ROBYN

 I was too good to deal with Bruna, and I didn't want to ruin my night. So I came up with one uncomplicated answer. "Typos."

"He hates you, girl." I bet, but Bruna hated me even more.

"Not a surprise there, Bruna."

"He's a perfectionist. He works hard, too, so he expects someone to work as hard as him. I wish I were in your place. I would do my best to impress him. You're in the best position, and you ruined your job for typos? You can do better than that." Somehow, I agreed with her.

"I know." I moved my hips to the music. I loved music. Lately, I have enjoyed listening to pop.

"Do you know how many people want your job?"

Funny. He said the same thing to me today. Were they sleeping together? I didn't know anything about my boss' personal life, especially his dating life or his sexual escapades, because I'd rather not know it. I bet there was a long line of women who wanted to bang Spade Kolby.

I felt a little pang in my chest. I didn't even realize I had a crush on my boss until I thought of Bruna and Spade sleeping together. 

I snorted. "Don't worry, I got one more typo before he fires me. I'll make sure to recommend you as my replacement." The anger and sarcasm in my voice were evident, and she just shrugged it off.

Bruna was just being herself, and she enjoyed annoying everyone because she could. If I knew she would be here tonight, maybe I would have just declined Piper's invitation. But I was also doing this for Mom. I was not going to let her down for an overconfident bitch. 

A few minutes later, Piper came with Martini, Margarita, and three shots of tequila. 

Ignoring Bruna's glare, I quickly took a sip of my cocktail and let it burn down my throat. I instantly felt a lot better. As I sipped my Martini and Piper with her Margarita, Bruna disappeared into the background. 

"Damn, she's beautiful." I watched her dance with a tall white guy on the dance floor. It was hard to miss when she was all sexy in her red dress. 

"You're a bitch. I find you beautiful than her."

"You're kidding. She has a lot of followers, mostly men."

"Try posting your ass or your tits online. You will triple your followers in a week. She just fixed her nose, eyes, and lips while you're all natural." 

I turned to Piper, sipping my drink. "You're kidding. I love her pouty lips." 

"Nah. They're like stung by a bee."

I laughed. "How do you know all of these?"

"She deleted her old photos, but I still found them, and you can't hide something like that from the internet. She's not that pretty. If what I heard is true. She was involved with a forty-year-old rich guy who gave her the money for enhancement." 

"But her butt is real," I said in dismay. 

"Yeah. That one is real. I bet that rich guy got a good squeeze out of it." Her remark made me laugh. "Let's go dance."

I emptied my glass and smiled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. And she wants my job, too." 

Piper and I laughed as we made our way to the crowd. When the music changed to a pop hit song, everyone danced in unison. My heart started pumping hard. Adrenaline and the alcohol mixed in my system were making me all warm up. 

A strange, unfamiliar excitement ignited in my chest as Piper's words earlier flashed in my head. What if what she said was true? In a wave, heat rushed up my neck. I shook off the thought in my head.

I hate to break it to you, Robyn Maxwell Sharpe. He's callous, cold, and heartless. There's no way someone like Spade Kolby will look at you differently than his employee. 

I started to sweat behind my neck and forgot my insecurities. Mom was right. I should go out more often and have a little fun. Or even more. A voice in my head said, Maybe get laid tonight.

"I need to use the restroom." 

"Already?" Piper crunched her nose. "I'll order another drink." 

I stood in line along with the long line of girls. I hadn't made it halfway, a man in a black shirt approached. "You're Piper's friend, right? There's a restroom for employees. You can use it. Come with me." 

"Oh, God. Thank you." Grateful, I followed him. Don't tell me Piper had a hookup with this guy? He was in his late twenties, maybe an European based on his accent, but couldn't point out what it was, as if he was trying hard to lose it. "How do you know Pip?" 

"She came here a couple of times. I'm Aaron, by the way." He led the way to the hallway and opened a door. "Just turn right before the exit. The key is hung at the corner door." 

"Thanks, Aaron." I followed his instructions.

I hadn't grabbed the key, a big hand with a cloth covered my mouth, and a large arm looped around my chest, squeezing me tight before I could even react. Then something cold and sharp stabbed me in the neck. My mind floated, and my vision went black.

***

I snapped my eyes open as if I had just woken up from a terrible hangover. My vision was still blurry. I first became aware of the headache, like a drumbeat inside my skull. My neck was sore, too, and things seemed vague.

What happened? The first thing that registered was the white floor-to-ceiling curtain that didn't look familiar, definitely not my bedroom. Was I in Piper's bedroom? Definitely not. I'd been there a couple of times. 

