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He laughs, nodding. “Oh, but you do, actually. We bought you.”

“You what?” I ask, my mouth going slack as my head swims. “You can’t buy a human being.”

“Technically, you’re right but who’s going to come after you? Your mother is the one who sold you two off like prized pigs.”

I shake my head as I struggle to breathe. “No. That’s not true.”

“It seems that the men of this town have caught on to your mother’s games and they refuse to play anymore so she needed to find another way to make money. The poor thing is broke. Julian and I overheard her at a fundraiser, complaining that her daughters couldn’t find good men and well, we jumped on the opportunity. She was so eager to give us any information we needed about the two of you.”

“No,” I whisper, my mind fighting to understand everything he’s saying.

“Oh, yes. I’ve even seen the lovely little tape you made in high school,” he whispers, pressing his nose against my cheek as he releases a breath. His breath fans out over my skin and I fight back a sob. “I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve gotten off to it. Planning this whole thing took months and I didn’t know if I was going to make it.”

I still can’t wrap my mind around it. The money sent to the account in the Cayman Islands and the burner phones, it all makes sense now but how could she just sell us like things she grew tired of? Sure, she’s always been single minded when it came to getting what she wanted but this… this is taking it to the next level. I can’t help but think of my daddy watching over me right now, his heart breaking. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Maybe I should have expected something like this all along. My mind drifts to Chance.

“Chance will come for me,” I whisper, shaking my head again. Damian’s mood shifts in an instant and he grabs my face, his lip curling back in a snarl.

“I never want to hear that fucking name again; do you hear me? You are mine now and the only way you leave here is in a fucking body bag. If you ever try to leave, I’ll hunt that bastard down and take my time killing him.”

“No,” I gasp, unable to stop an image of Chance lying dead on the floor from entering my mind. My heart explodes with pain and I gasp for air. I’ll do it. I’ll live an eternity of this if it means he gets to live.

“Yes,” Damian hisses, his breath washing over me and I gag when the smell of tobacco floods my nose. “Since the moment I first saw you with him at the gala, I’ve wanted to take my knife and sink it into him so don’t think I won’t. It won’t be a slow death either. Maybe I’ll nick a lung and watch as he slowly suffocates or I’ll set him on fire just long enough to make the end of his life excruciating.”

“No!” I scream, tears pouring down my face as I pull at the rope again. “I’ll stay.”

“Damn fucking right you will. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough, but you are mine now. Well, ours.”

My lip trembles and I nod, accepting my fate. With any luck, he’ll just kill me.

“God,” he groans, grabbing my t-shirt and ripping it open the rest of the way. “Do you know how hard it’s been to wait for this? As soon as your mother showed me your picture, I knew you were the one and it’s been killing me to try and woo you.”

“It never would have worked.”

He laughs. “Yes, I can see that now. I’m not bothered – that’s more Julian’s speed. He loves the chase. I prefer something a little… different.”

“I don’t care,” I whisper, my eyelids drooping and my shoulders going slack. I’m quickly running out of steam. Damian moves behind me, gripping my hips as he buries his nose in my hair and takes a deep breath.

“But you should. It involves you, after all.”

Before I can say anything else, the door bursts open and my head lifts as light floods the room. Julian pushes Ivy inside and slams the door closed behind them. She has a fresh bruise on her cheek and blood trickles from her eyebrow, mixing with the tears as it streaks down the side of her face. My throat feels tight.

“Vi,” I call to her.

“Shut up,” Julian growls at me, shoving her farther into the room and her eyes lock on me.

“You see,” Damian whispers, pressing his palm flat against my belly and I struggle against him. “Ivy is in big trouble for leaving and now she has to be punished.”

The glee in his voice sends my stomach rolling again and I shake my head, unable to figure out how I ended up here when only yesterday, my life was damn near perfect.

“No.”

Julian shoots a look in my direction and Damian clamps a hand over my mouth, his lips brushing up against my ear and I recoil.

“Just watch, sweetheart, because as soon as he’s done, it’s your turn.” His erection presses into my ass and I sob, my stomach turning and my heart turning to stone.

When Julian gets Ivy a few feet away from me, he stops and nods to Damian. “Grab me that chair, will ya?”

Damian releases me and I suck in air, panic clawing away at me but unable to do anything about it as he grabs the wooden chair and carries it over to Julian. Once Damian sets it down, Julian moves it to where he wants to and shoves Ivy into a sitting position. With her hands tied behind her back and a gag in her mouth, she is essentially helpless and I start praying for a miracle.