Beautiful Prey 2: The Storm Series (BWWM Romance) (27 page)

“Walker!” Sgt. Banner yelled from the end of the hall.

Natasha turned in his direction.

“The Commander wants to see you.”

Natasha nodded and turned in her
tracks. She walked towards the Commander’s office, thinking that it was funny
that a commander, that couldn’t stand her, was requesting her presence. Natasha
was exhausted. She and Gianni had just returned from Paris the night before,
and they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other all night. And although
she was dog tired, she wasn’t complaining.

She walked into the outer office. The
commander’s rude frumpy secretary looked up at her like she didn’t know why she
was standing there. She huffed and stood up, wearing a pair of unflattering
“mommy jeans”, clearly irritated that she had to get off of her lazy ass and
inform the commander that she arrived. Since she worked for someone with a
little power, she forgot that she was just a lowly police officer, like the
rest of them. Natasha didn’t like the woman, and she didn’t hide it.

           
“Send her in,” she heard the commander say from his office.

Natasha didn’t wait for “Frumpy” to
tell her to go in. She simply walked passed her and entered his office.

“Have a seat,” he said, gesturing
toward the chair in front of his desk.

At that moment, Natasha realized that
“have a seat” were the only words the man had spoken to her, since she’d been
transferred to his unit. She looked over at the lieutenant sitting on a sofa
behind her. She laughed inside, realizing that he didn’t want to be alone in a
room with her. 

Getting to the point, he asked, “Do
you remember the van that almost ran you down?”

“Yes.”

“Well, they were all slaves in a
human trafficking ring.”

Duh
, she thought to herself.

“We got an undercover on the inside.
Do you know Aurek?”

“Yes. I know him.”

Aurek was a Polish officer that
worked in Human Trafficking. He did a lot of translating and interrogating for
the unit. He was a good cop and a really nice guy, but he was no undercover. He
did, however, speak Russian and Polish.

“Well, he found out that the Russians
are running women in and out of Poland. He also says that this group has a
fetish for the exotic.”

“Ooh... kay?”

“In their eyes, you’re exotic,” he
continued.

“Oh. They like black women.”

“Yeah. We need to put you in the
auction. That way we can catch ‘em and shut ‘em down.”

“Auction?”

“Yeah. Aurek is gonna get you in.
And, as soon as someone places a bid for you, we’re gonna hit the place.” He
explained, as it was the most simple thing in the world.

She asked, “Will I get to work with
my team?”

“Yeah, but only Aurek will be on the
inside. Everyone else will be standby.”

Natasha wasn’t feeling this new
mission. Something about being a black woman, standing in a slave auction,
didn’t sit well with her.

She said, shaking her head, “I don’t
know if I’m the right one for this job.”

           
“Natasha, I know that you’ve never participated in a mission like this before,
but since we no longer have Victoria, you gotta step up to the plate. We’ve
been trying to take down this human trafficking ring for years, and with your
youthful and innocent face, we could crack this case wide open. Think of the
innocent young victims that are being bought and sold into sexual slavery. You
have an entire department behind you and we’ll never let anything happen to
you. As soon as the deal is done, we’ll get you out of there. You’ll be safe.

That, I promise.”

Giving in, she asked, “When is the
auction?”

“A week from Friday.”

“Okay.”

“Get with Aurek. He can give you the
details.

“Yes sir.”

Natasha stood and left the office.
She prepared herself for another shitty day of selling herself to nasty men.

***********

Natasha flopped down in a booth, across from Malik. She was
grateful that her workday was finally over. Natasha hated prostitution, and she
couldn’t wait until her lawsuit was done so that she could go back to
narcotics. Her attorney had left a message when she was in Paris, saying that
the department had offered to settle. Of course they didn’t want take this case
to court; they’ve already swept four other sexual harassment complaints,
against the same boss, under the rug. And as soon as Natasha’s attorneys named
the previous victims as witnesses, the settlement offers came rolling in. 

“Eww... You’re in a mood,” Malik
mumbled. “You’re always such a bitch when you get off.”

“I hate my job.” Natasha huffed,
throwing her head back.