Trying hard to crack my eyes wide open, I looked around and realized I was in bed in a room with a fine setup similar to a luxury hotel room. 

Oh, God. I froze in terror, utterly paralyzed as everything became clear- someone was behind me, the cloth, the sore neck. My heart pumped so hard in my chest. 

I jolted to sit, ignoring the intense pain in my head. 

Terror filled my chest with icy needles piercing my skin as I tried to get out of bed, but failed in doing so. My wrists were cuffed and chained to the bed.

My chest heaved. Oh, no.

"Help-" My lungs ceased to function. My voice was cut off when I saw a woman and two tall men looming behind her, and I didn't notice they were there. 

I wasn't alone. 

"Do you know what this is?" the intimidating woman asked, her cold hazel eyes narrowing. She was in her fifties and impeccably dressed in a fine white suit, showing me a small remote in her hand. Her short dark hairstyle was worth a thousand bucks. "A remote control. Do you know what's around your neck?"

My hands went to my neck. A collar. My breath came in sobbing gasps. 

"A very sophisticated collar bomb. One word you say that I don't like or make an inappropriate move, I will press this button, and your head will blow off." She arched her perfect eyebrows. From an icy demeanor, this woman just turned into an evil incarnate.

My body jerked. My throat clenched. "What do you want from me?"

SPADE

I learned the hard way to make it to where I am today. I even hated attending events. I didn't want to be the focal point of mainstream and social media. It terrified me. 

I hated dressing to impress, but being the president and CEO came at a price. I had to follow certain dress codes and maintain professionalism. I had to look nice in front of the cameras and photo ops. I had to get used to the luxury, even if I was fine sleeping in a dirty motel room. 

As the black sedan drove through the city's night lights to attend an auction, I couldn't help but feel sick in my stomach. The people who organized this event were crooks, but some greedy assholes took pleasure in satisfying their hunger for their dark, sickening fantasies at the expense of their victims. 

"We're here, sir," Haddon Wave, my black American bodyguard, notified me. 

I arrived at the venue. Despite wearing masks and disguises, I still noticed and recognized a couple of politicians, billionaires, and even some heads of the mafia. The auction gala was just a facade of a more disturbing event about to happen below this building. 

I didn't know how Lex got involved in this. I wouldn't even too quick to judge, knowing how he saved me and had saved and changed many lives through his non-profit foundation. I had no doubts that he was a good person. Maybe if he couldn't stop terrible things from happening in this world, this was one of his ways to help someone helpless. 

The gala had started, followed by the regular auction of paintings of famous artists, antiquities, and personal memorabilia of dead personalities. Then the VIP guests were called one by one and went through several thorough inspections of weapons and mobile phones. 

I gestured at Wave since bodyguards and plus ones couldn't come behind this closed door. There were at least twenty seats around tables with drinks according to our preference. We were then allowed to take off our masks, now that we were in the most secure place in the building. 

I expected displays, but I understood why the items were not present before us. 

"What the fuck are you doing here, Kolby?" 

Fuck. My back froze to the familiar voice. I noticed him earlier mingling with the other guests. 

"Terzo." I grabbed the scotch on the table and sipped it. 

Terzo Siciliano, the Italian mafia don, took over the family business from his father. He ran the organized crime in Italy and controlled some territories in the US. 

If what I heard was true, most of his businesses were legit under a company called Silver Star Capital. In fact, his wife owned a five-star hotel in Sicily. 

But when you still carried that kind of family name that he had, you couldn't get away easily under public scrutiny, and people still looked at you the same way as the notorious, ruthless mafia. 

"Done throwing yourself off the plane? Now you start buying some chicks?"

 I looked him in the eye. "I could ask you the same thing. Done dealing with drug dealers and smuggling weapons, now you shift to a sex trafficking ring?"

"I guess my disguise is awful." He smirked.

I didn't know how the Braddsons and Gabe Linden got entangled with someone like Terzo Siciliano, and he seemed to have so many connections with wealthy people.

The room went dark. The mic echoed. The screen flashed. The seats were fully occupied with sick, hungry, and disgusting sexually deviant motherfuckers.

The first item in the auction did not look younger than eighteen, even if her face was covered with a masquerade mask like we used earlier, and her lips were thick with lipstick; she was not even twenty-one based on the profile announced by the auctioneer. 

I swallowed down the scotch, knowing we could only purchase one item for tonight. 

"Son of bitches," Terzo muttered. 

When the auction reached one hundred grand, I raised my number. Terzo followed. The old, hungry, fat, rich men around me bid even higher.

"What the fuck?" I called the staff to bring me another shot. 

