by Nina Park
Marco pressed his pointer finger firmly between his eyebrows, and I couldn’t help but notice a glint in his eyes. Enough stories were floating around about the number of men Marco had gotten rid of, and he no doubt knew I’d heard them. He wanted to remind me of his power, of how easy it would be for him to send me sinking to the bottom of the ocean. I wouldn’t be so easily rattled, however.
“Well, let’s hope I don’t waste your time,” I said with a laugh.
Marco smiled at me. “Let’s hope not. Have you considered my last offer?”
Guts had all but rioted at the twelve thousand dollars Marco wanted to pay for the guns, and Marco knew it was a measly sum.
“I did, but I’m afraid you’ll have to go a bit higher before I’m ready to let go of my merchandise.”
His mouth twisted to the side in mock disappointment. “I’m not sure they are worth much more than that.”
“Is that true?” I asked with a friendly smile. “Or are you not sure you want to pay much more than that? Because I think we both know they are worth more than twelve thousand.”
“I can get guns from anyone in this city. Why are yours worth the money?” he asked, slipping seamlessly into business mode.
“You know as well as I do that most of the dealers in this city are working with the cops, and if they aren’t working with them, they are being tracked by them. All it takes is one buy from a sleazy seller, and you have the cops on your ass.”
“How do I know you aren’t working with the cops?” He leaned forward onto his elbows, eyes narrowed at me, searching my face for a crack.
I leaned forward to match his posture until we were only a foot apart. “If I were working with the cops, my only concern would be you buying the guns from me so I could nail you for it. So I would have accepted the first bullshit offer you made. I wouldn’t have wasted my time coming back here so many times to get a fair price.”
Marco’s face didn’t change for a few seconds and then all of a sudden, he threw his entire body back in his chair, tipped his head back, and laughed, long and loud. Still laughing, he pointed at me.
“You are one gutsy son of a bitch, Cade. Does Guts know you talk to his business associates like this?”
“He knows I get the job done and that is all that matters.”
My honesty seemed to settle Marco slightly. The macho man energy that had been pouring off of him subsided and he relaxed back into his chair and crossed his hands over his chest. “Make me an offer then. Tell me what you want.”
“Eighteen thousand,” I said without hesitation. “And Falyn.”
For the first time, Marco looked properly taken aback. His brows furrowed and it was several seconds before he was able to rearrange his face into a neutral mask.
“Falyn?”
“The girl I’ve been seeing after our meetings,” I said, trying to find the right balance between being firm and nonchalant. I didn’t want him to know how much she meant to me. I didn’t want him to see how badly I wanted her, or he’d never pay the price Guts required for the guns.
Marco opened his mouth and then closed it, shaking his head. “She’s my best piece. I haven’t even had her two weeks.”
“You’ll get another one to replace her,” I said, hating how I sounded and hating how true my words were. I could save Falyn, but it wouldn’t be long before another poor girl took her place.
Marco balked. “She was expensive.”
“No, she isn’t.”
Marco’s face creased in annoyance, but I continued.
“I was at the auction. I know how much you paid for her, and this is a fair deal. You bought her for practically nothing.”
“Just because I got a good price on her, doesn’t mean she isn’t worth a lot,” Marco said, shrugging and looking away from me in the direction of his shelves. I could tell he was beginning to falter.
“She’s just another slutty club girl who pissed off her man. The girls in those auctions aren’t worth anything, and you know it.” I hoped the words didn’t sound as hollow to Marco as they felt.
Marco twisted his neck, popping his joints and then looked back at me. “Her good looks make up for all of that.”
“And that quality of our guns make up for her good looks. You’ll never convince me this isn’t a fair deal.”
Marco studied me for a few seconds and then groaned. “You drive a hard bargain, Cade. I told you I thought you were a good businessman and you are proving me right.”
Marco was trying to spin my victory into one of his own, claiming he knew I’d beat him out all along, but I didn’t mind. Whatever he needed to do to accept my deal was fine with me.
“What if we do eighteen thousand and one of the other girls?” he asked, hands raised in a question.
I shook my head. “It has to be Falyn.”
He sighed. “Falyn and sixteen thousand. That’s my final offer.”
I knew I wouldn’t get a better deal than that. The price was low, but not so low that Guts would be angry at me for making the deal. Perhaps, just slightly disappointed. I waited a few seconds, wanting Marco to think I was really weighing the options in my head, still unsure. And then finally, I nodded.
“That sounds fair.”
Marco stood up and extended his hand to me. I gripped it, and we shook.
“Then we have a deal,” he said.
“Great. Can I see Falyn?”
He nodded and then pulled my hand closer to his chest, bringing me towards him. “You can tell her about our deal, but you don’t collect her until I have my guns.”
