The Auction (8 page)

And in the morning, he kicked her out of his house.

Chapter Eight

Tori stretched her arms over her head and let out a loud yawn. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so well. The warmth of the thick down comforter tempted her to sleep a little longer, and then she remembered the events from the night before. She opened her eyes and sprang into a sitting position. She looked around her and recognized the bedroom immediately. How could she forget this place when it was where she’d experienced her greatest joy and even greater pain?

Foster had bought her but she didn’t understand why; in fact when he’d gotten rid of her she thought for sure that she’d never see him again. He was just like any other member of the Elite who took pleasure in using people until they grew bored. He made her believe that he actually cared and then stomped on her heart when she expressed her feelings for him.

One thing was certain, she had no plans of sticking around just to be toyed with by him again. Besides, she had to get back to her family. She’d been away from them for too long. At least she was in a familiar place. She just had to figure out a way to get out without being noticed. She was sure this mansion had top notch security. There was no telling what kind of system Foster had put in place to keep her prisoner.

Sliding out of bed, she realized she was stark naked. Had Foster undressed her? Heat flooded her cheeks and a warmth
spread within her core
. “Shit.” Why did her traitorous body still react to even
at
the
mere
thought of his touch?
It frustrated her because she believed
she’d made herself numb to him. But even seeing
Foster
last night after all th
is
time sent her into a dead faint. He hadn’t changed much since
they’d parted ways
.
His hair was slightly longer and he
stil
l had that devil-may-care grin.

No matter what, she couldn’t afford to let her guard down with him again, because once he was done with her this time she wasn’t sure she’d recover. She quickly pushed all thoughts of him from her mind. She’d have to plot her next move with the end result being a successful escape.

Tori looked around for something to wear and remembered the closet full of clothes Foster had bought for her when she was last here. She walked over to the control panel and pressed the button to open the wardrobe door. A gasp escaped her lips. The inside was exactly like she left it. The beautiful peach blouse she loved so much was laid over the cushioned chair in the center of the closet. She didn’t hang it up so she’d have easy access to it. The dresses and shoes were arranged in the same order which meant no one had gone through
this stuff
, not even to tidy up the mess she’d made when she was last in here. Tori was well aware of how meticulous Foster’s housekeeper was about keeping the mansion clean. She couldn’t imagine why she’d left this untouched.

She grabbed a terrycloth robe off the hook to cover herself.

“Ms. Preston, I’ve been alerted that you’re awake. Should I have some breakfast prepared for you?” Mrs. Gordon’s voice came through the intercom.

The housekeeper spoke as if Tori had never left instead of being absent for the last couple years.

“No thank you. Uh…Do you know where Fos—Mr. Graham is?”

“He left earlier this morning but he said he shouldn’t be long.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Will that be all?”

“Can I ask you as question?”

“Certainly. That’s what I’m here for.”

“The items in the closet don’t seem as if they’ve been touched.”

“They haven’t, Ms. Preston.”

“I don’t understand why. I mean you do such a thorough job of taking care of this house.”

“Thank you, ma’am. But
it Mr. Graham’s wish
that your room not be touched.”

This surprised Tori. Why wouldn’t Foster want anyone to touch this room?
It couldn’t be because he actually missed her.
She wasn’t fooled by
the
idea that he br
ought no other women to his house
. He’d been a regular participant in The Run. Surely, there were several women after her. Whatever his reasons, it probably wasn’t due to sentimentality.

Bastard.

Just thinking about his callous treatment made her want to leave
as soon as possible
. “Um, Mrs. Gordon, do you think I’ll be able to leave the mansion for a walk in town?” When she’d been here before, Foster had allowed her walks in the neighborhood as long as his security detail was in tow. She figured if she could get outside, she could somehow lose them and make her escape. She simply wasn’t interested in facing
Foster again
.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Preston, but under no circumstances are you allowed to leave the grounds. There are guards monitoring every sector of the premises and should you attempt to exit, you will be bought back.”

“Do you understand I’m being held here unwillingly?”

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to take your concerns up with Mr. Graham. I wish I could be more helpful to you, but like I said it shouldn’t be long before he returns.”

