Show & Sell

“Anders, what did you do with the money?” I say to him angrily.

To my surprise, he starts to cry. “Aurora, please, I’m so sorry. You have to forgive me. You just have to.”

I’ve never seen my brother cry before.

The tears streaming down his face unsettles me. What happened to him?

“I’m serious, Anders! You better have something to say for yourself. We have no fucking money, and it’s all your fault!”

I expect him to apologize or to, at least, tell me where the funds went. Instead, he’s pleading with me.

He’s still crying and has already sunk down to the floor.

“Aurora, I don’t know how to tell you this. First of all, let me just say that I know I need help. I know it okay?”

I look at him for a moment and my anger slowly ebbs away. Is he really saying what I think he’s saying?

The tension in my stomach uncurls a little bit.

“Anders...I’ve been waiting for you say that. You do need help. Badly.” Sensing the urgency of the situation, that he needs to enter rehab now, I continue, “I can get on the phone with Dr. Pembroke. He has a very nice place for you to go. It has a very high success rate. Let me just call him.”

But then, he looks up at me and practically screams at me, “No! Aurora, stop. I’m not finished. I’ve done something very bad, very, very bad.”

I look at him solemnly, wondering what’s on his mind. What more could he have done to ruin us?

“What are you talking about?” I ask, although a part of me doesn’t want to know the answer.

He looks up at me with bloodshot eyes and says, “I found a way out of this mess. I promise this will be the last time. It’ll take care of us for life. You’ll never have to do it again.”

I sink down to my knees so that I can see his face. “Anders, what are you talking about? Tell me what you’ve done.”

It’s hard to understand his words because of all the sobbing, but I manage to make out most of it.

“There’s this guy, this man. He saw you at the auction, Aurora. He still wants to have you. He was the other billionaire that was bidding on you. He bought most of the girls, and I know he wants to buy you, but it’s only for one night. You just have to give yourself over to him one time and then we can be rich again. Don’t you see? I’ve done it. I figured out our situation.”

He says the words almost triumphantly, and I want to hit him in the face.

“Are you trying to tell me that you sold me to that disgusting guy?” I say, the fury thick on my tongue.

“I had to do something, Aurora. All the money’s gone.”

“Yeah, and it’s all your fault! What were you thinking?”

Hot, angry tears trickle down my cheeks. The two of us probably look like a hot mess.

“I’m sorry, Aurora. What more can I say? I’m just...sorry. I’ll do anything to get back in your good graces, to be your brother again. I know I need help, okay?”

His words should be music to my ears, but instead all I can envision is that disgusting man in the mask from the billionaires’ auction. He was old and overweight.

I had felt sorry for the girls that he bought, and now it looks like I’m going to be in the same position.

“You’re still my brother,” I manage to say. “You’re always my brother. And I won’t give up on you.”

Maybe I should be feeling happy that my brother’s finally seeking treatment.

But all I can think about is what I have to go through to get our money back.

I’m going to have to sell my body again—this time, like a cheap whore. That’s how it makes me feel.

This is worlds away from the Grayson brothers. Everything with them is...different. They make me feel special and treasured, adored even.

But this guy, this monster with money from the auction, is not going to make me feel special. He’ll make me feel degraded and beneath myself.

“Oh, Anders,” I say softly. “How could you?”

He looks up at me with tears in his eyes in his drug-induced state. I have a feeling Anders has finally reached rock bottom.

At least I think that’s what this moment is. He seems genuine enough.

The two of us sit on the floor. I’m just about to call Dr. Pembroke when there’s a knock at the door.Chapter 41Declan

My heart beats hard in my chest.

Jasper knocks on her door, and we all wait.

This is the moment of reckoning—either Aurora will choose me, or I will have lost her forever.

Fuck. How did I get into this mess?

Thoughts and questions run through my mind, but I’m mostly intent on just seeing her.