I didn’t intend to spend that much.
I went in with a number. A sensible number. The amount it should take to get her off the market quietly, without making a show of it.
But then the room shifted. The energy sharpened. The bids didn’t slow like they usually do when the price gets uncomfortable.
They got excited.
Men like that don’t blink at money. They blink at boredom. Erica wasn’t boring.
She was everything they wanted.
I bid hard.
I bid harder than I’ve bid on anything in my life, because every time the number jumped and someone outbid me, I pictured what he’d do the moment he got her alone. I pictured her face—soft, confused, trying to be brave—turning into something blank just to survive.
Seventy fucking thousand dollars.
Even the host hesitated for a beat, like he couldn’t believe what he was saying. Then he recovered and hammered it home, voice bright with triumph.
And I won.
If it had been anyone else, I’d have let it go. I’d have removed her from her position, cleaned the mess by cutting the connection, and moved on.
But it wasn’t anyone else.
It was Erica.
Now I’m here to claim what I bought.
Because that’s the only way to keep her from being hurt by a stranger, and keep my family from being hurt by the rumor mill.
And because I don’t trust anyone else in that room with her.
She’s hugging herself like she’s trying to make herself smaller. Like if she compresses enough, she can disappear. The white fabric does nothing to help. It’s a joke. A cruel one.
I take another step into the room, and the anger I’ve been holding down starts to show its teeth.
I rarely get angry. Vito is the volatile one. He burns hot and loud. I burn slow.
But when I do, it’s effective.
Because I don’t waste it on yelling.
I use it.
Erica’s shoulders tense. I can see her steeling herself, the way her spine straightens like she’s forcing her body to obey. She draws in a shaky breath, then turns.
Confusion hits her first.
Her brows furrow. Her mouth parts slightly as she takes me in, like her mind can’t find a way to place me in this scene.
She never expected to see me here.
Then the confusion drains away as it clicks into place.
Recognition.
Shock.