That’s what she was scared of.

“It’s okay. I know it’s not your fault.”

“Well, please don’t hesitate to call on me if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Gordon.”

“You’re welcome.”

Tori
dropped
to her knees. She didn’t know what Foster’s reasons were for bringing her
back.
But this time around she refused to fall for his bullshit.

<><><><><>

“Are you certain he’s the one?” Foster stared at the images on the holoscreen of an unassuming looking man who didn’t seem like he was involved in one of the largest trafficking organizations in the world.

“Yes, this man is the sole owner of the account your money went to. It took me several hours to track it because
once you made your initial transfer, the money bounced to over a thousand account. It finally landed in on that belonged to this man.
Now, I can’t be certain that he won’t end up transferring the funds elsewhere, but I’m sure he’ll know some of the big players in this game.”

“Thank you, Gareth. I’
ll handle things from here. Your payment has been sent.”

“If you need anything else, you know how to reach me. I hope you’re careful though. As I was scrolling through some of those names this guy is associated with I got a little worried. These are the types of people who could wipe you out. It doesn’t matter how much money you have.”

It was a sentiment that Foster had already heard.
“I understand, which is why I’m not going to further involve you in this. Now I have a starting point at least. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. As always, it’s nice doing business with you.” Gareth nodded in Foster’s direction before sliding out of the booth.

Foster took a sip of his coffee and winced. It was too bitter for his taste. He’d only order
ed
it so as not to draw suspicion to himself. This wasn’t his part of town but there was no telling who was watching, especially when dealing with people who didn’t want their secrets exposed.

Finding Macy would be like tracking a needle in a haystack. One of the reasons he’d gone to the actual auction was to determine the flow of the operation. It hadn’t been his intention to purchase any of the women on the block, but when he’d seen Victoria, there was no way he’d allow her to go to anyone else. When he’d paid his credits for the transaction, an idea struck him.

One thing Foster understood more than most was money and how the intricate system of transfers worked particularly on the black market. It occurred to him that the account his money was going to had to be a dummy. It wouldn’t be smart business for them to have an easily traceable account. Even with the lax rules from the government regarding bank accounts,
underground business still was
at the mercy of the whims of any official who wanted to cause trouble. Though it wasn’t typical since most politicians were mouthpieces for the highest bidder, it wasn’t something unheard of. In his former life, Foster had worked with hackers to get information needed that wasn’t readily available. One of the best he’d ever done business with was Gareth.

The guy knew his way around a computer and could get into any system in the world. As soon as Foster had seen that Victoria was safe and sound in his house, he’d made a c
all. He wanted the funds he’d spent at the auction
to be traced. Since everything
was computerized through the VC
implanted in their bodies, Gareth would be able to use a tracker to find the money trail.

Foster had wanted to be home when Victoria awoke so he could talk to her, but he’d received a message from Gareth stating he’d found what he was looking for, hence the meeting on the outskirts of town.

Foster had recognized the man in the scans that Gareth
had shown him. He was a former s
enator who had given up his government position to go into the private sector. No one knew for sure what he did exactly to main
tain the lavish lifestyle he le
d, but most assumed he’d made most of his money through the government. Foster knew that c
ouldn’t be the case. He was aware of what the salaries for
many politicians
were
, because they had accounts with his bank. Most c
ould live quite comfortably off
a government
income
, especially with the bri
bes they received from
special interest groups. None of them, however, made enough to sustain
this man’s lifestyle.
Learning that he was in the trafficking business made sense.

Ruben Myers.

The former politician
now had a target on his back that he didn’t realize. To find out what this man knew, Foster would have to do something he swore he
never would
again. He’d have to tap into the savage side of him. It was the part of him that made him less than human, the side that threatened to destroy his soul. And if he got out of this ordeal alive, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be the same again.

Chapter Nine

Tori was on edge as she paced back and forth in her room. After showering, dressing and eating she was bored out of her mind, despite being offered a number of items to keep her entertained by Mrs. Gordon. Foster had yet to return and she wasn’t sure what would happen when he did. The only thing she could think a
bout was how she’d felt the day
he’d told her in no uncertain terms that he no longer wanted her.

