Page 96 of His to Possess
I push my way through scantily clad bodies, unable to hear a damn thing over the pulse of music. I spot Jane right away. She’s positioned herself near the door, likely to catch sight of Lilah should she happen to enter.
“Anything?” I ask, slightly out of breath as I slide up next to her.
She nods her head toward a table in the same elevated VIP area I’d sat in last time. “That’s the stepfather. Dark haired guy, red tie.”
I narrow my eyes at the douchebag I’ve only seen pictures of before. Even at a distance he looks slimy. Untrustworthy. Arrogant. Like he needs a punch in the face.
But then my blood runs cold as I see who he’s sitting with. Aden fucking Roth. The man on his other side makes me feel even more sick. Victor Leone, the tall motherfucker who co-owns the club and had refused to bend the rules for me last time.
“They’ve moved up the auction,” I tell her, mouth dry. “Lilah told her brother she’d have the money by tomorrow afternoon.”
Jane’s face hardens. She might be the most badass Domme on the eastern seaboard, but she’s not going to stand for the exploitative, creepy-as-fuck shit that goes down in this place.
“I have two guys here now,” she tells me. “They’re sweeping the room for her.”
“Get one of them to switch with you to watch the door,” I tell her. “I want you on this.” If anyone is going to find Lilah in this crowd of people, it’s Jane.
She nods, casting me an appraising look. “What are you going to do?”
I glare at the trio of men in the VIP section. “I’m going to go and introduce myself to Lilah’s stepfather.”
Before I get to the top of the steps, though, the three men stand. Leone leads the other two to the same door we’d exited for the auction last week. My heart drops to my chest. They can’t be starting already, can they?
I break into a run, determined to follow them. A security guy tries to stop me at the door but something about my expensive suit—or maybe it’s the withering glare I’m throwing his way—convinces him that I’m the type of man he doesn’t want to tussle with.
The three men aren’t in the hallway when I step through but I remember where the auction room was. I remember what Leone said last time about doing it in one of the bigger theaters, and feel sick to my stomach. I know Jane would have seen the men leaving, and me following. She’s smart enough to put it together. I can only hope that if this horror show is taking place in another part of the building, she’ll know about it soon enough.
But when I get to the room where the last auction was held, I find a security guard at the door. This one is not so easily convinced to let me through.
“It’s a private event,” he says, standing his ground. “I can’t let you through.”
“How much?” I demand, pulling out my wallet. “A thousand? Five?”
He hesitates, but then his shoulders straighten again. “It’s not worth my job.”
I’m about two seconds from throwing punches. The guy is both taller and more muscular than I am, but I’m pretty sure I could hold my own based on sheer rage alone.
“I will hire you at Club Wyld,” I tell him through gritted teeth. “I guarantee you’ll make more money and you won’t have to work with these lowlifes.”
That seems to have his attention but before he can ask any questions, a voice rings down the hall.
“Matthews! What are you doing here?”
I turn to see the jovial smile of Carl Rossi, the owner who’d been more willing to let me have my way last week. Just like that night, he’s grinning at me like this is all just some big party. The rage I felt for the security guard immediately transfers to the man in front of me.
“What the hell is going on, Rossi?” I demand. “Where’s Lilah?”
His eyebrows come down in confusion. “What do you mean? She told us you decided not to participate.”
I close my eyes. Participate. So she is planning on entering the damn auction.
“Why wasn’t I told the auction date moved?” I snap. “As the previous winner, I would think—”
He holds up his hands. “Miss Cartwright said she didn’t wish to continue the arrangement with you.” Fuck, that stings. “I’m sorry, Philip. You know how much I respect you. But I wasn’t going to bring in a man to bid on her when she clearly asked us not to.”
I point at the door. “But you’ll let him in there? Her fucking stepfather?”
Rossi blanches. “Her what?”
