Jasper turned to him and said in Italian exactly what the man had said. Fabian looked at the man and nodded. Silas, Saber, Snow, and Jasper all turned in their weapons like before, but unlike before, Fabian wasn’t questioned or asked to open his jacket for a pat down. That’s what they were banking on. Last time he came unarmed as far as these men knew, except for his two .50 caliber Desert Eagles tucked into his boots. This time, he had one tucked against his back, hidden by his dress coat, and the other in a holster under his left arm.

  Once making it through the checkpoint, they made their way back into the large room that once housed the restaurant for the Marina. Again, a stage was set up in the front of the room and chairs facing the stage placed in rows to watch the event. Fabian’s gaze roamed around the room and he was happy to see twelve of Raven’s men placed throughout the room, dressed as buyers. Kalen and Ash had worked their asses off to make it possible for these men to be here.

  Earlier in the week, Stix, Talon, and Volaris had paid this building a visit during the day while it sat deserted. Atty had been the one to give them that information. He told them that he was held somewhere else and was moved here only the morning of the auction. And also, that the place he had been held originally was close and on a boat. He had felt the rocking when he was in his cage, and the ride into the docks of the marina had only taken a half hour for them to reach.

  So, the sentinels came and found the place empty, but while they were here they placed hidden cameras through the auction room, as well as the back rooms. Once that was done, they had hidden several weapons throughout the building so that they could be used if needed tonight.

  Once again Fabian stood toward the back of the room with the others around him, but this time when they stopped he commanded Atty in Italian to kneel, and Atty dropped to his knees at Fabian’s feet, his head still bowed. The sight didn’t turn him on as he knew it did for others who were into BDSM. It only made him angrier and wanting to rip someone apart. To calm himself, Fabian reached down with his left hand and placed it on Atticus’ head, carding his fingers through his mate’s soft tresses.

  As everyone took their seats, Viscardi’s men walked around the room, closing and locking the doors. Then Viscardi took the stage. “Welcome, my friends. As you can see, tonight we are doing things a little differently. At our last auction, we had a situation where a few members left early and they have not been seen again. So, to insure your safety no one is allowed in or out until the very end of the evening. To make your experience here tonight more enjoyable, I will have some of my top slaves move among you. You may ask for services if you wish, or for a private encounter at any time through the night and one of my men will show you and your slave to a private room. I will also have a few servers walking around to take drink orders, all on the house, of course. So please, sit back and relax and let the auction begin.”

  A line of slaves was once again brought out onto the stage and lined up, with four large Dom looking dudes standing over them. More slaves came out and began walking through the crowd, a few being pulled down by some of the men in attendance. Then the door to the kitchen opened and ten men and woman walked out holding trays. Fabian’s eyes went wide at the site of one of the servers and he cursed under his breath. “Fanculo.”

  He felt Jasper, Silas, Saber, and Snow move closer. “What is it?” Jasper whispered in Italian. Just as he did, Silas cursed the same. Fabian answered Jasper in Italian and Silas leaned in close to Snow, whispering in his ear, Fabian assumed he was delivering the same message. “The older woman server with the short blonde hair. It’s Atticus’ mother, Patrice.”

  “Merda,” Jasper whispered back, then straightened.

  Silas turned away from what was going on, putting his back to them, making it appear as if he were watching Fabian’s rear, but he knew it was because his brother was hiding his face from Patrice. Fabian wished he could, too, but there was no excuse for Carlo Dean to not watch the auction and with the doors being locked until the end, he couldn’t just leave.

  Dropping his chin slightly to try to conceal some of his face, Fabian kept his gaze on Patrice as she walked around the room taking orders. What he noticed was that she didn’t go to each guest in a row, but moved around the room as if searching. Her eyes constantly darting about, looking at the faces of each member as she went. As she made it to the back of the room, Fabian saw her gaze land on Atticus and recognition entered her surprised gaze. She moved closer and Fabian quickly turned his head away, bending slightly as if to talk to Jasper. Jasper moved in closer and Fabian whispered in his ear. “She’s spotted Atty. We need a distraction before she recognizes me and Silas.”

