I brush her hair away from her face. Ava’s still asleep. She looks so sweet. So innocent. Guilt and regret make my chest hurt and my heart sink. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of her. I’m holding her against her will. She’s forced to stay with me.

And yet, she begged me for it.

It took everything in me to turn her down, every ounce of control I had. But I couldn’t resist when she asked like that. I clench my jaw remembering her plea. “Take their touch away.” The desire to kill every one of those fuckers rides me hard. I’m up against all odds, but there’s no fucking way I’ll ever let them touch her again.

She stirs in my arms and it brings me back to the moment. I held her all night, her back to my chest. I fucking love the feel of her soft skin against me. My fingers itch to trail along the dip of her waist. As my eyes travel her body I see her ribs and my desire falters.

She’s still hurt, still suffering. I need to make this right for her.

The sound of my phone ringing on the dresser makes my eyes dart across the room. Ava stiffens in my arms, and it fucking kills me. She’s scared. She’s so used to waking up in fear that even after the night we shared, she still wakes up tense and full of apprehension. I quickly pull her body to mine and kiss her shoulder. My lips linger on her skin.

“Good morning, my good girl.” I know that little pet name makes her relax, and it does the trick once again. Her body molds to mine as the phone rings again. I look from the phone down to her and see her baby blues looking at me, and a soft, small smile is on her lips. I give her a quick kiss and leave her warmth to walk across the room to my phone.

It stops ringing just as I get there, and I grind my teeth when I see the name. Abram.

Fuck.

It’s not a good sign that he’s calling. It doesn’t have to be about Felipe, though. I fucking hope it’s not, anyway. I breathe in deep and hit “call back”. I put the phone to my ear and watch as Ava sits up in bed, covering herself with the blanket.

She’s so fucking beautiful.

“Kane,” Abram says flatly as he answers.

I don’t want to respond as he expects, but I should. He needs to think everything is just fine while I figure out what my next move is. I can’t let him onto anything. I don’t have a plan, and I don’t know who I can trust. I can’t fuck this up and let him in on anything, so I answer like he wants me to, “Boss. Sorry I missed the call. What do you need?”

Ava stills on the bed as she realizes who I’m talking to. I make eye contact with her and put a finger over my lips. I look to the door thinking maybe I should get out of here so she can’t hear what’s going on. She’s not going to like this conversation. But I want her to know everything. I want her to know what I’m telling Abram, and then I’ll let her know what’s going on once the call is over. I need to tell her she’s never going back to him. I’ll die before I let him take her from me.

“I’m not going to lie, Kane. I was worried for a minute. You’re always quick with your phone.” There’s a moment of silence. He’s waiting for me to answer and I don’t fucking like it. I feel like I’m being tested. Something’s up. Maybe he’s heard about Felipe.

“Sorry boss, it was across the room and I was a bit busy.”

“Is that so?” he answers, with a bit of humor in his voice, but that could be to throw me off. “Busy with my gift, I presume?” I fucking hate how he says that. She’s not an object to be given.

Pain radiates in my chest as I answer, “Yeah, I won’t lie. I’ve been enjoying this role.” I enjoyed watching Felipe meet his death, so it’s not a complete lie. He laughs on the other end. It’s a short, robust laugh that comes deep from his chest. Ava’s eyes fall. I fucking hate it. I walk closer to the bed and stand at the side next to her. She’s motionless and looking unsure of herself. I grip her chin gently and tilt her to look at me. “It’s okay,” I mouth to her. I lean down and plant a kiss on her plush lips.

“Good. I was worried I’d made a mistake bringing you on,” he says.

I smirk as I talk into the phone. “No mistake there, boss.”

“You know you don’t get to keep that one. But I’m willing to let you have whichever you want from each shipment. As long as you leave no permanent damage, of course.” His words make me sick to my stomach, but I push it down.

“Of course. That’s very generous of you.” I decide to suck up to him like the little bitch he wants me to be. “I appreciate that.”

“That’s good news. Very good news, Kane. But we need to get back to business.” He clears his throat and I straighten my back preparing for whatever’s about to come through on the other line. It hasn’t even been 12 hours since Felipe’s been killed, but I have a bad feeling that this is exactly what the call is about.

“Have you spoken with the Valettis?”

“I had a meeting with them yesterday, boss. I think you’ll be happy.” I take a deep breath, ready to rattle off the shipping times that would be best to send the larger crates. I have to pretend it’s for a different reason than sex trafficking. I can’t stomach the thought of what’s really going to be in those crates. “So there are--” I start to speak, but he cuts me off.

“I don’t need to know any of that just yet,” he says.

“Alright. Whenever you’re ready.”

“What I want to know is if Vince is fully on board with this?” I know I need to be smart about that answer. He saw Vince’s face. He knows Vince was less than happy about this shit.

“I’ll give it to you straight, boss. I think it’s hard for him to stomach this shit. But...” I pause so he gets the feeling I’m working on his side of things for this. “...I think there’s a way to make it a bit easier on him.”

“I’m listening,” he answers. I take a deep breath and look back at Ava, who’s wide-eyed on the bed, listening. I don’t want her to hear this. I’ll have to tell her this is all horse shit. I’m sure she’ll believe me, though. She has to know that everything I did yesterday was for her.

“I brought Ava along with me yesterday. I had to tone it down a bit for him, but I think he just doesn’t enjoy seeing it. We’ll just have to keep them out of sight, I think.”

“You brought her out in public?” he asks disbelievingly. His voice is raised, and Ava can hear his words. Her eyes widen with fear, but I’m quick to pet her back and calm her.

“I think you underestimate me, Abram.” It kills me to say the next words, but I have to. “She’s very well-behaved. Vince was impressed, but I could tell he was still uncomfortable, so keeping it on the quiet side would suit him better.”

