Auctioned Mates Revenge
Chapter 29

I searched through the computer, trying to get my mind off of things until I found the database detailing the club's prostitutes. I searched for Renda's profile and growled at the photo that appeared on her profile.

Her eyes were closed in the photo as if she were unconscious. She looked desperate and thin as if she'd been starved. She'd been estimated to be 16 years old when she was purchased. Her profile had several documents by the security force detailing her contract violations. Each of them was followed by a medical examination report that showed that she'd been beaten and starved.

I realized that she'd been trying to escape and they dragged her back every time.

Guilt filled me. If only I'd known sooner, I could have saved her from all of this.

I closed the profile and shut down the computer. The sight of her injuries and her young desperate face infuriated me. Lucas was growling, howling for blood in me and I sent a message to the leader of the interviews to collect information about the security officers' participation in recovering runaways.

I wanted to know who among them had ever laid a hand on Renda, so I could kill them at my leisure later.

Renda returned with Grace soon after. It seemed that they had spoken about making the call to Victoria because she sat across the desk from me with hard eyes.

"I'll need the burner phone in the right-hand drawer," she said. "How many girls, for how much and how soon."

Renda's eyes were hard as she remained silent beside her.

"Give her an enticing number and let her know the more the better. She'll get a bonus if she's quick about it."

Her jaw trembled as I opened the drawer and placed it on the table. Grace took a deep breath and nodded.

"I need to be alone. I'll be done in about an hour."

I stood and turned a blank pad of paper towards her, "When you're done, lock the office door behind you. You're free to spend the rest of the day however you want."

I walked around the desk and ushered Renda out of the office. As the door closed behind me, I realized that the office was sound-proofed. It was probably the only smart thing Felix had done.

I turned to Renda, "Let's get dinner then head back to the hotel."

Renda didn't say anything until we were settled across a small table on the balcony of Le Chesnais, a French restaurant in Midnight's premier mall.

After that, I took Renda out for dinner at a quiet, intimate restaurant near the main mall. I had been there several times and always thought the view from the balcony was beautiful.

I'd hoped it would be enough to get Renda to relax a bit, but her expression hadn't changed.

"Are you worried about what will happen with Victoria?"

Renda glanced at me, "Why did you trust her to make the call?"

"Do you have experience with negotiating with people like that?" She flinched, "Neither do I. She wants her freedom. She's willing to help. It was for the best."

Not that I had any intention of forcing her to be more involved than she wanted. I wasn't the type to hold the potential for her freedom over her head. I'd already sent a message to Armand to get started on her registration. Renda's eyes narrowed, "And me?"

"You?"

"I haven't... done anything to earn my new identity..."

I picked up the menu, considering what to say to her. I couldn't tell her just yet that we were mates. It was best that she came to that realization when her wolf was strong enough. I would have to go with something plausible. "You decoded the record system," I said. "That's enough."

"That was after," she pressed. "What about before?"

I sighed, "It bothers you that I haven't asked you for anything."

"Nothing comes for free," her voice was pained and hollow. "You either get your payment upfront or later."

I looked out into the night, "Fine. You can pay me."

Her eyes narrowed and she tensed in her seat.

"Answer five questions," I grinned. "One for each thing in the envelope."

She sat back, "What sort of questions?"

I lifted a shoulder, "You can choose not to answer them. I'll just ask another until you answer five. How's that?"

"And what if I don't want to answer any of them."

He chuckled, "I'm sure I can come up with five questions you won't feel so wary about answering."

She picked up her menu, "Fine. Five questions."

Lucas growled, Why are we doing this? We could just-

Shut up. Hasn't your way of doing things done enough damage in our lives?

Lucas went quiet. It was a tough blow, but he deserved it for trying to but in. His job was to reach out to her wolf. Her wolf wasn't strong enough to interact with him. He had no right to try to interfere with my relationship with Renda. "How did you become such a beautiful dancer?"