Marco had one of his men take me down to the room where I usually met Falyn, and she was already there waiting for me. As soon as the door closed, she ran towards me and threw her arms around my neck.
“I’ve got great news,” I said, running my hand down her back, trying to ignore how her spine stuck out in a series of obvious mountains and valleys. She’d grown thin in the few weeks she’d spent in Marco’s clubhouse.
She pulled away from me and looked up at my face. Dark circles were blotted under her eyes, and I wondered when she’d last had a good night’s sleep.
“Did you make a deal?” she asked, hope giving her cheeks a flare of color.
I bit back my smile and nodded.
Her eyes flew wide, and she buried her face in my chest, happy sobs wracking her body. “I can’t believe I’m getting out of her,” she whispered. “I can’t believe I’m going to leave.”
“I promised you, didn’t I?” I said, smoothing her hair.
“I still can’t believe it.” Then, she went rigid and pulled back. “Does that mean I can leave? Are we leaving right now?”
I frowned and shook my head. “Not until I deliver the guns. I’m sorry.”
The disappointment on her face was clear, but she shook it away. “It’s all right. When will that happen?”
“Tonight,” I said firmly. “I set it up for tonight. Marco will bring you to the location, and I’ll take you home.”
“Tonight,” she whispered, as if trying to convince herself.
I pulled her in for a hug. “Yes, Falyn. Tonight. I’ll get you out of here tonight.”
Chapter Eighteen
Falyn
“He made the deal. I’m leaving tonight,” I said, tucking the thin blankets beneath my bunk bed mattress for the third time.
If I’d had more belongings, I would have been packing them, throwing them into a suitcase. But I didn’t have anything. Just the clothes I’d arrived with the night of the auction and the thin cotton outfit Marco had given me, which I planned to burn as soon as I could.
Bianca didn’t even bother to roll over in her bed, but Angie nodded, though not as excitedly as I would have imagined.
“I thought you’d be happy for me,” I said.
I knew Angie might be jealous that I was getting out of the clubhouse so soon after arriving, and she was staying behind, but she’d been hoping Cade would buy me, too. She had sounded excited at th
e idea.
Angie pulled her eyebrows together, her thin face twisted into an expression of pity. “Of course I am,” she said unconvincingly.
“You’ll get out of here, too,” I said, suspecting Angie may have begun to lose hope in the same way Bianca had. “Someone will buy you, or I’ll make an anonymous tip to the police.”
“Marco owns the city,” Angie said, dismissing the idea. “The cops on his payroll will show up, pretend to see nothing, and leave again. It’s no use.”
“There’s always hope.”
Finally, Angie seemed to crack under the weight of her unspoken words. “What if Bianca was right?”
At the mention of her name, Bianca shifted in her bed.
“About what?” I asked, though I already knew what Angie was referring to.
“What if Cade locks you up? What if he uses you the same way Marco has been?”
“He won’t,” I said with more conviction than I felt. “I know him, and he wouldn’t do that.”
“You think you know him, but you’ve only seen him for a few hours over the course of a few weeks. You have no idea what his life is like. You don’t even know if he is actually a member of the Stone Devils. His entire story could be a lie.”
I shook my head, trying to keep her words from sinking into my brain. I couldn’t afford to lose my nerve now. I had to get out.
“Falyn,” Angie said stepping towards me, taking my hands in hers. “This could be a cruel trick. He could use you, or worse.”
Or worse. Murder, she meant. That’s what Bianca thought had become of the last girl to get purchased. She was probably dead in a ditch somewhere, she’d said.
“I can’t stay here, Angie,” I said, my voice breaking. I was tired of the fight. Of the constant fear. If I couldn’t put my trust in Cade, then everything I’d come to believe would be a lie, and I knew I wouldn’t survive that reality. “This tiny dorm. The sex rooms. The concrete lot out back. That is my life here. Anything is better than that.”
“Yeah, but—”
I shook my head and held up my hand to silence her. “I know you care about me, and I know you want what is best for me, but I won’t survive here. These walls will kill me if Marco doesn’t do it first. I’d rather leave here with Cade trying to escape and be murdered than stay inside this cage because I’m afraid.”
Angie looked like she didn’t know what to say. Then, Bianca’s bed squeaked behind me, and before I knew it, she was standing next to me. Her hair was thin and tangled, but her eyes looked more alert than I’d ever seen them. Bianca was staring at me, her eyes assessing me, and then finally she nodded and clasped a hand on my shoulder.
“Leave while you can,” she said, her voice thick from disuse. “Regardless of what I said before, I’d do the same thing if the opportunity arose.”
“It will,” I began to say, trying to encourage her.
Bianca shook her head. “I’ll die here, and that’s okay. I’ve made my peace with it.”
“Bianca…”
Once again, she quieted me with a quick shake of her head. “Get out of here and be free.”
