Show & Sell

But I don’t. He needs to know that I’m angry. He needs to know what his lifestyle has done to us.

“Anders,” I say. “I will always be there for you. No matter what. But that doesn’t change the fact that our lives are ruined. We have no money. We can’t keep mom and dad’s apartment. We can’t keep mom and dad’s company. I guess you could say we failed…at everything. Their legacy is gone.”

He doesn’t say anything for a long while, and neither do I. I’m glad he’s getting better, but it’s at the cost of everything we had. He reached rock bottom, and pulled me down with him.

How are we gonna survive? I wonder.

“We can fix it, Aurora,” he finally whispers. “I know we can. There has to be a way out of this mess.”

“I don’t see how, Anders. I’m not gonna sell my body again. I don’t want to.”

“Aurora, I don’t want you to, either,” he says anxiously. “I never would’ve done that if I hadn’t been so drugged out.”

I don’t tell him that the decision to sell my virginity was the best one of my life. I don’t tell him that because of his horrible judgment, I was able to meet the Grayson brothers…the potential loves of my life.

No, I don’t say any of that. Anders needs to suffer. He needs to understand the scope of his addiction.

And it’s not over yet. He has a long road ahead of him, a long road to healing. And that’s gonna be on his shoulders alone.

I tell him as much. “You know, Anders, this is just the beginning. You still have to pull yourself out of the addiction. And it’s not gonna be easy.”

He looks down and fidgets with his hands before saying, “Yeah, well, thanks to your three boyfriends, there’s no way I’m gonna get out of it. I have to seek treatment; I know that. Even if I try to run away from my problems, I don’t think they’ll let me.”

I smirk. He’s right, of course.

The Grayson brothers—my guys—they won’t let him get away with it any longer. Now that they’ve seen the level of my pain, they feel responsible for making sure I’m okay. And I can’t say that I don’t revel in the attention and having someone take care of me for once.

“Where are they, anyway?” I ask Anders.

“My nurse said that they all went out. They had business in the city, I guess.”

I look thoughtfully out over the sea and think about how this is the first time since we’ve arrived at the beach house that the brothers have left me alone.

They must feel sure that things are gonna be okay. And that gives me a sense of hope.

“Well, I’m gonna go inside.”

Anders throws a seashell out of the sea before saying, “I’ll come, too. It’s time for my meds.”

We walk to the house together as the distant storm starts to loom in close. It’s beautiful to watch the dark skies cast a shadow over the water. But I’m ready to sit by firelight and be inside.

And then a pair of headlights shows up.

“Who’s that?” I ask him.

He looks at the car. Neither of us recognizes it.

“I don’t know. Maybe one of the guys got a different car,” he says, but I know better.

I suddenly feel a sense of unease in my stomach. My intuition is telling me to run, that something is wrong.

But where can I go? There’s the house and the sea. We’re pretty remote out here.

“Well, let’s not find out. Let’s just ignore the car, go inside, and pretend like we’re not here. I don’t want to open the doors of the house when the guys aren’t here.”

Anders agrees, and we walk towards the back door, hoping to go unnoticed.

But I realize all at once that we’re too late. Someone gets out of the black car with tinted windows.

It’s him.

It’s the disgusting billionaire from the auction. It’s the man who wants to buy my body.

He and his bodyguards come to meet us as we approach the house.

“Anders,” he says jovially. “I’ve come to collect.”

Anders attempts to smooth over the situation, but he’s not in a strong enough state to handle this. His body and mind are both weak.

“How’d you find us?” he says.

“Oh, Anders, I think you know that I have my ways. Is this her?”

“Oh, her? Oh no, this is my girlfriend,” my brother says, trying to cover his tracks.

But we all know it’s too late. This man saw me at the auction. He knows exactly who I am.

“Don’t lie to me,” the man says violently. “This is the girl, and I want her now.”

Anders tries to step between me and him saying, “No, man, the deal is off. We don’t want your money.”

The man’s eyes are feasting on me.

His bodyguard moves to grab me, and I’m afraid. My brother swings and misses, a pathetic sight, if it wasn’t so scary.