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Henri rubbed his palms on his knees. “Had a late lunch. You feed us too well in here. I have to be careful not to indulge.” He chuckled and patted his flat, carved belly. “If I keep eating the way I have, I’ll end up as round as Roland.”
Victor kept staring for a moment, but Henri didn’t flinch.
If Victor looked at the camera footage, he’d see Henri eating a club sandwich in our chambers this afternoon while I’d enjoyed a sweet potato and mushroom wrap. What he wouldn’t see was Henri vomiting it all back up again, thanks to Victor admitting the only place he didn’t put cameras was on the toilet.
For Henri’s sake, I hoped Victor had no idea how often his stomach punished him because even I knew the more his system broke, the more his thoughts unravelled.
Stabbing a piece of succulent fish, Victor accepted Henri’s answer. “Tomorrow, I’ll show you what I mean. These sites are riddled with sales like this. The only difference that makes them stand out is the price.”
“The price?” Henri asked coldly.
“Well, you can’t very well sell a blonde eight-year-old girl for the same price as an ugly dress, now can you? The auction usually starts around thirty thousand, but one of my friend’s listings ended the night I was there, and the final price was fifty-four thousand.”
“Fifty-four thousand?” Henri shook his head, his energy once again coiling and clotting. “Surely these sites would flag those transactions. No one in their right mind would spend that much on a dress.”
“I’m not sure how he gets away with it. But he does.” He winked. “Makes bank too. All he needs is a warehouse to keep merchandise and a way to ship them to their new homes.” He winked. “And here I was thinking I earned a good living mining my jewels once they’d passed their use-by date.”
Rachel stiffened.
My heart stopped.
What?
Henri leaned forward, repeating my horrified silent question. “What? You don’t mean…”
“Organ trade?” Victor stuffed another forkful into his mouth. “Of course! Lucrative. Very lucrative.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Henri sucked in a breath before dropping his hand and asking, “You’re saying you carve out the organs of your jewels and sell them?”
“Oops. Cover your ears, Rachel. Ily.” Snickering, Victor tore through a piece of steak with perfect white teeth. “Waste not, want not.” He chuckled at Henri’s slack face. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were ready to hear all aspects of my operation, my friend. My overseer told me that you’ve been diligent in learning how my estate works while I’ve been away.”
“Your overseer?” Henri forced himself to relax again but his energy tangled and snarled. “I mean, I inspected a few of your processes.” He flicked me a look. “And I spoke to a few staff. I also visited your orchards and maintenance areas of your castle. I’m impressed with how well it’s all run.”
“Merci.” Victor grinned. “I appreciate your acknowledgement of the time and effort that goes into running a place such as this. But my apologies.” Chewing another strip of steak, he chuckled. “I thought you might be ready to hear the rest of my business endeavours, but perhaps it’s a tad too soon. Don’t worry, Henri, I won’t expect you to cut out the organs of those I request you to exterminate. I have a man who carefully does that for me. For now…let’s just enjoy our meal and return to other subjects, yes?”
Henri tossed back his entire glass of alcohol before raking a hand through his hair and nodding. “Sure.”
Finishing his meal in contented silence, Victor passed a few morsels to Rachel before reaching for his glass and sighing. Watching her closely as she ate the food he’d given her, Victor leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “It pleases me to see you eating so well, my pet. I’ll ensure you receive three meals a day while carrying my child so my son is born as healthy as can be.”
Licking her lips and lowering her eyelashes, Rachel played a far better slave than I ever could. “Thank you so much, Sir V. Your kindness is much appreciated.”
“Good girl.” Scratching his bare belly, Victor yawned. “Tell me, Henri. Have you ever had the urge to propagate?”
Henri flicked me a horrified look before his face shut down. He shrugged. “Never really crossed my mind.”
“You could knock up your precious jewel. Between the two of you, you’d create a stunning child. It could sell for far more than a measly fifty grand, I’m sure.”
I swayed.
Dark spots danced in my vision.
He couldn’t be serious.
He was a monster, but this? No one could be this extreme. My mind literally couldn’t accept it. Couldn’t fathom that men like him existed. Men who clapped their hands at the thought of selling children.
Our children.
Men who saw nothing wrong with cutting out organs or making a profit from things that ought to be untouchable.