The first thing Tori noticed when she woke the morning after a marathon sex session with Foster was that he wasn’t in bed with her. She’d grown accustomed to waking up in his arms, or being roused with his head between her legs or him sucking her breasts. The only reminder she had from the nig
ht before was the delicious ache
between her thighs. Her muscles were slightly stiff as well. Foster had a habit of being rough, not that she minded because he always made her crave for more. Last night was different, however. He seemed more ferocious, needier, as if he couldn’t get enough of her, not that she was complaining. She loved every single minute of it.

There were also those moments of tenderness. He’d caressed her body and took her so gently Tori
cried tears of happiness
. She wasn’t sure how it had happened, but she’d fallen for Foster Graham. Hard. From the moment he’d captured her on The Run, she’d been defiant, unwilling to bend an inch to his will, but Foster wasn’t what she’d expected. He actually seemed to care about her feelings and took the time to find out about who she was as a person. And then there was the sex. He’d given Tori her first orgasm. It took a while to reconcile how she could respond to him so willingly when he technically owned her per the contract she’d signed.

Foster didn’t
act that way toward her
, however. He showered her with presents and treated her as a valued guest. The only time he was aggressive with
Tori
was in the bedroom or wherever it was his fancy to take her. He was a kinky son of a bitch who constantly pushed her boundaries over and over again until there were none. He dominated her, making Tori bend to his every command, and she’d become his willing slave. Outside of the bedroom, he was charming, sweet and considerate.

She was almost certain he returned her feelings because of the little things, like the stolen kisses, or the way he’d look at her when he didn’t think she was paying attention. Foster would find excuses to touch her and then there were those moments when he just held her. Tori lived for those moments.

She decided right then that she’d tell him how she felt. Tori wanted him to set her free so that they could be together for real and not because they were brought together in fucked up circumstances. She’d also be free to see her family. It didn’t hurt that she’d be in a better position to help her siblings.

With her resolve
firmed, she slid out of bed. As she headed for the bathroom to shower, Foster walked into the room. Tori didn’t bother to cover herself. She saw no point in playing coy around him. They’d met when she was stark naked and he’d made no secret of the fact that he preferred her that way. Foster, however, was fully dressed and the expression on his face was grim.

She sauntered over to him with a huge smile on her face
. “Good morning.” When she attempted to put her arms around him, he backed away. “What’s the matter?”

“Not now, Tori. Why don’t you get dressed so we can have a little
chat?
I’ll be waiting for you downstairs in my office. Take a shower while you’re at it. There’s an odor lingering on you.” Foster didn’t wait for her to reply before he walked out of the room, leaving Tori with her mouth hanging open.

What the hell was that about? Foster had never been
so
cold toward her, or even rude. Something had to be wrong. He’d called her Tori. He never did that. She went through the motions of taking care of her hygiene and getting dressed. By the time she made it to the designated meeting place, her stomach was all in knots. She couldn’t figure out what ha
d happened between this morning,
when they’d fallen asleep exhausted from sexual exertion, until now. Maybe there was some kind of personal emergency. Several scenarios ran through her mind and none of them were good.

She knocked on his office door and waited for a response.
The door slid open and Foster
beckoned her inside. “Come in and have a seat, Tori.”

She cautiously did as he bade, sitting on the edge of her chair. Tori laughed nervously. “What’s going on, Foster? You never call me Tori.”

He raised a dark blond brow. “Isn’t that your preference?” His tone was so icy, he could have been talking to a stranger off the street.

“Well, yes, everyone calls me that but not you. I’ve just gotten used to you calling me Victoria.”

“I didn’t call you down here to discuss your name. I just wanted you to know, that’ll I’ll be sending you an additional ten thousand credits. It should show up on your chip by the time you leave. You can also take everything you were gifted during your stay here which included the jewelry and clothing. Mrs. Gordon will be on hand to help you pack. I think that takes care of everything. You may leave now.” He then turned his attention to a holoscreen that appeared to contain documents of some sort. He’d dismissed her as if they didn’t spend hours making love the night before, like he’d never called her beautiful before. Like she didn’t matter.

