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down the runway. The bright lights shined down on her face and every set of eyes looked in her direction.

“Let the bidding begin!” The man on stage said. That’s when the place erupted. Everyone wanted a piece of the African-born beauty with the body of a model and ass of a horse.

A’shai’s heart dropped when he saw Liberty. He was speechless and felt a lump form in his throat. As she walked down the runway with black circles around her eyes, she had the stare of a girl with no soul. It pained A’shai to see the men yelling and whistling at her like she was some sort of meat and they were starving lions. She looked older but hers was a face he would never forget . . . he was looking at his girl. He almost jumped onto the stage to snatch her off, but he restrained himself while remaining seated. He quickly leaned over to his father and whispered, “I want her,” trying to get his love so that he could save her. A’shai watched intensely as his heart beat rapidly, and he stared at Liberty, hoping she would look his way but she never did. The price got to $50,000, and Baron and Samad were the only ones left in the bidding war.

“We have to get her, pops,” A’shai urged as they bid against each other. Samad refused to lose the woman that he came for. He smiled at Baron in between bids, loving the competition. A’shai waited on pins and needles as the two continued to bid. The bidding kept getting higher and higher and everyone in the room began to get excited at the two men bidding on the belle. They were on their feet, watching the two men go back and forth. Neither of them were budging or batting an eye and the bid got up to $125,000.

In the beginning, Samad enjoyed the friendly competition, but when he saw that Baron wasn’t budging he began to grow impatient. He was tired of the games and stood up and yelled, “A half a million!!!” as he looked over at Baron and winked. The crowd erupted and began to clap at the unprecedented bid. The place was on fire. Baron shook his head. He wasn’t prepared to pay that much for one girl for one night.

“We can’t take her home like some of these men. This is only for one night, and it’s not worth it,” Baron said explaining why he decided to concede.

“Pops, you have to get her,” A’shai said as he began to worry. Baron conceded, and the announcer closed out the bid.

“Going once . . . going twice . . . sold to number 23! That was amazing! Give both of these gentlemen a hand. This has broken the record for the highest bid ever. Give them a round of applause,” he said just before the two gentlemen got a standing ovation. While everyone was laughing and clapping, A’shai clenched his teeth and fought back tears. He began to put together a plan in his mind to get his girl. He wasn’t about to let her slip away again.

TWELVE

LIBERTY HAD NEVER BEEN SO NERVOUS IN her life. She had a $500,000 price tag on her head and even she knew that she wasn’t worth that much. How am I supposed to live up to that price? What does he expect of me? she thought as butterflies danced in her stomach and she wrung out her fingers tightly while pacing back and forth in Samad’s great room. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as she tried to calm her nerves. I know how to satisfy a man . . . he’s just like the rest of them. I can do this. Stop tripping Liberty, she told herself. She was trying to put Samad on the same scale as all of her previous clientele, but it was obvious that he was in a league of his own. She had messed with many men before, but Samad’s wealth ran deep. As Liberty walked around the room looking at all of the antique furniture and expensive artwork she knew that Samad’s money was old. He wasn’t new to this. There was nothing gaudy or flashy about the way that he lived, but everything about the remarkable property indicated that he was royalty. It was quite intimidating. She heard the doors clang open and watched as Samad entered the room. He was far from handsome .