I stare at the dark cloth covering the cage I sit in, trying to burn a hole through it with my glare. I give myself a once over and try to take a deep breath, wearing a small white nightgown that barely covered my thighs; I begin to get self conscious.

"And our last item up for sale is..." the cloth gets whipped off me and a strange man wearing too much make up and a funny hat shows me off to the audience filled hall. "a young, healthy New Zealand woman." The audience oohs and aahs at the sight of me, many older looking men have devilish smiles. "Keep her as a toy, use her as a slave, do what you will. She is all yours." A few snickers can be heard and I glare up at the auctioneer. "Let's start the bidding at $500,000. $1 million from #5. $1.2 million from #18." I look behind me as the numbers flash on the screen and look out to see if I can see who the bidders are; all that I can think of is some creepy old man putting his hands all over me.

To think, I went to work this morning thinking this was going to be a good day. How the hell did I end up here?

12 hours earlier...

"Good morning." I swing the door open to the locker room like always. Being a maid wasn't my first job choice but this hotel, one owned by the Ichinomiya Group; a large company with many different companies, was one of the finest hotels in Japan. It was an opportunity for me and my friends when we came over for a holiday, they did it to humour me; I applied to get away from the life I was living back home.

"Good morning Alice." Kaya smiles as she always does. "The I.V.C begins today, it will be our first one! I'm so excited." I just laugh at her infectious smile. I am a little bit older than her and our other friend Lexi but we are all really close and they both have made the move easier for me.

"I'm sure you'll be busy since you got the job in the casino, I'm super jealous about that. Things won't be much different for me though, I just do the regular guests." We work at Hotel Tres Spades, it's Japan's first casino and hotel that was built 5 years ago when they legalised casinos. "It would be nice to work the I.V.C too."

"Maybe next time?" Kaya starts to get excited. "There's going to be movie stars, top athletes, models and so many famous people from all over the world! What if some rich, famous guy falls in love with me at first sight?" I snort at her excitement.

"Yes darl, because that's exactly what you want. Love." She punches me in response and we head out. The I.V.C "International VIP Convention" is the largest event that Tres Spades hosts as it brings in a lot of international publicity. We were lucky to get hired two weeks before it started! As we leave for the lobby, we notice a large group of reporters and onlookers are gathered around and manage to spot Lexi; she waves at us and points towards the door. We make our way through the crowd and celebrities are walking through after each other. I get a nudge in the ribs.

"Oh my God, Alice. Look who just got out of the limo." A few hushed whispers reach my ears. Is that the King? I look in the direction everyone else is and try to get glimpse. I see a tall man with dark brown hair, wearing a black and lavender suit, walking towards us, surrounded by woman that look like models and actresses. Shit he must be famous.

"He's been living here for some time now, up in the penthouse." Kaya and I stare wide-eyed at Lexi.

"Shit! That costs tens of thousands just to stay ONE night. Seriously, what does this guy do for a living?" We watch him walk past, paying no attention to the crowd but I just can't seem to take my eyes off him.

"Eisuke is here!" A group of woman come flying out of nowhere and bump into me and I fall out of the crowd but before I hit the ground a strong hand wraps around me, practically hugging me. I stare up at the man they call the King.

"Shit, I'm so sorry." Before I can even explain what happened, his groupies start in on me like hyenas.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

"How DARE you touch Eisuke."

"Look, I'm really so-" My face starts going bright red. I start regretting this decision.

"Get out of the way." Eisuke pulls away and I fall flat on my ass, he brushes himself off, shoots me a cold glare and carries on into the hotel. As hot as my face is, a shiver shoots down my spine. Well that was scary. Rubbing my backside, I try to slink back from the crowd when my friends run up to me, both laughing but also showing concern.

"Are you okay, Alice?" Kaya smacks my ass and I wince.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Tall, dark and kingly caught you in his arms." Lexi raises her eyebrows at me, trying to make a dig. "Was it a good trip?"

"Honestly guys?" They laugh at me. I wouldn't admit it to them but he seemed pretty frightening, I've had many stares from strangers before but none ever so cold. I smooth out my uniform as I hear the click-clack of high heels behind me. I groan.

