Page 104 of Auctioned Innocence
“You’re probably wondering why you’re still alive,” she continues. “Why I didn’t just put a bullet in your head back at that cabin.”
“The thought had crossed my mind,” I admit. I need her tokeep talking.
“Because death would be too quick. Too merciful.” Her smile turns honeyed. “I want you to understand exactly what you’ve cost me. What your little rebellion has destroyed. And then I want you to live with that knowledge for a very long time.”
The zip-tie finally gives.
I keep my hands positioned behind my back, waiting for the perfect moment. Madame Rouge is still monologuing, gesturing grandly, completely absorbed in her own voice.
“You see, the auction house wasn’t just business—it was art. The careful selection, the preparation, the presentation. You destroyed something beautiful, something?—”
I move.
The chair goes backward as I launch myself forward, my freed hands going for the nearest guard’s weapon. He’s so surprised he barely reacts before I’ve disarmed him and put two bullets in his chest.
The warehouse erupts into chaos.
Gunfire explodes around me. I throw myself behind something—concrete, pillar—bullets sparking off the wall inches from my head. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I lean out, fire blind, pray I hit something.
“Kill her!” Madame Rouge screams from somewhere in the maze of shipping containers. “Kill them both!”
Three guards left. I can do this.
The first one tries to flank me around a forklift. I’m waiting for him, putting a bullet through his throat before he can raise his weapon. The second comes from the right—I drop him with a shot to the head.
The last guard is smart, using the shipping containers for cover, trying to pin me down with suppressing fire.
Pfft.Amateur.
I work my way around behind him, using the industrial equipment for concealment. When I emerge behind his position, he’s still firing at empty air.
“Looking for me?” I ask in a sing-song voice.
He spins, weapon coming up, but I’m already pulling the trigger. He goes down hard.
Silence.
“Madame Rouge!” I call out, advancing through the warehouse. “Come out and play!”
But she’s gone. Vanished like the coward she is, probably through some back exit while I was dealing with her men.
“Bitch,” I mutter, but there’s no time to track her down. Not with Dante still unconscious and more enemies potentially on the way.
“Dante!” I rush to his chair, checking his pulse. Strong and steady. “Come on, wake up.”
He stirs as I cut his restraints, blinking groggily as consciousness returns.
“Sofia?” His voice is rough. “What—where are we?”
“Warehouse. We were kidnapped. I handled it.” I help him to his feet, noting how he sways slightly. Definitely concussed. “We need to move.Now.”
“The others—” he starts weakly.
“Dead. But Madame Rouge got away.” I grab weapons from the fallen guards, making sure we’re armed. “Can you walk?”
“Yeah.” He’s steadier now, the soldier reasserting itself. “Exit?”
“Working on it.”
