“Look at the menu,” Cole tapped the fine parchment paper. “All the slaves so far have matched their descriptions. None of them sound like Tara. I don’t think she’s heretonight.”
Adam’s fingers flexed on the paper, crushing it in a firm grip. The man might move with sensual grace, but there was undeniable power in every part of his body. “So, you want me to risk my submissive’s life on ahunch?”
“No, I want you to think with your mind and not your heart.” Exactly the opposite of what Cole himself was doing right now. “She’s not listed on this menu. Sounds like El Oscuro has multiple auctions. He’s probably hoarding his stock—I mean women—for the nextauction.”
Adam stared at Cole with an expression of incredulous fury. “We stick to the goddamnplan.”
Desperation took hold of Cole. No matter how bitter he felt toward Tomi, he couldn’t leave her here. Not like this. These women weren’t anywhere close to being willing submissive’s wanting to take the next step; this was outright human slavery and rape. It had made him ill to think of Tara being in the grasp of these men, but the sight of Tomi kneeling at that monster’s feet made him want to kill someone with his bare hands. Specifically,Luis.
“There has to be a way that we can bid on them both. Why else would we fucking be here? We can figure out how to beat them.” Cole shoved his head into his hands, bracing his elbows on his knees as he tried to wrestle his brain into submission. He couldn’t look at Tomi and think, not with Luis touching her. Not with every man’s lustful gaze locked on her. Not with his own gaze locked onher.
“We can’t do it without help,” Adam said quietly. “We have to contact yourbrothers.”
Carter and Clint were waiting just on the other end of their microphones, along with the rest of men of Fury Security. Some of the ex-Navy SEALs and Special Forces operatives wouldn’t have a problem getting their hands dirty if that’s what it took to get the mission done. But most of them were a mile away, waiting in the wings. If they swooped in now and Tara wasn’t there, they’d risk losing her forever. “We have to bid on Tomi. Finish the auction. Chaplinsky said she’d be thelast.”
Adam jerked in his seat, “And let Chaplinsky rape that child? That’s what she is, a teenager. Hell, he’s probably back there rightnow…”
Cole paused, letting the thoughts in his mind take shape before he spoke. “If we can get a message out to Clint, we won’t haveto.”
“How?”
“Tell him to freeze Chaplinsky’s bank accounts, even if it’s just for an hour. It’ll keep him from getting his hands on the girl. You’ll have to fluff up your account some too—make yourself look super rich. You have to be able to make the bid on Tomi without blinking. Otherwise, they won’t let either of you leave this placealive.”
“And how are we going to do that? They’ll be able to track the signal to ourtable.”
“Look, there’s an intermission after the next girl. If it’s like any other intermission, the bathroom will be flooded. We’ll transmit from there. It’ll take them too long to pinpoint the signal. By the time it’s over, we’ll be out,” Colesaid.
“You better fucking hope so. I don’t want to die tonight, not in this place.” Adam was pissed off, and Cole couldn’t blame him. It was a FUBAR situation. Neither of them wanted to risk that the other girls would be whisked away before their back up couldarrive.
“They’re moving on to the next girl. Listen, if Tara comes out, you have to bid on her for me. No one will ever believe you’re buying the grand prize for yourbodyguard.”
“And they’ll believe I’m buying two slaves in onenight?”
“They will if we play our cards right. A bored sadistic oil billionaire has lots of extra cash to throw around, and we’ve done our job planting the story on Chaplinsky. He’ll back up ourstory.”
“You better be right about this,” Adam said quietly. The threat in the man’s voice was as clear as if he’dshouted.
“We’d both better be,” Cole answered in a voice just as solemn. These women’s lives depended onit.
4
Tomi knelt on the hard,cold floor at Luis's feet. Darkness crowded out more light than it let in, while the stage a few feet from her glowed with ample light to showcase the merchandise forsale.
Women.
Women she'd not seen before tonight, but that wore the same terrified expression mirrored on her face. Tomi's view at the feet of Luis afforded her a decent look into the curtained off cubicles stacked out from the stage. Men in business suits and middle-eastern clothing filled the tables. All of them eager, practically radiating excitement to purchase theirslaves.
She choked. All her efforts to escape her little one-bedroom prison had failed miserably. No one had spoken to her. No one had even unlocked door once. They'd slid her food through a slot at the bottom once a day and left. And then today, a massive guard jerked her from her room and delivered her to two equally large women, who’d forced drugs on her. She’d lost consciousness, and when she finally surfaced, she found herself like this. Washed and made up and wearing this nothing piece of lingerie and the chains on her wrists andneck.
Luis wanted to get rid of her, but he wasn’t going to kill her, although after what she’d witnessed at his party, she might wish fordeath.
Now, forced to kneel at his feet in front of a crowd of leering men, watching as they auctioned off naked women off one by one, she waited for her turn. Tonight, she’d become one of those nameless, faceless missingwomen.
Her father had died years ago, and she worked here, so there would be no one to even file a missing person’s report forher.
Oh, sure, her friend, Carrie, would…if Luis didn’t kill her first. Her employer knew all about Tomi’s ruined vacation plans, and he’d already proved just how ruthless he couldbe.
The only other person in her life who had ever loved her no doubt wished she were dead. She hadn’t spoken to Cole in over ten years. Tomi closed her eyes and imagined him as he’d been the day she’d sent him off on his first tour of duty. So handsome. So strong. If only she still had him on her side, she’d never have to worry about Luisagain.
