“And then I got us the fuck out of there.Raul was out for blood.Didn't need to stick around and find out what he thought of me outbidding him.”
Nick nodded and clasped his hands together.“I see.Did anyone follow you?”
A cold chill ran down my spine at Nick's question.I hadn't even considered the fact that someone might have followed us.My heart began thudding, and I sat up straight, pushing away from the couch slightly.
“We're fine.”Stefan's arm slipped around me and pulled me into his body.“I was careful.Nobody followed us.”
I gasped for air as if I'd sprinted here instead of driven.
“Good,” Nick replied and then looked straight at me.“And you joined the auction of your own volition?”
I let out a small laugh.“Not exactly.But also—” I moved my head from side to side, “kind of.”
Nick's eyes narrowed, and he frowned.“Kind of?”He leaned forward.“Explain that, please.”
I took a deep inhale.Even though I didn't want to talk about it, I knew I owed it to him.To them.
But—that didn't mean I was going to give them a full explanation.I still needed to look out for myself.
“My father owes Raul money.”
Stefan's hand nearly crushed mine.He gazed at me.“You're fucking serious?Your dad auctioned you off to pay his debts?”The scowl on Stefan's face scared me a bit.
I shrugged and said, “I mean, kind of.Yeah.”I nodded, thinking of a different way to word the situation to make it sound better.The only problem was that I couldn't.There was no nice way to twist this scenario into something less—terrible.
“And you volunteered for this?”Nick's eyebrows rose.“To have your virginity auctioned off?To pay for your father's debt?”
Hearing the dirty details of my current situation spoken out loud made me cringe.“Uh, not—really.I was more volun-told what to do.”I sighed and added, “I mean, Raul was going to kill my father.There wasn't a whole lot of choice in the matter.”I stared at Nick as he glared back.I wasn't sure if he thought I was trash—or if he felt sorry for me.It occurred to me for the first time that I actually cared what he thought.
I cared about what everyone in this room thought of me.I just didn't know why.
I hardly knew any of them.
“Fuck,” Carlo muttered to himself.It was the first thing he'd said since he sat down.His hand brushed over his face.
“Raul’s going to want vengeance.”He stared at Stefan for a long moment before glancing at Nick.“You know what this means.”Carlo's tone was low and rumbly.And it did something funny to my lower belly.Which was totally inappropriate because he was Stefan's brother.But that didn’t change the fact that Carlo was freaking hot.
Nick nodded at Carlo, and asked, “Do you want to tell them?Or should I?”
Carlo shook his head and stood.“You fuckin' tell them.”His voice was clipped and short as he started pacing behind the couch.
I wasn't sure what was happening here.But I felt a cold sweat coming on.
“Tell us what?”Stefan asked cautiously.“Yeah, I know Raul's going to be pissed for a while.I'll give him a week or two to settle down and then handle it.”Stefan seemed confident with his plan.Which was good because I had no plan.My plan had been to switch places with my twin sister and have her sleep with whoever bought me.And that didn't turn out well in the end.Who was I to judge whether Stefan's plan was good or not?
Carlo let out a loud laugh.“Do you really think Raul's going to just roll over and accept this?”He pointed at me.“You stole his new toy right from under him.In his own playground.He's going to want her back.Now,” Carlo barked and then went back to pacing.
Giselle slid over and sat beside Eve.They both had worried looks on their pretty faces.Knowing that I was the reason for all of this—I let out a sigh, wishing I could just disappear.
“I don't fuckin' care what Raul wants.She's not his toy.”Stefan looked from his brother to Nick.“Raul's not so much as looking at Francesca.Ever again.Do you hear me?”
Nick nodded and steepled his hands in front of his mouth.“We're not suggesting you give Francesca to Raul.”His hands lowered, and he swallowed.“But there are certain actions that will need to occur.To make Francesca less—” He looked at me.His deadly handsome eyes traveled from my face to my chest, and down my stocking covered legs.“Appealing.”For some reason, I felt his gaze on me like a physical touch.A really, really great physical touch.
When his eyes met mine again, he said, “We need to keep you safe.Are you willing to do whatever we ask in order to do that?”
The way he looked at me—
The way he spoke to me—
