39

39

STACEY

Wearing a navy dress that hugs her body, hair pinned up with blonde strands falling down the sides of her face, Luciella takes two steps at a time until she reaches me. Without any more words, she pulls me in for a hug, and I instantly melt into her arms.

I haven’t hugged my best friend in so long.

Being away from her and Ty and everyone else has been hard but necessary. I haven’t gone a day without thinking of them all. The sleepovers and dances and days out. The group chats and social-media tags and late-night phone calls that lasted hours.

“I missed you,” I choke out, fanning my eyes to stop my mascara from running for the second time tonight. “God, I missed you so much.”

It feels good to be in the arms of someone who cares. I haven’t had that in a while.

“I missed you too,” she replies, hugging me tighter. “Nearly a year! I hope the break helped.” She giggles as I snort, and we both pull back and fix each other’s hair. “You haven’t aged at all.”

I chuckle with an eye roll. “It’s been ten months, not ten years.”

“Feels like it. We have a picture of you on the studio wall as a remembrance.”

I let out a soft laugh. “Those fucking girls.” Then I pull back, and my face falls at the realisation of where we are. “Why are you here?”

“Base asked me to come.” Lu narrows her eyes at me in confusion. “Wait, did he invite you too?”

From what I know, thanks to Chris and his snooping, Bernadette has both Kade’s and Base’s phones. They have no contact with the outside world.

I don’t think it was Base who invited her.

“You should go,” I say quietly. “Please. Go. It’s not safe here.”

“What? What do you mean?” She looks around then near the manor entrance to see more waiters standing with trays of alcohol. “Is it because of my dad?”

I want to hug her again at the sadness in her eyes, but there’s no time. I shake my head. “You need to leave.”

“Why are you here?”

I flatten my lips, Chris in my ear telling me to stop making it obvious and to get inside. “I was invited,” is all I say.

As if she can hear my brother yelling, she hooks her arm in mine and turns us towards the entrance. “At least we can hang out. When do you leave again? Or are you staying?”

“How did you get here?”

She tilts her head. “Jason drove me. He’s just out of rehab.”

I should ask her about him, ask if he’s okay, but instead I ask, “Can he come back to get you?”

She sighs. “It’ll be fine. Let’s go find Base.”

I hold the side of my dress as we take the rest of the stairs together.

“The place is beautiful, isn’t it?” she says.

I try to pay attention to the decor, but my eyes are flying all over the place, hunting for a tall, dark-haired man I can’t get out of my head. I want to both dodge and run to him. To beg him to run away with me. His boss is the devil, and we’re both in danger being near her.

“Though it does look a little weird… Can I see Base first then we can go? I haven’t seen him in months. He’s been… ignoring me. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Is this you finally admitting to your feelings?”

She looks down at her feet. “Four years too late, right?”

“Why didn’t you give him a chance before?”

Lu shrugs. “I wanted to.”

My gaze flickers over the crowd gathering, everyone being instructed to follow the servers. “Then why didn’t you?” I ask, needing to keep on the subject to not ruin my nerves.

She sighs as we walk down a corridor. “Base has a big personality and a very dominating lifestyle. He parties like he’ll die tomorrow and fucks anyone with a pulse. He’s close to being a billionaire, an heir to the entire family fortune with huge responsibilities. His grandfather will arrange a marriage for him; another rich man or woman who can offer way more than me. I… I’m not good enough for Base. I never have been. I would just bring him down, and he’s not that type of guy.”

I listen as she blows out a breath and sniffs. She accepts a glass of water, but I take it from her and place it on a nearby window ledge. “That’s so far from the truth, Luciella. Don’t ever belittle yourself like that.”

“Even if I tell him how I truly feel, nothing can come from it. I’m not right for him. I just want to make sure he’s okay, then I’ll ask Jason to pick us both up.” She eyes me warily. “Will that be okay? You and Jason are okay after everything, right?”

“Yeah,” I lie. We haven’t spoken at all. Whenever I was over at the manor and he was in, he’d leave within seconds. He lost his relationship with his brother, his job went downhill due to him turning to alcohol after Giana left him, and from what Luciella has told me, he’s lost his spark.

