Page 35 of The Auction
God knows what wild, carnal package she’s offering this time—something involving leather, poetry, and mild emotional trauma, if I had to guess. Whatever it is, it’s worth millions. She always draws a crowd.
I flick her hair clip at her from across the bar. “Your weird-ass lucky charm, ma’lady.”
She snatches it midair like it’s a bar of pure gold and presses a kiss to it, then tucks it beneath the bar top like she’s invoking some ancient sex witch spell.
“May the best pervert win,” she tells me with a wink.
I pull up my admin login on the auction app just as Lucian arrives.
He doesn’t make an entrance—heisthe entrance. He moves like he owns the air around him. Black slacks, sleeves rolled, top buttons open, no jacket. A storm disguised as a man. Everything about him screams power, control, menace. The kind of guy who doesn’t justrunempires—he devours them.
He strides toward me, scanning the crowd with that cold, calculating gaze like he’s already reading every bid before it’s made.
“The bids are about to start,” he says. “We good?”
I lean back against the bar and grin, “Maybe. This is just the beta version so I guess we’ll find out together.”
His eyes narrow. “You test me on my auction night?”
Which is why I mouth off as much as possible.
Because whatever snark I throw tonight, he’ll make me pay for it in the ring tomorrow.
And let’s be real.
I’m always looking forward to it.
I toss him a mock salute. “Relax, boss. The app’s perfect. Wire transfers are already syncing in real time. The charities are preloaded and ready to receive their cut as soon as the final bid’s locked.”
Lucian watches the room like he’s hunting for problems, but I know he trusts me. He just doesn’tdorelaxed.
“I’ll stick around for the first few rounds,” I add, “but I can monitor the rest from my phone. If anything glitches, I’ll catch it before anyone notices.”
He nods once, then steps over to the bar and orders his usual—whiskey, neat. The kind of drink that doesn’t bother pretending to be soft.
“You bidding on anything tonight?” he cuts his eyes at me like a challenge. He already knows my answer and it feels like he’s daring me to make him wrong.
I snort. “You already know the answer to that.”
He arches a brow.
“I only use the Ledger girls for one thing, and this isn’t it.”
Lucian hums, unreadable as always. Then, casually, like it’s not a command, he says, “Stay awhile. Eat something that didn’t come out of a takeout container. Enjoy the spectacle.”
He takes a sip of whiskey, eyes back on the crowd.
“Never know,” Lucian adds, swirling his glass, “you might see something that catches your attention.”
I’m about to turn back to the bar when I spot Elijah fucking Carter.
Of course he’s here.
Tech money. Daddy’s money, to be specific. And just enough facial symmetry to land on one of thoseTop 40 Under 40lists that make investors cream themselves.
He slinks up beside me, glass of something amber in hand, smug as ever. “You here as the hired help?”
I smile without showing teeth. “Still playing with code you stole from college kids and pretending it’s innovation?”
