by Penelope Sky
I should turn him down and move on with my life. It wasn’t like I was pressed for cash. I had more money than I needed. Having more wouldn’t change my life that much. But turning down that much cash for only a day of work sounded stupid.
Even my father would understand that.
“Alright,” I said. “I’m in.”
“Good,” he said. “I knew you would come around. Before we finalize anything, there’s something else I need you to do.”
“I’m listening.”
“I need you to hold on to my sister for a while before you give her back to me.”
“That’s fine. That’s how it has to be anyway.” If I gave her back too soon, the Skull Kings would be on to me.
“Good. I’ll be in Saudi Arabia for business for a while. And I don’t trust my men with her.”
His men? Why would his sister be with his men?
“And I’m sure I don’t need to warn you to stay away from my sister, right?” The threat was obvious.
I never slept with the women I rescued from the Underground. “Rape isn’t my style, not when I already have more pussy than I can handle.”
“Just the answer I wanted to hear. As a thank you, I’ll wire the fee to your account up front.”
That would make babysitting his sister a lot more bearable. I wasn’t looking forward to sharing my space with some woman, to sacrificing my privacy. I would have to talk to her, make sure she had what she needed, and keep her hidden from the public eye. “Very kind of you.”
“Let me know when you have her.”
“Sure thing.”
He didn’t say goodbye before hanging up.
I tossed the phone on the surface and pondered the decision I’d just made. It was risky and stupid, but when I thought of the pile of money being dropped into my bank account at that very moment, I didn’t care about my stupidity.
It would go the way it always went, smooth and simple. The most difficult part would be keeping the woman entertained in my home. After everything she’d been through with the Skull Kings, she would probably be timid and quiet. She would want nothing to do with me, too afraid that I might do something to her too. Most of the time, Conway took the girls and circulated them through his model roster so I didn’t have to deal with this shit, but I could handle it one more time.
How hard could it be?
I got into the Underground without trouble, stepping in as Conway’s replacement. They all knew me there, recognized my face easily enough, and while they raised their eyebrows before they let me in, they didn’t ask any questions.
I took my seat, ordered a drink, and waited.
I was alone at my table, as were the other men in the room. Each sat at a dark table with a lone candle, sipping their drinks as they waited for the auctions to begin. Most men didn’t socialize even if they knew each other. They wanted to pretend that the evening wasn’t happening, that they weren’t there at all.
It was Italy’s most open secret.
The auction finally began, and the girls were forced onto the stage, buck naked and handcuffed. Heels were on their feet, but that was the only item of clothing they were given. Black stilettos, the shoes were tall with a pointed toe.
There were six of them that evening, some more beautiful than others. But their allure wasn’t always in their beauty, but instead their connection to whichever family had been targeted. A man could still get off with an ugly woman if she was the daughter of a prince he disliked. Sometimes sex wasn’t about physical attraction, but power.
But there was one woman in particular who exuded pure beauty. With dark strands of hair that framed her face, full lips outlined in bright red lipstick, and lightly colored brown eyes, she was stunning. A few freckles sprinkled across her cheeks, but that added to her allure. She was of average height, probably a head shorter than me. While the other women could barely make eye contact because they were shaking so much, she seemed to be the only one unafraid. She looked into the sea of faces in the crowd like she was fearless.
It was just an act, but I still respected her for it.
These men like terrified women. They liked women who trembled in the presence of power. They liked helpless girls who begged for freedom they would never get. But this woman wasn’t like the others.
The other men noticed her too, judging by the way they watched her closely and ignored the others.
The bid would probably run high.
Egor had texted me a picture of his sister, an image I’d barely glanced at last night. I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the screen to confirm her identity. The woman was sitting under an apple tree on a sunny day. She was smiling at the camera, her hair blowing in the wind.
It was the beautiful one.
I slipped my phone back into my pocket and refused to celebrate my excitement. It didn’t matter if I was hard in my jeans from seeing that naked woman on the stage. When I took her home, I couldn’t enjoy her. She was nothing but inventory. This was a job—a job I’d already been paid for.
My eyes moved up her body, taking in her lean legs all the way to her hips. She had an hourglass shape, a sexy waist with even sexier tits. I’d been with seductive women before, but she definitely stood out from the rest. With slender shoulders and beautiful skin, she was absolutely luscious.
I could practically hear all the men drooling.
Her eyes scanned the room, searching the sea of faces like she was looking for something in particular. It didn’t make any sense for her to be so fearless when all the other girls were terrified. Some were even crying, sobbing their hearts out.
But she wasn’t afraid at all.
It was like she wanted to be there.
I dismissed the thought because that couldn’t be possible. She was taken from her home, taken from her family to be a sex slave. In her bleak mind, she had no idea her brother had paid a fortune to save her. The remainder of her life would be spent in horrifying ways.
The auction was intense.
All the men wanted her.
