Saving Briar

“I wanted Caelan to accompany you, but something came up. It doesn’t really matter though, because his older brother Lachlan is one of our best men and you’ll be safe with him.”

“Is he all right?” When Brielle returned Harlow’s question with a blank look, Harlow suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and elaborated. “Caelan. You said something came up?”

“He’s fine, I’m sure.” Brielle’s tone was annoyed, but her annoyance didn’t seem to be directed at the other woman. “Apparently he hooked up with some woman at one of the clubs and now he’s in love with her and chasing her to the other side of the world. It sounded ridiculous when I heard Rian talking about it earlier on the phone. Mr. Rose definitely doesn’t seem thrilled when he told me that Lachlan would need to replace him. But he isn’t my problem. You are. Whoever bought you just paid nearly a million dollars for the pleasure of your company and you need to go above and beyond to make sure that you don’t disappoint.”

Harlow had already heard all of this from Brielle at least twice before, and once from Stephen when he was helping her pack earlier that morning. He was actually coming with her to do her hair the next day before she was taken to meet the mysterious wolf-shifter who had placed the winning bid.

After the auction closed, Harlow had spent at least half an hour trying to convince someone to tell her who had won it. But no one seemed to know and Brielle had told her that she absolutely was not to ask Hudson about the winner. It was something of a tradition, Brielle had explained, that the girls who were auctioned had no idea who they were going to. That way they didn’t have any sort of set expectations that would leave them disappointed..

“Just think of the money.”

“Hudson’s taking 75%.” Harlow was staring out the window of the private jet, waiting to hear the engine start, and the words slipped out from between her lips.

“Wait. What?” Harlow turned her head to look at the other woman who for some reason seemed to be unsettled by the news.

“What? I was just thinking that it’s not like I’ll be the one making a million dollars here. I mean, I know. It’s still a lot of money. But I’m also spending anywhere from two weeks to a month with this guy, that is if I even shift that soon since no one really seems to know all that much about how long it will take for my body to detox. So if you break it down by the day, I’m not really making more than the other girls who make six figures in a weekend when they go the auction route.” The look on Brielle’s face had caused Harlow to ramble, but she finally fell silent, nodding to a flight attendant when she approached and asked if she would like something to drink, maybe a glass of champagne?

“What deal did you make with him?”

Harlow hadn’t told anyone about the terms she had agreed to with Hudson Rose. She was embarrassed and while she was certain that rumors were inevitable once she began to go to see him every week, especially if he asked her to meet somewhere in the hotel, but she was hoping to keep the details of what she’d done to save her sister under wraps as long for as she possibly could.

“Oh you know. Just the sort of deal that everyone makes.” Harlow muttered the words, reaching gratefully for the glass of champagne that the flight attendant brought over for her and putting the glass up to her lips to take a long sip, hoping that Brielle would see that she obviously didn’t want to discuss her contact and let it go.

“No, you obviously didn’t. Seventy-five percent is in no way standard and it shows that Hudson must have had you right where he wanted you when you were negotiating.” Brielle’s cheeks were flushed and Harlow shook her head, not sure what the other woman was getting at.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” And that was, at least partially, the truth. Harlow had no idea why Brielle was getting so upset. She knew that the other woman had been dating Rian, one of Mr. Rose’s enforcers for over a year, and when Harlow had seen them together, saying goodbye back at the hotel, they had appeared to be quite taken with each other.

“Are you fucking Hudson, Harlow?” Harlow felt her jaw tighten and she brought the flute of champagne up to her lips a second time.

“What are you even talking about?” Harlow practically spit out the words, trying to act enraged by the question, hoping that Brielle wouldn’t notice the way her hand shook while holding her glass.

“Well that’s a yes if I ever heard one.” Brielle’s mouth puckered in disdain and Harlow couldn’t help but think that she looked like she’d been sucking on a lemon.

“Whatever. I don’t know why you would even ask me that. I don’t know what kind of person you think I am, but I can tell you that I am only here because I wanted to find a way to get my sister her freedom so that she can be with a man who clearly cares for her. If I can make enough money to support my daughter while I’m here, good. But I’m definitely not trying to get close to Mr. Rose.”

“I’m here to do my time and then get the Hell away from this entire business. I want a normal life, where I can drive Kayla to school everyday and where I don’t have to worry about whether I have enough money to keep the cupboards full. You go ahead and play whatever game it is that you’re obviously playing, but leave me out of it. If you want to fuck Rian and Hudson and Caelan and whatever other dragon shifters catch you fancy, knock yourself out. But I’m here for one reason and one reason only and it has nothing to do with whatever it is you’re thinking right now.”

Harlow turned her head away from the other woman, not wanting to see the expression on her face. Putting down her drink, she closed her eyes and began to count backwards from a hundred. When she made it all the way to zero, she went back to the beginning and started again until finally, after far too long, she drifted off to sleep.

----------------

“Mr. Fox asked me to meet you.” Harlow had been sitting at a table outside a cafe near her hotel. Lachlan was leaning against a wall nearby, his thick arms folded across his broad chest. He was an intimidating figure by just about any estimation, and while all of the dragon-shifters that Harlow had met were large, Lachlan was truly enormous and built, from his wide shoulders to his tapered waist.

Lachlan seemed more set apart from humans than any shifter of any kind that she’d ever met, and Harlow couldn’t help but think that it was no wonder that in ages past dragon-shifters had lived apart from humans almost entirely. In ages when tales of shifters were still believed by larger numbers of the population, it wouldn’t have been a stretch of the imagination to see that men like Lachlan were somehow more than their human counterparts.

“Excuse me, Miss? You are Miss Kelly, aren’t you? Harlow Kelly?” Harlow nearly jumped in her seat. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn’t even responded to the tall, thin man who was standing right in front of her.

“Yes. I’m sorry. I guess I was daydreaming.” She attempted to force a smile as her eyes skimmed over the man.

“Understandable. Now, let me help you with your bags, and we’ll be on our way. We don’t want to keep Mr. Fox waiting. He’s quite excited to see you.” Bending, he picked up the larger of the two bags that Harlow had packed. It was odd, taking all these outfits with her, that the stylist back at the brothel had picked out for her.

Lachlan stepped forward and almost at once the man straightened and looked in his direction, his eyes narrowing before he turned back to Harlow.

“I was told that you wouldn’t require the presence of a bodyguard. Mr. Fox said that it was arranged with Mr. Rose.” Harlow frowned. The man in front of her wasn’t particularly intimidating, but Harlow knew that she would feel much safer with Lachlan by her side. Even though she hardly knew the man, she understood innately that he would do everything in his power to keep her safe. And Harlow couldn’t help but feel a little nervous that this man was insisting Lachlan not come with them.

It had been repeatedly explained to Harlow that Lachlan would be with her, but that he would always be silent, simply shadowing her when she was in public and making sure that she was safe when she was at the client’s home. Obviously he wouldn’t be in the actual room with her when she was being intimate with the man who had won the auction, but his presence was enough to keep most men from getting rough enough to actually hurt one of Mr. Rose’s girls.

“You can call your boss if you don’t believe me.” The man rolled his eyes as if it was ridiculous that they weren’t taking his word for it but Lachlan immediately nodded.

“I will.” Reaching for his phone he pressed a couple of buttons before holding it up to his ear, a frown furrowing his brow as he waited for his cousin to pick up on the other end of the line.