Heads turn. Everyone's looking at me.
"Two hundred grand," I repeat.
The girl is looking at me, too. She's breathing heavily. I can't tell if it's from desire or fear. It's probably both.
"I think someone likes her," the auctioneer says with a coy smile. "Do we have a higher bid?"
I don't take my eyes off the girl. I know there's probably a better way to do this, but I don't want any other man to eventhinkthey can have her.
"Going once...going twice...and sold," the auctioneer says.
Sold.
I sign the check and hand it to the staff.
The weight of what I just did is starting to sink in. I just paid two hundred grand for a woman.
I wait for the regret to come, but there isn't any.
The girl is still on the stage. Her chest is flushed. She's rubbing her thighs together. It takes all of my willpower to keep my eyes on her pretty face.
We haven’t said a word to each other, but this meeting still feels fated somehow.
I was never one to believe in such things, but…
My line of thought is interrupted by gunfire. Armed agents swarm the amphitheater, surrounding it from all sides.
It's a raid.
Just as Don Savastano predicted.
6
GRACE
Ithink I might faint.
There's too much stimulation. Inside me, outside me, everywhere.
There's a fire inside my veins. It's spread through all of me like a sickness I have no control over. I know that what I'm experiencing is just the effect of the drug, but I've never experienced this type of yearning in my life.
It only amplified when I sawhim—the tall, handsome stranger in the crowd.
It was something about the way he looked at me. There was desire in his eyes, but it was more than lust. Whatever it was, it fanned the flames of this need inside me.
"Sold," the auctioneer announces, snapping me out of my current state.
Before I can fully comprehend what just happened, chaos erupts.
Armed men in uniform surround the arena. They hold shields in front of them as they close in on us. German Shepherds are running alongside them as warning shots are fired.
"Carabinieri! Non muovetevi!" A male voice comes through a megaphone. "Carabinieri! Don’t move!"
Everyone is initially caught off guard, but madness ensues. People start running around like headless chickens.
"Grace, quick." A hand wraps around my arm. "Come with me."
My gaze is still unfocused as I look up to find Sarah standing before me.
