Finished (Auctioned)

“Are you alive?” He nudged AJ’s stomach with his boot. No response.

Gray sucked his teeth, and his decision was made in a fraction of a second before he pulled back and kicked AJ as hard as he could in his stomach. “You fucking monster!” Then he planted his boot against AJ’s knees and shoved them down so the man lay straighter. Still on his side. Gray couldn’t resist. He kicked the son of a bitch again—in his stomach, right in the balls, and in his face. The crunch of AJ’s nose was unbelievably satisfying.

Did blood gush after death? If not, AJ was clearly alive.

Gray hooked one arm under AJ’s arm and hauled him out of the room, giving no fucks whatsoever on being careful. Niko and Reese ran past to search the rest of the rooms, and Gray made space for them, accidentally slamming the back of AJ’s head against a wall.

“Do you h-hear me?” Willow’s voice crackled through.

“I hear you,” Gray replied.

“There’s someone coming,” she croaked. “Darius and Ryan c-can k-kill me later. I had to ask for a f-favor.” She was still anxious as hell. “A d-doctor will be there in ten minutes. No questions asked. It’s safe.”

Gray wasn’t equipped to deal with strategy and risk assessment. All he heard was “doctor”; he could not be more on board, and he was quick to thank Willow.

Mere minutes later, Alicia, Alfred, AJ, and some other fucker Gray hadn’t known existed were piled against a wall right outside the compound door. Niko had made sure their restraints were tight. They couldn’t reach the stairs leading to the brothel upstairs, much less run away. They weren’t awake yet anyway, so it didn’t matter.

Niko volunteered to watch over them, and it almost pulled Gray into a flashback from the island. Niko’s stoic expression, how he folded his arms over his chest, how he stared at his target. The guy carried so much anger in him.

Returning upstairs, Gray heard Reese call his name and say that the arrival was here.

As soon as Gray reached the top of the stairs, he glanced over at Darius and swallowed his queasiness. He hated, hated, hated this. All the men were breathing, but their pulses were weak. Tariq had coaxed them to move a little; Dante seemed almost lucid, Elliott groaned slightly every now and then, River had woken up briefly to puke, and Ryan had moved his fingers and turned his head.

Darius hadn’t moved an inch.

A lone flashlight hung from a rusty nail on the wall, casting a pale glow over the men. Too pale. Almost ghostly.

“Hey, kid.” Reese jerked his chin toward the exit. “The sooner we get this doctor here, the sooner your man will wake up. Tariq will look out for him.”

Gray nodded once and exchanged a quick glance with Tariq, then headed out with Reese. They both had their guns ready—but lowered—and there better not be any more surprises.

A nice car had pulled up right outside the gate. Or, where there used to be a gate. Just the metal framework of it remained. The fence that once went around the property was mostly gone too.

With only the moon providing light, it was difficult to detect any threat or sudden movement. A man and a woman stepped out of the vehicle, and the man lit up a smoke. Tucked into his jeans was a handgun, very visible against his white shirt.

Gray and Reese stayed on the steps, some twenty feet away from the newcomers.

“Are you the doctor?” Reese asked.

The man cocked his head and took a drag from his smoke. “You talkin’ to me? That’s a sexist assumption, man. My daughter’s the docta’.”

Gray narrowed his eyes. Who the hell had Willow called?

The two walked closer, and the man was clearly protective. He draped an arm around his daughter and told Reese and Gray to put away their guns. Otherwise, no one was gonna get to see the doctor today.

Reese nodded subtly to Gray and tucked away his piece.

Gray followed suit.

“How armed are the two men staying behind in the car?” Reese asked.

Shit. Gray stiffened. He hadn’t noticed.

The man and his daughter were closer now, almost to the steps, and his smirk was unmistakable. So was his appearance. He looked to be around Darius’s age.

“To the teeth.”

Wonderful.

Gray was still wary, but he trusted Willow. They stepped aside so the two could pass, and Gray side-eyed the woman. She was closer to his own age, maybe a couple years older if she was a doctor, but she couldn’t have been practicing for long.

She was dressed more casually too, like she’d been woken up in the middle of the night. Leggings, a hoodie—a damn hoodie in this heat—sneakers, and a backpack. Haphazard ponytail. And a giant rock on her finger.

“My name is Lia,” she said. “I was told we’re dealing with possible carbon monoxide poisoning?”