  Fabian’s attention was still turned to Jasper, but he could feel Patrice’s presence as well as smell her thick, putrid perfume. It burned his nose and threatened to make his eyes water. “And what of you gentlemen back here? What can I get you?” Patrice asked.

  “We’re fine, thank you,” Jasper answered.

  “For your...slave maybe? A bowl of water or cream?” She asked with happiness in her voice.

  “Step away from Mr. Dean’s property or risk losing your hand,” Saber threatened with a growled.

  “He is a pretty little thing, isn’t he? Is it true that your Mr. Dean paid four million for him?” she asked with a chuckle as her hand reached out and she placed it on Atticus’ head right next to Fabian’s as she added, “I didn’t realize his hole was worth that much.”

  All hell broke loose at that moment. Saber grabbed her wrist and twisted it, bringing her body around to face the front of the room and away from Fabian, as Saber pulled her arm behind her back. Silas moved to stand on Fabian’s other side, so he too was behind Saber and Patrice, and Snow moved to stand before Fabian, as Fabian dropped down on one knee facing Atty. He lifted his mate’s face up until their eyes met, and Fabian could see real fear in his love’s eyes. Atty knew it was his mother and was now filled with a fear Fabian hadn’t seen before, even during the last auction. It must be from his memories of the woman abusing him for so long.

  During their time together, Atty had told him about his life, his loving father, and his evil mother. The stories broke Fabian’s heart and he swore he would make sure Atticus’ present and future were so great that it would overshadow his horrible past.

  As he dropped down to Atticus and the others moved to take their positions. Jasper called out. “Don’t you dare touch what belongs to Mr. Dean you, vile creature.”

  “What is the meaning of this,” Vascardi called out from the stage.

  “This...woman, touched Mr. Dean’s pet as she inquired on personal matters. This is unacceptable. Mr. Dean thought his family business was being run by a professional, but with this and what happened at the last auction, you’ll be lucky to draw another breath by the end of the night,” Jasper stated for the whole room to hear.

  “Is this true, Patrice?” Viscardi asked, his gaze going to Patrice.

  “That’s my At―”

  “That’s enough!” Viscardi yelled out. “Guards, escort this woman to the back. If you would all please enjoy your drinks and my slaves, while I attend to this matter. The auction will begin again momentarily.” Viscardi moved from the stage and disappeared through the side door again, leading the way back into the hall as four of his guards moved to them and took Patrice from Saber’s hold. Reluctantly, he released her as he growled deep.

  CHAPTER 18

  Diego stood quietly as his Master barreled through the door angrily cursing under his breath. “What is it, Master?”

  Viscardi stopped and met his gaze. “You were right, pet. We never should have used that drugged out bitch Patrice for tonight. There had to be a better way to find out who the spy was in the last auction.”

  Diego stepped closer and ran a hand up Viscardi’s chest. “In all fairness, she probably would be the best to recognize anyone from this coven, but that shit clouds her mind and I’m not sure a word that comes from her mouth can be believed.”

  “When she came to me with that damn plan to abduct her own son and sell him so that she could claim his inheritance, including this place, then sell it to us for our purposes, I knew I should have stayed away and declined. She has brought me nothing but grief since I joined in her plan.”

  “She did say that she would also sell her portion of Dean’s interest to you so that you would have more say over things than even Dean does. That alone should make us bide our time with her. She told me earlier she went to the police and is trying to have Atticus declared dead now so that she will get his inheritance sooner than waiting the customary seven years it takes to have someone declared legally dead.”

  “All she had to do was sit back and wait while she got her monthly allowance from me, but that stupid bitch blows through what I give her too quickly. If we didn’t need that inheritance so we can control this business and gain the deed to this jackpot I would have her killed,” Viscardi replied.

  “I know you would, Master, but may I make a suggestion?”

