Prologue
Over Two Years Ago…
I can’t believe you did this to me,” my fiancée screamed at me. “I can’t marry you like this. I can’t even look at you, much less have sex with you. You’re…disfigured.”
Lisette’s face was almost purple as she backed away from my hos- pital bed, an imperfection I knew she’d hate if she knew her face was that color.
Her words hit home, but I was fucking hurting, and it wasn’t my heart that was causing me excruciating pain. It was my messed-up body and leg that were causing me so much agony that I wished I could be put out of my damn misery.
“I can’t have this discussion with you right now, Lisette,” I said through gritted teeth.
“There’s nothing to discuss. I can’t be married to a man who is never going to be able to go to social events and dance with me. Instead of being envious of me, my friends will feel sorry for me because I’m married to somebody who’s disabled. I can’t stand being pitied. You know I want to be revered. I deserve it,” she said with a small huff of displeasure.
Jesus! How had I never noticed what a superficial woman my own fiancée was, or how petty?
Probably because I haven’t had much time for anything other than work.
Lisette and I got together for sex and parties.
Generally, I wanted the sex, so I took her wherever she wanted to go.
She hadn’t demanded anything more of me than that, and I hadn’t needed anything else.
Sure, we had talked about setting a date for our wedding, but Lisette had been pretty happy about the expensive diamond I’d put on her finger, and the date hadn’t seemed all that important to either one of us. I was starting to think she loved the idea of the expensive ring more than she wanted to be married to me.
Maybe the delay had been a blessing since she was in the process of dumping me while I was still trying to recover from my last surgery.
According to my two brothers, she hadn’t been able to come see me earlier because she couldn’t tolerate sick people. But she’d run her ass up here in a hurry as soon as I was conscious to break our
engagement.
Okay. Yeah. Maybe I’d known that she wasn’t exactly an intellec- tual, but I wondered why I’d never realized how narcissistic she was.
Maybe because I’d never done something she didn’t approve of before.
I’d never told Lisette about PRO, the volunteer organization that my best friend, Marcus Colter, headed up to rescue kidnapped victims and political prisoners in hostile countries.
Maybe the fact that I’d never trusted her enough to tell her about PRO should have been a big red flag, but I’d told myself that she didn’t need to know, and that PRO was a secret group. The team had all kept a low profile.
Honestly, I’d pretty much known that she just didn’t give a damn, but I’d never admitted it to myself. Funny what nearly dying will do to a guy. I was thinking about all kinds of shit I never had before.
Strangely, Lisette had never even asked how I’d gotten into a helicopter crash in a foreign country. Obviously, the only thing that mattered was how my injuries affected her.
“I suppose I should return the ring,” she said in a nicer tone. “Like I said, we can discuss it later.”
“I want this over,” she said. “I don’t want to marry you.”
Yeah, I’d pretty much gotten that point, but I couldn’t say that her words didn’t still hurt. I was in a pretty vulnerable position, and the fact that my fiancée couldn’t stand to be with me was a bitter pill to swallow right now.
I looked bad. I knew that. When our helicopter had gone down, I’d been on the side that hit the ground, and my whole body was torn up from one end to the other. My leg had gotten mangled, and the doctors were still trying to put it back together.
“Keep the ring,” I rasped. All I wanted right now was to suffer in silence without her irritatingly shrill voice lamenting about how I’d ruined everything for her.
Honestly, since I’d been in the accident, I hadn’t really thought about how my injuries were going to affect the rest of my life. Hell, I’d just been trying to make it through the day.
I’d been looking forward to finally seeing my fiancée, hoping that she would make me remember how much I had to live for and that I had a future to look forward to.
But I’d been wrong.
Right now, I’d do just about anything to get rid of her.
“I think you owe me the diamond after everything you put me through,” she mused.
“Other than getting injured, what in the hell did I ever do to you? I bought you everything you wanted, exactly when you wanted it. I’ve sent you on expensive vacations with all of your friends. What else did you want?”
I didn’t mention that I’d spent a small fortune on her jewelry collection, and the expensive sports car I’d purchased for her. With Lisette, it was always about material things, but since I could well afford anything she wanted, I’d seen no reason to deny her anything.
“I wanted you to stay one of the hottest, richest, most wanted bachelors in the world so that everybody envied me,” she said with a pout.
“I’m so fucking sorry that I disappointed you,” I answered with cold sarcasm.
All I wanted was for her to get the fuck out of my room.
“Good-bye, Jett,” she said dramatically as she sailed out the door. “Happy trails, bitch,” I said aloud after she’d gone.
