PRESENT DAY


    <span>“Come in,” I say, startled by the politeness of hearing three firm knocks on my door.


    “How’s the pain this morning?” ze says as he enters. He smiles when he spots me on the edge of the bed, toweling my hair dry. “I guess you’re doing better?”


    “Yes, a little better. Thank you for the clothes.”


    Last night, along with dinner, the maid delivered a rack of clothes: warm hoodies, sweaters, tracksuit bottoms, leggings, and in cotton underwear.


    ze waves his hand dismissively, resting near the doorway. “I’ll be leaving soon.”


    I stop toweling my hair, my heart thumping a little faster. He wasn’t here when his men dragged me into the ballroom. He<span id="page_114">wasn’t here while I was locked in the room with thirty beds, or when Darius attacked me under the icy shower.


    Having ze around has made me feel…fortable. Safe, even. But only when he’s in the room. He stopped by for a chat a few times yesterday, and he’s here now, his presence soothing me like a warm nket. Once he leaves, the illusion of safety gives way to fear… and if he’s nowhere in the vicinity it’ll be twice as potent. I don’t want him leaving the house.


    “It’s auction night,” ze adds.


    Auction night…


    “Will my guest be auctioned with the others, Darius?”This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.


    “No, Boss, she won’t.”


    “And which girls are you allowed to ydate with here?”


    “The ones for auction.”


    “You’re selling the girls,” I whisper.


    I want to scream that what he does is sick, vile, in wrong. Thatheis sick, but survival instinct makes me bite my tongue. He’s been kind since he arrived, but it doesn’t mean he won’t hurt me if I insult him.


    “Yes,” he confirms. “Contrary to what you might think, they know the endgame when we round them up in Russia, Latvia, Slovenia, some of those other eastern European countries, I can’t remember all their weird names. They’re not forced into this life, Hailey. Theye willingly.”


    “They willingly agree to what happens in the ballroom?”


    His jaw mps tight, his nostrils ring. He doesn’tsh out like I expect. He simply shrugs it off, eyes boring into mine. “Think of it as test-driving a car. It’s usually the new owner who takes it for a ride, but it’s different at an auction. My clients expect the best, so the girls need to be tested. Besides… a night in the ballroom keeps my men happy.”


    That beautiful rug shes before my eyes. The pattern distorts with girls crawling beneath, I hear their cries, pleas,<span id="page_115">the foul, satiated groaning of men. The p of fleshing together, the gagging…


    I shut my eyes, swallowing the bile climbing my throat. Tears burn my eyes because I can’t save them…


    Helplessness might be the worst feeling.


    A soft knock centers me back in the present.


    “Come in, Marai,” ze says.


    A young maid enters, carrying a tray with breakfast, two coffees and painkillers. The scent of French toast wafts through the air, but instead of my stomach growling, it tightens painfully, protesting any food intake.


    Idly conversing aboutRapeahead of breakfast will spoil any girl’s appetite. Or maybe I’m still clinging to Nash’s words like I have since day one.


    Smarter. You need to be smarter, Hailey.


    I haven’t eaten since I arrived, other than that sandwich I couldn’t keep down for Darius. I don’t think I should drink either once ze leaves. I’m not safe here without him. Darius might be dead, but he wasn’t the only man eyeing me like a toy in that ballroom…


    With ze gone, who’ll stop them slipping me a few roofies, then climbing through the window once I can’t call for help?


    It’s not a rational thought, but fear is rarely rational.


    “Can Ie with you tonight?” I ask, twisting the towel between my fingers.


    He cocks an eyebrow, clearly taken aback by the request. He’s not the only one… I just asked to watch those girls get auctioned because I feel safe with the mansellingthem.


    What the fuck is wrong with me?


    “I’m afraid that’s not possible,” ze says, weighing every word. “You shouldn’t worry, Hailey. Most of my men areing along for the show. I’m leaving a few behind, including Rex, who will stand at your door the whole night. You’ll be safe.”


    The maid sets the tray on the nightstand, hands ze his white coffee and retreats with a respectful bow of her head.


    “You need to eat, Hailey,” ze says.


