“Those things will kill you, you know,” a woman’s voice spoke from behind him.<br/><br/>James turned slowly at the words, taking another long drag on his cigarette.  Exhaling a plume of smoke, he took in the sight of Vanessa Lambart.  She was an attractive woman and married to the Earl of Cavan, if he remembered correctly.  Whatever ancient noble title her husband carried, he was also forty years the woman’s senior.  Vanessa opened a silver case and withdrew a cigarette of her own, slipping the end between her bright red lips.<br/><br/>“Then I suppose I should return the warning,” James smiled as he flicked open his lighter and lit her cigarette.  “Unless, of course, you’ve developed a healthier varietal that you’re keeping to yourself?”<br/><br/>Returning his smile, she took a long draw off the cigarette and settled into one of the plush leather chairs in the outdoor seating area.  A man in a tuxedo rushed over to take her order, but she waved him away.  James remained standing, his eyes wandering down at the appearance of Vanessa’s bare thigh through the slit in her cocktail dress as she crossed her legs.<br/><br/>“Sadly, nothing of the sort, though they won’t kill me,” Vanessa winked.  “I am quite confident that I will meet my end in a far more dramatic fashion than lung cancer.”<br/><br/>“One of the perks of the lifestyle, I suppose,” James chuckled.<br/><br/>He had only met her once before, in passing at some black tie affair.  While they were both wealthy, they were typically players in different worlds.  James had built his fortunes from humble beginnings, using his earnings from a successful general contracting business to fund an automobile loan company.  That company, catering to people with damaged credit, now funded loans in forty states.<br/><br/>To people like Vanessa, he was new money.  In this day and age, people like James were shunned at first.  When the earnings portfolio reached a certain level, however, even the proud old money had to sit up and take notice.  New infusions of cash had to come from somewhere, after all.<br/><br/>“How are you finding the auction tonight?” she asked, raising an elegantly trimmed eyebrow.<br/><br/>“Disappointing,” James shrugged.  “But this one isn’t about me.  Today is all business.”<br/><br/>“Business is such a bore,” Vanessa frowned.  “As is this auction.”<br/><br/>“No purchases for you, then?” he asked.<br/><br/>“It seems not,” she sighed then took another drag on the cigarette.  “You?”<br/><br/>“Oh no,” James shrugged.  “But I didn’t come here with the intention.  Today is business, remember?”  He crushed out his cigarette in a standing ash tray.  “And on that note, it’s time for me to get back to it.  It was a pleasure speaking with you.”<br/><br/>“Likewise,” she answered with a smile.  Reaching into her clutch, she withdrew a card and held it up to him.  “I’ll be in town for a couple days.  Feel free to look me up.  Perhaps we can find some more suitable entertainment.”<br/><br/>“Perhaps,” James said, smiling as he took the card.<br/><br/>Excusing himself with a nod, James entered the building once more.  A doorman opened the door to his suite and he stepped inside.<br/><br/>“Holy shit, would you look at that one!” his guest exclaimed, gesticulating wildly toward the stage.<br/><br/>The guest was Timothy “Big Tim” Masterson, who owned a number of car dealerships in Houston.  He looked as though he had just stepped out of one of his television commercials, dressed in tacky western wear that looked as though it had never been in the presence of a horse.  He was holding a half-eaten pastry of some kind and its filling splattered on his bright red shirt as he gestured.<br/><br/>“Enjoying yourself?” James asked with a grin.<br/><br/>“They put on a hell of a show!” Tim laughed boisterously.  “It almost looks real!”<br/><br/>“Almost looks real?” James cocked his head to one side as he stepped in closer to the man, moving past the other obviously annoyed guests in the suite.  “I can assure you it’s very real.”<br/><br/>“No way,” the cowboy countered.  “There’d just be too much risk.  I’m not buying it.”<br/><br/>Taking the big man’s arm, James led him back to their seats.  Settling in, and grateful that his guest wasn’t making quite such a scene any longer, he ordered a new gin and tonic as he watched the bidding come to a close on the newest offering.  She was a skinny girl with a shock of red hair on her head and between her legs.  Even from a distance, he could see the terror in her eyes as she was pulled off the stage by her leash.<br/><br/>“What risk are you talking about?” James finally asked.<br/><br/>“Anyone here could turn them in to the cops,” Tim laughed.  “You don't get to where I am in the car business without knowing people.  If this was real, word would get out, and this would be a lot bigger than some Madame’s whore-house rolodex going public.  There are some big names here.”<br/><br/>“And every one of those big names has a skeleton in his or her closet,” James replied.  “If they let word of this place get out, the owners of this establishment would share their dirty laundry with the media and authorities.  