Chapter One
Maeve
I was sixteen years old when I learned my future.Before I was even born, it was mapped out and there was nothing I nor anyone else could do.Imagine being born with the sole purpose of being sold to pay off a debt you had nothing to do with.That’s me.Maeve Taylor, born to be sold, used, and possibly even killed.
I learned the truth five years ago.
From what I had been able to find out, twenty-one years ago, my parents decided they were better than a crime lord, Mafia boss, or Bratva leader.I’m not exactly sure who they pissed off, only that they did, and were sentenced to death.Obviously, this was not the world everyone knew, where there was justice, law, and protection.No, this was the world people told stories about, sold movies, and romanticized—the black market, the dark underworld.The place everyone knew existed but rarely dared to touch.My family had been part of it.So, rather than face the true punishment for their crimes, they made a deal.Their first-born daughter would be sacrificed on her twenty-first birthday.That’s me.I’m the oldest daughter.Not my sister Lilliana, who, frankly, is a spoiled little bitch.
It didn’t matter what I did.That was another little detail.It didn’t matter if I studied hard, was a good person, or did everything right.I was going to be sold.
I was not a nasty person, nor a mean one.However, realizing the reality of my situation and feeling that clock ticking, I did everything in my power to make life hell for my parents.My arms are covered in tattoos, from my chest down to my wrist.Vines that appeared dead but were alive, with black roses.The ink took a long time, and I love it.I had a few choice tattoos randomly on my body, but time had been running out.
I cut my long hair, which used to be right down to my ass.I have raven hair, but added streaks of silver, because I thought it was cool, and it went just a little past my shoulders.It was messy, cute, and I loved it.Gone was the woman who conformed to everything her parents said, just because she trusted them.
The harsh reality was, I was standing in a dark room with just a few spotlights, along with several other women, and there were even a couple of guys.I would have expected the room to be dirty, grimy with the scent of desperation filling the air, but it was none of that.This place reeked of luxury.My parents also happened to be wealthy, but no amount of wealth was ever going to get them out of this situation.
This just fucking sucked.There were men and women looking at all of us.
I’m not sure of the exact details, but someone was going to take me tonight.I would become theirs.I was no longer Maeve Taylor, I was whomever they asked me to be.
Despite my rebellion, the only thing I couldn’t bring myself to do was lose my virginity.How messed up was that?
I’d learned to fight, drink, and curse as good as the rest of them.I spent the last year of my life living.I stopped studying, because what was the fucking point?There was no life for me.I was at the mercy of whoever I now belonged to.There were no stories to go by, no advice.
I stumbled onto this information while going into my father’s study, looking for an encyclopedia.I’m kind of old-school.I don’t like searching the Internet.It’s too ...clean.I love the smell of a musty old book, with information as accurate as the moment it had been written.We all know what keeps happening to poor Pluto.
My family didn’t even stay.
My father and mother drugged me, making it hard to run away.I was aware of everything.They didn’t knock me out completely, just enough to get me into a car and escorted to a private location.There were no tears.No sadness.It was nothing more than a business transaction.
I guess it explained why they were not in a rush to get me out of the house.They were quite happy for me to not make any rash decisions and just ...enjoy my life.
They never loved me.I was a means to an end.
They dumped my ass and took off, finally paying the debt they owed.I guess I should be thankful they had also provided the dress I wore.It was white, kind of sheer, it covered my privates, and I guess they thought they were doing the right thing.Fucking assholes.
Up until I was sixteen, I loved my parents.Sure, they were not the most loving.They didn’t give me hugs or tell me it was going to be all right when I fell.If I hurt myself and required a hospital trip, they were all over me.Now, I realize why.They didn’t want their precious debt to be spoiled goods.
But I stopped loving them a long time ago.I meant nothing to them, other than freedom from a debt that hung over their heads.
Something was going on.I felt the whole line of us—products—tense up.Is that what we were?Products and goods?I hate this.There was no way out.
And that was when I saw him.
The moment I looked into his dark brown eyes, I could see he was sexy, but there was something more to him.A mixture of good and evil.He looked sexy, like you could trust him, but the way he looked at me, I knew he was anything but.This man was a beast.
He only looked at me.I’m not exactly sure what that meant.Part of me wanted to see who else was in the room, but I couldn’t.It was like the moment his eyes captured mine, there was no way out.
I was not sure how this process worked.I had no idea who I was going to end up with.All I knew was I’d be lucky to make it through the year.
****
Draven
She’s got fire.
I like that.I don’t want a simpering submissive with no backbone.In all honesty, I fucking hated this bullshit.This was repayment for what happened twenty-one years ago, when I was nothing more than a fourteen-year-old boy.
