Chapter 201
Lindsay was completely unfazed. “Go on, you can throw me out right now.”
Honestly, it would have been completely out of character for Lester *not* to. It was a perfect betrayal of the tough-guy act he was so desperate to maintain.
“I wouldn’t stoop that low. It’s not my style,” Lester said, with no trace of shame. The irony seemed lost on him, considering he’d once paid a fortune to have her personal information plastered all over the dark web.
Lindsay laughed out loud. “It’s not like you haven’t done worse. Need I remind you?”
Lester’s gaze flickered, and he quickly changed the subject. “This isn’t the time to argue. We should be figuring out how to get out of here. Or do you plan on just sitting here waiting to die?”
“We’re on a cruise ship. No speedboats, no life preservers. What else can we do but wait?” Lindsay shot back. “Besides, even if you found a life jacket, the ship’s been sailing for hours. You’d be exhausted long before you ever saw the shore.”
Lester’s brow furrowed. “So we’re just supposed to die?”
“What’s there to be afraid of? Yves will come for us,” Lindsay said, her confidence unwavering.
“I’m more worried we’ll have our organs harvested and be thrown to the sharks long before Yves ever shows up.”
“Trust me, that won’t happen.”
“You have that much faith in him?”
Lindsay shook her head. “I have faith in myself.”
“What gives you the right to be so confident?” Lester scoffed. “You’re a woman
who can barely lift a finger. They could crush you like an ant.”
“Crushing *you* would be as easy as squashing an ant,” she retorted. “But I’m not you.”
Lester let out a derisive laugh, his eyes mocking her. *We’ll see how long that smirk lasts,* he thought.
After a long while, the door opened, and two of Arthur’s men entered. They grabbed Lindsay and Lester and escorted them to the fifth floor.
The fifth floor was the yacht’s hedonistic heart, a scene of pure decadence. They were immediately confronted with a shocking sight. a beautiful woman, completely naked, was trapped inside a large ron cage like an animal. Below a frenzy of men held up paddles, shouting out bids. The woman in the cage was clearly the prize in a twisted auction, to be sold to the highest bidder.
Lindsay tilted her head, studying the the cage. She looked
woman in
vaguely
familiar but her face smudged with dirt, and from this distance, it was hard to be sure.
“Damn it,” Lester hissed, his face pale with worry. Cold sweat trickled down his palms. “They’re not going to strip us down and auction us off too, are they?”
Lindsay glanced at him. “Even if they did, you’re nothing to look at. What are you so afraid of?”
“Don’t I have any sense of shame?”
“Ha,” was Lindsay’s only reply, dripping with sarcasm.
“Well, well. Care to join the fun in the cage?” Arthur sneered as he approached them, his words slimy.
Neither of them responded, though their thoughts were a torrent of curses directed at him.
“Take him down to the fourth floor,” Arthur ordered one of his men.
The guard immediately grabbed Lester’s arm and dragged him away.
Arthur seemed to relish the idea of Lindsay’s fear. He rested a heavy hand on her shoulder, though his gaze was fixed on the woman in the cage.
“How about we let her out,” he murmured, “and put you in her place?”
“And if I say no?” Lindsay challenged, not answering his question. “Would that stop you?”
Arthur roared with laughter. “Of
course not. You’re far more beautiful than she is Putting you in the
would be much more entertaining.” The bids would go through the roof.”