Chapter 1

Bianca

I'm not a lucky person.

Some people can step out of their office on a rainy day without an umbrella and find that the rain stops for only the two minutes it takes them to walk to their car. Me? I'm the person who gets caught in pouring rain on the two-minute walk to my car, only to be met with sunshine as soon as I'm safely inside.

I rub my thumb over the rabbit's foot keychain my older sister Olivia gave me a couple of years ago. It doesn't help, mind you. But it reminds me of my sister. My guardian angel.

And right now? My angel needs someone to save her… and unfortunately, all she's got is me. The unlucky heroine.

Outside, I look up at the club. Even though it"s unassuming—no strobe lights or lit signs decorate the facade—the low pulse of music thrums to where I'm standing on the sidewalk out front. It's after midnight and when Olivia hadn't come home yet, I knew something was up.

I felt it in my bones.

Sisterly intuition, I guess. So when Olivia's boyfriend, John texted to tell me she'd been swept away by some guy at this club, I had to come save her. God knows, John isn't going to.

But as I walk up to the front door, it's becoming increasingly obvious that this is a bad idea.

A very, very bad idea.

I gulp, ready to back away and go home when the door swings open and a bouncer walks up to me, almost like he expects me to be here. His gaze sweeps my body, pausing briefly at my hand-me-down slightly too-tight jeans and flip flops.

"First timer?" he asks, voice gruff.

What gave it away, Einstein?

I bite back the snarky retort. My mother always says my smart mouth gets me in trouble… and she isn't wrong.

"ID?" he asks, holding out his hand.

I shove my rabbit's foot keys in my purse and hand him my driver's license, doing my best to peer around him, hoping I might get lucky enough to spot Olivia right here at the entrance.

But as we covered before? I'm not lucky.

He hands me my ID back, then opens a wooden box holding a bunch of different colored bracelets. "Which one?"

I stare at him, blankly. "Uh, aren't you supposed to tell me which one is for under 21?" I assume they're drinking bands, though I have no idea why they'd need so many different colors.

With a sigh, he points to a chart posted beside the door.

Black – Dominant

Red – Submissive

Yellow – Switch

Purple – Unicorn

White – Voyeur

Pink – Virgin

I gulp and with wide eyes look back up at the seemingly bored bouncer. It doesn't matter if I wear a bracelet or not. I just need to be in and out as fast as possible to grab my sister and go. A pink flush that matches the bubblegum hued bracelet stains my cheeks as I admit, "Virgin," aloud to the bouncer.

He literally couldn't care less as he grabs a pink bracelet and snaps it onto my wrist.

Huh. It's heavier than I expect it to be. Made with nice crystals and beads, not plastic, cheap ones from Michael's like I had expected.

For a moment, I debate asking him if he knows where my sister might be. Afterall, there can't be many of us who are old enough to enter a club who choose the pink bracelet, right? But then the bouncer steps aside and in a deeply annoyed voice, barks, "Move along."

Well, okay then.

I might be unlucky, but I'm not stupid. I know when someone isn't going to be helpful at all. I scoot past him and find a little corner stool at the bar, sliding into the chair there.

My eyes scan the busy club, shoulder to shoulder with people before they land on the two bartenders, one man, one woman, busy fulfilling drink orders.

Bartenders. They see everyone who passes through here. Even though I'm pretty sure my sister wouldn't have had a drink tonight, they might have seen something. Seen where she went. John mentioned someone named Cole in his text message to me, so I at least have a lead.

The woman bartender comes up to me, slapping a coaster down. "What can I get you?"

The black bracelet on her wrist catches the light. What does black mean again?

"Ummm, a Coke?"

Her eyes drift briefly down to my pink bracelet and surprisingly, I'm not met with any judgment. She just gives me a nod and grabs a glass from below the bar, filling it with ice.

"Did you happen to see my sister in here earlier, by chance?" I ask her as she fills my glass with soda from that little gun-nozzle thing.

She looks up at me through thick, webbed lashes as the cup fills with carbonated soda. "We get a lot of people here each night."

That's no exaggeration. This place is packed. The only reason I managed to get this seat at the bar is because everyone else is on their feet on the dance floor or in the weird private booths that look more like beds. "Um, well, she looks a lot like me. And she'd be wearing a pink bracelet, too."