“Well, quit. It’s not like you need
that job.”

The waiter interrupted, “May I take
your order?”

Natasha was grateful for the
interruption.

“Yes. I’ll have a Long Island ice tea
and the chicken Caesar salad.”

As Malik placed his order, Natasha
was trying to figure out how to tell him that she’d been married for months
without telling him.

When the waiter smiled and walked
away, Malik picked up where they left off.  “So, why don’t you quit?”

“Malik, I don’t want to talk about
that right now. There’s something that I need to tell you.” 

He asked, as if he already knew the
entire story, “Oh? You’re finally gonna tell me that Gianni’s moved in with
you?”

Natasha wasn’t at all surprised that
Malik noticed Gianni’s every day presence at her condo, after all they did live
in the same building. When the waiter returned with their drinks, Natasha
braced herself for Malik’s reaction to her news.

           
“Yeah, but there’s more,” she admitted when the waiter walked away.

He prompted, sipping his cocktail,
“Okay?”

“We’re married.”

Malik’s eyes widened, mid sip. He let
the straw drop from his mouth as he crumbled his brow. “What? When?”

“Four months ago,” Natasha mumbled
under her breath.

He shouted, causing everyone in the
restaurant to turn in their direction. “What?!”

She hushed him, embarrassed by the
attention that they were getting, “Shh! I can explain.”

“Explain?! How in the fuck can you
possibly explain being married for four months and not telling me?!”

“Please, calm down. Let me explain.”

Malik rolled his eyes, leaned back in
his seat, and said, “Okay. Explain.” 

Natasha ran through everything that she’s
experienced in the last few months without any interruption from Malik. By the
end of her story, Malik’s silence was crippling. She pulled the straw out of
her glass and gulped as much liquor as she could. Unable to gauge his reaction,
Natasha added, “Well... Say something.”

“Congratulations,” he offered with a
smile.

She asked, surprised by his response.
“Really? Congratulations? That’s all you have to say?”

“Yes, if you’re happy. Are you?”

“I am.” Natasha could hear the
excitement in her own voice.

“I am.” She repeated. “Gianni is
wonderful.”

“Then I’m happy too. I can’t wait to
tell Parker.”

Natasha, relieved that everyone
finally knew her secret, was able to exhale, relax, and enjoy dinner with her
best friend. She was finally happy. And laughing and talking with Malik, was
icing on the cake. To top it off, she’d be going home to her ‘sex on two feet’
husband. Yes, Natasha’s mood had drastically changed for the better.

Gianni sat on the sofa, watching Natasha scramble around,
trying to get ready for work. It had been two weeks since they returned from
Paris and Natasha hadn’t once mentioned going back. He knew that he needed to
get the conversation of her moving to Paris out of the way. He heard Natasha
coming down the hall, so he hopped off of the sofa and ran over to block her
path. She looked past him and at the clock on the wall.

“Baby, I got go,” she spat, after
quickly pecking his lips.

“I know, but I need to talk to you
about something.”

She looked at the clock and then back
to Gianni.

“Okay. I have a few minutes. Seeing
as how I won’t see you again until Sunday,” she said, slipping her arms around
his neck. “I miss you when you’re in Paris.”

“I miss you too,” Gianni admitted,
amazed that his cock got instantly hard as soon as she touched him. But instead
of campaigning for a quickie, he decided to breach the subject that he had been
dreading.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her
over to the sofa. “Sit. We need to talk.”

A look of concerned came over
Natasha. She sat quickly, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong baby,” he responded
quickly, not wanting to worry her. “The thing is... My home and most of my
businesses are in France. I wanted to talk to you about maybe moving to Paris.”
Gianni rushed the words from his mouth, figuring the best thing to do is to
just spit it out. As he waited for her response, he thought of ways to try and
convince her.

“Okay,” she said with a nod.

“What?! Okay?”

“Yep. Why not? Shit, I married you damn
near the day after we met. Why play it safe now?” Natasha chuckled.

Gianni was shocked by her compliance,
accompanied by her bright smile. Natasha threw herself into his arms and Gianni
felt a happiness that he’d never felt before. If he were alone, he might have
shed a tear.

