Suddenly His - Jessa Kane Page 0,4

throwback to the mob’s glory days, and it curls my lip in disgust. I wouldn’t give a second thought to his design choices if he wasn’t using the extravagance to hide the manipulation of girls who can’t turn down the extra money. Girls like Maisy.

Although…I can’t quite believe she’d come here willingly.

It just doesn’t fit. And I like it even less knowing that she might have been coerced.

With a growl, I try the handle on the front door and find it locked, so I’m forced to knock, molars grinding. I’m impatient. To pay whatever I have to pay and get Maisy out of here, even though I have no clue how I’m going to explain my obvious determination to win her when we’ve never met. Or how I’m going to explain my aggressive bidding on an eighteen-year-old girl when I’ve never been to one of these pervert parties in my life, nor would I.

Some old fucker answers the door and I breeze past him, pasting a huge smile on my face as I enter the living room—which is actually more the size of a ballroom, with antique furniture scattered in intimate clusters. Not to mention lots of flat surfaces where the winner can collect on his bid afterward while everyone watches.

Not with Maisy. Not even over my dead body.

I untuck a cigar from my suit jacket and light it, waiting for the bidding to pause and everyone to give me their attention. “So this is where all the dirty old men have been hiding,” I drawl, blowing a smoke ring into the air. “I’m already bored. Did I win yet?”

Maisy is standing in the front of the room and I only allow myself a split second to look at her. To determine that she’s unharmed. I’ve been in board rooms with a lot of these sharks and if they sense how deep my infatuation with her runs, they’ll circle her all the faster. So I glance away as quickly as possible, but it’s enough to brand the sight of her in pink silk and a terrified expression forever.

Oh, she definitely isn’t here willingly.

“Ah, Jack Lincoln.” Winston Creed’s smile is brittle. “You’ve never accepted an invitation to one of our gatherings. I was surprised when your associate here agreed to pay the membership fee and immediately started throwing around such hefty bids on the new girl.” He runs lecherous eyes over Maisy and I force myself not to stiffen. “There must be something very special about her, men.”

Kirk approaches me from the side. I don’t shift my attention from Creed while Kirk whispers in my ear. “We’re the lead bid as of now. It’s already at two hundred and fifty thousand.” I don’t flinch at the number. I can make that in my sleep. Problem is, so can the other men in this room and they’re old members. They have seniority. I’ll need to pull my dick out to make them go away. These veterans only know one language and it’s aggression. “There are five men in the running, all old enough to be her father.”

I keep my smile in place, but my jaw is about to shatter. “Why don’t we end this now, since you’re all up past your bedtimes? 60 Minutes ended hours ago.” I saunter closer to the front of the room, desperately needing Maisy to be within reaching distance. “A million dollars for the girl. Cash. Do we have a deal or will you bore me further?”

Murmuring starts behind me and I use the guests’ distraction as another chance to look at Maisy. Jesus. She’s so beautiful, she rattles me. Goodness radiates from her every pore. Makes me want to pray, to thank a higher power for creating her, when I haven’t acknowledged my maker in years. I’ve had Kirk send me pictures of Maisy, daily, for the last six months, but film doesn’t do her justice. Doesn’t capture the gentle curve of her mouth, the virtue in her brown eyes, the way she shines.

Her virginal body.

All limber limbed and soft as fuck, swells and valleys in all the right places.

A million dollars would be a bargain.

How is she looking at me?

There’s some curiosity, surprise…and definite resentment. Of course there is. She thinks I’m here to purchase her for sex. She has no way of knowing I’d never make her go through with it. That I’d rather die than fuck her when she isn’t willing.

But I can’t tell her any of that. Not now.

These men need to