“I mean…” The kid swallows, adam’s apple bobbing. “Is there a backup plan? If her people don’t pay?”
“A backup plan? Of course there fucking is.” Aaron’s smile returns. He crouches down so we’re eye level and I jerk my head away.
Icy cold floods my veins and I tear my gaze away.
The other Sinners exchange glances. Subtle, but I catch it. They didn’t all know therewasa backup plan.
His hand shoots out to grip my chin, forcing me to look at him. “I’ll pump her so full of heat inducers that she forgets her own name, then claim her for myself.”
Not again.
I thrash against the restraints. The chair scrapes across concrete, tipping slightly before gravity pulls it back down. My wrists burn where the rope cuts deeper.
“You’re fucking insane?—“
His breath is hot against my face, reeking of cigarettes and stale beer. “Right here. On this dirty floor. Make you mine in every way that matters. Even if someone eventually finds you, you’ll never be free of me.”
“Fuck you.”
“That’s the idea, you little bitch.” Aaron’s voice lowers to a register that makes my skin feel like it’s crawling off my body. “The bond will make you crave me, eventually. That’s just biology. You’ll fight it at first. But your omega nature will betray you, just like it’s supposed to.”
“Just if no one pays,” one of the bikers says.
Aaron’s smile is feral. “Of course.”
Pushing past the terror and revulsion threatening to overtake me, I look past at the nervous kid. “We can add sexual assault to the list of crimes. I bet that’s what you signed up for, right?”
The kid flinches.
“Go guard the door, boy,” Aaron snaps. “Before you end up worse off than she ever will.”
The kid ducks his head and scurries away.
“You can still stop this,” I yell. The tense set of the kid’s shoulders is the only hint he might actually be listening. “Before they do something you can’t come back from.”
Aaron scoffs. “Don’t waste your breath. You’re here until I say otherwise.”
When his gaze returns to me, I glare back at him.
Aaron rises to his feet, studying me with an expression that makes my skin crawl. The bare bulb overhead casts his face in sharp relief—all hard angles and predatory satisfaction.
“Can’t decide what I want more,” he muses. “The million dollars? Or the chance to break you.”
I force my voice to stay steady. “A million dollar ransom? You’re dreaming if you think anyone’s going to give you that kind of money.”
The smile that spreads across his face is all teeth and no warmth.
“Guess I’ll have to get you to work the debt off instead.” He tilts his head, considering me the way someone might consider livestock at auction. “Wonder how many alphas I can get to pay me for the chance before I’ve made a ransom’s worth off your ass. Bet there’s plenty who’d shell out good money for a few hours with Phoenix Riviera, especially if you’re all docile and heat-drunk.”
My mouth opens but nothing comes out. My brain has completely stalled, unable to process what he’s suggesting.
He’s going to traffic me.
My stomach heaves.
“That’s what I thought.” Aaron straightens, clearly satisfied by whatever he sees on my face. “Not running that smart mouth so fast now, huh?”
I can’t speak. Can’t breathe. The concrete walls seem to press inward, the single bulb overhead swinging wider, casting shadows that lurch and twist like living things.