I looked at the clock and noticed I had another hour before I could get something for pain. It seemed like my whole damn life revolved around my medication schedule.
I tried to relax, but my entire body was tense with pain and irritation.
And maybe there was some hurt in there somewhere, too.
The woman I’d thought I loved and was going to spend the rest of my life with had just walked out on me because I was going to be covered with scars and quite honestly, my dancing days were over. But I hadn’t even contemplated any of those things since I’d just been trying to get through another day staring at the four walls that were beginning to make me feel closed in. But Lisette’s harsh comments were beginning to make me think about my future, and it didn’t look quite as good as it had before the helicopter crash.
Nothing will ever be the same. I might walk again, but my day- to-day life was going to be different.
I knew that if the positions were reversed, I never would have walked away from Lisette. I might be kind of a dick in some ways, but that took a meanness that I didn’t know existed inside her.
“What in the fuck happened to me?” I grumbled.
When had I ever been okay with somebody like Lisette, much less been engaged to her?
I’d grown up wealthier than most people in the world, but my deceased parents had raised every one of their kids to be decent individuals. My mom and dad had never put money and success before morals and values.
I wondered what else I’d been ignoring while I’d been wrapped up in growing one of the biggest tech companies in the world with my brothers Mason and Carter.
Somehow, if I ever got out of this damn hospital and out of the pain that was tearing my wounded body apart, I was going to pay attention to what was happening in the world around me again. And I was never fucking letting myself get sucked in by a woman who had no substance because I was busy.
The engagement had been Lisette’s idea, and I’d felt like I owed her the respect of giving her a ring since we’d been dating for over a year. It just seemed like a natural progression, and I wasn’t averse to being married. And since I’d never seen her nasty side, I thought we’d be happy together.
Now, I was doubting the decisions I’d made while my brothers and I were trying to send our company into the stratosphere. I had to wonder where the hell my brain and my heart had been while I was working twelve hour days in my office. We’d achieved our goal, but at what price? I’d almost married a woman with no heart.
I’ll find somebody someday who doesn’t care that my body has a considerable number of scars, and that I can’t dance.
The prognosis on my leg wasn’t good. I’d need more surgeries, and even after they were done, I’d never have the same mobility I’d had before the accident.
In my world, finding a woman who’d accept my appearance and limitations was highly unlikely. If they did, they’d be in it for the money.
Since I’d been born wealthy, I knew how superficial my world could be sometimes. Maybe that was my motivation to be part of Marcus’s team. I wanted to make some kind of difference in the world, and not by donating money that was tax deductible.
Now that I’d had my come-to-Jesus moment, I knew I was never going to go down the same road as I’d been on most of my adult life.
Life was finite, and nobody knew that more than a guy who had cheated death.
I had no idea if there was a woman who could see more than my money when she looked at me. A woman who thought scars and a bum leg were no big deal. But if I did run into her somewhere, I sure as hell wouldn’t let her get away. I’d ask her to marry me on the spot.
If I didn’t meet her, I was better off alone.
Chapter 1
Ruby
The Present…
I felt like my whole crappy life had led to the nightmare I was currently experiencing.
I was naked.
There was a chain around my waist that my captor was pulling on to propel me forward. Unfortunately, the guy pulling my chain— literally—was a whole lot bigger and heavier than I was, so I was forced to keep moving.
And in a matter of moments, I knew I’d be standing on a stage with plenty of buyers staring at my nude body and trying to decide how much money me and my virginity was worth to them.
My fight-or-flight instincts were screaming at me to escape. Flight would be my only option because I’d never been much of a fighter.
For me, resistance had always meant more pain. After the first few lessons as a child, I’d learned not to fight anymore because it didn’t gain me anything.
At least, it never had until now, but old habits and programmed behavior weren’t going to go away.
However, my panic was making me think I might have to change in a hurry.
I have to get the hell out of here!
I hated the fact that I’d gotten myself into this position because of my own stupidity, but regret wasn’t going to improve my situation. I was going to have to find a way to escape or suffer the consequences.
How had I ever fallen for my kidnapper’s story?
I’d been homeless and desperate when my abductors had offered me a job. Hunger had been a good motivator since I’d ended up accepting the offer because I hadn’t eaten in days.
Because of my bad decision, I hadn’t seen the light of day since I’d gotten into their car that day a few weeks ago. I’d been held in a bug-infested hotel room with barred windows and no chance of escape.
The only good thing about my makeshift prison had been the food. I’d been fed, but the meals hadn’t been given out of kindness or to build my strength to work an actual job. My kidnappers had wanted to fatten me up like a farmer wants to put weight on their cattle to make them more attractive to buyers.
