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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jayden
She’d spotted me before I’d even managed to lay eyes on her.
I’d yet to see Ariella, but Hazel sauntered her way over to me, giving me an overly seductive smile.
I tried to play it cool and calm.
Capo Sergio stood beside me. “See anything you like, my man?” he asked, and patted me on the back. “You can take her home for the right price.”
I cleared my throat. “And what price is that exactly?” I looked her up and down. I needed to pretend that I was deciding whether she was of interest to me.
“It’s a silent auction and cash only. Don’t forget that,” Sergio said and wagged his finger at me. “I tell you, these girls get hotter the longer we keep them locked up.”
It took everything in me not to slug Capo Sergio. He was the one running this operation, and while I intended to bring it down, I couldn’t do it alone.
Wearing a wire had been a discussion and then turning the information over to the authorities. But I couldn’t risk getting caught.
Already I’d been treading water, barely surviving between Enzo throwing me out in the cold and handing my fake fiancé over to DeLuca’s men.
Sergio probably trusted me as much as I trusted him.
“You can take her for a test drive,” Sergio said and gestured with his index finger toward the private rooms. “There is of course a fee, but you know how these things are. Anything goes. Nothing is off-limits.”
“Good. I’d hate to pay for tainted merchandise,” I said. It took everything in me not to vomit, hearing the words leave my lips.
I grabbed Hazel by the hips and pulled her against me. “How much for an hour with her?”
“Twenty minutes tops. Other prospective buyers should get an opportunity with her too,” Sergio said. “Four hundred for twenty minutes.”
“Fuck me,” I muttered and pulled out four one hundred-dollar bills.
My hand latched onto Hazel’s wrist, and I dragged her with a force of intensity toward the private suite and slammed the door behind us.
I wasn’t an idiot. There were cameras everywhere. Were there cameras in the private room?
I didn’t see any, but that didn’t mean anything.
“I’m Violet,” Hazel said. Her voice trembled as she took a step back from me.
My eyes tightened as I studied her.
She and the other girls all had black collars around their necks, secured with a metal lock that buckled into place. On her arm, she wore a gold bangle, and she tapped on the bracelet repeatedly as she glanced past me.
Hazel tugged on her bottom lip, bringing it between her teeth, not saying anything further.
“Violet,” I said, using the name she’d given me. If she wanted me to know her name wasn’t Hazel while we were alone, then she probably thought the men were listening to us.
“Do you understand that I bought your time for the next twenty minutes?” My expression remained cold and dark as I pulled her arm with the bracelet toward me. My fingers fiddled with the bangle while my gaze stayed locked on her eyes.
“Yes, I understand,” Hazel said. She stepped closer and climbed onto my lap.
Perhaps she thought they were watching us too?
I didn’t think she’d want to be anywhere near me otherwise.
“Suppose I’m interested in buying more than one girl. Is there anyone else who might hold my interest as much as you?” I asked. “I like brunettes with long hair, soulful eyes, with a bit of spark.” I had to be careful that no one could decode what we said and make sense of it.