We’re both victims – dealing with it differently.

When the time comes, we’ll talk.

Luciella keeps her arm hooked in mine as we walk into the main ballroom, both stopping in the entranceway. “I thought this was a birthday party?” she asks, confused, and I think I might faint.

I knew this wasn’t a party.

Loads of seats are lined up, facing a stage with a platform, a large screen behind it. Workers are setting up as more guests fill the room, all with glasses of champagne and chatting between themselves.

There’s no dance floor or DJ, no balloons or birthday banners. This isn’t a party. People are holding paddles with numbers on them, stickers on their clothes with their matching numbers.

They all look filthy rich.

I have no idea what this is.

“Did Base mention why you were to come tonight?”

She shakes her head beside me. “No. Just that he wanted to see me.”

Guests begin to take their seats, the classical music quieting, the lights dimming. The workers start to disperse, and bodyguards with black suits move to each exit, some to the stage, a few others just dotted around.

“Take your seats, ladies,” one says to us, gesturing to the seated crowd. “It begins in five minutes.”

Lu and I give each other an unsure look. Regret is painted all over her face as she bites her bottom lip and stares at the exit. She won’t leave. She wants to see Base. I’m not sure we actually can leave at this point.

“Can you hear me?” I whisper, basically breathing the words as Luciella takes her seat, placing her bag under the chair and looking around. “Chris?”

Nothing. The stupid gadgets he covered me with aren’t working. I’m on my own here. What if they find wires on me? What if I accidentally curl my hair behind my ear without thinking and expose the earpiece? Nervously, I sit, keeping my purse in my lap as the main doors close.

We flinch as the other exit doors slam closed.

Luciella takes my hand as the music stops completely. My chest tightens when a tall, skinny, bearded man takes the stage. Archie Sawyer.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for being here at such short notice.”

I gulp. “Kade works for him.”

She looks at me, dumbfounded, then frowns at the stage. “Really? He looks… sketchy.”

“He is,” I say quietly. “He took a picture of me, then Kade rushed me out of the country. He’s horrible.”

“When?”

“When we all went to the States a year ago,” I whisper.

“He’s a bad man?” she asks, and I glance at the spooked expression on her face.

I nod once, and both of us move our eyes forward. “His wife is worse.”

And as the door next to the stage opens, my heart sinks. The older woman enters, wine-red hair cascading behind her, boobs nearly falling from her white dress, her heels clicking as people trail behind her wearing fitted black suits with blank white masks.

No faces. No designs. Just white. I have no idea how they can see or breathe.

Then a smaller version of Bernadette appears, only blonde. Cassie. I avert my eyes to the purse in my lap. He must be one of those masked people. Base too.

She smiles at her mother as they stand on the stage, all the masked people in a line behind them. She has a huge rock on her wedding finger. An engagement ring. My eyes burn, pressured, but I battle against the need to scream as I sink my nails into my palm and hold Lu’s hand tighter.

Bernadette Sawyer sucks on her teeth and looks around the room. Proud of herself at the turnout. With a clap of her hands, my blood starts to boil, screaming in my ears.

She’s a monster. I despise her as much as I hate Chris. She’s a rapist too.

I pale when her eyes land on me, and she winks and walks over to the podium, saying something into her husband’s ear before she takes the stand. “We haven’t had one of these in a while, have we? It’s been some time, my friends, but let’s not take longer than necessary. Bring the first four in.”

My eyes narrow as one of the masked people is shoved forward, the mask then ripped off to reveal a young man with sweat all over his face, his eyes wide with fear. He tries to back away; a guard grabs his arm and shoves him forward.

The screen lights up behind him – two more people with the same masks are standing in an office, a guard behind them with a gun out.

Luciella gasps as soon as they start the bidding.

I don’t blink.

Is this what I think it is? A human auction?

“Stay calm,” says a voice in my ear. Chris. “Don’t stand up. Please. Nod once if you understand.”