My body was shaking as I was led onto the stage. I wasn’t terrified about being naked, which, in itself, would generally be terrifying. But I had more dire things to worry about, like who was going to bid high enough in this crazy virgin auction to own me, and what their plan for me might be after the sale.
Would I end up chained in the dirt in the darkness of a cellar or basement, never to be seen again?
Maybe there was no one who cared about me in this world, but I sure as hell didn’t want that fate.
I flinched as I was pulled into place on the stage and kept there by the man holding the chain.
The humiliation of being leered at by a crowd of men hit me like a powerful slam in the stomach.
I’d lived with humiliation all my life, and for a few seconds, I flashed back to some of those memories, something I never allowed myself to do. But my terror was out of control, and I had no way to defend myself or to make those images escape my brain.
I couldn’t see every pair of eyes watching me. But I felt the creepy sensation of being watched by many sets of eyes, and it made me want to drop into a fetal position to protect myself.
Don’t panic. Dani said she was going to rescue me.
The problem was, I didn’t really know Danica Lawson well enough to judge whether somebody would come to help me. But her promise was about the only thing I had to keep me going. We’d only met once in person, and talked on the phone a few times. She’d seemed nice enough, but I’d learned early in life that people let me down, and that the only one who really cared about my survival was me.
I lifted my chin, determined not to let anybody know how scared I was. I’d been through bad situations before, and I refused to cower to these people who degraded women for entertainment. Some people got off on humiliating others, and I wasn’t about to give any potential buyers reason to pay more for a woman who would tremble and cry at their feet.
One thing I didn’t do was cry, even when I desperately needed that relief.
Crying gave tormentors power, and I refused to let go of what little dignity I still had left.
I’ll find a way to escape if Dani doesn’t come.
Getting free was my only hope, and because I was fed and rested, I was a hell of a lot stronger than I’d been when I’d been captured.
I tried to relax enough to get me to another place, to let my mind lead me to anywhere else but where I was at the moment. It was a childhood trick I’d adopted when I didn’t want to be aware of what was happening to me because it was too damn painful.
I tried, but I soon realized that escaping inside myself wasn’t going to work this time. So I stared into the sea of faces I could make out in the smoke-filled room.
The lights on the stage were bright enough that I couldn’t see much except the people closest to me in the first row or two of tables. My eyes moved and landed on one face, and for some reason, I couldn’t look away.
My rapidly beating heart tripped as I stared at the man in the front row.
For an instant, I felt comforted as he looked into my eyes, seem- ingly ignoring the fact that I was naked. Were his eyes trying to say something to me, or was I imagining it because I wanted to think he felt some kind of compassion for me?
As the auctioneer started to talk about the many ways I could be used and abused if I was sold to someone with darker fetishes, I broke eye contact with the dark-haired man.
There’s no kindness for me. It was obviously just a desperate thought. Nobody with a heart could sit and watch women get auc- tioned off like farm animals.
A moment later, I knew I was right when the man I’d hoped wasn’t looking at my body but was seeing me actually placed his own bid.
Nobody here cares about me. All they want is my body to use and abuse.
I blinked back tears as I continued to stare into the darkness at the back of the room, my body rigid even though all I wanted to do was collapse on the floor in a puddle of hopelessness.
I don’t cry. I never cry. I won’t give anybody here the satisfaction of knowing I’m terrified.
In a moment of weakness, I wished that I had mustered up the courage to somehow kill myself to avoid the humiliation that was washing over me in painful waves. Maybe I could have found a way to die, but my will to survive was stronger than my desire to sink into the oblivion of death.
I shook off the dark thought, knowing I’d never willingly give up my life, even though I felt like any hope of ever truly living had left me a long time ago.
I’ll get free. I’ll find a way.
I remembered a quote I’d read that was connected to Roosevelt:
If you have reached the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
I was clinging to my knot right now, a glimmer of hope I’d never been able to let go of, and I refused to release it.
I’d been inspired by quotes and literature all my life. Since the library was available to everyone, I’d spent most of my time there absorbing as much information and inspiration I could find between the pages of books and other information provided to the public for free.
In my youth, books had been my escape, my way of leaving my painful life behind for short periods of time.
As a homeless adult, it had been a place to stay warm or to cool off, a location that had always found me a place to belong and fit in. Even if it was only for a little while.
Unfortunately, there were no fairy tales for me to fall into right now.
Sold!!!
That one word barked by the auctioneer jolted me back from my musings and into the position that was now my reality: naked, ter- rified, and on a stage in front of people who wanted to do me harm.
I’d just been sold like a horse at auction, and my reins were about to change hands.
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