Even if I had to spend a fortune to buy her, I would still be left with an immense profit. So I kept sticking my paddle in the air, battling the other demons in the underworld for her. She was the first woman on the roster, probably because the Skull Kings knew the men wouldn’t care about the rest of the girls until their best girl was out of the running.
We were already at thirty million and going strong.
Losing wasn’t an option, so I kept bidding on her, making the price skyrocket higher and higher.
The woman stood tall on the stage, her beautiful tits perky and round. Her eyes were on me, watching me bid on her like an antique painting at an art show. Again, there wasn’t fear in the look.
Back and forth we went, and eventually, I won the auction.
“And Carter Barsetti wins at fifty million.” The Skull King clanked the mallet against the podium. “Enjoy your prize.”
Her handcuffs were removed from her wrists, and she was directed off the stage to the floor. She glanced at her arms and massaged her wrists, soothing the marks and scars along her skin where the metal had been too tight. She slowly made her way to me, her head held high even though she was still naked, stripped of the privilege of clothes.
I watched her move toward me, my eyes taking in her curves and her looks. She wasn’t given anything to wear, not even a thong, so I could clearly see the small amount of hair between her legs, along with her nub.
I shouldn’t look when I couldn’t touch, but I didn’t have a lot of self-control. I pulled out the chair beside me and snapped my fingers.
Her eyes widened noticeably, offended that I’d addressed her like a dog instead of a person.
I had to exude power and dominance when I was around my fellow demons, so I snapped my fingers again, this time giving her a terrifying look that she would be stupid to defy. “Sit. Now.”
She hesitated before she sat down, her bare ass hitting the cushion of the chair. She immediately c
rossed her legs, hiding her intimate place from view, and then she adjusted her hair in front of her shoulders, making the strands conceal her nipples.
Maybe she was a little afraid.
The auction continued, and I bid on another girl. I couldn’t just show my interest in one woman and leave. That would be too obvious. So I raised my paddle into the air, pretending I was seriously interested in one woman when I had no intention of taking her home.
My slave looked at me, her arms crossed over her chest so she could hide her tits from me. She gave me a special look, a look of disgust. “You really need two women?”
I raised my paddle and looked at her at the same time, floored that she cared enough to even ask. Every slave I’d dealt with stayed utterly silent and never asked any questions. They did their best to disappear from my sight, to go unnoticed. This woman didn’t seem to care. “I thought you could use the company.”
“Because you can’t keep me company enough?” Her deep and sensual voice trailed all the way down my spine, digging into the muscles of my back. As if she’d sprinkled a spell over my mind, I forgot about my current situation and failed to raise my paddle to continue the bid. I didn’t want the girl anyway, so it didn’t matter, but I didn’t appreciate the fact that I’d allowed some woman to distract me.
“I’m not the kind of company you want, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me sweetheart.”
“How about slave?” I snapped. “Do you prefer that?”
Her eyes shifted back and forth as she looked into mine, clearly appalled by the term.
“Sweetheart, it is.” I raised my paddle again and started the next bid.
She finally turned away, her attitude still palpable even though I’d subdued the argument. Her fierce brown eyes surveyed the room around her, as if she were searching for all the possible escape routes.
She wouldn’t find any.
I played my part and walked out with the woman I’d paid for. I was in a full suit and tie, so I pulled off my jacket and draped it around her shoulders, hiding her nakedness so she wouldn’t have to try to cover herself with her slender arms and long hair.
The second she felt the material against her skin, she yanked it tighter around her body, wrapping herself up so all of her important features were hidden away. The bottom of my jacket hit her knees, so even her ass was covered. She held tight to the material with clenched fingers, clinging to it like a life raft in the middle of the frigid ocean.
The other girls weren’t so lucky. Their handcuffs were changed for shackles before they were shoved into the backs of limos. They weren’t given clothes. In fact, their heels were ripped off and forced to remain behind. And they were greeted with a backhand from their master.
This woman had no idea how lucky she was.
If my sister were ever in the same circumstance, there was no amount of money I wouldn’t pay for her. Barsettis were ruthlessly loyal to one another, taking the definition of family to a new level. If that weren’t true, Vanessa wouldn’t have ended things with Bones. We were loyal to each other—and no one else.
This woman was lucky her brother cared about her so deeply. Or maybe she was just lucky he was so rich, rich enough that he could drop that kind of cash without thinking twice about it.
I opened the car door for her, one of the cars I’d designed. Worth a million euros, it was the most expensive car in the world. It had the kind of engine that provided the car with enough velocity to send it to the moon.
She peered into the dark car, hesitant before taking the final step inside.
“Get. In.” I didn’t have the patience for this, not when she was out of danger.
She didn’t look at me before she got into the car. She never put on her safety belt, but I didn’t care if she did or not.
I got behind the wheel and took off, driving through the dark and quiet streets of Milan. There was no one else on the road because it was three in the morning. The only people out right now were those who operated under the law—or against it.
The cars that were at the Underground quickly scattered, retreating to their hideaways in different sectors of the city. I sped through the streets, ran the red lights, and made it out of the city within minutes.
