39 - Too late

Mia's POV.

I stared at Federico's back as he walked ahead of me down the steps to the basement of the warehouse where the auction was being held.

A lot of Mafia bosses were going to attend the event, either alone, or with their men— and as disgusting as it was— some with their wives. Because of which, the security put in place was heavy, with not a single firearm or electronic gadget allowed inside. Therefore, we had both decided it was best to attend the auction without any disguise whatsoever. We were simply here to talk and gather information without anyone getting suspicious. Walking in with a disguise was super risky. Besides, it wasn't a club where you could just walk in with wigs and pretend to be college kids. This was a heavily guarded event which only someone with direct ties to the mafia was aware of.

So, the two of us joined the event as a couple looking to have some fun with whoever we bought tonight. We had already decided that if my sister was amongst the women being auctioned off, we would buy her, no matter the cost. And if she wasn't, which was a high possibility seeing as her picture hadn't been there on that so-called auction catalog of theirs, they would mingle with the people of both the Russian mafia and others who were attending the event to gather any relevant information that might be helpful in finding out more about my sister's whereabouts.

I descended the last step behind Federico, my heel-clad feet landing on the cemented floor with a thud as I scanned the area around me.

There was a stage in front of them while a bunch of large round tables and chairs were set up all around the room with trays full of different hors d'oeuvres placed on the tables. People milled about the room, talking animatedly amongst themselves as they waited for the auction to begin.

If I didn't know that women were going to be auctioned off in this very place in a few minutes as if they were pieces of furniture instead of actual, living, breathing humans, I would've almost mistaken this for a late-night wedding reception where everyone was waiting for the newlywed couple to arrive.

I was both fascinated and disgusted at how these people could attend an event like this as if it were perfectly normal, talking to each other and exchanging pleasantries as if it were nothing.

"We're here to enjoy, cara. You have to look the part, too," Federico bent down low to whisper softly in my ear, probably having noticed my unpleasant expression.

I grimaced, nodding as I pasted a smile on my face. Enjoy. Right.

Placing my hand in the crook of his elbow, I followed Rico's lead as he led us around the room, stopping every few seconds to exchange polite pleasantries with those he knew.

By the time we finally found a table somewhere in the middle, I was ready to get this done and over with already. There was only so much fake smiling I could before my cheeks started hurting from the effort.

Thankfully, a man came up onto the stage with a mike in his hand, asking everybody to settle down as the auction would be beginning soon.

We were forced to make small talk with a man Rico knew, Darius, the Underboss of one of the families who had taken a seat beside Federico.

I busied myself with picking a deviled quail egg canape and munching on it while Rico talked to Darius. That was until he mentioned attending these events rather frequently.

His words had my ears perking up as Rico hummed in reply. "Do you? Are these events any good? This is my first time attending something like this."

Darius chuckled a little. "Of course, they are. The Russians sure know how to pick 'em. The younger virgins usually are the best, but they go for a higher price then," he explained, shrugging as he did so.

"How often do these auctions take place?" I asked, cutting into their conversation.

Darius furrowed his brows rather suspiciously as he looked at me.

"I'm rather picky when it comes to girls, if you know what I mean. I'd like to know how long we'll have to wait for another auction to come up in case I don't find a girl to my liking tonight," I explained casually, sensing Darius' distrust. We could not have him, or anybody in here getting suspicious of our true intentions.

Much to my relief, Darius smirked, nodding in understanding. "Oh, I know exactly what you mean. I'm that way, too. But don't worry, these auctions take place every other month so you won't have to wait long."

I nodded in understanding, giving Darius a smile as I leaned back in my seat, even though my stomach bottomed out on the inside, leaving me feeling hollow.

It had been months since Delilah had been kidnapped. Did that mean she had already been sold to someone? I worried my bottom lip between my teeth as visions of my sister being used by some random man flashed through my mind's eye.

Was I too late?

"Hey," I heard Rico's voice before he used his thumb to relieve my lip. "We'll figure it out," he whispered so only I could hear, interlacing our fingers together and giving my hand a squeeze.

I nodded slightly, knowing that if I let my thoughts spiral, I'd go crazy. So I forced myself to take a deep breath and focus on the now. Federico was right. I'd come this far, I couldn't give up now. Wouldn't.

Besides, I knew that with him by my side, I would figure it out.

Moments later, a man came up onto the stage and introduced himself as Ivan, officially announcing the auction open as he dragged the first woman up on the stage.

The girl looked barely legal as she stood in the middle of the stage clad in an almost nonexistent bikini, her face completely devoid of emotions as she looked down at her feet, not making eye contact with anyone.

Ivan announced her stage name and age, seemingly proud of how young she was.

Several people placed their bets on the young woman, cheering loudly each time someone bid higher up.

Finally, after a bit of back and forth between two men who seemed to hell-bent on buying the girl, she was finally sold to the highest bidder.

The auction went on in a similar fashion with Ivan announcing the name and age of each girl before selling her off to the highest bidder.

Federico bid on a few women too for appearance's sake, but I could not shake off Darius' words from my mind. I kept thinking about Delilah being there on the stage at one of the previous auctions before she was also sold to the highest bidder to do as he pleased with her.

The thought both saddened and angered me. I knew that when I found her, she might not be the same person that she was before being kidnapped. I had seen firsthand what being abducted by the Russian mafia could do to a girl, but I still had hope that maybe by some miracle she had been spared from the horrors of the underworld. I knew it was delusional of me to think that she'd be unscathed, but it was the only way for me to keep myself sane until I found her.

But tonight, seeing girl after girl come onto the stage, was slowly crushing my hopes of ever finding her. When Ivan announced that the last girl for tonight's auction was here, and she wasn't my Delilah, I was somehow both relieved and worried. Relieved that she wasn't here being treated like a piece of meat by these people but also worried that I might be too late in reaching her. That she might've already been sold to someone at the previous auctions, or something much worse had already happened to her.

Fuck, I wasn't even sure if Delilah was still alive. What if they had gotten angry at something she had said or done and they had killed her?

The people around us began to get up and leave now that the auction was over. Rico tugged at my hand that was still wrapped in his as he pulled me up to stand.

Wordlessly, I followed his command before walking beside him to our car outside.

Just as quietly, I slipped into the car when Rico held the back door open for me before sitting inside himself and instructing the driver to take us back home.

"Come here," Rico muttered before grabbing my waist and pulling me towards him until I was sitting on his lap. Then, he wrapped his arms around me in a bone-crushing hug.

It seemed as if that was all I needed to let out all of my pent-up frustrations at the situation in the form of tears. I sobbed to my heart's content in the safety of Rico's arms and he let me. He let me cry as I straddled him, my tears soaking his shirt as he rocked us back and forth, whispering sweet nothings into my ear to calm me down.

Then, when we had reached home, he didn't say anything, quietly carrying me out of the car with me clinging onto him like a koala, my cries reduced to occasional sniffles as he carried me up the stairs and into our room.

Rico placed me on the bed before kneeling between my parted knees and looking up at me. "I know what we saw tonight has been super upsetting for you, and I know you might feel that we might already be too late in finding your sister, but you need to hold on to hope, cara. You have to have faith in yourself and me that we'll find her. You've come this far already. Don't give up now. I won't let you," he said, looking straight into my eyes as he did so.

Looking at him I realised that he was trying to be my pillar of strength in these testing times, someone I could lean on to for support. And that made me love him that much more.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you, too. And I'm here for you, always," he muttered, wrapping his hands around my waist and resting his head on my lap.

"I know," I replied, believing it with every fiber of my being, and hoping against hope that we would find my sister soon.