Page 25 of Final Proposal

“Fifteen-five for the lady in red. Do I have—”

“Sixteen,” I say.

“Sixteen-five,” the female voice counters, which has me rising to my feet to look at my competitor. I can’t see her. She’s obscured by the two men earlier talking about letting her bid. I take in their smug smiles and knowing glances.

“Seventeen,” I respond before the auctioneer even prompts, causing her to emit a slight chuckle as the audience swings their heads back over expectantly in the direction of my competitor.

“Seventeen-five,” the woman says, and I can finally see her paddle raised above the heads of people seated around her. It’s then that the two men shift, and I see her.

I do a double take about the same time she looks over at me. I know those blue eyes and that startled smile.

“Ellery?” I mouth her name as I stare at her in absolute shock, my head shaking, my jaw lax.

She stares at me and the men beside her—the one I know but can’t place—stare at her in a way that tells me they know her. That . . . it’s her stepbrothers.

The thought dawns on me as the comments I overheard earlier and her explanation of things a month ago take root in my mind.

“Sir, would you like to counter?” The auctioneer’s voice finally breaks through the surprise that’s shocking my thoughts.

Yes.

No.

They spend all their time hoping to be the one selected to take over dear old Dad’s ownership when he retires. Hell, everything I achieve they try and take credit for. Every idea I float out there is shot down only for them to say the same thing the next day and it’s deemed the best thing in the world.

I open my mouth then close it.

“Going once,” she states. My eyes dart over to Ellery and the silent plea she’s asking of me. “Going twice.” I go to raise my paddle but don’t. “Last call for any bids.” Ellery’s eyes hold steadfast to mine. “Sold to the woman in red for seventeen million five hundred.”

Applause ripples through the crowd as I stand there stunned, staring at her and realizing everything I pleaded with my brother for yesterday, she possibly needs more.

The question is, why did I give it to her? And where the hell did she go?

Ellery

I’m going to throw up.

That’s a normal thing to feel when you’ve just spent a large chunk of your life savings—including some of the trust fund you haven’t received yet—and funds from a loan you are the personal guarantor on . . . for a property that needs a shit ton of money put into it to have any chance at thriving.

I’m seriously going to throw up.

My hands shake from the adrenaline—of the auction, of what I did, of seeing Ford there bidding against me.

Ford.

What the hell is he doing here?

I glance over my shoulder to see if I can find him, but my brothers usher me through the crowd, their hands on my back as they lead me to the cashier’s office.

“Stop. Just give me a minute,” I say, shrugging their hands off me as I take in deep breaths to prevent myself from hyperventilating.

“You okay, Elle? Get caught up in bidding to prove your point? Did you just realize how much money you spent?”

I level my youngest stepbrother, Gregory, a look. “Go away. Go gloat somewhere else.”

“Me, gloating?” He chuckles. “You should be the one gloating after buying a dump for a cool seventeen-point-five mil just because you couldn’t let the kings of hospitality outbid you.”

“Kings of hospitality?” I ask as I put my hands on my knees and focus on breathing.