"Just what were you thinking, making a fool out of yourself in front of such an important guest?"

"Erika." I try to smile politely but I could feel Kaya and Lexi tense up beside me.

"Yeah, just what were you thinking?" These woman have never liked me, Erika, for some reason goes out of her way to make my life hell and twins Rina and Kana, hang on like bad smells.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident..." I try to explain.

"No, it was you not paying attention to what was going on around you. What are you doing hanging around anyway? You are meant to be in charge of regular guests, not VIP. Maybe if you were half decent at your job, you would get promoted like Lexi!" I can just hear the whispered curse under Lexi's breath. You bitch! Her posse humph beside her, folding their arms. "Now, to make up for your embarrassing act; go to every floor and deliver all the special spa packages for the guests staying."

"What? By myself?" A vein begins to throb in my neck.

"You got a problem with that?" I feel a hand on my arm and sigh. These two girls are probably why I never lose my cool, always centered me when I was about to explode.

"No, I'll go and do it." I say goodbye to Kaya and Lexi and make my way to the elevator that leads to the basement, as I reach the elevator I see a man and woman arguing in front of the elevator. The woman looks really pissed and throws a mask at the man.

"I can't take it anymore. Go to hell, you cheating bastard!" The mask looks like something you would wear to a masquerade ball, the man picks it up, brushes it off and sighs.

"Now I don't have a date." Wow, he got over that quickly. I try to sneak away as if I saw nothing but he catches me. "You saw that, didn't you?" Damn. "Don't run away now. Come with me, I'll explain everything when we arrive." I try to move away but he grabs me and drags me into the elevator. I stand awkwardly while the man watches me with a large smile across his face. "I am so lucky to have found another beautiful woman for the party at such short notice."

"Um, sir you don't mean the I.V.C?" His smile confirmed it before he said anything.

"Look at me, where else would I be going?" The man was unrecognizable to me but he did look like he could be a model with that suit and hat. Shit, shit, shit I am so dead.

"What about the other woman?" He raises an eyebrow.

"She had to leave so we could meet. My dear, it was destiny that you were there. Fate wanted us to be here together." His light brown eyes almost shine as he strokes my chin. This guy moves super fast, it's no wonder he got dumped.

"But I work here..." Before I can get out the rest of my feeble excuse, the elevator dings and I am yet again being dragged around, this time into a large ballroom. The first thing I notice, apart from hundreds of people, is a gorgeous chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I stare at all the people around me, all rich and famous and try to figure out if I know any of them; I didn't even notice the man who dragged me here had left.

"Hey, do you have any champagne?" A voice behind me startles me. I turn to face it when I see a gorgeous man with soft, wavy blonde hair and a face which is known to anyone who has been to art museums.

"Ota Kisaki?" I gap at him.

"So you know who I am? Thanks." He tucks a strand of hair behind his ear.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." This man is beautiful, he also works as a model which isn't surprising as his face is like a porcelain doll. "I'll go find you some champagne." As I turn to try and find where the champagne would be, Mr. Kisaki chuckles.

"Are you sure you work here?" I give him my best smile, and point out my name tag. "Well, Alice, you look like you stumbled across the Mad Hatter's party."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing." He shakes his head with amusement. "Oh look, champagne. Get back home safely, Alice." He smiles and waves his goodbye. Alice stumbling onto the Mad Hatter's party? What a strange double entendre. I slowly back away before I get into trouble when a stocky, sweaty man blocks my path; he grins at me and takes my hand. The hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

"You're very lovely." He licks his lips. "I love girls like you. How about you come up to my room and give me some special room service? I promise you will be tipped generously." I vomit a little in my mouth while he looks me over.

"I'm sorry, sir," I strain the word out. "We don't offer that kind of service here."

"You are very lucky you met me. I'm worth over $500 million." He slips an arm around my waist and tries to pull me towards him. Ugh, not even if you were the last man on Earth, buddy.

"This party just got trashy." The man that I bumped into in the lobby is suddenly beside me. The King, they call him. He doesn't look much older than I am but with a nickname like that, he must have a huge ego. He turns his nose up at me and scowls. "You again."

