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Everyone is wearing matching solemn expressions, and Ryleigh glares at each of us in turn. Bree looks like she’s going to speak, but Liam places his hand on her arm, and he turns to Ry.

“We feel the same way you do, Ry. We know that this is a shit plan, and we hate it. But if we take any of the auction Lots, word will spread quickly, and it could put the others at risk. The buyers may go into hiding, or they may even kill the Lots to dispose of the evidence.

“There’s also a risk that The Sheriff will lock down the club, keeping any auction Lots that have not left yet. So we may not be able to get Teigan out, as we know she will be the last one to be auctioned off.”

“That’s not a fucking option,” I snarl, only to be matched by the ferocious temperament of my little sister.

“What? So her life is worth more than the others?” She raises her brow at me in a challenge, but I simply shrug my shoulders.

“Yes. I don’t know the others.”

I know everyone is shocked by my response, but I honestly don’t give a shit. Teigan is my priority. If we can be heroes and save everyone so my family can be bleeding hearts, fucking great, but that’s not my reason for being there.

I’m not a hero, and I never will be. I’m the bad guy, which means I can be selfish. I can burn the world down to get to Teigan without giving a shit who I hurt in the process.

“Look, we’re getting off track,” Bree says, ending the staring contest Ry and I were having. “Evan, your focus will, of course, be on getting Teigan to safety. We have the safe house all set up, and as soon as you have her, take her there. We will contact you when it’s safe.

“In the meantime, we will have nineteen teams on standby who will follow the Lots to their destinations. We will watch and wait, gathering as much information as we can. Our hope is that some of the winners will lead us to other people who need our help. It’s highly likely that the people who are bidding today will have done so before. So we hopefully will have the opportunity to help more people than just the twenty in this auction.

“I know it’s not ideal to sit back and not do anything when we know they are in horrible situations, but we can’t act without intelligence and a plan. Once we have what we need, we will make a plan, and we will breach all the properties at the same time. We will free everyone we can, and take down as many of those sick fucks as possible, but we have to be patient and do it the right way.

“This is a massive fucking operation, and we can’t screw it up by acting before we are ready. This is my decision, and I’m the one that will have to live with the consequences if anything happens to those people while we’re planning. I have to think about the greater good.”

Every word out of Bree’s mouth makes sense, but I can see how much it hurts her. She almost looks like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders, and when she says she will have to live with the consequences of her decision, I know she truly means that.

Everyone nods like they understand, even if they may not like the plan. Bree is the leader, and her word is final. I’m just glad she didn’t try to tell me what to do about Tee. Because while I may admire her bleeding heart and her stupid need to save everyone, I don’t share that sentimentality.

I can feel sympathy for the strangers, and of course, I don’t want anyone—especially kids—to be in these shit situations, but my only concern is Teigan. I have to save her, and I’d sacrifice anyone to know she’s safe.

“Okay, so we have a plan. Does anyone have any questions?” Bree asks.

When all the questions have been asked, we all file out of the meeting room. I agree to meet Declan in the living room shortly before we need to leave for the auction. He’s been authorised to bid too, even though he’s made it clear he has no intention of taking part in this depraved auction. It will be good to have him by my side, just in case things go wrong.

As soon as we arrive at Club Crimson, my heart is racing and my stomach is in knots. I’m moving on auto-pilot as Declan pulls me inside, checking us in at the desk. We’re each given our paddles before being assessed by security. We’re checked for weapons, and I’m forced to check in the gun I brought with me.

When the security guard pulls it out of the inside pocket of my suit jacket, Dec hits me with a glare that tells me he’s going to kill me. Which is exactly what the noise in my ear says.

“You dickhead. What the hell were you thinking bringing a fucking gun?” Liam snaps through the communications device in my ear.

I ignore him until we’re away from security, following Dec towards the bar. “I figured once they took the gun off me, they’dstop looking. Which is how they didn’t find the two knives I have stashed.”

Dec’s eyes widen, and when he talks, I’m not sure if he’s talking to me or the guys listening at home. “Nobody told me we’d need weapons.”

Bree’s voice rings loud in my ear, and she’s using that Mum tone that tells me she’s pissed. “You weren’t supposed to have weapons. So help me God, Evan, if you even think about using those tonight, I will use them to cut your bollocks off.”

“You agreed no violence,” Liam adds.

“I know, and I won’t act first. But I refuse to sit here with no way to protect myself. I already told you, no matter what happens, I’m leaving here with Teigan. If I have to stab every person in my way to get her out, then that’s what I will do. But I will agree to try it your way first…the boring way.”

I can’t see my sister-in-law, but I can almost hear her rolling her eyes at me. Which is actually kind of comical, as she’s by far the most bloodthirsty out of all of us, and she never goes anywhere without her knife. Hell, she had her knife on her when she gave birth to Nate. She scared the shit out of her midwife.

Dec orders us both a drink, and we take a look around the room. It’s much busier than it was the other day, with way more people. There are a few girls dressed in just bras and panties wandering around, carrying trays of drinks. They seem to be serving the people seated in the booths, who look to be VIPs.

Just as we’re about to take a walk around the room, trying to capture as many of these sick individuals on our body cameras as we can, so Kellan can start identifying them, a small girl stops in front of us.

She has long dirty-blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and her skin is so pale, she looks like she hasn’t seen any sun in a while. Her gaze flick from Dec to me, and as soon as she looks at me, her lips tip into a small smile. She drags her eyes over my wholebody, and I suddenly feel like there’s a very bright spotlight on me.

Compared to all the other girls in the room, who are dressed in just their underwear, she is wearing a dress. Although there’s not much more fabric involved.