“What my wife don’t know won’t hurt her,” Nolan says in an attempt to joke, and he cackles loudly again.
Papa doesn’t laugh or even so much as blink. And my hair stands on end when I feel my father’s bodyguards slinking up behind us, ready to strike.
“I was just gonna tell your daughter that my oldest son, Brody, is single and lookin’ for a wife. It would be quite the union, wouldn’t it? Irish and Italians uniting for a beautiful weddin’.”
“Over my dead body,” Papa growls, his features crumpling with rage.
“That could be arranged,” I hear Nolan say before one of Papa’s bodyguards grabs ahold of his collar and hauls him up against the wall. Nolan’s cane clatters to the wood floor. “Ah, no need for the show, boys. I just have a message to give your boss and then I’ll be retirin’ for the evening.”
My father waves him off, and the bodyguard reluctantly lets go of Nolan. Nolan straightens his suit and tie, picks up his cane and then squares off again with my father. “I wanted to tell you to stay away from my youngest boy, Teague. I heard you were in his ear, tellin’ him things he wanted to hear. But all of it’s bullshit,” he accuses.
My father scoffs. “Would it be so bad if he came to work for me, Nolan?”
The man sneers, “He’s not workin’ for no goddamn Italian.”
Papa laughs at that. “And just a moment ago you were talking about a beautiful Irish-Italian wedding. I guess that offer is off the table already.”
Nolan points his finger at my father. “Just stay away from my boy, and we won’t have any trouble. Ya hear me, Ciccone?”
“Loud and clear,” Papa says with a deadly tone.
When Nolan disappears through the crowd, I turn to my father with a scowl on my face. “I wish you wouldn’t provoke him like that, Papa. He’s dangerous,” I hiss.
“Not as dangerous as me,” my father remarks with a knowing smile before kissing my cheek.
“You have nothing to worry about, Victoria,” he assures me before leaving with his bodyguards in tow.
I just hope my father’s right, because Nolan Farrell reminds me of a vicious snake…hiding in the shadows and waiting to strike at just the right moment.
CHAPTER 5
VICTORIA
THE REST OF the night at the gala is uneventful, and I soon find myself growing bored and looking for an excuse to leave.
I’ve lost count of the number of champagne flutes I have downed, but I’m thinking half a dozen is a good guess.
After dinner is over, they turn on the lights on the stage, and an older man with dark blond hair gets behind a small podium with a microphone attached. “Get out your checkbooks, gentlemen,” he says with a sly smile. “The auction is about to start.”
Auction?
I cock a brow as I watch him announce a woman’s name, and she goes on stage. “We’ll be bidding on a date to the Hamptons with the lovely Britney Pritchett.”
Britney is a tall blonde with a dress that’s barely containing her fake tits. She stands under the spotlight as men crowd around the stage and begin bidding on her like she’s cattle. I roll my eyes at the archaic show, thankful I’m not Britney.
I’ve been to charity galas before that have had such auctions. The men try to win exclusive dates with single women who normally wouldn’t give them the time of day. At least the money goes to charity, but still, the whole thing gives me the creeps. I wouldn’t want to go out with some guy I don’t know just because of his huge bank account.
An old, balding man wins the date with Britney at twenty-three-thousand dollars, and she looks none to pleased at her potential suitor.
I giggle under my breath as I watch the next sucker get on stage. This time she’s a cute, natural redhead. Her name is Alice, and the men start vying for her with extravagant bids.
She gets a date with a good-looking banker I’ve seen numerous times before, and it only cost him thirty grand.
The auction is like a car wreck. I shouldn’t watch, but I just can’t look away. The champagne is making my head fuzzy, and I’m enjoying the show way more than I should.
“And next up we have Victoria Ciccone.”
The room grows eerily silent as I stare at the stage in confusion. I must have drunk way too much, because I thought I just heard him say…