"Sorry?" I blink, a little confused.

"You're in my way. Move." His harsh tone doesn't move me but the sleazy man couldn't move fast enough.

"Sorry Mr. Ichinomiya! Pardon me." He bows and runs away quicker than he slinked in. He called that man Ichinomiya, that's the group who own this hotel; that would be why he's called the King. Mr. Ichinomiya's groupies push past me making snide remarks about the help needing to learn their place but I just watch him walk away when I see a white glove dropped behind him. It looks like a glove you would handle paintings or artifacts and even though every bone in my body told me to go back to work; I ignore it.

"Sir, excuse me?" I try to chase after Mr. Ichinomiya but with the crowd as large as it is, I seem to have lost him. I wander through until I see the back of his head talking to someone by the back of the ballroom. Kind of hard to lose a guy who wears black and lavender. I snicker to myself as I make my way through the crowd to follow him. "Where the hell did he go?" A long, deserted hallway stretches out in front of me with multiple doors so I walk down until I hear voices through a slightly open door, I decide to have a peep and see several briefcases lying on a table, filled with guns and money. I can feel my fight or flight response kick in when a Chinese man roughly grabs me and forces me against the wall. My heart feels like it's going to explode.

"What do you think you are doing?" A tall man with slicked back black hair and almost black eyes pins me up against the wall. His grey suit and black shirt with a white tie brings alarm bells in my mind. He doesn't seem to be messed with.

"I was looking for someone." I begin to shake.

"You better look elsewhere. If you don't disappear and forget what you saw," he stares right into my eyes. "I'll wipe you off the face of the Earth." I swallow as I agree and feel the blood rush back into my arms. That is going to bruise. I don't even look where I'm going as I run off towards the basement storage room, tripping over myself as I go. I take a few breaths and try to slow down my racing heart as I enter the storage room, I war with myself on what I just seen. If Lexi or Kaya were here...no I cannot let myself think about that and I can't let the boss know about this as it's basically signing my death certificate. I try to shake my head and collect what I came down here for. Fucken Erika and her psycho bitchiness got me into this mess. I curse her under my breath and without looking I step right back into someone.

"Shit!" Two men in black suits stare down at the crate I just caused them to drop.

"You stupid bitch! You broke the statue of Venus!" I look down to see shattered glass through the wooden mess.

"I'm sorry!" I have never apologised so much in my life. This job must really be getting to me.

"Yeah, you are going to be sorry. Do you know how important that piece was? It was going to fetch a nice price in the auction tonight." Auction? "How do you think you are going to make up for this?"

"Look guys, nobody was supposed to be down here..."

"Don't go trying to blame us. You broke it, you owe us." They reach out and grab me by the arms...

"$2 million from #32. Going once.." That's how I ended up in another shitty situation and as daunting as it is I just couldn't believe someone was actually bidding $2 million for me. A face flashes before me: the sweaty little man from the ballroom, I shiver at that thought. I would probably prefer the threat from the Chinese man then him. "Going twice..." How desperate does he have to be to buy a woman at that price? I hang my head and pray I don't vomit but a whole lot of commotion catches my ears. "Looks like we have a new bid coming in of $20 million from Seat #100" What the - "Are there any more bids?" I gap at the screen behind me dumbfounded, that's a lot of zeros. The bell rings as the auctioneer brings the bidding to a close. "SOLD! To seat #100 for $20 million" As the curtain drops, all I can think of is how I'm going to get out of this mess.

I am helped out of the cage and approached by two masked men. They seem familiar...

"This way please." One reaches out for my hand and I stare at it. If I end up dead, I swear I'm going to haunt that bitch. I reluctantly take it and use the other hand to hold down the skimpy white nightgown as they take me into an elevator. I count my blessings that it's not a van...yet.

It takes a long time for the elevator to ding and that entire time I was thinking about how my expansive action movie watching would help in this situation. If I took one down the other would manage to subdue me and in this dress, I don't want to flash anyone or have anyone touch me. As we enter the room, I realise where we are. The penthouse. The only staff member who is ever allowed up here is the manager and yet she doesn't know there are auctions being run in her hotel.

