At the same time, in another room, three of the broker's subordinates were listening intently to the wiretap.
It was too stimulating. Their eyes had lost focus, nostrils flaring, mouths opening and closing like fish out of water as they gasped for air. They were straining to catch every sound, unwilling to miss a single detail.
"The auction's about to start. Pay attention." The broker, Patrice Saint-Galy, stepped in, delivered the line, then turned and left. But as he reached the doorway, something felt off. Why weren't his three men reacting? Had someone killed them?
He hurried back and found them very much alive—just completely out of it.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing!"
"No problem!"
"We're fine!"
All three shook their heads in perfect sync.
If he didn't know them inside and out, Patrice would've thought they'd betrayed him.
He tapped each one on the head. "Get serious, all of you."
The three exchanged glances, seeing the same helplessness in each other's eyes. What the hell was wrong with this world? Women getting together with women...
The auction began, and Bella and Natasha finally dropped the act, both exhaling in relief.
No rehearsal. Pure improvisation. And they'd had to deliver all those suggestive lines—talk about a test of their acting skills.
Bella smoothed down her clothes, then stamped her heels twice, adjusting them.
Between the sounds of fabric rustling came lines like, "Help me with this zipper," and "Can you tie my hair?" as if they'd just finished something intense.
The auction officially began.
Through the monitor, they watched as girls were brought up one by one. Numb expressions. Turn around. Lift your head. Squat. Display yourselves to the customers in the surrounding rooms.
No opening remarks. The transactions moved fast.
Bella and Natasha joined the bidding—aggressively.
"You bid a hundred thousand? I'll bid two hundred thousand. Buy this girl and take her home."
"Oh? Nice figure on this one. Three hundred thousand—sold. Take her home to warm the bed."
"Wow, look at that skin. Three hundred and fifty thousand? Hmm… fine, her too. Take her home for some group activities."
They spent money wildly. Behind the wiretap, the three men felt the world grow cold, each silently wondering what the hell had happened to society.
No one realized Bella and Natasha were purely there to cause chaos.
"The final item. As tradition dictates, we save the best for last. Speaks English, knows some French, definitely a virgin. Starting price: one hundred thousand."
A girl in nothing but underwear was pushed onto the stage like merchandise.
Natasha raised one finger. Bella nodded. This was Bryan Mills' daughter—the girl Kim they'd met on the plane.
"One hundred thousand!" Someone bid immediately.
"One hundred and fifty thousand."
"Two hundred thousand."
Bella didn't even look. She slapped the red button.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand."
Her bid was quickly surpassed, the price climbing to four hundred thousand.
After several more rounds, she finally secured Kim for six hundred and fifty thousand.
Since she had no intention of paying anyway, Bella bid on anything that caught her eye. By the end, aside from Kim, she'd bought three other girls as well.
She and Natasha walked out. The guard assigned to escort the four girls froze for a moment.
What strange times. Women buying women? He glanced at their looks and figures, then back at the four girls. His first thought: what a waste.
But money ruled everything. Pay up, do whatever you want—take them home for game nights, have them wash your feet—didn't matter. They didn't care. Couldn't afford to.
All four girls wore collars, led out like property. Their expressions were complicated. They'd assumed the buyer would be some lecherous old man. Seeing two women instead felt bizarre.
Kim thought they looked familiar, but their faces were disguised. In a place like this, she didn't dare look too closely. The humiliation of her current state made her lower her head quickly.
Natasha took the chains attached to the collars, gesturing for the four girls to move to the back. Bella opened her handbag as if preparing to pay.
Pay? Hell no. She'd already decided this was going to be free.
While rummaging through her bag, she suddenly pulled out a pistol and fired several shots at the two men directly ahead.
Natasha drew her own weapon and dropped the guard beside them.
"I'm a friend of your father's. I'm here to save you," Bella whispered urgently to Kim.
The four girls stared at the bodies, frozen.
Bella raised her hand to slap them alert, but seeing how little clothing they wore—probably not even a few ounces total—she had no idea where to safely make contact.
Kim's top was skimpier than a bralette—two straps wrapped around and tied behind her neck, leaving her entire back exposed. Below were shorts so short they barely qualified as clothing.
Bella settled for patting Kim's shoulder, snapping the girl out of her shock.
She tilted her head toward Natasha, signaling her partner to clear out the guards ahead.
Bella looked around for something to cover the girls with. Sending them out dressed like this was too provocative. She was worried the old agent would have a stroke when he saw his daughter like this.
The guards' suits were blood-soaked. Releasing her psionic senses, she quickly detected several mental signatures in the second room on the left.
Probably customers who'd heard the gunshots and locked themselves in.
She kicked the door open. Inside: one old man, two bodyguards.
Three sets of clothes. Not much, but it'd have to do.
"Who are you?" one bodyguard demanded.
This time, Bella didn't bother with her gun. She kicked him in the groin. As he crumpled, she planted her left hand, twisted her waist, and snapped a kick into the other bodyguard's neck.
She could easily manage high kicks, but the dress was too restrictive.
After dropping both bodyguards, the old man went down just as easily. Bella stripped the suits and shirts off all three and handed them to the girls.
The suits provided rough coverage at best. Their legs were completely exposed—like they weren't wearing pants at all.
"Hurry! Put these on and follow me!" Bella didn't have time to find them pants. This would have to do.