Page 17 of The Beast Who Bought Me
And there he is.
Right at the back of the room, cloaked in shadows, but I recognize that silhouette as easily as I did when I saw it on the news report about Louie’s murder.
The Giuliano who’s been stalking me all over the city.
He must have only just arrived, because there’s no way I could have missed him before. The bidding continues, but it’s background noise. We might as well be alone in the room.
He’s not bidding. He’s just watching. And God help me, Iwanthim to bid.
It’s not completely irrational. Out of all the people in this room, he’s the only one who has literally proven he’ll protect me. So I stare at him, wondering. Maybehoping.
The bidding hits one and a half million. It’s enough. With that much, I could escape to Italy. Find our allies in the old country. Regroup.
Maybe the Giuliano doesn’t have the money. He’s no blue blood, that’s for sure; his clothes are expensive, but it’s the body under them, the myriad tattoos, the dead eyes, that mark him out as what he really is. A street thug who climbed the ranks.
The silver-haired man bidding on behalf of the long-haired figure in the shadows has returned to his—or her?—side, after their bid of two million is superseded.
King raises his voice. “Friends, before we close, there’s one more thing you should know. Not only is this young man a beauty and a virgin—he is ofroyal blood, one might say.”
My head snaps toward him. “No?—”
“This, ladies and gentlemen, is Caligula Clemenza. The last heir of the Clemenza Family.”
A buzz rises up, louder and louder. Some attendees actually stand from their tables and leave the room, too wary to involve themselves. But many others lean forward with renewed interest.
“I told you—” I hiss at King, but it’s far too late.
He raises his voice over the noise. “Tell me, friends: what would you like to do with the last Clemenza heir?”
The fantasies they shout back are creative, gruesome, horrifying. But these people don’t want to destroyme. They want to destroy my name. They want to own a Clemenza,ruina Clemenza. Just once, before we’re completely extinct.
The bids surge. Three million. Three-five. Four.
And the Giuliano walks forward. Not fast, not slow. Deliberate. His eyes haven’t left me once. “Five million.”
The room hushes. Grisha’s face goes purple. “Five and a half.”
The Giuliano doesn’t even hesitate. “Ten.” Silence follows his bid. Absolute silence.
“Ten…million, sir?” King clarifies.
“You heard me.”
Well. I guess hedoeshave the money.
“That is a very generous bid,” King says at last, brows drawn with concern. Shit. IfKingis worried?—
“You hear any higher?” the Giuliano demands. He turns to the crowd. “Well?” No one speaks. He turns back to King. “Call it.”
“Going once…going twice…” King pauses, looking directly at the sulky Russian who was so keen to mark up my pretty face. He just shakes his head. King glances around the room again, clearly hoping for a last-minute bid, seeking out the figure at the back of the room. But whoever they are, they remain motionless.
The seconds stretch out so long it’s as if time has stopped.
“Sold!”
I watch my stalker—now my owner—mount the stairs at the edge of the stage. The triumph on his face is barely concealed. He doesn’t stop at a respectful distance. He steps right into my space, close enough that I can smell him again, spicy and dark and dangerous. Close enough that I can see the complete absence of humanity in those dark eyes.
Close enough that I can hear his soft, shuddering sigh of pleasure as he looks me over from head to toe.