“Was Felipe there yesterday?” he asks, with a hint of distrust in his voice. I know what Vince told him yesterday at the docks, that Felipe had just left, so I answer honestly.

“He was. He wasn’t happy about her new collar.”

Abram’s voice carries a hint of relief. “Yes, I can imagine. He’s rather fond of those.” He clears his throat. “You do realize that Ava is special? The others won’t be as trained as her. They’ll be newer, and not broken in.”

Fucking sick bastard. I have to bite back my disgust. “I figured that much.”

“We’ll keep them drugged though, so they’ll be easy to handle.” I want to ask him about Ava. About his plans for her, but he cuts me off.

“I haven’t heard from Felipe since he told me that he was going to the Valettis’ shipyard.” He states it simply, without a hint of emotion.

“I haven’t either boss, but if you’d like me to give him a call, I will.”

“No. I’m certain he’s dead, Kane.”

His words chill me to the core. “The Valettis?” I ask.

“I can’t imagine it would be anyone else. We’ll have a meeting tomorrow.”

“A meeting?” I have a real fucking bad feeling about that. “Is this staying between me and you, boss?” What I’m really asking is, is this an ambush?

“No. I need you to set it up. Let’s do it at the docks so I can have a good look around.”

“You really think they took him out, boss? That’s not at all a good sign.”

“I agree, Kane. But I’ve had better men killed for no reason. He’s replaceable.” He pauses and I think he’s finished, but then he adds, “And so are the Valettis.”

“I see.” I answer simply, unsure of what he’s looking from me.

“I’ll decide tomorrow. I’ll bring enough men to make sure that if I decide we’d rather go forward without them, it’ll be easy to handle right then and there.” I nod my head imagining the fucking bloodbath it would be. I can see it happening, and I don’t fucking want it to.

“So you think it will work, then?” he asks, and I’m completely thrown off by the question.

“Taking them out? Of course, boss, there aren’t many of them there at a time. Maybe six total yesterday.” I’m sure as fuck giving the Valettis a heads-up. I’m not letting this shit go down like that.

“No, no. Working with them. I’m not certain I’m ready to take them out just yet.”

“I do,” I answer quickly and confidently. “Also, I think everything will be ready soon. If you decide to do business with them, that is.”

“Even if I don’t, we’ll continue as planned.”

“How many do you have ready?” I ask.

“Nine right now, but we’re gathering the other three tomorrow.” No. I need to stop that shit. I can’t let that happen.

“Oh, boss.” I have to think fast. “The boxes may not be able to carry more than eight.” I’m met with silence.

“The other end can do 12. There’s no reason the Valettis shouldn’t be able to meet the same requirements.”

“We can’t do the large crate, boss. They’d only be able to fit the large crate one day a week. But that’s not going to work ‘cause of the guards that day.” That’s absolutely true. Or at least it’s what Vince told me.

“Ah, shit.” He sounds pissed. He starts cussing in Russian and I have no fucking clue what he’s saying beyond the basic profanity. Part of me is worried Vince did lie to me and that he’s in deep shit now with Abram because Abram knows better. Another part is freaking the fuck out that Abram can tell I’m trying to save those other girls. I just need a little time until I can figure out what I have to do to stop this shit. I can’t let it happen. I won’t.

“There’s no way, Kane?” he asks, after a moment of calming his shit down.

“We could split the shipments,” I offer. I need this to sound unappealing. “We could do eight on Monday, and then try for the other four the following Thursday.”

“Only twice a month.” I grit my teeth wishing I could lie and say yes. But I can’t. He’d know. I’m sure he already knows this answer.

“Technically there are four. But like I said, the one is the verification day. I wouldn’t risk that, boss.”

“What about the fourth?” he asks.

“It’s a longer trip, two stops before hitting Russia. It has more risks in getting caught, but also in losing some of the shipment.” Some of the shipment. By that I mean the women will die. Being trapped in a box, sleeping in your own filth. Jesus, the others are only 10 hours. But even that thought makes me fucking sick.

“Losing?” He wants me to clarify. As if he doesn’t understand how horrific that would be.

“It’ll be days with no water,” I say simply.

“Hmm. And they’ll need another dose.” He seems to be weighing the risk in his head, and it pisses me off. I look down at Ava. Her eyes on the blanket. She looks hopeless. I fucking hate it. I wish he’d let me get off the phone so I can talk to her. I need her to know I’m not going to let this happen.

“Alright, Kane. We’ll go with your plan for now, but we’re going to have to shake things up and get more women sooner. The timetable has changed. I’ll have to dump one of the girls before Monday.”

Chills run down my skin and I speak without thinking. “Bring them.”

“What’s that?” he asks, with irritation in his voice. He doesn’t like that I made it a statement and not a request.

“I can take one with me. To practice.” I clench my fists and restrain the sickness threatening to climb up my throat. “And we should test the Valettis on how they’ll handle them. I think that will be a good gauge on whether or not this will really work with them.”

“Smart thinking, Kane. And to think I wasn’t sure you’d do well with this role.” I press my lips into a thin line. “I’m proud of you, Kane.”

“Thank you, boss. I want to make sure you know how seriously I’m taking this position.”

“I can tell. And Kane?” he asks.

“Yeah, boss?”

“Don’t fuck up this meet tomorrow.” His words come out hard.

“Of course not.” Anxiety shoots through me.

“If they aren’t on board with the shipment, we’ll simply end the relationship there. So make sure you’re ready for that.”

“Got it. I’ll be ready.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then. I’m looking forward to it.” I can practically see the wicked grin on his face.

“Me, too,” I answer, as I hear the click on the other end.

Tomorrow. It’s going down tomorrow.