Roll For Initiative

43. Lucian

N umber 10 steps out, and I can’t breathe. I can’t fucking breathe. It’s Cassie. There is no doubt in my mind that it is her. She is stunning. A long black dress with high slits on each thigh, leaving little to the imagination. She has a black cat mask on her face. She kneels on the stage. Her head down, palms flat on her thighs. Like a perfect sub would be waiting for her Dom. She is breathtaking. I noticed that she brought a leash on stage with her. A black leather leash is attached to her diamond-studded collar. A collar that both Jayme and I know very well.

“Lucian! That’s Cassie! That’s fucking Cassie. What the fuck!” He looks like he is about to rush the stage. “Dude, what is going on? Why is she here?”

“Jayme! Shut. Up. Anonymous, remember. You are going to get us kicked out.” I look around and don’t notice anyone staring at us; they are all captivated by her. All except the man at the table next to us. The devil mask. He smirks at me as we make eye contact, and then he resumes watching her on stage. “I know it’s her. I saw her bio and figured it out before she came out.” I glance around us and see the guy glaring at us again.

“Fuck, I think that is Theo,” I tell Jayme. He is not subtle at all. Jayme glares right back at the fucker like he is taunting him. I pull Jayme closer so I can whisper in his ear before the bidding starts. “Jayme, we need to win her. I don’t care how much it is; I’ll pay you back. Something isn’t right; I can feel it. He was smirking at me after he heard you say her name. I think he knows who we are.”

“Shit, dude. How the fuck did you know it was her?”

“Not the time, Jayme!”

“Sorry. OK, let’s win your woman!”

"Not my woman! She made that obvious last night. I just can’t handle the thought of her being won by some fuckwad. Also, why the fuck is he auctioning her off when he was so pissed she might have been with me? There is no way she would willingly join one of these."

"No clue, man. Might be what he gets off on."

I glance back at the stage. The bidding is starting.

"$40k," some old badger shouts from the front row.

"40 do I hear 50?” The bid caller shouts.

"50 thousand." A tall man with jet-black hair shouts in front of us.

"75 thousand," I shout.

"75, do I hear 100"

Theo silently raises his paddle. What the fuck. Is this just a mind game for him to fuck with her? I glance up to see her lock eyes with him in the crowd like she is fucking challenging him. She wraps the leash around her wrists, grabbing it with her teeth and pulling it tight. She binds her wrists together and leaves them on her lap, returning her eyes to the ground. She is putting on a show.

"100 in the back, thank you, Sir. Do I hear 110?"

"150 thousand dollars." The tall guy with Jet black hair at the table in front of us says. He glances back at me. Those eyes. Why the hell does he look familiar? He lifts his glass and nods at me as if he knows me.

"175." I throw the paddle up.

"Thank you, Sir, 175, do I hear 180?" The bid caller asks.

"200," Theo stands, challenging me.

"225." I meet his challenge, standing to stare him right in his eyes.

"230" other jet-black haired guy shouts. Also, now standing. Dude, sit the fuck down. You are not in this.

Cassie stands now, shocked at how fast the bids are increasing. It is an all-out war between us. And I am going to win; I have to. She looks at Theo and scowls, showing off her bratty, disobedient side.

"250," I shout. She looks over at me; shit, does she know it’s me?

"280," says Theo.

"300. Thousand. Dollars." The dark-haired guy is starting to piss me off.

"350 thousand," Jayme shouts. Fuck, dude. Thank God he understands the severity of this situation.

"375." Theo grins his smug face at me.

"450. Thousand. Dollars." Jayme shouts. Slamming his fist on the table.

Theo and the other dude stand there staring at me and Jayme.

"450 thousand dollars. Going once. Twice. Sold to the gentleman at table 54. Wow, that is a club record. Thank you for the wonderful bid war, gentleman." The bid caller says.

Cassie stands there for a moment, looking at Jayme and I. God, I don’t know what I am going to say. What do I do? She walks off stage, and I see her head toward the office. As I turn back to grab my coat, Theo is there, right in my face, with his smug grin. I want to punch him right in his cocky face, shattering his teeth.

