Luis paused again. “Well gentlemen, we have $2.2, goingonce—”
Adam lifted two fingers into theair.
A surprised but not pleased look slid across Luis’s face. “The gentleman bid $2.5 million.” Luis looked to his right, staring at a table Cole couldn’t see, no doubt the location of the last bidder. “Do we have $2.7?”
A buzz of excitement built in the room. It started as a low humming and quickly rose involume.
Adam kept his gaze directed at the stage, and whispered to Cole, “You see that? He doesn’t look happy. I think we may have interrupted hisplans.”
“We need to find out what those planswere.”
“The gentleman bids $2.7 million. Will anyone raise it tothree?”
Luis had no choice but to look at Adam’s table, only this time Tomi did too. Her wide blue eyes locked on to Cole’s and he stared right through her. Her shoulders dropped, as did her gaze. The defeated slump to her posture nearly undidhim.
That was his Tomi, all full of spirit and fire. The same girl that had told him at the age of ten she loved him and would marry him one day. Of course, he'd been thirteen and retaliated for that crazy remark by throwing mud in herhair.
She'd picked up a handful and thrown it rightback.
Adam lifted hishand.
Immediately, Luis shifted his gaze to the other table. “We have three, do you have $3.2?”
The sound in the room grew to a dull roar. “Based on the reaction of the crowd, I don’t think anyone has bid this much for a slave before,” Adam saidthoughtfully.
“Does the gentleman bid $3.2?” Luis repeated once more, his thin nostrils flaring, giving away his apprehension. “Last chance for this exquisite treasure to belong to you. Does anyone bid $3.2?”
The buzz died, the crowd going silent as they waited. Luis’s features hardened a split-second before they split into a broad smile that came nowhere close to reaching his eyes. “Sold to the gentleman in the back for $3 million.” Luis practically jerked Tomi to her feet. “This concludes our auction for tonight. You may rejoin the party next door. Thank you each for coming tonight.” He drug Tomi from the stage, forcing her to stumble afterhim.
A low growl built in Cole’s chest. “Asshole is gonnadie.”
“Not till we findTara.”
“Not till we find Tara,” Cole repeated. A wave of understanding passed between the two men. They would do what it took to see thisthrough.
Adam got to his feet, grabbed his scotch, downed it, and slammed it on the table. “You got your shittogether?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” Cole knew what Adam was asking. His friend was going to have to treat Tomi like a slave—and Cole wasn’t going to like it. “Let’sgo.”
Cole followed Adam through the curtains and down around the stage. His brothers had better make sure they had the funds in the bank account. If not, their mission was screwed, but he had no way to confirm, not without completely blowing their cover. They’d taken an enormous risk by contacting them in the bathroomearlier.
A guard Cole had seen earlier met them just behind the stage. “If you’ll follow me, I will take you to conclude yourpurchase.”
He turned and led the way down a corridor dotted with closed doors. He stopped at the very end, grabbed the door, and held it open, gesturing for Adam and Cole to precede him inside. Adam stepped through with a quiet air of dominance worthy of a king. It was a small, sparsely furnished room with concrete floors and dark grey walls. A large, heavy black chair sat facing a metal table and matching chair opposite that. Luis stood next to the chair, Tomi kneeling at his side, her gaze latched on thefloor.
Cole focused his attention on the man, doing his damnedest to look cold andunaffected.
“So, you are the one who purchased my little gem. I am Luis—” he extended a hand to Adam, “—and youare?”
“Adam Devine.” Adam took Luis’s hand in a firmhandshake.
Luis released his hand and then turned to Cole. “And youare?”
Adam interrupted, “My bodyguard. Now, let’s get this transaction over. I’m eager to sample my newtoy.”
6
“Of course,I will go over the contract with you, process payment, and allow you to be on your way.” Luis slid into a cream-colored stuffed chair behind a seventeenth-century-style French desk. Tomi stayed right where she was—naked, trembling, and staring at the floor. Cole paid her no more attention than he would a piece of furniture in the room, no matter how much it killed him to doso.