“Ah, Bella, you make me a happy man,”
he said, falling back on the sofa, pulling Natasha on top of him.

“You make me a happy woman,” she
replied, giving him a loving kiss. “But, right now, I gotta go to work.”

She climbed off of Gianni, and
something inside told him not to let her go. But, she had agreed to move to
Paris, so he would sacrifice one weekend for the rest of his life with her. He
knew that, to most people, falling in love so fast was not normal. But Gianni
could give less than a damn. He loved Natasha, wanted her from the moment that
he laid eyes on her. He wasn’t ashamed of his feelings, and fuck anyone who
didn’t understand.

Suddenly, he made a decision. Gianni
pulled out his cellular and texted Luca, telling him that he wasn’t coming home
for the weekend. He watched Natasha get ready for work. And when she kissed him
goodbye, he relaxed on the sofa, thinking about how lucky a man he was.

Natasha walked into the Organize Crime Division building on
cloud nine. She was totally shocked when Gianni asked her to move to Paris, but
she was even more shock by how quickly she agreed. Honestly, it wasn’t
something that she needed to think on. Her answer was spontaneous and she was
happy with her decision. She was in love and happy. Gianni had opened up a
world of possibilities. And, admittedly, Natasha didn’t love her job anymore
and she didn’t need the money.

She got on the elevator and selected
her floor. As soon as the doors began to close, Natasha heard Deon calling out
for her to hold the elevator. Natasha stuck her hand between the doors, just
before they closed.

They popped open and Deon hurried on
the elevator. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”
           

“So, are you ready for tonight?”

No
, she thought. But what came out was, “Yeah, I guess.”

“How’s married life?”

“Fine.”

Still feeling uncomfortable from
their last conversation about Gianni, Natasha had no desire to discuss her
personal life with Deon. When the elevator stopped on their floor, Natasha
stepped off first. She could feel Deon’s eyes on her and she grew even more
uncomfortable. They walked into the Vice section and into the roll call room.

Natasha took the seat next to Steve.
“Hey, big guy.”

“Well, hello, Mrs. Storm,” he replied,
smirking.

“You heard, huh?”

“Yeah. Vic told Tracy.”

“Those Storm dudes are some brave
men,” he said, shaking his head. “Jack married a hot–headed expert in hand to
hand combat, and then Gianni went and married a sharp shooter with anger
issued.” He chuckled.

Laughing along with him, Natasha
muttered, “I know right? They’re screwed.”

Sergeant Banner stumbled into the
roll call room, interrupting their banter. Natasha couldn’t believe that his
ass was drunk already. The man desperately needed a twelve step program.

“Listen up,” he slurred. “We’re
hitting the pussy auction tonight.”

Natasha rolled her eyes at his
ignorant insensitive comment.

“And we’re gonna be sending in our
own pussy,” he said with a stupid grin on his face, as if he’d said something clever.

Natasha was highly offended by
Sergeant Banner’s stupid ass comment. But before she could say a word, Steve
jumped to his feet.

He snapped, “Just get on with the
fucking roll call!”

The sergeant opened his mouth as if he
wanted to lash back, but he took one look at the big angry marine and thought
better of it. When it was clear that Banner was backing down, Steve took his
seat. The rest of the team began to snicker, and the sergeant’s embarrassment
was obvious. He cleared his throat and continued.

“Natasha and Aurek will be the
decoys, Steve is the eyeball, and Miguel, Frankie, Deon, and myself will work
enforcement. A 13th District Tact team will be providing a little extra
back–up.”

He looked around to make sure that every
understood. When he was satisfied that they did, he continued.

“Here’s the deal... Aurek is going to get Natasha into the
auction. He’ll let us know if there’s a bid. When Natasha exits with the buyer,
Steve is going to call it. Enforcement will hit the buyer and pull Natasha out,
and then the Tact team will hit the auction.”

Sergeant Banner tossed a set of keys
at Aurek. “Take the Mercedes. Gotta look the part. Walker, when you’re done
changing, meet Aurek in the lot. Miguel, you take the wagon,” he said, tossing
a set to Miguel.

