Penning

g like sandpaper against my skin. The city lights bled through the floor-to-ceiling windows, painting sterile patterns on

from the direction of the suite' s main door. My blood ran cold. The securi

clothes and ski masks filled the doorway. My scream was choked off as one of them lunged,

rick wall. The other man produced a roll of duct tape. They bound my wrists and ankles with brutal efficiency, then slappe

ing against a hard shoulder blade. I was carried out of the suite, down a service elevator

e vehicle lurched into motion, throwing me against the side. Panic, cold and sharp, c

e van finally halted. The back doors creaked open, and I was dragged

and stale, heavy with the smell of unwashed bodies,

ulled the hoo

squeeze my eyes shut. When I forced them open, b

on a

roamed over my body, clad only in a thin silk nightgown, with a hunger that made my stomach ch

ry against the duct tape. "You have no

pped onto the stage, a microphone in his

the mic. The crowd laughed. "Now, gentlemen, let' s start the bidding for this lovely p

the air. Numbers were shouted

ndred th

ee-fi

a mil

I was no longer a person. I was an object, a prize to be won. The price climbed with terrifying speed-a mil

slamming a gavel down. "To the gentlem

shed over me. It was

a dark corridor, and shoved me into a small, windowless room. Th

th a sweaty brow and small, piggish eyes stepped insid

better be worth it." He took a step closer, his gaze crawling over me.

like a physica

ay?" I mumbled

ips. He reached out and ripped the duct tape

ou needed to be taught a lesson. That you thought you were better than him. He sold you to

cheat on me. He had orchestrated this. He had thrown me to the wolves to be torn apart. The man I ha

worry, I' ll take good care of you. Connor said I coul

my nightgown. I flinched back, pressi

ll give you double what he owes you. Twenty million. I

, it's not about t

nt blank with it. This was it. This was how it ended. Stripped of my

ing the silk of my gown. The fab

from my throat,

he door to the room flew off its hinges, c

he corridor, stood Connor. And clinging to his arm, peering i

-