  “Is it the same one you have asked before, pet?’ Viscardi asked as he ran a finger down the side of Diego’s cheek.

  “Yes. Make her dependent on you. Take over the drug trade here as well as the trafficking. Once she is out of her mind with withdrawals from that shit, she will be more than happy to just give you anything you ask.”

  “You’re right again, pet. I should have listened to you earlier. Now she has insulted Carlo Dean and he is threatening to take over.”

  “Shit. Why don’t we sooth Dean for now by offering him whatever he wants in slaves and promise to give him Patrice as a peace offering,” Diego suggested.

  “And what about all of this? If we give her to Dean we lose it all.”

  “Go talk to Patrice and let her think you have everything under control and you are on her side. I’ll have one of the boys bring her some Morte Cremisi and once she is high as a kite, we’ll have her sign the papers giving you control of her shares in the business. Then hand her off to Dean. She won’t remember until it’s too late, and he won’t have a clue that you just snatched this out from under his feet. By the time he does, you’ll already be in charge with the larger portion of shares.”

  His Master’s eyes lit up and filled with mischief. “You are a smart pet, aren’t you? You will be greatly rewarded for that this evening, my pet,” Viscardi praised, then gave Diego a quick kiss. “I’ll go speak to Patrice now. You go try to smooth the waters with Dean.”

  “Yes, Master,” Diego replied and watched as his Master went to the end of the hall and disappeared around the corner. He turned back toward the main door leading into the banquet hall and watched as four guards dragged Patrice down the hall.

  “You’re a bunch of fools!” she screamed in their faces as she struggled against them, but the guards ignored her. “He’s going to destroy you all. He’s going to take all of this away from you! That’s Fabian Valentine, you imbeciles!”

  That got Diego’s attention. Fabian Valentine? The new coven leader of Clearnight Haven? If that was really Valentine, then...Diego froze. If that’s really Valentine and not Dean, and those men went missing, what was he doing here tonight? It could only mean one thing. Valentine knew everything about this operation and was trying to close it down. There was no way he was going down with the ship. If Valentine were here to destroy them, then they would either be killed or sent to the king, Raven Stone. Everyone knew once you went there, there was no coming back.

  Diego went to the door to peek out over the crowd, his gaze searching out Carlo Dean. There, in the back. Diego watched closely as Dean...Valentine...whatever, tenderly ran a hand down Atty’s face and Atty gave him a smile, but quickly schooled his features. It was too late, he had already seen the exchange and there was no way a Dom as fierce or lethal as Carlo Dean was going to be that tender with a sub he had just purchased a few weeks ago. They were coming for his Master. He had worked too damn long and hard for this asshole to come in and ruin everything. First with being Malcolm’s bitch, then Viscardi’s. He was the one who set up this whole organization and Malcolm just rode in and took all the credit and accolades. Then Malcolm just up and ran off leaving him behind. He was supposed to take control of everything if anything ever happened to Malcolm. The man had promised it to him when they went through their collaring ceremony. Which in their world was as good as a marriage. But no, the bastard up and left without a word and Viscardi, Malcolm's friend, was brought in announcing that Malcolm left him in charge.

  The things he had to do to play nice with Viscardi until he could gain control of everything was disgusting, but he did it to fight for what he created. These assholes had no clue how to do any of this. He was the one who created the websites and auctions. He was the one who put his ass on the line and acquired the slaves. Then they all just strolled in and took everything.

  Diego looked down the hall toward where Viscardi went. It was time to leave and let Vascardi be the scapegoat while he slipped out the back door. If he left now he could get back to his yacht before anyone realized he was gone. His yacht, not Malcolm’s, not Viscardi’s, his. Although they both thought it was theirs, but that was all part of his plan to one day own it all. He needed to go and regroup. Figure out where to go from here.