“Okay everybody, remember the most
important thing about your mission today is going home at the end of the night.
Be safe.”

Natasha and the rest of the team
stood and filed out of the roll call room. Since she had never worked with
Aurek, nor had she ever stood in a human auction before, Natasha began to get
more and more anxious. Since she’d already planned on quitting the department,
she was seriously thinking about walking out of the building, and never looking
back. But, the thought of all of those women being forced into sexual slavery,
guided her to the locker room.

Natasha got dressed and inspected
herself in the mirror. She dressed in a short black dress and black stilettos.
In order to enhance her youthfulness, she slicked her hair back and wore a
minimal amount of makeup. Once she was satisfied with her look, she sat on the
bench and searched her bag for her cellular. When she couldn’t find it after
pulling everything out, she figured that she’d left it at home. She was
disappointed because she wanted to talk to Gianni before he left for Paris.
Natasha tossed her stuff back into the bag and headed out of the locker room.

Natasha walked out of the building. Aurek pulled up in front
of the door, and Natasha hopped into the front seat.

He asked, “You ok?”

           
Natasha could tell that he was as nervous as she was.

“Yeah, I’m just new to this human
trafficking stuff.”

“Well, at least you have undercover
experience.” He pointed out, in a heavy Polish accent.

“Yeah. It’ll be fine. We’ll just get
in and out,” Natasha reassured.

           
“Okay. So there’s some things that you need to know. First, keep your head
down, never look anyone in the eye. Secondly, don’t smile. Third, and most
importantly, do not ever speak,” he said with emphasis.

 Natasha nodded.

“Got it.”

They took off and Natasha sat back
and rested her head against the headrest, pissed at herself for leaving her
phone at home. She wanted so badly to hear Gianni’s voice. For the entire twenty
minute drive, she thought of nothing but moving to Paris and starting a new
life with Gianni. When Aurek parked, Natasha did her best to clear her mind and
get her head in the game. They got out of the car and Aurek walked Natasha
around to the rear of a warehouse. He knocked on the door and when it opened, a
large man with a spiky blonde mohawk appeared.

Aurek placed his hand on the back of Natasha’s neck and
squeezed, hard. Natasha immediately lowered her eyes. The large man stepped to
the side, allowing them entry. Aurek shoved Natasha inside and walked away. She
was officially on her own.

The large man slammed the door.

“This way,” he grunted.

Natasha followed the man into a room
that was filled with women dressed exactly like her. Once he closed the door,
Natasha looked around. Most of the women were young and white. There was one
woman that appeared to be Hispanic, but Natasha was the only black woman. Some
were crying and muttering in languages that Natasha didn’t understand, but they
all looked broken and afraid. The room had no windows, and it smelled like a
sewer and unclean vagina. Natasha eventually migrated to a corner and watched
as the women were selected one by one and dragged out of the room, waiting
patiently for her turn.

Almost an hour later, the spiky
blonde walked into the room and looked around, as if he was searching for
someone in particular. He looked from the Hispanic woman to Natasha. She
quickly lowered her eyes. Natasha guessed that he was trying to decide between
the “ethnic” women. He decided on Natasha. He yanked her from the corner, and
dragged her down a dark hall, into another room. He placed her on a rotating
platform.

He ordered, “Strip!”

Natasha was shaking as she pulled her
dress past her shoulders, and down her body, leaving her with nothing more than
her bra and underpants. The spiky blonde left her alone in an eerily silent
room, surrounded by mirrored glass. She stared at her feet, fully exposed,
thinking of the wonderful husband that she had to go home to and her new life
in France.

Natasha was done. This wasn’t the
life for her. She could never resonate with prostitution. It just wasn’t her
calling. But, she stood, naked, in front of evil men that were capable of
subjecting women to sexual slavery. The experience only made her appreciate
Gianni even more. He loved her, and everything that he’d done since he’d won
her over was to show her how much she meant to him.

