“Anyone for ten thousand dollars?” The auctioneer pushes again but the room stays silent and I swear I can hear my heart thrumming in my ears, the sound whooshing in and out.
The auctioneer speaks again, nerves littering his tone, “well, uh. Alright then, going once!”
“Going twice?”
“Twenty thousand dollars.” A voice speaks from the back.
The audience gasps and my heart falls into my stomach. This can’t be happening. I can’t do this. My chest begins to tighten with every breath I take.
“Who offered twenty?” The auctioneer speaks out to the audience but none of them answer, just incoherent mumbles fill the room. I hang in limbo for a moment, my head throbbing with an impending headache when a man appears from the back of the room, dressed in a very expensive suit. A suit I’ve seen many times.
My husband.
The devil himself splits the audience like the red sea, carrying an aura of deadliness with him. The room hums with electricity as Ricky takes calculated steps towards me and I can feel my knees buckling, threatening to give way from underneath me. The auctioneer shuffles on his heels before turning to face my husband.
“Mr De Rossi. I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
Ricky stays silent for a moment, assessing the situation before his face morphs into the classy and well loved gentleman that people hate to love. A monster shedding its skin right before myeyes.
“It’s no problem, Philip!” My husband’s cheery voice grates through my ears. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen my wife looking so good, and what kind of husband would I be if I didn’t spend my hard working money on her.”
I keep my eyes rooted to a speck of dirt on the floor but I can feel Ricky’s burning gaze washing over me. The hatred and disgust shooting straight into my pores like bullets.
“Of course Mr De Rossi. By all means, take your prize.” Philip, the auctioneer gestures towards me and Ricky wastes no time in wrapping his hand tightly around my upper arm, forcefully yanking me towards him. His familiar rich scent quickly hits my nose and I recoil at the smell. I used to love the smell of him, I’d welcome it in fact but now it makes me sick. It’s not woodsy and warm, it’s not.. Dean. Tears well in my eyes and my teeth grind into a fine powder at the thought of Dean. I try to keep him out of my mind, to place him safely in a locked box in the recesses of my mind but sometimes he slips through the cracks, his deep voice haunting my fitful sleep.
Keeping my eyes down, I slam the lid on that mental box and force the tears away. I refuse to cry.
Ricky tightens his fingers around my arms but I make no sound, instead biting down on the flesh inside my mouth to keep me quiet. I feel his face nuzzle into my hair and I freeze, keeping my spine straight.
His voice is filled with malice. “I told you I’d get you back, and you’ve been a very bad girl. Haven’t you sweetheart?”
The pet name slices through me like a serrated blade and I inwardly recoil at it. Remembering all the times he spoke down to me, degraded me until I felt useless and used.
My husband’s voice violently pulls me back into the present.
“I’ve just spent twenty fucking grand on you, so you better make it worth it until I’m done with you.” He speaks through gritted teeth into my ear and I nod, my movements jerky and stiff.
“Good girl.” He praises into my ear before dragging me down the steps of the stage, then behind a heavy curtain and down a narrow hallway until we reach some kind of office. The room makes me feel uneasy and I’m starting to miss the confines of my cage. At least in there, I know exactly what’s coming. Here, trapped in a room with the Devil, anything could happen.
Ricky throws me into the room and I land heavily on my knees, my hands bracing the fall that sends a sharp shooting pain up my arms. I grit my teeth and keep my head low, listening to Ricky slamming the office door closed before his polished shoes come into view.
“Get the fuck up.” He snaps.
Lifting my head, I rise on shaky knees before standing to my full height, my feet screaming for release from the shoes that are definitely two sizes too small for me. Once I face him, he begins to circle me like a deadly animal, his steps slow and calculated and my nerves fire to life as I fear for his next move.
“So. Dean Sinclair eh?” I flinch at the sound of his name leaving my husband’s mouth. “You really can’t think that I’d never find out, did you? I know you’re stupid, but you can’t bethatstupid, right?” He chuckles to himself and continues to walk around me, his steps silent against the carpet.
“C’mon, your secret is out of the bag sweetheart. You can tell me all about him. I bet you let him fuck you didn’t you? Like the desperate whore you are.” He spits out, his words like venom.
Blood pools in my mouth from how hard I’m biting the flesh inside, the coppery tang bursting across my tongue and I use thesharp pain to keep me grounded. Ricky is baiting me. Pushing me to bite back and I can’t, I can’t let that happen. I can’t let him see that he’s gotten to me. I need to keep Dean safe.
“Dean meant nothing to me.” I mumble, the words feeling like sharp glass as they leave my mouth. The lie is so toxic that I want to vomit.
My husband pauses in place. “So you just fucked him to get your kicks then, yeah? You let him use that washed up cunt of yours and that was that.” Ricky spits out as he comes to stand in front of me. His grey ocean eyes burning into my skin.
“Yeah.” I reply, tipping my head to face him for the first time. “A good fuck and nothing more.” Ricky dips his face towards mine until his hot breath fans across my already heated skin, his lips inches away from mine. He’s always seen me shy away from his proximity but I don’t this time, instead I keep my eyes locked on him with hatred burning through my veins.
“If that’s all you’ve become, then I suggest you put that washed up cunt to good use. I paid for you and you’ll belong to me until there’s nothing left of you to scrape up from the floor. Your preciousDean, will die knowing me and my men fucked the life out of you until you’re nothing but a flesh bag. A gaping, fuckingwhore.”
