Page 83 of Deadly Vows

Elise

I am vaguely familiar with the underground world. I only know some of the things I do, because of who I married. But this side of it, I’ve never been privy to. The Pasquinos don’t dabble in human trafficking. Neither did my father. It’s too tedious—too easy to be broken up by a small mistake being made. The true profit lies in things that whole countries would not only pay for, but go out of their way to protect the asset providing it for them.

So, as I’m dragged through the dimly lit hallway, passing by more women like me, I am forced to face the reality that Luca may never find me, and my future may look very bleak from here on out. No matter how Earth-shattering the news relayed to me, I never should have left our home. With the attempt on Luca and Enzo’s lives following Ari’s death, I should have known better. And judging from the interaction I had before this with a government agent, Ari has dragged some very powerful allies into our piece of the world—allies who will bury my existence to get back at Luca.

I am brought through two large double doors, where an older woman shouts orders in Russian. Unfortunately, I speak Russian. It is one of the many talents my father forced me to learn to become a desirable wife—along with French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Mandarin. So my stomach dips as the woman notices my presence.

“What is this? You bring me this thirty minutes before the auction? She is going to have to wait until next week,” she says in her native language, brushing me off quickly.

But the men holding me speak, stopping her in her tracks. “If you want to keep your little business running, you’ll make sure she’s on the roster. She isn’t some nobody. She’s Luca Pasquino’s wife,” one of the men says.

The woman pales instantly, confusion washing over her.

“Pasquino? Why in God’s name would you bring her here? Do you think I am so ignorant as to place his wife in an auction?” she snaps. “Get her out of here, now!”

The woman turns away quickly, wanting to be rid of me, but one of the men releases my arm, stepping forward to grab her shoulder as he speaks. His voice is low, but I still hear him as he threatens her.

“If you want your business to continue to run unnoticed, you will do this. It is an order, not a request. Straight from the top,” he says.

Her eyes widen, and she shifts her attention from the man to me, weighing her options. Have her business shut down because she refused to follow an order, or face certain death if Luca finds out that I was here.

She heaves a deep breath, pushing the man’s touch from her shoulder.

“Fine,” she says, moving closer to me. The men release me as she approaches, and I hold her gaze, letting my disdain be known. She reaches for my face, and I slap her hand away.

Shock appears on her features but she hides it quickly, laughing as she speaks to me in her language, unaware of my understanding.

“Someone is going to have fun with you,” she says, smiling wickedly.

I smile back, responding in Russian. “Not as much fun as my husband when he finds out what you’ve done.”

I enjoy the fear on her face as she realizes I know every word of her prior conversation. But she quickly masks her fear, clinging to false bravery as her attention shifts to the ring on my finger. She roughly grips my arm, pulling the ring from my finger so hard that it scrapes my skin.

“You won’t need this where you’re going,” she sneers in English.

I have nothing to say in response. Luca was more attached to me wearing that ring than I was. And she has unknowingly placed herself in immediate danger if Luca ever comes across this place. He’ll know that is my ring. And he will personally torture her for having a hand in this.

She calls to her own men, commanding them to take me away, and I am pulled by my arms from the room, to once again in my life be dressed up for a man to choose me.

The room is eerily quiet, although it is filled with women who are being sold to the highest bidder. Each and every one of us has been outfitted in lingerie that leaves little to the imagination. My heart aches as I look around at the faces of women who have resigned themselves to their position in life—only a few shed silent tears.

Shame washes over me as I come to terms with the true measure of this situation. I don’t know if it’s because I amin shock, or if I have somehow trained myself to be numb to devastating circumstances since my marriage, but I feel more for the women surrounding me than I do for myself. This is it for them. This is their life. I, however, am still holding on to the possibility of Luca finding me. Because I know he will scorch the earth to find me if he has to.

Luca was right about me. I am self-righteous. Here I sit, not afraid of the outcome of this auction because I know he’ll come for me. I know the man I’ve come to understand as a killer will do just that if it means getting me back, and in this instance, I am okay with it.

I release a shuddering breath as my own emotions hit me.

I just hope it doesn’t take him too long to find me. Wherever I end up, I will have to put my self-preservation to use if I want to be in one piece when he comes for me.

I flinch when I feel a hand over mine, turning to see a girl similar to my age sitting next to me. She has a sad smile on her face as she tries to offer me comfort.

“It’s better that you’ve been placed in an auction instead of a brothel. Don’t be too upset,” she says.

Her words cause me to shiver. She doesn’t know that if my identity is revealed, my life can turn out much worse than being in a brothel. They would torture me just to make my husband bend the knee. And I’m sure that is what my captors in the government are aiming for.

I return her smile, rubbing my hand over hers as I try to be as comforting as she is.

“Thank you,” I say, smiling.

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