hardened to long ago. But even I wasn’t heartless. I had never seen a pregnant woman treated this way that I could remember, and it was hard to ignore. I walked closer, feeling frozen inside. I didn’t know what to say or do. All I could do was watch. It wasn’t like me not to be able to turn my head and just keep walking. It was none of my business anyway, but nonetheless, something lured me in and made me feel like it was very much my business.
As I came within feet of the bars she was caged within, she turned suddenly. She was on high alert in her defense against them and could instantly spot a new figure appearing in the corner of her eye. Her head whipped around to gauge the newly added threat, but we were both stunned into stillness as our eyes met.
I knew this woman. I would never forget that face. Many years ago she had accompanied her father to investigate one of my newly purchased properties. She accused me of obtaining the land by force, and she was right. I rarely forgot anyone who spoke against me, especially not the daughter of one of my nemesis...Don Martino. “The Great Detective” as they called him had been after me and my business deals for as long as I could remember.
But it was even more rare, maybe even unheard of, for a woman to stand up to me. I remembered being both outraged and impressed by her all at once. It was no wonder she found herself pregnant and locked up in this pit. I figured that mouth and spirit of hers would get her into trouble, I just didn’t know what kind.
She stared back at me with seething hazel eyes. Somehow despite being humiliated and sullied by this place and whatever put her here, she was still fiercely beautiful in a disarming way. The rage she glared at me with only seemed to intensify her enchanting look.
“Leave her alone,” I mumbled to the guards, quietly at first. I didn’t even know I was speaking out loud until I heard the words spill from my lips. It wasn’t loud enough for them to hear, so I tried again. “Stop it at once! Let her be!”
My defense of her only seemed to make her angrier. Her expression twisted into something even darker than before. I knew she recognized me as well. But I was left to deal with the guards who had turned to me in surprise. They knew me, and they never would have expected me to meddle in something like this. I never would have expected it either.
“She was causing too much trouble,” they defended with gaping mouths. “Asking too many questions.”
“Let her go,” I demanded, once again in disbelief at my own words.
They didn’t move or respond, so I commanded them louder until finally, my bark was startling enough to send one of them scrambling for his keys. But the other guard placed his hand up to stop him before marching up to me.
“We can’t just let her out,” he argued, bucking up to me. “She’s our property now and she’s set to be auctioned off. Unless, of course, you want to buy her.” He flashed a greedy, yellow grin.
My nostrils flared as I looked down at him, not appreciating the way he questioned me. But I knew he was right. She would have to be bought fair and square...if not by me, then by some other monster. I shuddered to think what kind of man bought a pregnant woman...and what he would do with her once he had.
I looked past the guard then back to Alicia, who was still seething with rage. Her chest heaved up and down as she watched us bargaining for her life. My thoughts drifted to Felix and Pablo. They were waiting for me to confirm the fate of our witness, so they could move on to bigger, more pressing matters. I didn’t have time to be distracted, and it wasn’t like me to succumb to such a thing anyway.
“How much?” I asked in a huff, accepting that it was better to get this resolved and figure the rest out later. It actually would have been far better to just keep walking and forget I ever saw this at all, but I seemed incapable of doing so.
The guard knew how to swindle people and would not be so easily swayed. He laughed and began whispering something to his