The Auction by Eve Vaughn Read Free Book Online Page A

us even? ”
    “What do you think?”
    “I think if I could , I’d gladly switch places with you. You’re actually one hundred percent legit and you’re willing to fuck it up over a whim. I don’t get you, Graham.”
    Foster shrugged. “No one is stopping you from turning things around.”
    Marcus rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. I don’t have the fancy contacts and powerful friends you do. That makes all the difference in the world and you know it. So, are we done?”
    “Yeah. We’re done.”
    Marcus stood up and just as quickly as he’d entered the office, he walked out, leaving Foster holding the gold card.
    The card read: The Auction begins at midnight. Contact number below to learn the coordinates for the secret location.
    The date read a week from today. Now that he was completely committed to his plan. There was no going back.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
    Chapter Five
    Tori felt as if she’d been scrubbed and groomed to within an inch of her life. Since she’d been here in this facility she’d been bathed, waxed, buffed and brushed. Her teeth were whitened; every single strand of body hair had been removed. She’d been poked, prodded and examined all under the watchful eye of the intimidating Zee who demanded that every single one of her commands be obeyed.
    She was even given a full body scan to ensure that there were no major medical issues. The only upside to that was having the nerve damage in her hand repaired. The residual pain she had experienced on and off from Mr. X’s cruelty was gone, leaving only mental images of his torture as a reminder of her time with him. She should have at least been grateful for the medical care but she couldn’t help thinking that her new owner wouldn’t undo it all through cruelty and abuse.
    Tonight was the night.
    Zee had informed her that the buyers would be in residence and she would have to be prepared. Shia had spent the better part of the day getting her ready.
    “I don’t understand why they would go to so much trouble i f I’m just going to be sold off, ” Tori said with a frustrated huff.
    Shia stared at her thoughtfully. “These bidders will be paying top dollar. They expect a certain aesthetic from their girls. I wouldn’t be surprised if you are the top moneymaker tonight.”
    “What does it matter to me what I’ll bring in? It’s not like I’ll ever see any of it.” Tori couldn’t help but feel bitter as she thought of all the credits that would be spent on women who would be treated as property and would have no say in their futures. She had a deep-rooted disgust for the Elite class, who treated people from a lower economic background like her as if they were objects, things to amuse themselves with. They came up with games that preyed on poor people like The Run.
    It was the government that started the hunt not long after the female population dipped dramatically because of an unregulated vaccination for breast cancer that was introduced to the market. It knocked out over fifty percent of the women in the country. Other parts of the world had been hit even harder. In Tori’s mind, it would have made more sense if women were cherished and revered. Instead, they had become a commodity for wealthy men to play with. It was a dangerous world for a woman, where they were fewer in numbers with most of their basic human rights stripped away.
    Women who managed to find jobs made only a fraction of that of men. There were certain jobs they weren’t allowed to have. They couldn’t hold public office, and most women born in squalor had few options to earn a decent living, which was why many of them turned to earning money on their backs by either working at brothels or finding rich patrons. And then there were more sinister options like The Run where volunteers earned ten thousand credits, which in most cases was more than they could possibly earn in weeks. The downside, however, was that the women had to trade in