Lost And Bought

Chapter 5

Charlotte

I try to swallow and breathe, but my throat hurts from holding in the tears. I'm trying to stay calm and although I was crying before, I'm struggling to hold in a sob now. The last girl is forced on stage as I'm placed next to the others. I feel as though I'm in a haze, not accepting what just happened. I can't believe I was just sold. This can't possibly be real. Except it is. And I was.

I allow myself a few more minutes of quiet sobs until I hear the man say "Sold!" I'm sure we will be given to our buyers soon, so I try to slowly calm myself down. In this illogical circumstance, I have to try and hold onto something. For some reason it makes sense to not cry in front of the man that just bought me. I don't want him to see me as weak. Although I donut it will do much.

The other girl is led over to us with huge tears dripping from her face as the man in charge wears an evil smile on his face. "As soon as we get the money you will be given to your new owners. It's been a pleasure, girls."

The money. The man who 'bought' me paid $100,000. No one else even made it past $60,500. What does that say about him? What does that say for me?

"Alright ladies. Here we go. Get in order of how you went on stage." I move to stand behind the four girls and one still crying stands behind me. The men come back stage and Mary is the first to go. The person who bought her hands over a wad of cash and looks at her with blood curdling satisfaction. After the money is counted, he grabs Mary and starts to pull her away. Before she leaves she gives me a final glance which I return with a small wave at my waist. As soon as she disappears behind the curtain I feel like I'm going to be sick.

The same process repeats three more times until I'm face to face with the man who bought me. If this was a random businessman who waltzed into the bar I would have –. But he isn't. I hadn't gotten a good look before, but now he was right in front of me. He's wearing a black suit that fits him perfectly, dark brown hair that is neatly swept to the side, without product it looks like, a clean shave and defined jawline. I follow the edge of it to his cheeks and freeze when I meet his eyes staring straight into mine. I quickly look down and see his feet turn as he hands the money to the man.

"I gotta tell you Enzo, I was not expecting this of you. Not only was it the highest bid of the night, but you never went past $60,000. Figures the first time you bought someone you would have to fight someone for it."

I look up to see the man still counting the money and turn my head to see Enzo, I guess, staring at me again. This time I don't look away. I stare right into his blue eyes as I let what I just heard sink in.

"Also figures I would win." Enzo's voice is deep and smooth just like when I heard it before. He looks at the man as he finishes counting the money. "Everything is accounted for I presume?"

"Yes. $100,000 in full. Pleasure doing business with you Enzo." Enzo grabs the rope around my wrists and gently leads me away, past the last purchaser. He parts the curtain and motions with his head to walk through. There is a lot of slack in the rope, which I think is strange, but I walk through the curtain ahead of him nonetheless. After he follows behind me I hear him sigh in frustration. I look at him and follow his line of sight to a few other girls, sadly no Mary, and some of the other men who attended the auction I assume. One of the men looks over and smiles and I immediately turn away only to see Enzo removing his suit jacket. Only then do I remember what I am wearing as I look down at the black lace.

"Don't say anything." Enzo's voice is barely a whisper before I feel him placing his jacket on me from behind then walk around me and fasten the buttons. It's warm and although I'm confused why he does it, I'm grateful to be covered. He picks up the rope, tighter this time, and I follow him over to the men.

The man who smiled before stares directly at me and the nausea returns with a new urgence. "I honestly never thought I would see the day, Enzo. Truly I didn't." As soon as I hear his voice, I know that this is the other bidder who tried to buy me. As crazy as it sounds, now I'm glad Enzo won.

In the silence, some other man join the conversation. "You went pretty high Enzo. I hope she's worth the money."

"If she isn't," the bidder taunts, "I'm sure I could take her off your hands." He starts to reach for my face, but before I can even think to pull away, Enzo is stepping in front of me.

His voice is calm and oozes power as he says, "Don't touch what's mine, Tom." A shiver runs through my body at his words and with a small grin, Tom backs away.

"Alright Enzo. No need to get," his gaze turns to me, "touchy." I inch further behind Enzo because right now, he is the lesser of two evils.

The men continue conversing and I think it has to do with business, but I am too tired to listen, I'm just trying to stay standing. Eventually everyone says their goodbyes and Enzo begins to lead me away with the rope tight in his hands.

Sadly I don't see Mary and I feel like crying again, but try to hold it in. As soon as we step outside, Enzo loosens his grip on my rope which lessens the rubbing on my wrists. I step onto the cement steps and remember that I haven't been wearing shoes for days. We step down silently until my feet hit the gravel and I wince from the pain, quickly stepping back onto the cement. Enzo turns immediately and I look down to my feet silently.

"Oh," is all he says before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a phone. "Rick." He looks at me again but I can't read his expression. "Pull the car around. We're by the entrance. Yes, we. No more questions." Enzo hangs up the phone and for a second just looks at me until we hear a shout.

We both whip our heads towards the noise and to my horror I see Mary. She's being yanked to a limousine by another man in a suit. I can see the tears running down her face shining from the lights of the car. The man yells again as he yanks her forward.

"Ma–" I take a step forward and fall to the gravel before I can finish screaming her name. I'm weak, but she has to be worse. The man shoves her into the car and almost immediately drives away as I struggle to get up.

I rub my hands against the gravel before a pair of strong hands are gripping my arms and lifting me to my feet. Enzo quickly cups my hands and looks at my red palms. Thankfully there are no cuts. Just as I'm starting to notice how warm his hands are, they're gone and Enzo is speaking through clenched teeth, "Don't make a scene."

Another limo pulls up next to us and a tall, muscular man walks out.