a way to cause that. He was on a long vacation when it happened. I know he was going to look for Anna because he found out who bought her. He didn’t find her, but the man wound up dead. Not too long after that, his wife was in a fatal car accident. I haven’t asked any questions and Rex hasn’t offered any details.
Gil gives me some more details that I barely listen to as I think back to last night. I barely slept after Kenz woke up with that nightmare. I watched her sleep the rest of the night, making sure she was safe. Even in her dreams.
“There’s been some murmuring about not having masks anymore,” Gil says, bringing my attention back to the conversation.
“By who?” I ask. When I first started attending auctions, I wasn’t fond of the masks, but now I like the anonymity of it. It adds to the fun Kenz and I have during the auction. It’s like our own brand of foreplay.
“No one in particular, but apparently it’s been talked about a few times and some have overheard.”
I hum. “We can discuss it in our next council meeting.” He agrees and we hang up.
Standing, I leave my office and walk to the library. I decided to work from home today so I can keep an eye on McKenzie after the memory she had last night. I reminded her at lunch that it would be a good idea to schedule an appointment with Dr. Pearl. They didn’t get a chance to meet before she left.
She didn’t disagree, but she didn’t agree either. She was quiet and withdrawn. Understandably. Pushing the door open, my gaze immediately goes to her swing, but she’s not there. Walking deeper into the library, I stop at the end of a bookshelf in the middle of the room and lean against it as I watch her.
She’s sitting at the window seat, her knees pulled up to her chest and her forehead resting against the window. A book lays open at her feet. She takes a deep breath and leans back slightly to stare down at her book.
“Kenz?” I call out to her, trying not to startle her. She turns slightly and looks at me over her shoulder. “You hungry? I was going to eat lunch.”
She nods and stands, walking to me. She doesn’t speak, just looks up at me, waiting for me to lead the way. I keep my face a neutral mask even though I’m worried about her. She’s acting like she did when I got her back. Well, not exactly like that. At least this time she’s not flinching when I try to touch her.
I wrap my arm around her shoulders as we walk to the kitchen. Phillip is there plating the food he made for us. He gives us both a smile in greeting, his eyes crinkling slightly as he studies McKenzie. He looks at me, then back to her before turning back around.
Normally McKenzie greets Phillip and Clara. She loves them both, but today she hasn’t spoken much. Anna walks into the kitchen with a plate. It looks like she’s already eaten. Over thepast several months, I’ve noticed Anna prefers to be alone. She’s a lot different from the Anna I knew in high school.
Dr. Chamberland and Dr. Pearl both said that’s normal after the trauma she experienced. But it’s been a while, and I was hoping she’d feel more comfortable around us. The only people she’s comfortable with are Rex and Kenz. She’s polite to Phillip and Clara, but they haven’t formed friendships like Kenz has with them.
Once she was fully recovered, she also asked if she could stop seeing Dr. Chamberland. I didn’t question it even though I wanted to ask her why, because she still sees Dr. Pearl occasionally.
“Kenz?” Anna says. Kenz looks up and smiles slightly at Anna, but the smile doesn’t reach her eyes. Anna crosses the kitchen and stops in front of Kenz as I go to the island and sit down. I watch them to see if maybe Kenz will brighten up slightly, but she doesn’t. “Are you okay?” Anna asks.
Kenz blinks her eyes rapidly and I can tell from the glossy look in them she’s trying her best not to cry. I wonder if it’s because she remembered all those years ago when I licked her tears away and told her if I lick it, it’s mine. She rarely cried in front of me for that reason, and I hated myself every day because of it.
McKenzie nods and does her best to give a decent smile, but anyone who knows her can tell it’s fake.
“You’re not okay,” Anna says.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” McKenzie finally says.
Anna stares at her a moment longer before nodding. “I’m here if you need me.” She hugs her quickly like she knows if she holds on for too long, it will be the straw that breaks Kenz.
Kenz doesn’t reply as Anna turns and walks back to the hallway that leads to her room. She sits next to me and rubs her hands down her thighs as she waits for her food. Phillip places plates in front of us with turkey club sandwiches and somesweet potato fries, then leaves the kitchen. I take a bite from my sandwich and chew, thinking about what I can say or do to help bring Kenz out of this fog she’s in.
“I think I owe you an answer to a question,” I say as she picks at her sandwich. She scowls slightly and doesn’t respond. I lean toward her and push her hair behind her ear. She turns slightly to look at me. There are storm clouds in her eyes.