  Diego quietly made it out the back door into the darkness of the night. A noise to his left caught his attention and he stayed glued to the wall, listening. Thank the gods for his vampire abilities because he could hear a rustling in the trees and there wasn’t a breeze to be found. He looked in that direction and could make out a shadow of two men dressed all in black, sitting on a branch, watching the building. Shit!

  A thought came to mind and Diego smiled. Quietly he moved back inside and went to the control panel. As he lifted his hand a voice called to him.

  “Hey, you. Mr. Dean would like to get going if the auction isn’t going to happen. Where is your Master?”

  Diego looked at the man and recognized him as Dean’s...Valentines, interpreter. But if this was actually Valentine then he didn’t need an interpreter and this guy worked for Valentine and he was part of this ruse. Another thought crossed his mind and Diego knew he was on the right track. If he had a hostage he would be able to escape without worry. If any of Valentine’s men tried to stop him, he would use this guy to gain his freedom. He stood a good four inches over this guy and outweighed him by at least twenty pounds. He could take him.

  He waved for the man to come closer as he looked around for signs of anyone else and lowered his voice so the man would have to move in. “My Master is dealing with that pig, Patrice. He’ll be starting the auction again shortly, but he has informed me that if any of the guests would like to leave at this time, I could allow them once I searched outside. I was just about to check the docks. If you’ll wait here a moment, I’ll do that and be back to check the parking lot so that you and your employer can go.”

  “How long will that take?”

  “A few minutes, tops. If you’d like you can join me and we’d be done with it sooner.”

  “Sure, let’s go,” the smaller man said.

  “I just need to hit the lights so we can see better,” Diego said and opened the metal panel, then hit the switch for the floodlights over the docks. They would go on the minute movement was detected. He hurried back to the door with the smaller man following him and just as he was about to exit, Diego raised his arm and elbowed the man in the nose as hard as he could. As the man cursed and took a step back, bending over, Diego pulled a syringe from his pocket and jammed it into the side of the man's neck, then wrapped an arm around his waist. The drug would drop a vampire in seconds. Before the man could say another word, his body went limp and he was out cold.

  Diego quickly moved them outside. Instantly upon opening the door the floodlights filled the area as if it were high noon and he heard a small curse and knew it had blinded whoever was watching. He hunkered low and raced as fast as he could, dragging the man with him to the nearest dock and as quietly as possible lowered the man into the water, then he followed. Once in, he grabbed the man and swam under the long dock.

  The floodlights would only be on momentarily as long as no movement occurred outside. But once they went off, everything would be dark again except for the small amount of light coming from the moon, but with the cloud cover tonight, it wasn’t much.

  Diego waited as he slowly swam them down to the end of the dock. Once the lights went off he would move them from under their hiding place and swim out to one of the dinghies anchored on the other side of the cove.

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  “You stupid bitch. I told you to keep your damn mouth shut and your eyes open, but no, you couldn’t even do that,” Viscardi screamed in Patrice’s face. He couldn’t believe this pathetic addict was going to ruin everything he had worked for, and for what? A small, black-haired piece of ass?

  “That was my son out there,” she sneered back.

  “Yes, a son you sold to me for ten thousand dollars with the promise of half of his inheritance and the deed to this place once he disappeared and was declared dead. In the meantime, I have taken care of your every need, haven’t I? I kept you in that shit shack that you call a home. Gave you food, paid all your bills, and gave you enough cash to feed your addictions.”

  “But you said he was sold to Malcolm’s nephew. So, what the hell is he doing with Fabian Valentine?”

  Vascardi pulled back from her words as if struck in the face. “Fabian Valentine? What are you talking about?”

  “My Atticus was out there kneeling at the feet of Clearnight Haven’s new coven leader, Fabian Valentine. I didn’t get a good look at his face, but I know it is him. The little one standing next to him speaking in Italian is his brother. I know him because he has been going around to all the coven members since they took over. I saw him talking to some of my neighbors. And one night a few weeks ago Valentine himself came to my home looking for Atty. I told him he was gone and shut the door on him. But I know that is him out there.”

 

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