Violent Beginnings (The Moretti Crime Family 2)

Hair the color of spun gold, and even from a distance, I can see the color of her eyes, ocean blue, just like… Victoria.

I suck in a breath, noticing how uneven it is. I haven’t let myself think her name in so long. I’ve tried everything to keep those memories buried. To keep her buried. Not that I want to forget her but thinking about her is simply too painful. The guilt is overwhelming.

I look at the girl again. She looks to be barely legal, more proof that it isn’t her. The question still remains: why does she look so much like her?

The crowd of men congregates around the stage as the girls are each put up on a little pedestal. The space fills with whistles and loud hollers while rage seeps slowly into my veins. These events aren’t my kind of thing, and generally, I ignore the women on stage, not caring how they got here or what’s going to happen to them. It’s easier that way. Not to think about them as people. I know it’s fucked up, but it’s the world we live in.

Unfortunately, I can’t bring myself to do that today. I can’t ignore the woman who looks so much like my past. I can’t let anyone touch her or have her.

She has to be mine, no matter the cost.

The four girls on stage look wide-eyed and shocked, their bodies shaking, and the chains around them rattling with every move they make. There are collars around each of their necks, and a chain hangs down that’s connected to their hands.

My eyes are glued to the Victoria lookalike. She is the only one not crying, even though she is clearly scared shitless. I can see her knees knocking together from across the room.

The host starts talking, introducing the blue-eyed beauty I’m about to buy. “First up is this long-legged blonde, her name is Fallon, but of course you can name her whatever you want. She is untrained but well worth the money since she is untouched.”

Fallon… I whisper to myself, trying out the name. It feels foreign on my tongue, but that doesn’t stop my desire for this woman from growing even stronger.

“We’ll start the bidding at ten thousand.”

Shit! I didn’t plan on bidding. Where is my fucking ticket? Frantically, I search every one of my pockets until I find the folded-up paper with my number on it.

In the time it takes me to find my ticket, three people have already put in their bids. Unfolding my damn piece of paper, I lift it up in the air, waving it like a white flag of defeat. The auctioneer looks up and points to me. “Forty thousand.”

“Fifty!” One of the men up front yells.

I take a few steps closer to the stage before making my next bid. “One hundred thousand.”

She’s it, the one I want. It’s been years since I’ve been with a woman, but if I were to ever find someone, to touch, to be with again, it would be her.

“One fifty.” The same bastard bids again.

“Two hundred thousand.” Someone else bids.

“Five hundred thousand.” I hold up my number, making one of the guys wave like he is out. I don’t smirk even though I want to.

“Six hundred,” the guy up front yells.

“One million,” I call out, hoping that the other guy will bow out.

I have money, but I’m not Julian. I don’t have much more cash on hand, which wouldn’t keep me from bidding higher. She is going to be mine no matter what, even if I have to ask Julian to spot me. A second goes by, then another, and finally, I hear the words I’ve wanted to hear since the moment she was brought out onto the stage.

“Sold, to number six-o-one,” the auctioneer calls, pointing straight at me.

Victory washes over me, and only then do I let myself look up at Fallon again. Her eyes connect with mine. Fear of the unknown flashes across her delicate features, and something deep down in my chest starts to form. It’s a tugging, pulling me into the deepest part of myself.

A part where I revel in the thought of owning this girl, owning her body, her mind, and her soul. Power like I’ve never felt before surges through me, taking over my body in an almost frightening way. I want to own her, to be her sole reason for breathing.

The auctioneer moves onto the next girl while someone else comes and takes my purchase off the stage.

Every fiber in my body is urging me to go back there and take her away from this place as fast as I can, but there is something else I must do before I do that.

Peering around the room, I find Julian and Elena sitting in the bar area. I make my way over there, but Julian is already up and heading in my direction. We meet halfway, still close enough to see Elena.