My pulse pounds in my ears.
I take a shaky breath and force myself to look at her.
“It was… an event,” I say. My voice sounds wrong even to my own ears. “That’s what they called it. Private. Discreet. Safe.” The word tastes like a joke. “Some hotel suite. A car picked me up. A driver. Like it was normal. Like I was just… going to a fundraiser.”
Maddy’s eyes narrow. “Who is ‘they.’” Her voice is low, controlled, but her fingers are white around her cup. “How did you even find out about something like that? You don’t exactly follow gross rich-guy accounts on Instagram.”
I shrug. “Atlantic City, you know… It’s not as hard as you’d think.”
“No, I don’t know.”
“I guess it’s different in Montana. Or maybe not,” I say. “Maybe it’s just more discreet.”
“So…” She looks around and leans in. “So, someone bid on you?” The last three words were completely silent.
I nod. “A bunch of people. Full house. And it wasn’t just me. There were other women before me.”
Maddy’s face goes pale, then flushes, like her body can’t decide whether to be sick or furious.
“How many?” she asks. “Bidders, I mean.”
“I don’t know,” I say. “The room was dark except for the lights on us, and everyone was… silhouettes and voices.” My hands tighten around my cup. “It was intentional. I think they used buzzers because no one called any numbers out.”
“And you stood there,” she says, barely moving her mouth. “And they let men… bid.”
I nod again, smaller this time. My throat aches.
“How much?” she asks, leaning in even more.
I lean in too. “Seventy thousand.”
Her eyes widen as she leans back. “What?” she mouths. “Seventy thousand dollars?”
I nod.
“For your cooch?”
I slap her hand and make a face. “If I do say so myself,” I say primly, trying to make light of it.
“What then?”
“Then, they took me back to the room to wait.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. They made it sound like the safest thing in the world. Security right outside the door, blah, blah, blah.” I swallow hard. “But none of that mattered when I was in that room, waiting for some stranger.”
Maddy’s eyes shine, but her voice stays steady. “Did you know who won?”
“No,” I whisper. “Not at first. Not until he walked into the room.” I glance toward the hospital windows like I can see my dad from here, like that would make this make sense. “I didn’t even think about who. I only thought about the money.” My stomach twists.
“But on Saturday, you called me from that random number. You told me you weren’t alone, and you were safe,” Maddy says quietly. “You were with… him? The bidder guy?”
I stare at my cup like it has the answers.
“Remember how I told you I started a new job a few weeks ago?”
“Yeah,” Maddy says, then her voice turns sly. “With the scary, super hot, rich, perfectly dressed boss who barely smiles and makes grown men nervous?”