I lower my chin ever so slightly.

“Good,” he says. “Kyle’s with me. We’re going to get you out of there. I’m sorry – I didn’t know what this was.”

At the same time, I hear Kyle smack him and say, “Motherfucker. Why is she there? I’m coming to get you, Stacey. Fucking prick. You’re lucky I’m not punching fuck out of you right now.”

There’s a rustling, and then nothing, indicating that Chris has muted his microphone.

This isn’t good. And it’s not just me – my best friend is here too. Someone who has no idea about Kade’s and Base’s situations and what’s transpired over the past year. What Kade has been going through for nearly three years.

I try to breathe normally. I try to not look at Bernadette and Archie, at the masked people being auctioned off like meat, the guards and all the exits.

Lu tightens her hold on my hand, and when I glance at her, her eyes are red and her chin has a noticeable tremble. I’m scared, she mouths.

I know. Me too.

Archie keeps looking at her.

I want to slap him as he licks his lips and smiles at his wife.

All four are done within minutes and taken off stage.

When four more people reach the stage, they’re forced onto platforms, so they’re standing higher than everyone else.

A spotlight illuminates the first one on the left. She looks my age and has bruises around her throat. To my horror, the guests seated around us start lifting their paddles, bidding for their new pets.

They are the silver packages, as Archie explains. Instead of only being available for a set duration, these girls can be kept indefinitely.

The bids go higher, and when the person in front of me places the highest bid, I want to punch them in the back of their head.

“I want to leave,” Lu says beside me, visibly shaking, her hand grasping mine. “Please. I feel sick.”

She tries to stand, but I grab her wrist and pull her back down onto her seat before she’s spotted. “They have the exits guarded. We can’t leave. We can’t attract attention.” They’ve already seen us, but causing a fuss will make it worse.

I just want to give her this USB drive and leave.

“Oh God.” She closes her eyes and lowers her head, refusing to watch.

For the next hour, we sit through hell as the auction continues. Men and women sold like cattle. Dehumanising. Mortifying. Now I know what Chris meant by all the other shit he had on her. She’s corrupt and horrific and… a monster.

“I have something a little different tonight. You’re all aware of the services I provide, and I want to give you all a chance to purchase a full week with some of my most precious men.”

She gestures to the screen just as the guard shoves one of them forward, bringing them closer to the screen. Whoever it is can barely stand – he’s stumbling to the side a little.

“No,” Lu breathes as the mask is removed.

Base.

Slowly, I feel the pressure releasing from my hand as Lu tries to get to her feet. I pull her back down and beg her to stop, but she fights me as people stand in excitement, raising paddles to bid on him.

A woman two rows in front of us bids one million. Someone else bids two million.

Lu sobs into her hand as I wrap my arms around her. “Please make it stop,” she cries. “None of this is real. None of this is real.”

The bidding ends at five and a half million. Sold. Done.

Base isn’t even slightly lucid as he struggles to put his mask back on, his hair soaked in sweat. A guard drags him back from the camera, and the other one is pushed forward.

I already know who it is.

“Do not stand,” Chris orders in my ear. “You’ll make it worse.”

Most of the guests sit back down with their paddles ready, but some remain on their feet, waiting like vultures. I want to take one of their paddles and smack them with it.

I can’t save him from this. I don’t know how. I’m helpless.

He removes his mask on the fifth attempt, and Luciella freezes in my arms.

“What?” she lets out as more tears fall, ignoring the married couple giving us strange looks beside us. “What is happening? Why is this happening?”

“I don’t know,” I admit quietly as I watch the love of my life be humiliated and sold.

Although he’s taken off the mask, he has black material covering his mouth and neck. His hair is probably the only thing normal about him. He’s covered in sweat too, his fringe falling down his forehead. He has bruises on his cheek and a black eye, a drugged-up gaze as he squints under the blinding light on the screen.

“Please bid on him,” Luciella begs the person beside us. “I’ll give you triple what you bid. Please. I’m begging you. That’s my brother!”

