CHAPTER 3

The second perk, or at least I hoped it were so, was that whoever managed to do this would also be classy enough not to make my life an absolute living hell. I wasn't stupid; I knew there were some crazy people in the world with perverted kinks, but I still held out hope.

"I assume you're still comfortable with my twenty percent stake?" he inquired, arranging the papers.

"Good attempt. We talked about ten percent," I said to him, having no sense of humor whatsoever over his attempt to con me.

"Ah, yeah. Ten percent. That's what I was going to tell you." He winked at me, and I felt a shiver run down my spine, and he pushed the contract across the table and offered me a pen. "Just sign here… and here."

I scrawled my messy signature over the spots he indicated, fully conscious that I was signing over the next two years of my life. It was a deal. Soon after, I was taken to another room where I was told to strip and put on the skinniest bikini I had ever owned. It was transparent, which I guessed was the point. The men did not want to cough up the cash until they saw the products. I could appreciate that, but it still didn't put me any less at risk and vulnerable.

A hair and makeup artist then worked some magic, making me simply elegant and, miraculously, not trashy. Then Michael taped my number to my stomach. I walked into the group of women facing the two-way mirror with my head held high. The worst part of it was that God only knows who or what was on the other side of the mirror looking at me, and I couldn't see them. What I could see, however, was me.

I wasn't conceited, but I have to admit I looked decent compared to the rest of the women. I had never considered myself drop-dead gorgeous, but I was good-looking. My blond hair lay long and thick down my back. My eyes were a dull blue, but they had sparkled once. Before Jackson's sickness took a turn for the worse. I wasn't perfect, but I wasn't too heavy or too thin, and I had the proper curves in what I always imagined as the proper areas.

Generally, a good try, I'd hoped. The women were taken out one by one from the room. I thought at first that it was because they were competitive with me and were chosen in my stead, and that I felt like the fat kid on the gym team who got chosen last. But then they called my number and I went to the same black door that I had seen the other past individuals enter through. When I went in, I was taken to the center of the room. There were smaller rooms surrounding me with glass walls. Each room contained one table lamp in the lowest light, a telephone, and a red velvet chair.

It was obvious that the sole commonality between the individuals in the rooms was money—and lots of it.

The sheik wore dark glasses, a headdress that was as long as his face was wide and white, and a business suit. Two of the women who stood with me in the hallway were standing on either side of him, fawning over him. I turned away, embarrassed, to be faced with a man in another room.

This dude was huge, like house-huge. He resembled a walrus. I felt a chill run down my spine. Beside him was this small guy with two enormous bodyguards standing beside him. They had their arms crossed over their chests, and I thought that was as good as it got for them letting go. The little dude had his legs crossed all dainty-style and was imbibing on some fruity kind of drink that had an umbrella. His white coat was loosely thrown over his shoulders.

I thought the male variety was more his thing.

I looked at the last room and sighed inwardly as I realized that the light was out. Whoever had been in there already seemed to have made his decision and left, leaving little hope for the remainder of the choice. And then there was the dimmest orange flash from the blacked-out room like the end on the tip of an just-exhausted cigarette. I leaned in closer and could dimly see the outlines of a body taking the shape of a reclined position in the chair. The figure curled forward slightly, giving me a clearer view of him, but not enough to be able to distinguish anything. The man stood up, and I got a glimpse of his face.

The room chilled further, and the air became thicker.

A voice, hoarse and filled with a power that shook the floor and vibrated through my bones, called out of the blackness.

"You have been taken."