CHAPTER 1

MILA’S POV

“Happy birthday babe,” Dane, my boyfriend of three years, engulfed me in a bear hug as soon as I stepped into the one bedroom apartment we shared.

My body relaxed into his out of habit as the exhaustion from working at the bar all day weighed me down. 

“Thanks, Dane,” I managed a tight lipped smile as I hugged him back, the all too familiar scent of his musky cologne mixed with the stale scent of cannabis, tickling my nostrils.

“You know how much I love you right?” Dane murmured against my hair before pulling back slightly to meet my eyes. 

“Yeah,” I mumbled, even though my words were a complete contrast to how I really felt. Dane always claimed to love me, but it never showed in his actions. 

I’d admit that things were rosy when we started dating, but after Dane lost his job, he became distant. 

I've been footing all our bills since then, despite already having a lot on my plate with my father’s medical bills.

Dane let go of me and gestured towards the wobbly coffee table in the middle of our cramped living room. “To celebrate your birthday, I got your favorite cake; red velvet.”

My brows rose in surprise as my gaze fell on the small cake with its red and white icing slightly smudged.

 Dane pulled me towards the couch and I sat down, feeling my butt sink into the worn out cushion as he settled down beside me, and slid the cake towards me.

 “C’mon,” he urged, nodding at the fork placed on the plate. “Dig in.”

My fingers hesitated as I picked up the fork, sliced into the cake, and put it in my mouth. A burst of rich flavors  exploded against my taste buds and I sighed dreamily as I savored the taste.

“You love it right?” Dane inquired, his unusually intense eyes locked on my face. 

“Yes I do,” I replied as I swallowed the last bit of cake in my mouth. “Thank you.”

For a fleeting moment, I allowed myself to believe that maybe he truly cared and this was his attempt to make things right.

But the look on his face suddenly shifted into guilt as he angled his body towards me, and took my hand in his.

“Mila,” he began, his voice soft and almost hesitant as his thumb brushed over my knuckles,

 “you’re an amazing girlfriend. I don’t deserve you…and you don’t deserve what I’m about to do to you. I’m…I’m sorry.” 

My forehead pinched in confusion as his cryptic words hung in the air. 

“What…” I gulped, my throat feeling dry all of a sudden. “What are you talking about, Dane?”

Dane’s hand trembled as he withdrew it from mine, and he averted his gaze as if trying to avoid eye contact. 

 “I’m sorry, but I had to,” he whispered, his voice cracking with an emotion I was too confused to place. “Please understand…and forgive me.”

I didn’t have the time to dwell on what he said as the front door was suddenly kicked open, and in came two heavily tattooed men built like tanks, the looks on their faces sending shivers down my spine.

The fork I was holding slipped from my grasp as my heart lurched in my chest, and my eyes darted to Dane, wide with panic and fear.

Instead of the surprised and confused reaction I had expected, he looked disturbingly calm. Almost as if he had expected their arrival.

“D-Dane, what’s going on?” My voice wavered with intense unease. “D-Do you know these people?”

Dane tensed at my question, but didn’t give me any reply as he rose up from the couch and crossed to the other side of the room where the men stood.

“Go ahead,” he muttered in a low voice, and one of them wasted no time in advancing towards me. 

“No,” the word fell out of my lips in a terrified whisper as I scrambled back on the chair till my back pressed tightly against it as though it could somehow protect me. 

 “What do you people want with me? Dane, what’s going on?!” My words came out rushed and desperate.

“What’s going on pumpkin is that you’re coming with us,” the man approaching me smirked, his voice heavily accented. 

He closed the gap between us within seconds and grabbed my arm, pulling me up from the couch.

“Let me go!” I screamed, trying to yank my arm free, but his grip was firm like iron. 

“Dane, help me! Don’t let them take me!” I desperately cried out to my boyfriend, who shifted uncomfortably as he ran a hand through his hair. 

He refused to look at me and focused his gaze on the floor as if he were ashamed.

Meanwhile, the other menacing looking man chuckled in a low tone. 

“He can’t help you, sweetheart,” he drawled, his accent similar to that of the guy holding me. “He sold you off to us to pay his debt. Your boyfriend is one shitty gambler.”

My blood froze in my veins as I scrambled to grasp the man’s words. 

My eyes flickered to Dane again, frantically searching his face for any sign that this was just some expensive prank.

 “Dane…is this true?” 

The coward didn’t bother to meet my eyes, instead he kept his gaze focused on the man holding me. 

“Please…take her away,” his voice came out strained as he clenched his fists by his sides. And in that moment, my whole world shattered.

The man holding me tightened his grip on my arm as he pulled me towards the door. 

“No! Let me go! Please!” I cried as I clawed at his arms, thrashing against his grip. “My father is sick and he needs me!”

 “You better be quiet, pumpkin,” he sneered with irritation, completely ignoring my pleas. “I don’t want to have to hurt you, and ruin you for tonight.”

As he said this, he lifted me up and I almost had a whiplash as he threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. 

My gown rode up in the process, and his large muscular hand wrapped firmly against my bare thighs as he carried me out of the apartment. 

Tears blurred my vision and I wept bitterly as I pounded my fists against his back, feeling frustrated and helpless. 

What would become of my poor father now?

The thugs took me to a black van that was parked outside, and I was shoved inside as one of the thugs slid in beside me. 

The other thug got into the driver’s seat and slammed on the brakes, then I suddenly felt a cloth being pressed over my nose.

The sickly sweet smelling chemical in the cloth wafted into my nostrils and I let out a muffled scream, my eyes widening as I realized it was chloroform.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon,” the thug cooed in a gruff voice as he pressed the cloth down on my nose more firmly. 

My struggling slowly came to a stop, and the thug’s face became distorted  as my eyes began to droop close, and I quickly drifted off into the darkness.

***

The next time I opened my eyes, all I saw was black, and it took a while for me to feel the piece of material that was tied over my eyes. 

I was blindfolded.

I tried to move, but my hands were restrained behind my back, and the cold metal digging into my wrists suggested it was a chain or handcuff. 

The sound of keys rattling as someone opened what sounded like a cell door broke the silence, and the hairs on my neck prickled against my skin.

Was…I in a cage?

Before I could finish the thought, the door creaked open and my breath hitched as a cold hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder, yanking me out of the cell.

“C’mon, doll, you’re next,” was all the gruff voice said as I was being dragged to where I didn’t know. 

The wave of air that fanned against my skin as I stumbled along made me realize that I was in less clothing than I should have been.

Finally, we stopped and the hand dragging me shoved me forward making me stumble as I almost lost my footing.

“The final item on the auction list for tonight is this beauty,” a voice announced beside me.

The blindfold over my eyes suddenly came loose, and I squinted as my eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden light. 

“The bid for this dark haired vixen will be starting at a price of $10 million dollars!” The voice of the man beside me echoed in my ears, and my eyes widened in horror as I realized...

I was at an auction and I was the item being auctioned.