Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
I took my seat, ordered a drink, and waited.
I was alone at my table, as were the other men in the room. Each sat at a dark table with a lone candle, sipping their drinks as they waited for the auctions to begin. Most men didn’t socialize even if they knew each other. They wanted to pretend that the evening wasn’t happening, that they weren’t there at all.
It was Italy’s most open secret.
The auction finally began, and the girls were forced onto the stage, buck naked and handcuffed. Heels were on their feet, but that was the only item of clothing they were given. Black stilettos, the shoes were tall with a pointed toe.
There were six of them that evening, some more beautiful than others. But their allure wasn’t always in their beauty, but instead their connection to whichever family had been targeted. A man could still get off with an ugly woman if she was the daughter of a prince he disliked. Sometimes sex wasn’t about physical attraction, but power.
But there was one woman in particular who exuded pure beauty. With dark strands of hair that framed her face, full lips outlined in bright red lipstick, and lightly colored brown eyes, she was stunning. A few freckles sprinkled across her cheeks, but that added to her allure. She was of average height, probably a head shorter than me. While the other women could barely make eye contact because they were shaking so much, she seemed to be the only one unafraid. She looked into the sea of faces in the crowd like she was fearless.
It was just an act, but I still respected her for it.
These men like terrified women. They liked women who trembled in the presence of power. They liked helpless girls who begged for freedom they would never get. But this woman wasn’t like the others.
The other men noticed her too, judging by the way they watched her closely and ignored the others.
The bid would probably run high.
Egor had texted me a picture of his sister, an image I’d barely glanced at last night. I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the screen to confirm her identity. The woman was sitting under an apple tree on a sunny day. She was smiling at the camera, her hair blowing in the wind.
It was the beautiful one.
I slipped my phone back into my pocket and refused to celebrate my excitement. It didn’t matter if I was hard in my jeans from seeing that naked woman on the stage. When I took her home, I couldn’t enjoy her. She was nothing but inventory. This was a job—a job I’d already been paid for.
My eyes moved up her body, taking in her lean legs all the way to her hips. She had an hourglass shape, a sexy waist with even sexier tits. I’d been with seductive women before, but she definitely stood out from the rest. With slender shoulders and beautiful skin, she was absolutely luscious.
I could practically hear all the men drooling.
Her eyes scanned the room, searching the sea of faces like she was looking for something in particular. It didn’t make any sense for her to be so fearless when all the other girls were terrified. Some were even crying, sobbing their hearts out.
But she wasn’t afraid at all.
It was like she wanted to be there.
I dismissed the thought because that couldn’t be possible. She was taken from her home, taken from her family to be a sex slave. In her bleak mind, she had no idea her brother had paid a fortune to save her. The remainder of her life would be spent in horrifying ways.
The auction was intense.
All the men wanted her.
Even if I had to spend a fortune to buy her, I would still be left with an immense profit. So I kept sticking my paddle in the air, battling the other demons in the underworld for her. She was the first woman on the roster, probably because the Skull Kings knew the men wouldn’t care about the rest of the girls until their best girl was out of the running.
We were already at thirty million and going strong.
Losing wasn’t an option, so I kept bidding on her, making the price skyrocket higher and higher.
The woman stood tall on the stage, her beautiful tits perky and round. Her eyes were on me, watching me bid on her like an antique painting at an art show. Again, there wasn’t fear in the look.
Back and forth we went, and eventually, I won the auction.
“And Carter Barsetti wins at fifty million.” The Skull King clanked the mallet against the podium. “Enjoy your prize.”
Her handcuffs were removed from her wrists, and she was directed off the stage to the floor. She glanced at her arms and massaged her wrists, soothing the marks and scars along her skin where the metal had been too tight. She slowly made her way to me, her head held high even though she was still naked, stripped of the privilege of clothes.