The woman kept looking at her surroundings, as if she was trying to determine exactly where she was. She glanced at the speedometer a few times, checking our speed. Thankfully, she didn’t ask me a million questions.
I wasn’t much of a talker. “We’re in Milan.”
She turned to me, her lustrous hair falling around her shoulders as she turned her head. With big and bright eyes, her features were fundamentally expressive. It was not difficult to see her emotions because they always danced on the surface of her eyes. Her mouth was just as easy to read, from the way she pressed her lips tightly together to the way she chewed on the corner of her mouth. She faced forward again, dismissing what I’d said. “I’m not a cop, but I think you’re supposed to stop at the red lights.”
Again, she ran her mouth when she had no right to. She was a prisoner of the Skull Kings, and now she was a prisoner again—to me. Was she stupid? Talking back to me was the quickest way for her to get killed. “I just bought a woman like a piece of livestock. You think I give a shit about the law?” I kept my eyes on her and slammed my foot against the pedal, making the engine roar as the car picked up speed.
She didn’t look at me, her eyes glued out the passenger window. We’d just left the city, and now we were on a small road toward the countryside. Vineyards and farms were the only things separating Milan and Verona. My home was somewhere in between. “You just bought me for fifty million euros. You don’t need to impress me with the speed of your car.”
I laughed because it was ridiculous. “I don’t give a damn about impressing you, sweetheart.”
“Well, if you don’t want me to throw up in your fancy car, I suggest you slow down. I get car sick.”
“You just stood buck naked on a stage as you were sold off, vomit-free. But a fast car is your breaking point?”
“Fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she kicked off her heels. “I’ll just throw up in your car, then. Makes no difference to me.”
I could buy another car at the drop of a hat, but this was the first vehicle assembled of the new model. I always kept the first ones manufactured, collecting them like trophies. So this car did have some significance to me. I didn’t want her vomit to destroy the Italian leather. And I didn’t want it to smell like barf forever.
I took my foot off the gas.
The car finally slowed down, reaching the speed limit.
She kept her gaze out the window.
“You’re welcome.”
“No, you’re welcome,” she hissed. “Now your precious car won’t be ruined.”
I kept one hand on the wheel and glanced at her, shocked that this woman was so brazen in her stupidity. Even if I really was some sick pervert who wanted to buy her for my own amusement, she was playing a risky game. She reminded me of Vanessa in that regard—but that wasn’t a compliment. “You want to die tonight, sweetheart? Because you’re acting like you have a death wish.” I glanced at the road again, seeing two headlights coming toward me.
She faced forward, her eyes reflecting the brightness from the approaching car.
“Cut the attitude. You might live a little longer.”
She finally shut her mouth, sitting in silence instead of releasing a smartass comment.
“Good. That’s better—”
Just as the oncoming car passed, she opened the passenger door and rolled out.
She jumped out of my fucking car.
In nothing but a jacket.
It took me three seconds to process what had happened, to slam my foot on the brakes and force my beloved tires to scrape against the pavement. Smoke rose into the air and my nose as the rubber burned, and my eyes started to smart with the smell and the rage.
That woman just ditched my car.
Jesus Christ.
I flung my seat belt off and pressed my thumb into the panel on the dashboard, making the center console unlock after it read my thumbprint. I pulled out the fully loaded pistol and jumped out of the car. “Get your ass back here.”
It was pitch black because we were away from the city. There weren’t even any streetlights along this road. The car that had just passed had bright red taillights. The driver probably didn’t notice the woman throw herself from my car since it was dark and we were speeding past each other in different directions.
She’d timed her departure to catch the attention of the car, but she didn’t time it properly and missed her chance by a few seconds. Now she was out in the middle of nowhere.
I’d never chased down a fugitive like this, but it couldn’t be that hard. She couldn’t be that fast, not barefoot. She wouldn’t risk coming toward me, so she would head for Milan back the way she came.
I started to jog, my feet hitting the pavement as I scanned the grass beside the road. It was slightly untamed so it could hide her body somewhat, but it was too short to hide her completely. The fact that I couldn’t see her running told me she was crouched down, hoping I wouldn’t be able to spot her in the darkness.
I pulled the small flashlight from my pocket and clicked the button, illuminating the field in front of me.
There she was.
I aimed my gun. “Don’t you fucking—”
She took off at a dead sprint, moving at the speed of a bullet.
Shit, she was fast.
I pointed the gun past her shoulder and pulled the trigger, the sound of the gun echoing across the dark pastures. It was loud, so loud that it made her fumble to the ground.
I sprinted hard, catching up to her within a few seconds.
She got to her feet and started to run again, picking up speed remarkably fast.
But I was faster.
I grabbed her by the neck and put her in a choke hold, jerking her off the road and into the grass so I could force her to the ground.
She kicked her legs and threw her arms back, doing everything she possibly could to hit me. She was overwhelmed, but that didn’t stop her from fighting. She pushed against me with all her strength, refusing to give up even when the fight was lost.