She made me forget. Forget who I was. What I was. And for a while, I let myself believe maybe that was enough.
But it wasn’t.
“As some of you might know,” the announcer continued, “this exquisite creature is the daughter of Federal Prosecutor Marc Montes.”
That name sent a ripple through the crowd and a stab through my heart. Because Alisa was the daughter of Marc Montes, the federal prosecutor who spent a decade trying to gut the Bratva from the inside out. And back then, Marc had started sniffing a little too close to the Lebedev family. If he’d found out about me and Alisa… hell, he would’ve dragged her down with me.
So I cut her off as cruelly as I could because I didn’t want to risk her thinking she could come running back or that we still stood a chance. It was the only way to protect her.
And now—the only woman I’d ever loved was being offered to the highest fucking donor like she was some prize goat at a state fair.
“Our sources tell us she’s been… separated from her father’s protection,” the announcer was saying. “A rare opportunity for someone to acquire a very valuable asset.”
Separated from her father’s protection? That was bullshit. This was a kidnapping, plain and simple.
I looked around the room. Two hundred faces, all watching her with hunger. I wanted to kill every single one of them.
My vision tunneled.
I wanted to tear this whole place apart. Every bastard in a tux. The host. The donors. The motherfucker who thought this was entertainment.
But I couldn’t. I was outnumbered and outgunned.
There was only one play: make sure she doesn’t get into the wrong hands.
The announcer smiled. “The highest overall donor tonight will have the privilege of Miss Montes’s company for as long as they desire. Bidding on all items will close in thirty minutes. Good luck, everyone.”
I just grabbed the nearest pen and began to blindly double, or even triple, my bids. I didn’t care what I was buying and certainly didn’t care what it cost. All I could see was Alisa standing on that stage, looking lost and afraid.
She was still there, now seated in a chair, her hands folded in her lap. A guard stood behind her. She kept her eyes down, but I could see her shoulders trembling slightly.
I wanted to go to her and tell her it would be okay. But I couldn’t stop tracking the bids because if I moved away and someone outdid me, then she’d be in even deeper waters.
So I kept bidding, moving from table to table, checking my previous numbers every few minutes to make sure I was still ahead.
A million here. Half there.
No matter what, I wasn’t losing.
Finally, the announcer returned to the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen, bidding is now closed. Please allow our staff a few moments to tally the results.”
I stood at the back of the room, my heart pounding in my throat. Alisa still hadn’t seen me. She sat perfectly still, a statue of quiet dignity, though I couldn’t imagine her internal state.
Five minutes felt like five hours. Then the announcer was back, holding an envelope.
“And now,” the host declared, “we are thrilled to announce our top donor of the evening, with a staggering combined contribution of seven-point-four million dollars—”
He grinned.
“—Mr. Dante Lebedev!”
The tension in my spine finally snapped. I’d done it. She was out of their reach. Still trapped in this fucked-up world, but at least now, she was trapped with me. And once I got her out of here, I’d make sure to hunt down whichever fucker put her up on that stage in the first place.
“Mr. Lebedev, please come to the stage to claim your prize.”
I moved through the crowd, feeling eyes on me from every direction. Some were jealous, some amused. I didn’t give a shit about any of them. All that mattered was getting to her.