Her eyes widened as if she wasn't expecting the question. I wondered for a moment what she could have been expecting me to ask her.

"I learned as a child," she said, her voice turning distant as she looked out over the city. "It was... one of my favorite things once upon a time."

"Tell me about your childhood."

Her lips twitched into a little smile as if she was looking back through her memories. The sight made my heart flutter.

"What about it?"

"Anything. You told me a bit about your dad... what about your mom?"

She chuckled, "My mom? What is there to say about her? She loved the piano and dancing was her favorite thing to do. She was the reason we had so many festivals."

I smiled, listening to her talk about her mother. There was a light in her eyes and in her smile that felt real. I felt Lucas sitting up and taking notice of the change in her expression.

She seemed happy to talk about her mother. I didn't think I could have the same expression on my face when talking about my mother.

I could still hear the news coverage of her death in my dreams sometimes.

"She was also a great singer," she sighed. "She'd sing my sister and me to sleep when we were little."

Did I hear that right?

"What about your sister?"

Her eyes turned haunted and she took a deep breath.

"She was... the sweetest girl you'd ever meet..." Her jaw clenched. "I would do anything to protect her."

"Where is she?" I asked.

She turned to look at me with narrowed eyes, "Lost."

I searched her eyes looking for a better answer than that, but the waiter came to take our orders before I could think of a way to ask for more information. It was obvious that she'd been sold into prostitution from somewhere else. It was likely that her sister had been sold off.

She hadn't given away any details that would help me figure out where she was from yet. Maybe I could get something out of her if I just let the conversation flow naturally.

The waiter left with our orders, and I watched Renda distance herself from me again. Her eyes lost their easy warmth as she smiled coyly and played with her napkin. "What about you, Mr. Wallber?"

"Matt," I corrected.

She wrinkled her nose, "...Matt, then."

I grinned at the rush of warmth that went through me at the sound of my name on her lips.

"What about your childhood?"

I chuckled, "I didn't have much of one. Tutors. Nannies... Not much to talk about other than a silver spoon."

I didn't have any stories about dancing with my mother. I loved her. I remembered that she liked to sing too and she was a talented painter, but I had very few memories of her that weren't painful.

"What about your mother?"

The question was odd and telling. Everyone who had access to national pack news knew that my mother had committed suicide while in a mental institution when Joel, my twin, and I were four. By then, it had been a year since I had stopped thinking of Ben as my father because it was his fault she had been in the mental institution.

Ben had sauntered home with his mistress, Sonia, and their newborn son, Wade when Joel and I were three years old.

He'd broken his mating bond with my mother and our family in a matter of minutes and forced our mother and us to live at a separate property. At first, she simply cried and went catatonic for long periods, but slowly, she had begun to lose her mind and he'd had her committed.

We found out she had killed herself the same way the rest of the world had: watching the orderlies wheel her body down the hall as the news anchor announced her death.

Ben had gotten on television mere hours after the broadcast to tell the world how guilty he felt about not supporting his wife going through post-partum depression. The bastard had asked the world to allow him time to grieve in peace and he'd gone on vacation with Sonia for a week in private.

The fact that Renda didn't know at least the public story meant she hadn't grown up with television or hadn't looked much into the history of the Warhammer pack.

I didn't know what to make of that.

"What about her?"

"Well, what is she like? Will I get to meet her?"

"My mother is dead." Her eyes widened in shock. "And... before you ask about my brother, so is he."

Though Joel's death was my fault. I was just as much of a murderer as Ben was, but at least I felt remorse for what had happened.

If I could have saved him or taken his place, I would have.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, dropping her gaze. She glanced back up, "I... guess you should go back to asking the questions."

I smiled at her and leaned forward, "I think I'll save the last one for some other time."

She met my gaze. I was nearly lost in the depths of her eyes and the desire to pull out every secret hiding in them when my phone rang, breaking the silence.

I answered the phone, and Grace spoke calmly.

"Victoria's accepted. She'll be here with five girls in three days."