"Boss, we brought her." I am placed in front of two men sitting on the sofa, both had their legs crossed. I recognise both of them straight away.

"You're..." One holds his hand up to silence me.

"We bought you." The other glares at me.

"So we caught you in the end." I am dead. My funeral flashes before me, wait no, no funeral because how would they explain a missing maid from the most prestigious hotel penthouse winding up dead?

"You know this woman, Soryu?" The first man seemed surprised. The only response he got was a nod.

"What the hell do you mean, you bought me? You can't just go around buying people! That's human trafficking and that's illegal buddy." I try to make myself seem brave but all I get back is laughter.

"We won you and for $20 million, the boss must have gotten dragged into it." The two men take their masks off and I kick myself for not recognising them earlier.

"Mr. Kisaki?" I look at the other man wearing a striking red suit. "You're the man who dragged me to the I.V.C, probably causing this mess for me." I tried to stand up but Mr. Kisaki pushes my shoulder down with some force.

"She doesn't even know your name, Baba. That's not unusual, is it?" All the other man could do was hold his hands up in defence.

"There wasn't much time." The conversation seems a little too light for my liking and I soon snap.

"I am a human being." The men look at me with different expressions. "I don't care if you won me, I shouldn't have even been in that claustrophobic cage in the first place!" Baba just smirks.

"Anything and everything is up for sale, for the right price."

"Stolen goods, secret information, organ donors and you can even hire a hitman." Ota Kisaki holds up a finger as if it's just a normal thing to say. "There are no rules here." Well I bloody see that.

"This is the first time an actual person has been up for sale so you must have done something really bad, huh?" I shake my head to try forget the memory of the statue of Venus shattered on the ground.

"Are you guys not listening? This ILLEGAL! Who the hell would approve this?"

"I did." I look gobsmacked at Eisuke Ichinomiya, who folds his arms and smirks down at me. "If it's worth anything, it's here."

"Ha, reckless as always. Look at her. She isn't worth anything more than a headache." Soryu shakes his head.

"Wouldn't it be fun thinking of ways we could use her?" My heart drops and I feel sick to my stomach. I open my mouth to retort but am quickly silenced. "Who gave you permission to speak?"

"What?" He glares at me, chilling me to the core.

"Don't open your mouth unless I say so." I feel an act of defiance working it's way up and just to get at them, I open my mouth.

"Would you rather we gave you to that man from before?" My mouth quickly closes and I shake my head. I stand by my word, rather death by Chinese hunk then sold to that man.

"Come now guys. You should be nice to girls because if you are then they do what you ask them to." Baba smiles at me and tousles my hair. "Plus we need to decide who actually GETS her." Ota takes his hand of my shoulders and helps me to my feet.

"I wouldn't mind her. I'm pretty fond of her already." I look around at the four men. They have got to be joking.

"If it was me, my sweet. You would be fine, nothing to be afraid of. I'm a good guy." I try not to snort.

"Of course a world class thief would say that." Eisuke tilts his head slightly at Baba. Thief?

"Oh, come on. You're just trying to make Baba look bad. You have plenty of groupies. Just play with one of them." Ota smiles at him. I still stand in shock in how this conversation seems to normal for them.

"Soryu's the one who can have his fair share of woman, a lot of them would do anything to be a Hong Kong mobster's love interest." That's why he's shit scary. I shake myself to my senses.

"Sorry to break up this lovely chat but you are all going to be screwed when I report this to the police." They all seem to laugh at that comment as Soryu points over to a worn-out man smoking by an open window.

"Go ahead." A sigh comes with a cloud of smoke.

"Damn it, just go ahead and blow my cover to every person you decide to drag up here." He takes another puff.

"Otherwise she would never know Mr. Detective." Ota laughs as the response he is given is the middle finger. "Oh, such an adult."

"Wait. Hold up. You are a detective?" I stare at him in disbelief as he shrugs his shoulders.

"I'm not wasting anymore time." Eisuke groans and shakes his head. "We need to come to a decision." He stands in front of me, arms crossed. I take a step back. "I'll let you choose, so hurry up and make a decision." He says coldly.