I pulled both women into a hug and squeezed my eyes shut. They had become my family in the few weeks I’d been at Marco’s, and I couldn’t imagine leaving them behind.
“I will get you both out of here. Cade is a good guy. He’ll help me. I’ll come back for both of you.”
After a few seconds, Bianca pulled away from the group and climbed back into her bed. Angie held on a bit longer, but when she did step back, I saw the doubt in every line of her face. She looked tired and… sad. I realized how much like Bianca she was beginning to look. Her eyes were dark and almost lifeless.
“I’ll come back for you,” I said again.
Angie pulled her lips into a dead smile and then crawled back into her bed.
The doughy man from the night of the auction came to pick me up from the dorm a few minutes later. He led me through the lobby and out to a waiting car where he placed his hand on the back of my head and forced me to duck into the back seat. Marco was already in the car.
“Big day for you,” he said, not looking at me, his eyes focused on his phone.
The man closed the car door, and I pressed myself against it as hard as I could, trying to put as much space as possible between myself and Marco.
“You must be a good fuck for Guts to allow his man to make you part of this trade.”
I looked up to see Marco studying me, clearly trying to decide what anyone could find valuable about me. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned harder against the door. He made a harsh, dismissive noise in the back of his throat and turned his attention back to his phone. Mercifully, we made the trip across town in silence.
The driver pulled into a remote parking lot in an area of the city I’d never been to before. Tall brick fences blocked us from the view of anyone who may be passing by, though I couldn’t hear anything that sounded like people were nearby. No ambulances, no passing cars, no voices. Just the sound of the water lapping against the shore down by the beach to my left and the warm breeze rattling the dried-out foliage along the bottom of the fence on my right.
I saw Cade leaning against a non-descript black car, a large duffel on the ground near his feet. The moonlight made his skin and light-colored hair glow in the dark. He looked like a leather-clad angel.
Suddenly, Marco’s hand was wrapped around my forearm, and he was dragging me across the seat towards him. I resisted, but it was futile. Marco was a large man, both in height and build, and it didn’t take much effort for him to push me around. He opened his car door and stepped out, pulling me out behind him. I stumbled for a second before righting myself on my heels.
Cade’s eyes widened at the sight of me. I saw him push away from the car to stand flat on his feet. He uncrossed his arms and shoved them in his pockets.
“Hands where I can see them, please,” Marco said before stepping out from behind the car door.
If I knew anything about Marco, the body of the car was probably bulletproof.
Cade lifted his hands into the air, spreading his fingers so Marco could see he had nothing to hide.
“As long as you’ve got the cash, we won’t have a problem,” Cade said, raising his voice so Marco would hear him across the lot.
“No concern for the girl, then?” Marco asked, tightening his grip on me until I winced.
Cade didn’t seem affected. “She’s part of the deal, so yes, I’ll require her as payment, too.” His voice seemed unnaturally cold, and I began to wonder whether Bianca and Angie weren’t right about stepping out of one form of imprisonment and straight into another. Maybe I didn’t know Cade, after all.
Marco clacked his tongue a few times and shook his head. “It took a lot of convincing for me to give her up, and you don’t seem as if you’re appreciative of my loss.”
Cade took a step forward, but as he did, Marco pulled a knife from inside his suit jacket and held it to my neck. I felt the tip of the blade biting into my skin and held my breath, afraid any false movement would send the knife plunging into my neck.
Cade stepped back, his eyes laser-focused on Marco. “We had a deal, Marco.”
Marco nodded and led me to the front of the car, pushing me down to my knees in the beam of the headlights. Pebbles from the parking lot bit into my bare knees and embedded in my skin, but I didn’t move. I knew even if I ran, Marco could hurl the knife at me, and he probably had a gun on him, as well. I’d be dead before I ever even made it to Cade.
“And I intend to honor that deal, but if this girl means so little to you, perhaps you’ll allow me to enjoy her before I give her up? I never got a chance to enjoy my merchandise, and she must be a good fuck if you think she’s worth a portion of those guns.”
My blood ran cold. Marco wanted to have sex with me? Cade had never mentioned that, and from the way Marco made it sound, he was springing the idea on Cade, as well. What would he say? Would he allow it? Did he have a c
hoice? I didn’t understand this world or how these kinds of deals worked, but I did acutely understand that I had zero power in the situation.
I looked up at Cade, my eyes begging for him to help me, to save me from the touch of Marco.
Cade shrugged. “You had all evening to fuck her, so I don’t see why you waited to do it until now while I’m here, but if that is part of your price, then that’s fine.”
My mouth fell open, and I quickly tried to close it, not wanting Cade or Marco to know how much his words had hurt and surprised me. Was he putting on an act or did he really not care?