    I nod, even though one look at the French toast has me covering my mouth with the back of my hand. I’ve never been good at keeping food down in stressful situations.


    I do, however, reach for my coffee with less suspicion today. It took me two hours to finish the first cup yesterday morning because I took long breaks between every mouthful. Nothing happened, so I drank the cup Marai brought up in the afternoon much faster, enjoying the bitterness while it was still warm.


    I’m also no longer pathologically weak. No longer than twelve hours ago, my hands trembled like an alcoholic on their first sober day, but today, the coffee’s barely sloshing in the cup.


    I guess the energy from the sugar is helping.


    ze rounds the bed, his eyes narrowing on my hands as I lift the cup, taking a small sip.


    “Lean forward.”


    “No, it’s—”


    “It wasn’t a request.Nicedoesn’t work on you. Either you let me take a look at your back voluntarily, or Rex will hold you down while I check your bones.”


    I bite my lip, a shudder passing through me. Looks like he ran out of patience.


    I set the cup aside and grit my teeth as I scoot forward, ignoring the pain, locking it at the back of my mind with all the other feelings I can’t deal with right now. It doesn’t work particrly well, but it helps brace the agony.


    “I’ll pull the hoodie up, so keep the duvet close,” he denotes, rubbing his hands together to warm them up.


    I can’t figure him out. He’s nice, but it might be a fa?ade, a ploy to ignite a false sense of security before he strikes. He doesn’t want to use force in case it jams my memories, but<span id="page_117">what happens when he realizes ying nice is fruitless? Will he threaten me with a gun or beat the information out of me?


    No… he wouldn’t, would he? He keeps saying I’m safe.


    I close my fingers on the duvet, pulling it up just as ze softly lifts my hoodie. There’s no gasp or sharp inhale. No clues to how bad my back looks.


    He gathers the fabric up, then rubs his palm against his pants to warm it up. “I’ll touch you now.”


    I give him a curt nod. Even though I know what’sing, I still jerk when I feel his hand at the small of my back. Not because he’s touching me, but because ithurts.


    “It’s okay,” he says, his tone emotionless, like a robot spewing pre-programmedfort.


    He presses his whole palm to my skin, making me twitch away, my skin crawling. He doesn’t retreat, holding still like he’s getting me used to his touch. And it works… I rx a little once he slowly works his way up, pressing various spots and tracing lines all around before moving to my ribs.


    Everythinghurts, though not as much as yesterday. I guess exhaustion andck of energy really does make things worse.


    “Nothing’s broken,” he says, covering my back and purposefully striding away. “I’d suggest bandaging in case there’s a hairline fracture somewhere, but I have a feeling you’ll sayno.”


    Of course I’ll say no.


    Wrapping my ribs would require shing my breasts and no way that’s happening after what Darius did to me in the shower.


    “I’m fine,” I say, leaning back against the pillows.


    He makes a disgruntled noise at the back of his throat, clearly unappeased. I can’t figure him out. He looks genuinely concerned about my wellbeing, even though he doesn’t have to be personally involved. He doesn’t care that his men torture<span id="page_118">women down the hall, leaving them broken in more ways than one, but he does care that Darius shovedmeunder the rug.


    “You should take a bath, eat, and rest, Hailey,” he adds, his tone firmer. “A tired mind is a useless mind.”


    He doesn’t add that unless I’m useful, there’s no reason to y nice. There’s no need for rification. It’s obvious.


    Up to now, I’ve been far from useful. The tiny shback I had about Alex mentioning Aalyiah is my only new memory since Lakeside.


    “I’ll stop by before I leave,” he says and, with a curt nod, he leaves me alone, closing the door behind him.


    The room falls into a suffocating silence, interrupted only by the muffled groans of the mansion. Thankfully, I can’t hear any girls crying, screaming, or howling, just men wandering the corridors.


    A strange mix of relief and fear settles in my gut. Relief that ze, with his unsettling calmness, is gone. He may make this ce more bearable, but it’s still his ce. Fear, because every moment I spend in this gilded cage without giving him the evidence is a moment closer to pain.


    He won’t be this patient forever…