My blood went cold as I stared up at the boss. His presence was commanding, and I didn’t truly understand how someone could hold so much power until I was being stared down at by him.

He wore a black suit and a mask covering his face. I wondered for a moment why, then thought about how Roman had told me that they had tightened security around themselves after so many raids had taken place.

"Jared..." I heard Bernard say in a whispered voice. He was laughing, but the concern in his tone was evident. "What are you doing here?"

A reply to his question didn’t come right away. The boss, Jared as he was called, only made his way in front of my chair. I began to feel sweat pool under my arms as he stared down at me. He was much larger than Bernard but smaller than Roman.

Still, he was menacing to behold. He regarded me for a long moment. I refused to break the eye contact he seemed so intent on holding. He then turned away from me to face Bernard as the two of them began to speak.

"I came to see what was taking you so long. Because of your little infatuation with this woman, the shipment is being delayed and is unable to proceed." His voice was strong. Just listening to it you could tell appropriately what the power dynamic was in this room.

"I told him to hurry up!" Jessica’s shrill voice rang out into the room. "He wanted to make sure this b*tch knew exactly who she was dealing with though!" She laughed in her hand in a high-pitched voice and clung to Jared’s arm. Strangely enough, he didn’t shake her off or seem to mind her being there.

Bernard only seethed at Jessica.

"Is this true?" Jared asked coldly.

"Not at all," Bernard said as he waved his palms in front of him. "I know how important this shipment is to you, so I was just making sure there weren’t going to be any surprise visitors, of course."

"Ah," Jared said. He then turned to me. "How is our dear Mr. Roman doing by the way? I heard he put himself in a rather unfortunate situation looking for me."

I tried not to let the emotion on my face show or give them any clues as to what the real situation with Roman was. In fact, he was healing at a steady rate, and the FBI was close to unmasking all the people involved in the running of the Auction House. They just needed a little more time, so that’s what I needed to give them.

"You’re going to pay for what you did to him, Jared. Now that I’ve seen your face..." I was cut off by a loud and boisterous laugh from the boss himself.

Jessica joined in on the laughter rather obnoxiously.

"So what?" Jared asked. "Do you think now that you’ve seen my face you automatically win? Little girl," Jared leaned in closer to me and placed his hand on the back of my chair, "if you think taking me out means the end of this operation, you have a lot to learn."

Sh*t. What did that mean?

"You’re the boss, aren’t you?" I taunted him with a raised eyebrow and watched as he nodded.

"I am the boss, yes, of this division." My blood ran cold the more he spoke. "But you see, little girl, and I’ll tell you this because there is no chance of you escaping us again, but our webs are much more widely spread than you or your little Roman and his agents believe."

Blinking up at him, I tried to remain stoic as he spoke on.

"So it doesn’t matter if you see my face. It doesn’t matter if Roman sees my face, and it certainly doesn’t matter if you know that there are more of us out there. The fact is you’re never going to make it out of here alive."

I tried to figure out if he was bluffing or not, but his face was as straight as mine. It was hard reading the man. I looked to Jessica to try and see if her face gave any clues.

My attention was pulled from her when Jared grabbed my chin and made me face him.

"You are a very smart woman, Hannah. You know how to play on people’s emotions. That’s why I respect you so much, you know?" I blanched at his words. "I have been monitoring you for a long time. You have truly managed to impress me."

Jared pushed my head back harshly as he straightened himself and crossed his hands in front of his body. "However, you remind me a lot of myself. Because of that, I know you cannot be controlled, not truly. And people like you and I... Well, let’s just say the fish tank may feel a bit tight."

My stomach was in swirls the more he began speaking. I tried not to let the way his words affected me to show. Me? And him? The same? Never in a million years. Not even over my dead body.

I voiced as much. "Well you see there’s just that tiny bit of difference between you and me, Jared."

"Oh?" he asked curiously. "What is that?"

"I don’t deal in human trafficking."

He let out yet another loud laugh and nodded as he began walking away.

"Once you let yourself loose and release those shackles that confine you, there will be a whole world of things you have yet to explore."

I scoffed at him. "Those shackles are called morals. You might want to look the word up some day."

He only smirked down at me as he grabbed Jessica and began to leave. "Goodbye, Mrs. Thaddeus. It truly was a pleasure to meet you."

Once the two of them were gone, it was just Bernard and me in the room. I somehow felt less and more frightened than before.

Less frightened because of the lack of Jared’s presence in the room and more so because of the lack of Jessica’s, despite her irritating personality.

It seemed my thoughts had slipped over my face from the look Bernard was currently hosting over his own features. Quickly, I moved to remind him of the instruction his boss had given to him.

"Has Jared ever killed a man before?" I asked him softly.

Bernard barely paid my question any mind as he stalked toward me, his eyes clouded with something I was afraid of. "I guess so."

It was a mumbled response, but I would take it. "Well, I was just asking since he seemed awfully pissed at having his deadline delayed. I doubt he would kill you exactly." Bernard’s face began to pale. "But you seem to be short on men lately..."

A growl of frustration left Bernard’s mouth. He quickly moved to grab me and untie the handcuffs from the other set that bound me to the chair. My arms and legs were still bound together as I was pushed down many dimly lit corridors.

Bernard made the mistake of not blindfolding me in his hurry to fulfill his boss’s requests. That was the first of many mistakes he would make.

I saw the familiar large, rectangular shape of the steel door where I had been bound and locked in a cage earlier. When he opened it, the top of the staircase came into my sight.

Bernard pushed me down as fast as he could. Having my feet bound was hard enough with walking, never mind going down the stairs. I purposefully made it even harder for him.

"You know it would go a lot faster if you took the ties off my feet," I told him. "It’s like your boss said, I’m not going anywhere."

He grunted as he stupidly listened to my advice. I credited it to both his lack of brain cells and the fear of his boss that I had, rightly so, planted in his mind. Bernard bent down and untied my feet properly. That was his second mistake.

I could have easily kicked him down the stairs when my legs were free but that wouldn’t secure him for long. I had to come up with a plan to incapacitate him for a longer period of time than that.

I walked slowly as Bernard led the way to the cage and made note of the lack of guards and the eyes of the women watching us. The long chain of the cage was still inside. I figured he meant to tie me back inside with it.

Bernard, oh stupid Bernard, made his third and most fatal mistake that night when he looked me in the eyes as he sat me down on the stone slab at the wall of the cage.

"Are you leaving so soon?" I made sure to bat my eyelashes seductively at him and knew I had him secured and entrapped the minute a sickening smile made its way across his face.

I watched as he stalked his way closer to me. My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I went to put my plan into motion.