When they don’t give her a response, just a dirty look like she’s a piece of shit, she taps the person in front’s shoulder and says the same thing.

“Make her shut the fuck up,” Chris seethes in my ear.

“That’s against the rules,” an older woman snarls and wipes her blouse. “Please refrain from touching me.”

Luciella sits back, lost, eyes wide, staring at her twin brother as he struggles to stand still, swaying on the screen. Base falls into the camera shot, and the guard drags him out of the way.

Kade lifts his hand to try to shade his eyes from the light but misses completely, his hand flying to the side.

I want to find him and hug him, to drag him away – bid billions on him. He gave me enough, but I don’t have a number or board or anything.

Instead, I raise my hand, and not once do I get noticed as the bids start from three million. Four. Five. When they reach eight million, I lose hope and drop my hand.

Kade, the boy I fell in love with as a teen, who had all my firsts and planned a whole future for us, the one person in the entire world that kept me going while Chris put me through hell, is now sitting at eight million for bids.

I gulp and cover my mouth as the blonde daughter argues with her mother down front when she calls the bidding to an end. An old, overweight man is handing his board to Archie.

Just when we think it’s all over, Bernadette stands at the podium once more, smiles at the crowd and says, “We have two special guests with us tonight, and I want you all to put your money where your mouths are.” She gestures in our direction, and the spotlight moves to us. “Stand, chair forty-nine.”

Luciella grips the chair in front of her, and I swallow and glance around us. Everyone is staring, waiting, and when a guard walks over and presses a gun to Luciella’s head, I gasp, and she whimpers and stands.

Kade and Base are forced into chairs in front of the screen and ordered to watch.

But when Base manages to lift his head and sees the girl stepping onto the stage, he jumps to his feet. “Fuck no!” His voice comes through a speaker. Base steps towards the camera just as Kade starts fighting with a guard. His words are slurred and forced out. “We had a deal. You let her go, right fucking now. Me for her, that was the deal!”

“Things changed, Prince.” She nods to her men. “Sit them back down.”

Kade drives his fist into someone’s face, but the butt of a gun hitting the back of his head knocks him to his knees, and I wince, wishing this was a nightmare I could wake from.

“Chris,” I whisper.

Nothing.

“Don’t fucking touch me! What the fuck are you doing there?” His words are aimed at Lu, who stands in tears, trembling. “What the fuck!” He punches one of the guards and when Lu is shoved forward with the barrel still to her skull, he raises his hands and stops. “Fine! Fine! Lower your fucking aim!”

Kade’s drugged gaze is back on camera. The rage in those eyes… He’s silent, letting Base do the yelling, but he’s mad. Really fucking mad as he fists his hands and grits his teeth.

They drugged him – both of them. They both sit, begrudgingly.

My friend looks terrified.

Bernadette tips her head, and the guard lowers the gun to his side and forces Luciella forward. “And chair forty-eight, please stand.”

“Stacey Fields,” I whisper. “Stacey Fields. Stacey Fields. Stacey Fields,” I keep saying, repeating it like a mantra, but there’s no response from Chris.

The guard drags me up, and I hold the purse containing the USB drive to my chest as I’m hauled to the stage, standing beside Luciella in front of the packed room of sickening faces staring at us – studying us.

My heart is racing, the lights bright in my eyes, everyone watching us be positioned on the platform like Barbie dolls.

The screen is silenced behind me as a chair goes scattering, and I glance over my shoulder to see Kade trying to tackle three guards, yelling so harshly his face is red, veins bulging on his temple. The black cover is gone from his mouth and neck, and I can see a scar there.

“Kade,” I say, a tear sliding down my cheek.

Cassie gives me a look as I face forward. “Why is she here?”

“Be quiet,” Bernadette snaps.

Cassie is sitting at the front of the crowd, her eyes red and swollen as she covers her mouth. Probably upset from Kade being sold – even though it was her mother who caused it. She trains her gaze on me, studying me as the bidding begins.

At the back of the room, a few guests walk in, down the side, having shown the guards their badges to grant entry. They’re wearing masks, the same ones the unwilling participants wore. They stand at the back of the chairs, waiting.

