There's a real chance no one is coming.
Lorenzo doesn't care enough. My father doesn't have the means. And Alessandro is playing some game I don't understand.
I'm alone in this.
Completely alone.
I wipe the tears from my face, trying to pull myself together. But when I look up at Renato, still standing there with his phone in his pocket, I realize something else is wrong. Something beyond the devastating calls I just made.
He hasn't moved since taking the phone from me. Just standing there, staring at nothing, his jaw working like he's trying to decide something.
"Renato? What is it?"
Still nothing.
But I see the tension radiating through his shoulders, the way his hands have curled into fists.
"Something else happened, didn't it?" I stand on shaky legs, moving closer. "You look like you're about to attend a funeral."
He doesn't answer immediately. Just stands there, hands now in his pockets.
"What happened?" I press. "Did Alessandro call you? Did something change?"
"The viewing." His voice is flat. "I've moved it up."
My stomach drops. "Moved it up? To when?"
"Two days from now."
My legs almost go out from beneath me. "Two days? But you said the auction was supposed to be in nearly two weeks. You said I had time. Why do they need a viewing so far ahead of the auction?"
"Plans change." He won't look at me. "The buyers are anxious. They want to see what they're bidding on. Two days, Camilla. That's all the time left."
"Two days." I can barely breathe. "And Alessandro—"
"Has two days to come up with the money. If he really intends to pay." The bitterness in his voice is unmistakable. Renato finally meets my eyes, and what I see there makes my blood run cold. "In two days, those men will be here. In this house. Looking at you. Deciding if you're worth their money."
"And if Alessandro doesn't pay by then?"
"Then the auction proceeds as planned." He moves toward the door. "Get some rest. You'll need to be at your best when they arrive."
"No! Renato, wait—"
But he's already gone, leaving me alone with the devastating math.
Two days.
Forty-eight hours until I become a catalogue item for men with appetites they don’t name out loud.
And no guarantee that anyone will stop it from happening.
Chapter 20: Renato
I've made a huge fucking mistake.
The realization hits me as I watch Viktor Kozlov's black Mercedes wind up the mountain road toward my villa, followed by the equally imposing vehicle carrying Ahmed Al-Rashid.
Two of the most dangerous men in Europe, coming to evaluate a woman I have no intention of selling to them.