"I hope she was worth it, Mr. Ryder," he says, chuckling to himself. How the fuck does he know my name. Jayme is quick to come up next to me. He is ready to either hold me back or jump in the fight; I’m not sure which. “Ah, Mr. Morelli. So kind of you to join us in New York. I hope you enjoy my pet. She’s very... responsive. Wouldn’t you say, Mr. Ryder?” He looks at me, the grin now replaced by a scowl. Did she fucking tell him about last night, and why did he call Jayme Morelli?

"She’s worth every fucking penny. You don’t deserve her after what you have done to her. How could you auction her off like that." I don’t fucking care anymore; he knows it is me.

"Deserve her? That worthless slut doesn’t deserve me. I gave her everything and what does she do to pay me back? She fuck’s you the moment you are back in town."

"For your information, Theo," I let his name slide out slowly. Yea bitch I know your name. "We have never hooked up. Ever. That’s not the kind of relationship we have. But I guess even after beating the info out of her, you still didn’t believe her."

“No? So you didn’t have my girl pressed against the door last night? Her legs wrapped around your waist. How did she taste, Mr. Ryder? Sweet, isn’t she?” He just scoffs at me. Jayme looks like he is about to punch him now, too.

“How the fuck would you know any of that? Did she tell you? If so, then I am assuming you know she walked away, and nothing escalated further.”

“Trust me, I know everything that goes on in Cassandra’s apartment. But she did stay at your house, and I don’t know what happened behind those closed doors, now do I?”

I go to speak but he holds up his hand, silencing me. I am about to punch him when I see the other guy from in front of us staring at me, smirking. Who the fuck is this dude?

"Whatever, Lucian, I just made a hell of a lot of money off of her. You can have your fun for one night. But trust me when I say this: she will be coming back to me. She is mine. She will come back on her own, too. And then I can watch your sad little face as you realize she will never be yours. Cassandra has better taste than that."

"Guys, is there a problem?" The bouncer comes over and crosses his arms in front of us.

"Nope. I was just congratulating these men on their win. They are very invested in number 10."

The bouncer rolls his eyes and walks off.

"Remember, boys, have fun tonight because you won’t be seeing her again. At least until I’m finished with her and she’s all broken and used, then maybe you can have her back." He laughs as he turns and walks away.

I go to lunge at him, but Jayme pulls me back.

"Dude, he isn’t worth it. We will not only get kicked out of here, but we could lose our membership at both places. Just let him go. We will figure out something. Cassie won’t go back after tonight. Let’s just get her and go home.” Jayme pleads.

"Fine." I feel defeated. What if she does go back to him? He has to be threatening her. She wouldn’t willingly stay with someone that hurts her, would she?

As I walk away, my eyes lock with the other guy bidding against us. He is smiling at me and tilts his glass up towards me again. I have to know who the fuck he is. I stalk over to him.

"Hey. Who the hell are you, and how do I know you?"

I know we are supposed to be anonymous tonight, but I think we crossed that line when Theo and I were arguing.

The guy looks around before moving his mask half off his face. Holy shit, it’s that Alec guy from the bar. The one I blocked from Cassie’s phone. He also must have heard Jayme say her name.

"I guess you win again. You must really love her for you to keep fighting for her over and over. Little tip: tell her. Cause from what I remember at the bar, she still thinks you are just friends. Give her my regards, even though she never texted me back." He gives me a knowing smile. Touché Sir, touché.

Jayme is looking confused at this point.

"See you around, boys," Alec says as he turns back to the next woman on stage.

"Who the hell was that, and how did he know you and Cassie?!" Jayme demands.

"She met him at the bar the other night. She gave him her number, but I pulled her away when he got too close. Then that night, he texted her, but I intervened..."

"Intervened how Lucian?"

"I may or may not have gotten into her phone. Deleted his texts, blocked him, and then fully cleared her trash can so there was no evidence."

"Jesus, dude, you really are hung up on her. Welp, let's go claim our prize. By the way, what are we going to tell her since you obviously have problems telling her about yourself? " He says sarcastically.

Fuck. I hadn’t thought about that before. Shit.

“OK, how about we don’t speak? Don’t say a word. We don’t tell her who we are. We sign the contract; they hide our names anyway. We have fun tonight. Show her how good it is to be with someone who cares about and worships her. Then maybe tomorrow, you two can actually talk and you can let her know about all of this. About everything.” Jayme suggests. His idea isn’t half bad.

OK, here we go!