“Leave?
What are you talking about, Foster? Why do you want me to leave?”

“Tori, please don’t make this more difficult than it has to be. I think my offer is pretty generous considering I don’t owe you a thing. You were already paid
by The Run organizers. Maybe
you can make extra credits by selling off the jewelry.”

“I don’t care about the jewelry. I want to know why you’re doing this.” Tear stung the backs of her eyes.

Foster let out an exaggerated sigh. “Must you be so tedious about this? You had to know this arrangement we had would come to an end. Don’t take it personal my dear, I prefer variety so it was eventually bound to happen that I’d grow bored with you. You should actually be proud of yourself. You’ve managed to keep me interested longer than the others. Give yourself a pat on the back.”

That was it? She’d been ready to pour her heart out to him and he could just callously treat he
r as if she wasn’t worth a damn?
“No. There’s something you’re not telling me. Why are you really acting this way?” The tears that she’d felt only seconds ago ran freely down her cheeks.

Foster slammed his palm on his desk. “Tori, stop it! I’ve participated in several runs before you and I’ll be in many more after you. It’s a sport to me. The fact that I get to fuck my catch is an added bonus. You couldn’t have possibly thought that this was permanent. You’re a Dreg, and you belong in the slums with the rest of your kind. Tori, you were just a convenient fuck and now I’m tired of you. Frankly, I’ve grown bored with this conversation. There. Have I made it clear enough for you?”

The disbelief she
felt was replaced by anger. Tori sprang to her feet. “So this is the real Foster?” She walked around his desk and smashed her hand across his face so hard, his head turned. Tori raised her hand to do it again, but Foster caught it.

“You only get one. Do it again, and I’ll hit back even harder.” He tossed her hand away. “Now get the fuck out of my office. You have an hour to get your shit together and get out of my house as well.”

“Fuck you, Foster Graham, and fuck your money! I don’t want a single credit from you! Yes, I thought I cared for you but I had to be mistaken because you’re an unfeeling piece of shit!”

Foster rolled his eyes. “If you’re finished being dramatic, leave.”

Tori realized there was nothing she could say or do. The Foster she thought she knew didn’t exist. All her life she’d been shit on by the Elites. They’d taken her mother away from her, they made it impossible for her to earn a decent living to support her family. They destroyed her neighborhood to make more space for themselves forci
ng her family to live in a run down shack
. But none of them had ever hurt her quite the way Foster had. And she’d never forget it for as long as she lived.

“Ms. Preston?” Mrs. Gordon’s voice on the intercom broke Tori out of her painful memories.

“Yes? Mrs. Gordon?”

“Mr. Graham is home and he’d like for you to come downstairs and join him in his sitting room.”

Tori flared her nostrils. Did he think he could snap his fingers and she’
d
come running just like that? She wouldn’t make it easy for him this time around. She’d be damned if
he made a fool of her again
. “Mrs. Gordon, could you kindly tel
l Mr. Graham to go fuck himself?
”

There was a pause on the other end of the intercom before the housekeeper responded. “Are you sure that’s the exact message you’d like for me to relay?”

“Word for word.”

“Very well, Ms. Preston.”

There was no response after that. In fact nothing happened right away, so she shouldn’t have been surprised when the door to her room opened and Foster walked in. The shock of seeing him so suddenly made her take a step back. Regaining her bearings, she squared her shoulders, preparing herself for this showdown.

Foster wasn’t surprised when Victoria rejected his invitation to
meet him in his office
. It wasn’t as if they’d parted on good terms and that was the way he intended it to be. He’d hurt her
and as
a result hurt himself, but at the time it couldn’t be avoided. He had to do what he felt was necessary to keep her safe. And now he had to do it all over again. If she still hated him, then so be it. He wasn’t letting her go, not until everything happening was resolved.

She looked so beautiful. He appreciated
that
her face had been scrubbed of the heavy makeup she’d worn the night before. She was a natural beauty who needed no enhancement. It took everything within him not to pull her into his arms and fuck her senseless, but he managed to remain where he stood.