The bartender's eyebrows lift as she gently places the glass of soda on the coaster for me. "Well, that does narrow it down."

"I was told she's with someone named Cole?"

The color drains from her face in an instant. Then, her gaze drifts above me, over my shoulder.

"I've got this, Lila," a gruff voice behind me says.

I meaty hand takes hold of the edge of my stool and with a tug, swivels it, turning me a hundred and eighty degrees toward the voice.

Hot. Damn.

I'm not only face to face with the voice that oozes sex, but the man in front of me is terrifyingly beautiful. Dark stubble peppers a jaw so square that geometry professors should study it. Sharp, brown eyes that are so dark they glitter like onyx tick down to meet mine. He towers over me, masculine and powerful. He even smells manly, if that's possible. Like the woods in the middle of winter.

Cold and fresh and crisp.

An expensive looking suit jacket clings to his wide, broad shoulders and despite the fact that it looks like it's been tailored perfectly to his body, I don't doubt that he could tear the clothes from his body simply by flexing his muscles, Hulk-style.

My pulse goes haywire, erratic and fast. He is fully responsible for the quickening beat of my eighteen-year-old virgin pink bracelet wearing heart. My skin beneath the tank top I wear grows dewy with sweat and I ignore the little trickle of heat between my legs.

"Are you Cole?" I ask, managing to find my voice.

"Hardly," he snorts, his gaze raking down my body and landing briefly on my chest.

I look down, catching sight of a single bead of sweat dripping down my cleavage.

"I'm Cain Romero," he says as if that name should mean something to me. Then his eyes remain zeroed in on my sweaty boobs. "Cole's brother," he clarifies when my expression remains blank.

I cross my arms, covering myself from his gaze, which I hate to admit is doing things to me. Making my mind wander. Making me want this jerk of a weirdo even though I shouldn't. Not at all. "Great," I snap. "Then you should know where Cole is."

His gaze purposely lifts to mine, pinning me against the bar with his onyx eyes. Heat pulses between my legs and I pinch them tighter together, the friction of my jeans doing nothing to satisfy this foreign urge.

"I do. He's with your sister."

I inhale sharply and sit taller. "Take me to her."

One side of his mouth lifts. "Can't."

"Why not?"

"Because Cole is preparing her to auction off her virginity."

I gasp. Actually, audibly gasp. "What? My sister would never?—"

"For the six-figures she'll be receiving? She would. And she is."

Silently, I look down at my sweating glass of Coke in my hands. I don't know what the heck happened that Olivia got locked into this, but there's no way she would auction off her virginity willingly.

"According to my brother, she mentioned something about paying for college. Both for her and…" he pauses, eyes sweeping down my body once more. "Her baby sister."

Every inch of my body turns cold.

She's doing this for me? At least partially. I know she's been dying to go to college for years. She's been working and saving to cover at least the first year's tuition. I just never dreamed she would go to these lengths. "Let me talk to her," I plead. "Please, there has to be another way."

"There's no other way. She's locked into this contract." Another pause. "Unless…"

"Unless what? Tell me, I'll do anything."

Jaw firm, he moves abruptly forward, arms clamping the edge of the bar around me, caging me in. His tongue sweeps across his full bottom lip like he's starving man and I'm a juicy piece of steak.

Bringing his mouth to my ear, he whispers, "Unless you want to take her place."

Thank God I'm sitting. My legs tremble beneath me and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't support my weight if I tried to stand.

He wants me to take her place? Auction my virginity in place of hers?

Hot tears prick my eyes at the thought. But Olivia has done so much for me in my life. She's sacrificed so much. Risked everything. She's even held off going to school for me. She wouldn't claim that to be true, but I know it is. She doesn't want to leave me home alone with Mom and whatever new husband is in the revolving door. Her latest, Charlie, is easily the worst of the bunch. I hate the way he looks at me. The comments he makes when I walk by.

If Olivia hadn't stayed home rather than go off to college, I'm not sure I would have survived Charlie.

Olivia has given me the world. And it's time for me to repay the favor.

Steeling my spine, I lift my gaze to Cain's, forcing my voice not to tremble. "Fine. I'll do it."