RYKER
“Where have you been?”
Senior’s voice is just as clipped and blunt as it was on the phone. I take my place before him, hands resting behind my back, legs spaced apart like a soldier awaiting orders.
“I was waylaid by a request from Katriane, sir. I apologize.”
He lets out a huff of annoyance and narrows his eyes. “What did she want?”
“For me to escort Junior’s girl down to your rooms.”
Senior’s eyes narrow further, his eyebrows furrowing together. He opens his mouth as though to say something, then changes his mind and shuts it abruptly, shaking his head. Getting up from his chair, he paces around the desk and leans against it, crossing his legs at the ankles and staring at me curiously. There’s something in his gaze which makes me uncomfortable, and I shift my weight between my feet, unsure of the reason he called me here.
“Are you happy, Ryker?”
My forehead creases with confusion. “Yes, sir,” I reply, unsure of what else to say.
“It seems to me that you have been experiencing some dissatisfaction with your position with us, is that not correct?”
“No, sir. Not at all. Have I done something to give you that impression?”
Senior leans further back, his head slowly tilting from side to side. The silence grows uncomfortable, but I know his games. I know he likes to make people nervous in the hope that they will blurt out some hidden guilt. We play the game. Who can bear the silence the longest? In the end, I win and Senior relents.
“Not anything in particular,” he says. “Just a general…” He waves his hand in front of his chest as though attempting to summons the right word. “A general feeling, you might say.” Lifting himself away from the desk he returns to his seat. “Come in!” he yells into the empty room.
The door bursts open and Everly runs into my arms. My heart sinks. What is she doing here?
“Can you believe it!” Everly gushes. “He brought the helicopter to collect me again! He said it wasn’t fair that I miss out on Junior’s party just because I was at school and he sent the helicopter so I could come. Isn’t that just so nice of him?”
She squeezes me tightly and Senior meets my gaze over the top of her head.
“He said that you have to work tonight, so annoying, but I’m going to have so much fun. Senior even said I can have a couple of wines tonight.” She giggles and hugs me again, only to pull back and look at me with a frown on her face. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you pleased to see me?”
I plaster on a smile, my gaze flicking between the challenging glare of Senior and the excited sparkle of Everly’s eyes. “Of course. I’m just a little surprised to see you, that’s all. I had no idea you were going to be coming tonight.”
Senior gets up from his desk again and walks around to embrace Everly. “I thought it would do her good to come home for a while, don’t you think, Ryker? Make sure she remembers who the people are who love her. The ones who protect her and look after her.”
Everly laughs. “As if I would ever forget. You’ve given me everything, Mr Atterton. I’ll never be able to repay you for your kindness.”
She says all the right words for someone who has never seen the dark side of the family. She has no idea of their criminal connections. She has no idea that there are girls, only a few years older than her, locked away in rooms, ready to be sold to the highest bidder, to do with them what they will.
“I’ve even bought you a pretty dress for the evening.”
Everly’s eyes grow wide and she clasps her hands under her chin.
“A pretty dress for a pretty girl.”
Senior stares directly at me as he says the words, turning my blood cold. My plans for the night start to fall away. Senior takes Everly’s hand in his.
“You’ll have plenty of time to catch up with Ryker tomorrow. Now, you must get ready for the party, yes?” He pats her hand gently. “There are going to be a lot of people here tonight, already the guests are beginning to arrive—” again his glance flicks to me “—so I’ve arranged for Cameron to escort you, keep an eye on you and keep you safe.”
Cameron enters the room. He gives her a dazzling smile, one that belies his place within the family, and steps forward to offer her his arm.
“It will be my pleasure to accompany such a beautiful lady.”
Senior looks directly at me. “Don’t let her out of your sight. We can’t have her running away in the middle of the night.”
Senior has his ways of keeping track of me, but this is something more. This is a warning. He’s been inside my head and he wants me to know that nothing is hidden from him. It’s always like this. Unspoken threats. Silent reminders of who he is and who I am. Master and servant.
Everly darts across the room to place a kiss on my cheek and then skips off on Cameron’s arm, oblivious to the exchange that just happened.
“Oh, and Ryker?” Senior walks over to the window, peering down as another car pulls into the driveway, the driver opening the doors for the occupants to get out. “There’s a list of the order in which I want our girls to appear at the auction tonight. It’s on my desk. Grab it on your way out.”
I nod once, even though he’s not looking at me and head towards the desk. His laptop is open, a paused image on the screen. Mia with her wrists in chains, her naked body stretched taut as I hold her against the wall, pushing my arm into her throat and cutting off her air. The strength leaves my body and I want to sink to the floor at the same time as a powerful rage ripple through my muscles.
Senior turns slowly and meets my gaze. “It’s amazing what’s just lying around, isn’t it?”
He doesn’t need to say anymore. He’s made himself perfectly clear.