"Bring a bottle," Terzo said. "Who sent you? Kross?" 

I turned to him, ignoring the bid. "What made you say that?" 

"I'm here for a job."

"What job?"

"Exposing these sons of bitches. One of my wife's hotel employees, a twenty-two-year-old Italian-American, was kidnapped, and it led me here." 

I stared at him, confused. "I don't know why I am here. Lex gave me an invitation, but I've never been here before. So you came here personally to find this woman?"

The first item was sold. 

"Shit." Terzo groaned beside me as the image of a woman in olive skin, lying in bed in a skimpy dress, appeared through the live monitor. 

The bid started at two hundred grand. We were surrounded by monsters, and the bid quickly rose to five hundred grand. 

"Six." I raised my card.

"Thanks," Terzo told me. "That's the girl. Six fifty!"

A Middle Eastern-looking man to my right raised it to seven. 

"Eight!" 

"Nine!" Terzo ended the bid. 

"Sold!" The auctioneer struck his gavel. 

I braced myself for the new horror. "How long is it gonna take?"

"Until everyone has their item," Terzo said.

"What twisted, sick fuckers," I muttered under my breath. 

"Our next item. Item number three. She's a twenty-three-year-old, stands five seven-"

"What the actual fuck?" My eyes widened in shock as I stared at the screen in utter horror. 

I swallowed hard as the bile rushed up. The woman's familiar body in a white nightdress flashed through the screen. She was lying in bed, seemingly unconscious. There was no point in denying it wasn't her. I saw that woman every damn day, five days a week. 

My whole body froze in terror as my mind was invaded with some awful thoughts these monsters could do to her.

My stomach heaved with sudden violence. I quickly grabbed the glass and downed it, burning down my throat.  

"The bid starts at four hundred grand," the asshole announced. 

"You know her." Terzo quickly picked up my discomfort. 

"Yes." I raised my card with my blood boiling in my veins. "Let me know who orchestrated this. I will make them pay. Do whatever it takes, I'll take the fall." 

"Why?" 

"That's my assistant," I gritted out, trying to keep a leash on my anger. 

"Son of a bitch." 

"One million!" said the old fat man behind us. 

"One point five!" I quickly blocked him. 

It quickly reached two million.

"Two point one." The roar of my pulse quivered my muscles in both dread and fury. 

As the bid got higher and higher to two million and five hundred grand, my throat clenched. Sweat formed on my forehead as if I was brought back to that dark place with a horrible smell. 

I could feel my back stinging and my skin breaking. I could hear the strike of the thick metal buckle heating my bare back, splitting the skin open.

"Three million dollars!" I rose to my feet. 

The room went silent. 

As the gavel hit to signal the bid ended, I sat down, screaming silently in triumph. 

I couldn't stay any longer. I instantly felt claustrophobic. The room started to feel smaller and narrower, as if the walls were moving closer to me. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, and my skin was clammy.

I left right away, without saying a word to Terzo. Once I made it to the car, I took deep breaths and dialed Lex. My hands were still shaking as I waited for him to answer. When he finally did, I pressed the phone against my ear.

"How did it go?"

I took another deep breath, trying to calm my racing heartbeat. "Do you know she'd be auctioned tonight?"

"Who?" 

"You know how much I owe you and how much I respect you, but I want you to be honest with me, Lex. Do you know she'd be there and sold to those monsters?" 

"Who are you talking about, son?" 

"Robyn. Robyn Sharpe, Lex. Why was she there? How did she get in there?" 

"Jesus Christ. Your assistant?" He sounded surprised. "I don't know. I swear to you, son. I have no idea." 

"I believe you, Lex. Thank you for the invites. She must be- God knows what they could do to her if I wasn't there." I hung up the call and harshly threw my phone on the seat. 

My entire body was shaking. My hands were cold and clammy. I struggled hard to breathe, terrified for her. The way she looked at me yesterday, so scared to get fired, made my stomach twist in guilt.

They must have drugged her. She might be so frightened. I had a lot of terrifying thoughts that made my head spin.

Wave went behind the wheel. "It's settled, sir. The payment went through. I got the address."

"Take me there."

ROBYN

"Why are you doing this to me?" Tears streamed down my face, but this bitch and her two dogs looming behind her were heartless and cruel. They didn't even shift. "Please, let me go. My mom is sick. She needs me."

 "Stop with the soppy sob story. It won't work. Your price tag is too high to let you go." Just as she finished talking, there was a knock on the door. "Stop crying, or I will blow your brain off. Don't ruin your makeup, dear. You can't look ugly and disgusting in front of the camera. Do you hear me?" Camera?

