??Do you want dinner?” I looked down at her as she positioned herself with her head in my lap and her legs draped across the arm of the couch.
“I thought I just had all I was getting.” She licked her lips and grinned.
“I was kidding.” I chuckled and reached for the phone.
I ordered up another large portion of food and we went through it like ravenous animals. I did, at least. She ate her food fairly casually, choosing several different items to sample. There was a knock at the door and I stood, pulling my bathrobe tight. I wasn’t expecting anyone at all. When I got to the door and looked through the peephole, I saw Carmella on the other side. She looked back and forth nervously, and then knocked on the door even harder. I pulled the door open with confusion and she practically bowled me over as she came through the door.
You would think people would actually ask to enter your fucking room around here.
“Carmella, what the hell is going on?” I turned towards her and saw Madison nervously holding her robe closed.
“It’s Tommy! He’s fucked up, Ruck. Real bad!” She had fear in her eyes and was dripping with sweat.
“Shit.” I stomped the floor. “Where is he?”
“Carlos’ suite.” She looked around. “Ruck, he killed Carlos.”
“What!?” I felt my whole face expand in shock. “What the fuck happened?”
“I don’t know. Tommy showed up with Miguel and a couple of new guys he’s supposed to be representing. They got in a fight with Carlos and then he just fucking stabbed him. Tommy is out of fucking control. He’s coked out of his mind. I’ve never seen anyone do that many lines!” Carmella started to tremble and shake.
“Madison, stay here. If I don’t come back, call a cab and go home.” I ran to the bedroom and started changing into my clothes.
I had no idea where Carlos actually stayed. I knew he lived in the Ussery, but it was an enormous building. Carmella led me to an elevator that was on the complete opposite side of the hotel and then we walked across a corridor that was connected to another building. We had to take another elevator down, and my head was spinning when we arrived at that floor. I couldn’t believe Tommy would do something so stupid. I was probably going to kill him, but I had to keep him out of prison first. I just had no idea how I was going to accomplish that.
“Okay, this is his floor. We have to be quiet. Carlos rents out the whole floor and lets some of his guys stay here. If they find out what Tommy has done, they’ll kill us all before we can do anything to fix it.” She took me by the hand and walked slowly down the hallway.
I followed Carmella to a door at the end of the hallway. The hallway seemed to stop at about the midway point of the building, so I had to assume Carlos had a mansion of a suite. Carmella swiped her key card on the door, pushed it open, and motioned for me to follow. It was dimly lit, with only a lamp on the other side of the room. When I stepped through the door, I saw someone on the floor, but it wasn’t Carlos—it was Tommy.
“Tommy?” I ran over to my brother and knelt down, rolling him over to find a blood splatter on his shirt. “What the fuck?”
“Bravo, Carmella.” I heard Carlos’ voice, followed by clapping, and the door slammed. “I’m going to have to call my friend in Hollywood and tell him to put you in a blockbuster because you put on the performance of a fucking lifetime.”
“What the hell is going on here?” I turned to see Carlos casually strolling down the stairs that separated the entrance from his enormous living room area. “Carlos, what did you do to my brother?”
“He’s an idiot. He could have been a part of this, but now he’s just going to die on my floor. Tragic, really. He was the smart brother.” Carlos came to a stop at the bottom of his stairs.
“You motherfucker, I’m going to kill you!” I ran towards him, but before I could take very many steps, I saw Miguel emerge from a side room with a shotgun aimed at me.
“Don’t do it, Ruckus. I respect the hell out of you, but I ain’t gonna hesitate to pull the trigger.” Miguel pumped the shotgun and I put my hands up, taking a step back.
“Carlos, Tommy is still alive. Just let me take him and I’ll get help. I don’t know what he did to you, but if he owes you money or if he fucked up his drug shit, I’ll pay every penny back.” I stepped back until I was near Tommy and leaned down to check his pulse. “Please, Carlos. I can’t lose my brother.”
“You’re the only one that gets to walk out of this alive, Ruckus.” Carlos pointed at a television screen that was sitting in his living room. “Of course, she’ll live. As long as she does what she’s told like the little slut you trained her to be.”
I turned towards the screen and it took a moment for the scene to register. I saw a screen split into four quarters, with an image of a room in each one. I tilted my head and stepped closer. My belt on the floor. The table next to the couch. Madison standing in the shower washing her hair. It was my room—Carlos had fucking video cameras in my room. I felt my chest getting tight and I spun back around on my toes and started walking towards Carlos.
“Don’t do it, Ruckus. I can’t warn you a third time.” Miguel took a step forward.
“Please listen to him.” Carmella grabbed my arm.
“Fuck you, get your hands off me.” I yanked my arm out of her grasp. “What the fuck do you want with Madison? You have plenty of girls!”
“Yes, I do.” Carlos chuckled and nodded. “But I can’t turn down opportunity. I watched this little virgin you bought go from timid and shy to begging for punishment. Do you know how rare a girl like that is? Do you know how much it is worth?”
I heard a scream come from the television screen and I turned back to see two guys in the bathroom of my suite. They pulled the shower door open, yanked Madison out kicking and screaming, and slammed something into the side of her head. She collapsed and I watched as they appeared on another screen with her being dragged across the floor. They put her underneath one of the room service tables with a long tablecloth and started wheeling it towards the door.
“Of course, I can’t keep her here in Las Vegas where her family lives, but I’ve got friends all over the country. Sin City Auction is just one of my many ventures. I’ll sell sweet little Madison here to someone that will make sure she is punished regularly. I think she’ll like that, judging by what I saw earlier.” He nodded and smiled. “I don’t want to have to kill you, Ruckus. I’m a fair man. I’ll return the money you spent for her, you’ll remember this weekend fondly, and you can continue your retirement. I can even make sure the suite becomes your permanent home.”