No one gets in without the owners here having some dirt on them.”<br/><br/>“They don’t have any dirt on me,” the big man grinned.  “How do they know I’m not going to tell someone?”<br/><br/>“Well, first of all, there is the fact that I vouched for you,” James answered coolly.  “And second of all there is the matter of your electric bills for those dealerships.  You use quite a lot of power and it seems that the city has been footing a substantial portion of the bill.  I’m sure that it was just some sort of clerical error, but couldn’t that put your dealer license at risk if the authorities didn’t agree?”<br/><br/>“How?  How?” Tim’s mouth fell open at James’s words and his cheeks began to redden.  “How did you?”<br/><br/>“It’s our secret, Mr. Masterson,” James smiled.  “And one that I was required to share with the proprietors to gain your entry here.  Let me assure you, however, that they will be utterly discreet with the knowledge.”<br/><br/>The dealer turned his attention back to the stage.  James grinned inwardly.  The day was a success.  He knew that both of their positions were now abundantly clear.  More importantly, Masterson Automotive Group would now definitely be sending a substantially higher proportion of its loan business through James’s company.<br/><br/>“I’m sure,” Tim muttered, still red-faced.<br/><br/>Turning his attention back to the stage, James took a sip from his newly arrived beverage.  He froze in place, the glass still held to his lips.  A brunette stood on the stage.  Wet hair tumbled around the slender girl’s shoulders.  The firm leather collar locked in place around her neck seemed to accentuate her nakedness.  Swallowing slowly, he placed his drink back down on the table next to his seat.  Before he realized he was doing it, he found himself reaching for his paddle.<br/><br/>“Holy shit, are you going to bid on this one?” the cowboy asked, wide-eyed.  The mix of anger and fear that had shrouded the man’s features a moment before was gone, replaced with almost childlike excitement.<br/><br/>James did not answer the man.  In fact, he barely heard the question.  For a moment, he locked eyes with the girl, though he doubted that she could see him under the harsh fluorescent light of the stage.  But in that moment, he was transported back in time nearly fifteen years.  He had just turned twenty-five and was working unbearably long hours to get his fledgling business off the ground.  Kaitlin had been too impatient to wait for him to ‘get his act together.’  She’d married well, a doctor, and had a few kids.  James found himself looking at her Facebook page more often than he cared to admit.<br/><br/><strong>"We have here a nice fresh young filly! I know you all want her! Come on! I need bids!"</strong>the auctioneer announced.<br/><br/>The girl lowered her eyes and the moment was broken.  This was not Kaitlin, of course.  For starters, his former love was almost forty now, like James.  This girl probably wasn’t even of legal drinking age.  But the resemblance was uncanny.  He watched her ineffectually attempt to cover herself with her hands, the gesture of modesty in this immodest place adding to her allure.<br/><br/>As the bidding began to slow, the auctioneer gave a tug on the leash attached to the girl’s collar.  She fell hard to her knees, glaring up at the man.  Rising back up quickly to her bare feet, James watched her tug back hard on the chain, though the auctioneer’s grip remained firm.<br/><br/><strong>“Come on, more bids people! She is young, she can be taught and broken. She would be a great addition to any household,”</strong>the man almost pleaded with the crowd, gesturing for more bids.<br/><br/>James was surprised to discover that his hand was up, raising the paddle.  The auctioneer acknowledged his bid and probed the crowd further, seeking someone to raise the price.  James swallowed hard.  A part of him prayed that someone else would up the ante.  He was not prepared for this.  He had not planned to purchase anything more than an expensive lunch for his client today and here he was on the verge of buying a living, breathing human being.<br/><br/>“Oh my God, I think you’re going to get her,” Tim interrupted his thoughts.  “So what happens now?”<br/><br/>“Now,” James began, his mind reeling.  He barely recognized his own voice, feeling as though he was hovering above his body.  “Now, they will clean her up a bit, robe her, and then shackle her for delivery to my home.”<br/><br/>“To your home?” Tim asked.  “And you just keep her there or something?  How do you know she won’t run away?”<br/><br/>“I have a wing specially prepared to see to it that doesn’t happen,” James answered hollowly.  “Remember, I was a contractor before I was a lender.”<br/><br/>“Oh, so you planned for this?” the cowboy queried.<br/><br/>“I planned for the eventuality, yes.  I just had no idea it was going to be today,” James took a deep breath and then rose from his seat.  “I’m sorry, but it appears I’m going to have to call this an early night.  It seems I have some preparations to make.”<br/>