I nodded, swallowing hard. The truth might be difficult to hear, but I needed to hear it. "So you're going to sell me?"

 "Yes," she replied without an ounce of guilt or regret in her voice.

I tried hard to stop crying to keep my head intact, but my shoulders shook as I sobbed in silence. It became clear to me that these people were maybe part of a sex trafficking ring. And I just became one of their victims.

"Why? Why are you doing this to me? What did I do to you?"

I wondered what Mom was thinking right now. She might have thought I finally got laid. And Piper. Did she know I was missing? Did she inform Mom and call the police?

When tears rolled down my cheek, a sudden strike hit my face. The slap was hard. My cheek stung.

"Okay! Okay!" I cowered as a scream wrenched out of me. I sobbed and shook so badly. I didn't want to die in the most horrific way. I didn't want to be sold out either.

She grabbed my hair and yanked my head back, glaring down at me. "You have one chance, or your family won't see your head but your body floating in the river. You choose."

 "I don't wanna die." With wide eyes, I nodded hysterically. "Please, don't hurt me. Please." I drew a deep breath and held back my sob, but it came out like a pig's snort anyway. Then I behaved to avoid punishment and getting killed.

 An hour later, my makeup was done. I stood naked before the four of them as the woman, or a makeup artist, stripped me naked and helped me put on the white satin negligee. My face burned in embarrassment, but what was worse than dying?

I'd never felt so humiliated as the two men gawked at me, shifting uncomfortably with their hard-ons bulging against their pants. It was disgusting.

I also felt dirty and disgusting. I'd never felt so cheap and worthless until tonight. I wanted to tear off the garments and take a shower to wash off the remnants of their look. And I wanted to get drunk to forget the horrific image in my head. 

But I knew for a fact that right now was impossible. Unless a superhero appeared out of the blue and saved me, or a sting operation the law enforcement was conducting right now. Otherwise, the luck wasn't on my side. The next time I woke up, someone had already owned me.

A shiver ran down my spine as chills of dread crept through me.

After I got dressed, I was drugged again. The effect was too quick. I didn't even get to say a word before my eyelids fluttered closed.

***

"Hey, Robyn. Robyn, can you hear me?" That familiar voice was too echoey and too loud, like he was talking through a megaphone. 

This was impossible. It was not him. It was just a figment of my imagination that he was here to save me because I was too helpless- a damsel in distress that needed saving.

"No. No. No." My voice was hoarse as I screamed so loudly, trying to free myself, kicking something out of the way. "Help! Please, stop. Don't do this to me."

 "Hey. You're gonna be okay." I felt warm, huge hands cupping my cheeks, but I was too drowsy to crack my eyes open.

"No. I'm gonna be dead. I'm gonna die." I cried plaintively. I wanted someone to soothe me. I wanted a real human touch, a connection to tell me that I was going to be okay, and that I was safe, not to be sold like livestock.

"It's gonna be okay." The voice was so soft and husky, like he was restrained by hunger. Then I felt like I was lifted and carried securely like a bride before my mind floated away.

I groaned. 

That headache again. Throbbing. God, how many times have I had to suffer from a severe headache? I tried to move, but my head was killing me, like I was wearing a head contraption, squeezing my skull tight.

 Where am I? I pried my eyelids open and blinked at the blinding lights, burning my sight.

"It hurt." I rubbed my tired, fluffy eyes, shielding from the sunrise.

Sunrise.

 I raised my hands. My wrists were free.

 My mind raised. I became suddenly aware of the pain in my stiff neck. It was so sore.

My heart pounded as everything that happened last night came rushing into my head. The woman who threatened my life. I patted my neck. I no longer felt the collar around my neck. 

I was free. Was I, though?

Someone must have bought me last night. No. I would never be free. My eyes began to sting. My chin trembled as I fought hard not to cry, but about to fail.

Finally, I was fully awake, scanning the unfamiliar room. It looked modern, clean, and monochromatic.

"Where am I?" I swallowed hard and took a deep breath as I tried hard to be strong. My mouth was painfully dry. My throat felt raw, too.

Despite suffering from a terrible headache, I quickly got out of bed. Before I could reach the door, my feet rooted to the floor when it swung open. Someone just opened it from the outside.

 This was probably the person who bought me. The person who owned my life. God forbid. My knees threatened to buckle as the suspense and horror of finding out the monster who purchased me, like I was brought to the 18th century, where the height of slavery.

 I sucked in an audible breath. My heart dangerously pumped hard. I felt the color drain from my face as I stood face-to-face with my boss, staring at him. 

"You?"