Bernadette grins when she sees them. “Ahh, now we have the billionaires,” she whispers to me like it’s the most exciting thing ever, and I glare at her.

One of the billionaires wins Luciella’s auction, and I reach for her as Archie grabs her by the nape and whisks her away from me. I try to go to her, but someone else grabs me.

But then Luciella lets out a harrowing scream, her eyes on the spot behind me with her hands against her mouth. I turn to see Base on his knees, blood seeping from a wound in his chest, and Kade trying to catch him when he falls forward.

With shallow breaths, I turn to face the crowd, slowly taking them in and wishing Chris would appear. As Bernadette announces the final auction, one more billionaire enters. He’s tall, well built, and he shows his badge to the guard but falters in his steps when he sees me.

Bernadette showcases me.

A well-used toy with experience in staying silent.

I think I might be sick.

“I believe you have something for me,” she says as she walks towards me, letting Archie register each bid. She snatches the purse from me, emptying its contents to retrieve the USB drive. “Shame. He must have been special to have broken into my system. He would’ve been a valuable member of my team. But you wouldn’t care if I killed him, would you?”

She can kill him all she wants – after he gets me the hell out of here.

There’s buzzing in my ear, as if the signal between me and Chris is being tampered with. He’s talking again, but his voice is fuzzy, my name desperately broken, until it cuts off.

She smiles, and I recoil as she strokes my arm and lowers her hand to open my dress further at my hip to show my underwear. I shift from her, and she releases the material. “Stay away from me.”

“You would like to see him dead, right? After all, he did kill your unborn baby, rape you – along with many others – and ruin your relationship. No matter, my dear, we’ll make sure you birth as many bastards as possible while you lie in a comatose state for the rest of your useless life.”

One second, I’m standing like a statue as people bid for me; the next, my hand is tangled in red hair as I yank Bernadette towards me, smashing my forehead into her nose. The snap is louder than the gasps in the room, and blood instantly gushes out and down her dress.

She leans down, and I see the opportunity to drive my knee into her face.

A hand around my throat yanks me back.

She laughs and tells her guards to lower their guns and encourages everyone to bid higher. The newest member of the billionaire clan wins me for ninety million.

I’m dragged away, pushed through the side door Lu was taken through, while Archie comes up behind me and snatches my shoulder. “I want some time with her before she goes.”

Bernadette tuts. “Stop playing with the package. Send her to the loading room. She belongs to someone else now.” She fakes a smile at me. “It was lovely to officially meet you.”

Then she slaps me across the face, the sting nearly as bad as Chris’s blows. “While you’re lying in your owner’s bed tonight, spreading your legs like you always do, I want you to think of this moment. The last few minutes of your freedom.”

I try to go for her again, but the guards pull me away with a firm grip of my hair.

Her daughter comes into the corridor, but Bernadette orders her to go back, that she’ll come for her soon. She listens, giving me an uncertain look as I fight against the guard. As if she hates this and wants to help but has no idea how to.

I’m pushed into an elevator on my own, and the metal doors slide closed as I try to catch them and fail.

“No! Chris! No! Please hear me!”

I punch against the metal doors taking me to a floor named “loading”. I let my tears flow as I pound and pound and pound against the hard surface, the skin of my knuckles splitting. “Stacey Fields!” I scream at the top of my lungs.

The helplessness and depravity of this entire night attacks me in one go, and I throw my body against the elevator wall over and over again in desperation, mascara dragging down my cheeks again as I scream, “Stacey Fields!”

Nothing. I don’t have his voice in my ear, just the sound of static.

“Stacey Fields,” I sob, seeing images of a random billionaire man claiming me, chaining me to a wall and drugging me. “Please. I’ll do anything. Please, Chris. Please come get me. Stacey Fields.” I punch the elevator door until my knuckles crack and blood splatters on the metal, and I slide down against it, hunched on the floor as I mutter two words over and over again.

“Stacey Fields. Stacey Fields. Stacey Fields.”