“Oh, and Ryker? I’d like you to be the one that leads the girls onto the stage tonight. I usually get the trainers to do it but with Marcel gone and you being more experienced now, it will be good for the clients to know who you are, realize how important you are to my operation. Consider it a promotion.”
Senior smiles but it’s only his lips that move. The rest of his face remains immobile.
I nod once, then leave without saying a word, clutching the list in my hand and returning to the role I’m forced to play.
It’s three in the morning before the auction starts. The guests are already stumbling with drunkenness but there are a few lurking at the back of the room, eyes set straight ahead. They mean business. They are not here to play. They are here for the auction alone. There’s a darkness and cruelty to their eyes that isn’t in the others.
The room has been set up like a fashion runway. The clients populate the floor space and a raised platform lines the center of the room, lit by spotlights and ready to display the prey.
I pace impatiently, scanning the room for a glimpse of Junior. I thought he would be here. I had hoped to check in on Mia again during the night, but I have been kept too busy. The only chance I got to slip away, I took the opportunity to check on Everly. She was dancing, her arms wrapped around Cameron’s neck, her face stretched wide with a lopsided smiled. I sent Cameron a warning glare and he nodded. He knows better than to touch my sister. I hope.
“Ryker?” Winston taps my shoulder. “Are you coming back here? The girls are second on the stage.”
Senior didn’t want his girls to go first, it showed too much favor, but that didn’t stop him from going second. He wanted the best price he could get, and the sooner they appeared in the line-up, the better their chances of going for decent money.
“Be there soon.”
Music starts and the room darkens. The auctioneer, a friend of Senior’s, starts his babble as the first girl is lead out. She’s dressed in leather and chains. The man beside her is dressed all in black, as I am, nothing more than someone to hold the lead clipped to the collar around her neck. This girl doesn’t cower or hide. She stands tall and proud, glaring at the men in the room as though they deserve to be below her. The bidding starts and the voices in the room rise in excitement.
Weaving my way through the crowd, I make my way to where Senior’s girls are being held. Not the ones he keeps for himself. The ones he wants to sell.
After banging on the door, Winston lets me in.
Star, Iris, Danielle and some whose names I don’t know, and one I’ve forgotten, briefly look at me, then lower their eyes again, all except Iris. Her gaze is defiant, and Winston slaps her for it. She merely lifts her chin, inviting his wrath. His raises his hand again, but I stop it.
“Don’t want her with red cheeks right before the auction, do we?”
Winton scowls and feigns coming toward her. “She’s not ready,” he says, then spits on the ground. “I haven’t been able to break her. Senior was too lenient with her. He didn’t give me enough time to correct his mistakes.”
The guilt of Iris’s eyes on me weighs heavily. “He wants her sold. No reserve.”
“I sure hope whoever buys her has a firm hand. He’s going to need it.” He hands me the lead that connects to her neck. “She’s up first.”
The leather burns between my fingers. “Come on,” I say to her.
But she refuses to budge, crossing her arms over her chest. It’s the first time I look at her. The first time I allow myself to see her properly, all the bruises that cover her body, the marks around her neck, her wrists and her ankles.
Closing my eyes, I breathe deeply. I can’t shut off my thoughts anymore. Mia has broken that ability within me. I can’t look at Iris and see what Senior or even Winston see. I look at her and see Mia, Everly, the mother I can’t remember, the daughter I may never have.
“Is there a problem?” Winston asks.
I shake my head and jerk on the lead, wishing I could burn this place to the ground with every miserable excuse for a human that allows this insanity still contained within its walls. Including me. Because I am the one tugging on her lead. I am the one taking her down the platform as the auctioneer drones on and until the hammer slams down. I am the one that jerks her back to her feet as she sinks to her knees, face covered by her hands as the tears fall.
As soon as my duties are done, I exit the auction room, wishing I could clean the filth from me before going to check on Mia. I thought that Everly’s presence would mean I would have to delay my plans, but witnessing the auction tonight only cemented the fact that I need to get them both far away from here. I will just have to figure out any issues as I come by them. But as I’m ducking and weaving my way through the hallways, doing my best to avoid being sighted, I hear his voice and I know I’m too late.
I duck into a doorway, poking my head around the corner to watch him towering over her as she backs into the wall.
“Fucking answer me!” he yells.
Her voice shakes. “No. No, he didn’t tell me anything. I think I just overheard him talking to Marcel.”
I watch like a coward from my dark corner as he leans down and takes her bottom lip between his teeth, sinking into the flesh until she cries out in pain. Unconsciously, my hand falls to the knife tucked against my waist. But now is not the time.
“Come,” Sebastian grabs her hand again. “You’re ruining your surprise.”
I sneak up behind them as he leads her to his room, only being able to catch a glimpse of her through the crack in the doorway.
Even though he whispers as he stands close to her, I can still make out what he utters into her ear.
“Don’t say a word.”