The men in the room were silent; unsure what to do with this new information. It made sense that the event they were talking about could be an auction. All this time, he'd been tracking a real-life human trafficker. Never had Dylan wished more that he'd just killed Jake Davenport when he'd had the chance. He'd have been doing the world a fucking favor.
I won't make that mistake again. I don't care if I spend the rest of my life behind bars. Killing the bastard will happen the next time our paths cross.
He heard Lukus on the phone behind him. Apparently, his boss felt exactly the same way. He was shouting into the phone at his contact at the FBI. "I had you guys on high alert. I told you things were gonna move fast. You need to get your asses over here or we won't wait." He quieted while someone on the other end screamed at him loudly enough that Dylan could hear the muffled yelling through the cell phone. He couldn't hear the words, but he had a pretty good idea of the gist when Lukus retorted, "Thirty minutes. You have thirty minutes to get your asses to our rendezvous, or my team and I are going in without you." He waited again before replying. "Then I guess you'd better hang up and haul ass."
Lukus ended the call, but immediately made another. Whoever he was talking to at the other end of the line picked up fast.
"Hey, it's going down. You're at the loft, right?" He waited before adding, "And Aiden is there, too?" More silence. "Good. Call Ethan. Have him close the club until further notice. Don't let the girls out of your sight. I'm not gonna relax until Davenport is in a body bag. And Markus... watch your back."
When Lukus had hung up, Dylan couldn't help but dish him shit. "So your women are tucked away safe and sound with armed guards thousands of miles away from here, but you'll send my woman into the lion's den without any protection? What a fucking hypocrite you are."
Lukus stepped up to look him in the eye. Dylan could see his genuine concern for Hannah in his eyes, and remembered that Lukus Mitchell wasn't his enemy. "Since when is Hannah Martine your woman?"
Dylan didn't hesitate. "Since right now."
The men squared off. Lukus looked conflicted before finally answering. "We wait thirty minutes. If the FBI can't get their shit together by then, we'll go in. Let's get our bulletproof gear on and load up. We're going in hot."
Chapter Eleven
Hannah
"Dylan... please... talk to me... please... " Hannah was running out of time as she frantically whispered, hoping the small microphone in her earring would pick up her voice over the loud din of sex and punishments surrounding her.
Luckily, Jake had parked her in a quiet corner of the room ten minutes before so he could mingle with the other depraved partygoers enjoying the plethora of carnal opportunities displayed so vulgarly before them. He'd pressed her to her knees, making sure to tie the leash attached to her collar to a ring protruding from the wall as if he were tying a dog in place. She'd been tempted to stand up and untie herself, but knew she'd never escape the guarded room anyway.
Instead, she'd used her time in relative seclusion to try to talk to Dylan, praying for an update on how much longer it would be before he rescued her. Knowing the men would be coming for her was the only hope keeping her from spilling over into a full-fledged nervous breakdown. The fact that she hadn't been able to connect with them had Hannah devolving into a panicked mess.
"Oh God, if you can hear me... please hurry. I don't know how much longer I can hold it together in here."
Like a soldier returning from a war zone, PSTD-like flashbacks of her life in Columbus were closing in on her. Wounds she'd worked so hard with Dr. Henderson to sew together were being split open, filling her with the kind of bone-deep dread she hadn't felt since her father had been hauled away by the SWAT team in the middle of the night on her seventeenth birthday. The sights and sounds of the helpless victims displayed throughout the expansive space were too-close reminders of the painful humiliation she'd witnessed—and worse, lived through—in her childhood home.
As she caught sight of Jake heading back towards her from across the room, Hannah gave herself the internal pep talk Dr. Henderson had helped her develop during her years of therapy. At the time, she'd made up her mind to no longer allow herself to be anyone's victim. She just hadn't known how hard her resolve would be tested.
She took a deep breath, working hard to slow her pulse and keep her wits about her. As Jake walked her way, his predatory gaze penetrated her and she shivered in the cool room. She refused to cower as he stopped, crouching down in front of her to be at her eye level.
"Are you having fun at the party, Hannah?"
It wasn't a question he needed an answer to. The smirk on his face gave away his sick glee at her obvious distress.
Jake rose to his feet, pulling on her leash to drag her up beside him. As soon as she was on her feet, he reached his hand behind her neck, pinching her hard and forcing her to face the sexual depravity all around them. When she tried to flinch away, his grip tightened.
"Look at them good, Hannah. I suggest you be a good girl, or you might find yourself working a hole party next month."
Despite her fear,
