Sold // Harry Styles

Chapter 24

"Don't do something like that again," A.J. warns me.

I nod my head quickly as I look up at him before I avert my eyes back to my wrist. The pain hasn't faded. It feels like there's a giant weight on me and I burned my skin over a fire. I want to aid it with my other hand but the more I touch it, the more pain shoots through my arm. I can see bruises already form where A.J.'s hand once was.

A.J. cackles as he watches me. "I can do a lot worse than that, sweetheart. And I'm sure you don't want anything worse to happen to Harry, right?"

I nod my head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you" he says sarcastically. "What was that?"

"You're right," I say.

"I'm right, what?"

"You're right, sir."

"That's what I thought. I mean, look at how cute Harry is," A.J. says as he pinches Harry's cheeks. He squirms under A.J.'s touch. "I'd hate to leave a mark on this adorable, little face," he teases Harry in a baby voice.

"You won't have to," I say with confidence.

A.J. looks at me with a smirk. "I'm glad that you finally got the hint-"

"If I do something wrong, I expect you to take it out on me; not him," I clarify.

A.J. chuckles while looking at the ground. Harry's shaking his head, mumbling into the tape again. He squirms in Cain's grip, trying to get closer to me.

"If you start flirting with Drew then maybe I'll reconsider my options," A.J. says.

"Your options..." my voice trails off as I wonder what he means by that.

"If you get sold to Drew, then there won't be any consequences. You'll be out of my hair and I won't ever have to see you again."

He smiles as he enjoys the thought of finally selling me. It makes me sick just watching him bask in his thoughts.

I clear my throat. "And if I don't get sold...?"

He laughs before glancing at Harry before looking back at me. "Then I'll make sure that you're the only one who is punished." He licks his lips as he chuckles quietly to himself. "Sound good, sweetheart?"

He puts his hand out for me to shake and I stare at it. Harry jumps in Cain's grip, yelling and shaking his head.

I'm doing this for him. I don't ever want Harry to get hurt. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I could protect him from getting hurt.

He continues to yell behind the tape but I ignore him and shake A.J.'s hand.

"Fine," I finally say.

"We have a deal then," he says as he nods to another gang member. "Untie his ankles, Wesley."

The man bends down to undo the tape wrapped tightly around Harry's ankles. He struggles for a little but as soon as he gets it undone, Harry swiftly kicks him in the face.

"Ow!" Wesley screams. He falls to the ground clutching his nose and moaning in pain as Harry continues to kick at him.

"Someone grab his legs and hold them down," A.J. demands two men.

They look at each other hesitantly, probably afraid that Harry will kick them just like he did to Wesley moments ago. Cain struggles to pull Harry away from Wesley who's still lying on the ground, gasping for air. His nose is bleeding and running down into his mouth. I cringe at the image and bury my head in my hands.

"Damn it," A.J. yells. "Just grab his legs!"

"Stop!" I yell from behind my hands. I'm too afraid to look at what they're doing. "Please!"

The men groan and yell at Harry as he continues to fidget in their grip.

"Good," A.J. scowls. "Now spread his legs apart and keep them there."

I open my eyes as A.J. moves closer to Harry and leans into his face. "You must be downright stupid if you decide to fight against people when your hands are still tied behind your back."

Harry narrows his eyes. I know that if he didn't have tape around his mouth that he'd be saying something witty back to his boss.

"You're defenseless without arms," A.J. mumbles. He leans in closer to Harry's face so that their noses are almost touching. "You have no arms, no legs, and you're being held back by three men who are twice as old and twice as big as you. Who do you think is gonna win this, huh?"

He stares at Harry before a small smile tugs on his lips. "I could do anything I want to you right now and you have no way to protect yourself," he says as he purposefully spits on Harry's cheek.

I feel my blood begin to boil as I watch A.J. laugh as watches his spit roll down the side of Harry's face. My hands curl into fists and I feel like my whole body is on fire.

I stand up quickly and run in between Harry and A.J.

"Isn't this cute? She's trying to protect you from me," A.J. chuckles. He gives me smug look before shaking his head. "Move away, sweetheart. Harry's getting what he deserves."

"No," I say as I press my shoulders back. I feel a little taller.

"Get her away from me," A.J. says with a simple wave of his hand. A man picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. I scream and pound on his back.

"Make sure she watches this," A.J. says. "I want her to know what I can do to her poor, defenseless Harry."

The man sets me on my feet and pins my hands behind my back.

"Don't!" I yell as A.J. takes a step closer to Harry. I try to rip out of the man's grip on my arms but he doesn't budge as A.J. whispers something in Harry's ear.

"Stop!" I yell. "Please, don't hurt him!"

A big hand is placed over my mouth.

"Shut up," he roughly says.

A.J. cackles to himself once before he swiftly brings his knee up to smash against Harry's groin.

Harry doubles over in pain but Cain quickly jerks him upwards so that A.J. can deliver another blow to his gut.

Harry groans and just the sound of him in pain makes me want to cry.

"Let's go," A.J. tells the men while Harry drops to the ground and curls into a ball. A.J. kneels beside him and whispers into his ear. "Next time you should listen."

A.J. stands up abruptly before giving me a quick nod. "Good bye, Michelle. It was a pleasure doing business with you."

He smiles dubiously before motioning for the man to let me go. I rush to Harry's side and begin untying his hands as A.J. and the gang exit the room.

Completely irrelevant but I just learned something and I thought it was so cool and I wanted to share it with you guys! Did you guys know that a giraffe has the same amount of bones in their neck as humans?? Theirs are a LOT larger and longer! So basically...we could have a giraffe neck if our bones were bigger!

Wouldn't that be a sight to see.

Thanks for reading xx