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“Come in.”

The door opened, and a woman stepped inside. She looked to be somewhere in her forties, maybe early fifties, with smooth caramel-brown skin and a curvy figure wrapped in an all-black pantsuit. Her dark hair was pulled into a sleek bun at the nape of her neck, and oversized gold hoops hung from her ears.

Her eyes immediately landed on me, traveling from my face down to my heels before a smile spread across her face.

“Oh, she's a pretty one.”

“Yeah.” Jefferson leaned back in his chair. “We should make a lot of money off her tonight.”

My stomach dropped. So that was what this shit was.

My father hadn’t just handed me over to settle some twenty-five-year-old debt. These motherfuckers were about to sell me.

I looked toward the door my father had walked out of, and anger burned through my chest all over again.

This nigga had known.

He'd driven me all the way out here knowing exactly what these people planned to do with me, kissed me on my forehead, apologized, and then left me to deal with this shit by myself.

“Come on, baby girl,” the woman said, motioning for me to follow her.

I wanted to tell her I wasn't her fucking baby girl, but right now, running my mouth wasn't going to get me out of this warehouse. I didn't know where the hell I was, how many people were inside, or what would happen if I tried to run.

So I followed her.

Not because I was okay with any of this shit.

I needed a minute to think.

Amanda led me downstairs and through another hallway before opening the door to a small room.

“You can wait in here. When they're ready for you, I'll come back.”

I didn't bother asking what she meant by ready.

I already fucking knew.

The second the door closed behind her, I snatched my phone from my purse and called Lha'Kayla.

Nothing.

I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at the screen.

No Service.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

I walked toward the other side of the room and tried again.

Nothing.

Of course there wasn't any damn signal. My father had driven me damn near into the middle of nowhere before dropping me off to be sold like I was a fucking piece of property.

I tried sending Lha'Kayla a text anyway, hoping like hell it would go through if I caught even a sliver of service.

Me: Call me ASAP. Something is wrong.

I hit send, and it sat there undelivered.