“Victoria, you’re lovelier than ever. Time has been good to you.”

She narrowed her eyes, giving him a death stare. “It’s Victoria now? Call me Tori. Only my mother is allowed to call me that and she’s dead.”

“I used to call you Victoria as well.”

“And you lost the right to. So why am I here?”

He expected her to be angry with him, but her hostility still hurt. “Because I bought you which means you belong to me.”

“Right. Until you get tired of me being just a convenient fuck. What’s the matter? Now that the Run has been disbanded you’ve resorte
d to flat out buying your women?
How pathetic are you? Can’t you get women on your own? You sick bastard.”

Foster realized her words came from a place of hurt but hearing her lash out at him pissed him off. He was under a tremendous amount of stress with figuring out what
happened to Macy and who had her
. He’d involved himself with people that made him look over his shoulders again. What was worst, after his meeting with Gareth, he’d received a mysterious call on his holophone, no image had been available, but an unrecognizable scratchy voice had sent him a warning.
“You’re sticking your nose into business that you shouldn’t be. Be careful, Graham
,
or else you’ll lose everything you care about.”

There were very few people who had his personal access number but he knew there were always ways to obtain things if one wanted it badly enough.
This had happened to him one other time and that had led to him letting Victoria go.
Having
her
rage to him, no matter how much he deserved, it was the proverbial last straw.

“Regardless of the reason
why
you’re here, this is where you’ll stay until I say so. You have free run of the house but you will not be able to leave.”

Victoria folded her arms across her chest and pursed her lips. “It seems like I have no choice in the matter of my comings and goings, but I’m damn
ed
sure not going to make it easy for you. Don’t even think about touching me.”

“Do you honestly think that if I wanted you, there’s anything you could do to stop me? You’ve forgotten,
Victoria
that
I’ve heard this line from you before. You pretend that you don’t like my touch, but in the end, I’ll have you begging for it.”

“If you touch me, I’ll scream.”

Foster chuckled with amusement. One thing he’d always admired about Victoria was her spark. Despite all she’d been through, no one had managed to break her spirit. Seeing the fire in her eyes turned him on and he wanted her more than any woman he’d ever had. He’d never stopped wanting her. “Oh? What do you think is going to happen when you scream? Who’s going to come running to your rescue? Do you
believe
someone in my employee will call the enforcers on me? And what do you
suppose
will happen if they did? Do you honestly think I’d be arrested? Tell me, Victoria.”

She backed away from him. “Touch me and find out.”

Curiosity got the better of him, making Foster advance toward her. When he was only a few feet away from him, he noticed Victoria bringing her knee up. He barely missed getting kneed in th
e balls, but she did catch him
on the thigh. “Shit. Don’t ever do that again!”

She pushed him away from her. Then she got closer and pushed him again. Victoria balled her fists and began to pound against his chest. Foster allowed her the first few blows. After what he’d done to her, she deserved some kind of retribution, but when she smacked him across the face, he’d had enough.

Foster caught her by the wrists and dragged her toward the bed. She attempted to pull herself out of his grip
but
to no avail. He tossed her on the bed and fell on top of her.

The brief second he loosened his grip Victoria began to lash out a
gain. “Let me go!” she screamed

“Never.” Foster captured her hands and held them above her head as he pressed his weight into her. She squirmed and wiggled beneath him.

“The only thing you’re accomplishing at the moment is making my dick hard.” His erection rested hot and heavy against the junction between her thighs.

As if realizing this, she stilled. Victoria shook her head back and forth. “Don’t,” she whispered.

He looked down into her large eyes that now glistened with the suspicious sheen of tears. He really should have gotten off of her, but he couldn’t move. The feel of her beneath him was too much of a temptation for him to resist. Since their first arrangement had ended he’d lived with the regret of it every single day. Each night his dreams were filled with images of her. He’d never forgotten the taste of her lips, or the way her eyes lit with wonder whenever he stroked her the way she liked.

“I can’t help it.” He then lowered his mouth to hers.