Over an intercom, Natasha could here
men speaking, but she didn’t understand a word they were saying. She stood
quietly, with her head down as men assessed her.  A few seconds later, all
chatter seized, and Natasha was snatched off of the platform. Spiky blonde led
her outside and tossed her into a limousine.

Natasha rode quietly blindfolded in the back of a limo. She
was confident that her team would be ambushing the vehicle soon. For the sake
of her profession, she had allowed herself to be sold off in a human
trafficking investigation that the police department was conducting. Since her
friend, Victoria Storm, left the department, it was now her job to do the
undercover prostitution operations. She was utilized solely based on her baby
face and womanly curves.

Since she wasn’t allowed to get dressed,
Natasha was still wearing the lacy bra and Tanga panties that she wore during
the auction. There were three men in the vehicle who weren’t speaking English.
Before she was blindfolded, she noticed that they were all armed. Though
Natasha assumed that she’d soon be rescued when the limo came to a halt,
Natasha waited for the bum rush that never happened. Instead, she was dragged
from the vehicle and led to a set of steps in which she fumbled her way up.

Although Natasha had faith in her
team, she was trembling with fear. She kept quiet because she didn’t want to
agitate her foreigner captors. She was forced onto a cold leather seat, where
she sat in her damn near naked glory, trying to remember the plan. She was
supposed to stand in the auction. Once someone bid for her, the troops would
run in and save her, according to the commander that stated that she was really
needed for this operation. Well, someone did bid on her; one hundred thousand
dollars in fact.

Trembling in fear and cold, Natasha
thought,
so where are the troops?

Her thoughts returned to the speech
that her commander and his lieutenant gave her before she courageously accepted
this treacherous mission.

“Natasha, I know that you’ve never
participated in a mission like this. Since we no longer have Victoria, you
gotta step up to the plate. We’ve been trying to take down this human
trafficking ring for years. With your youthful and innocent face, we can crack
this case wide open! Think of the innocent young victims that are being bought and
sold into sexual slavery. You have the entire department behind you. We’ll
never let anything happen to you. As soon as the bid is made, we’ll get you out
of there. You’ll be safe. That I promise.”

Suddenly, her blindfold was ripped
from her face. After adjusting her eyes, Natasha noticed that she was on a jet
surrounded by four very intimidating men who were, apparently by their speech,
not American. She couldn’t figure out what language they were speaking. Since
she and her team were investigating a human trafficking ring controlled by the
Ukrainian Mafia between the United States and Poland, Natasha assumed that the
language that they were speaking was Russian.

She shook uncontrollably as fear
raced through her veins. Being on an aircraft was not something she and the
department had discussed. Therefore, Natasha assumed that she was in the
gravest of danger. She looked towards the pilot’s doors. Then she discreetly
surveyed her captors as she contemplated an exit strategy.

It’s now or never
, Natasha thought as anxiety rushed
violently threw her veins.

Without warning, she jumped from her
seat and headed for the door. It was securely fastened. Frantically, she headed
for the pilot as her captors ran towards her. She turned and furiously beat on
the door that secured the cockpit and pleaded for help, only to hear laughter
on the other side.

Natasha turned from the door, well
aware that she was only wearing underwear, and yelled at one of the men to let
her off the plane. Before her stood at least six feet and two inches of grey
eyes filled with fury and eyebrows scrunched with rage. He laughed in her face
as he ran towards her. Natasha made her way back to the door. As she pulled
relentlessly at the handle, the aircraft began to taxi, causing Natasha to panic
even more.

“Let me off of this fucking plane!”

This brought more laughter from the
men as they now stood before her with pure evil and lust in their eyes.

Natasha yanked the handle, attempting
to open the door. The bearded man walked calmly to her. Natasha raised her chin
to face the man head on. He smiled and punched Natasha in the face. She fell
against the door and battled to stay on her feet.

Natasha managed to stay conscious, so
she quickly recovered and kneed the bearded man in the groin.

When her attacker fell to his knees,
Natasha kicked him in the face.

“Fuck you,” she spat as her petite
foot met his rough skin.

He let out a series of curse words in
his native tongue.
“Чертовски
сука! Я
собираюсь
убить тебя!”