Page 13 of Hayes
As he speaks, the last man enters the living room, now clear of furniture to make room for everyone. I can barely see him through the crowd of men in sharp suits, but there is no denying who he is when I see the dark man bun bouncing on top of his head before getting a flash of bold glasses framing his eyes.
“What is he doing here?” I ask under my breath. I didn’t mean to say the words out loud, but Peter heard me nonetheless.
“Who?” Peter looks out into the crowd. “Oh, Hayes. He’s harmless. He always shows at these things. He is a known playboy, after all, but he never does more than participate in the first couple of rounds. He never has the money to buy himself a wife, even if he needs to after what he did to the Retribution Kings.”
Peter just laid out a ton of information about the mysterious man I kissed last weekend, but all I heard was that his name is Hayes, and he’ll never purchase me. He’ll never be my husband.
Hayes’s eyes cut through the crowd to me, and he flashes me his signature broad grin—the one that reaches his eyes, forms a dimple on his cheek, and makes my heart skip a beat.
Stupid heart.
Hayes chuckles from across the room, probably because he knows that even from this far away, he can affect me.
He can never be mine, and I can never be his. He’s just here for amusement.
And I don’t know whether that is the worst kind of torture or relief that I won’t end up with a man that actually has an effect on my body. I don’t want to marry a man who can control my bodily so easily—and Hayes already knows just how to control my body, mind, and soul.
Chapter 7
Hayes
I see Lilith standing in the corner of the room next to Peter. She looks like an angry Greek goddess the way she’s staring every man down, about to devour them and not in the way that any of them would like. She would eat them all for dinner until there was nothing left of them and then sleep like a baby at night.
Raking my teeth over my bottom lip, I suck in a deep breath at the reason I’m here, especially now that I see her again. The draw to her is just as strong as it was the first time.
I’m totally fucked.
I understand why Lilith Hart is here. I understand why she thinks this is her only option. She’s doing it to protect her two younger sisters and to give them a life when she had none. The Retribution Kings demanded everything from her family and didn’t protect her when they should have. They don’t see her family as innocent. They see them like they see me—a traitor who has repented, someone who cannot be removed from this life but will never be fully accepted ever again.
I wish I could stop this because I know how this game plays out. It will end in the biggest heartbreak imaginable. But there is nothing I can do to save her or me.
So I do what I always do—I grin. I crack jokes. And I pretend that I don’t feel any pain.
Peter rattles a butterknife against his glass, causing everyone to hush. There are at least twenty of us here—more than I’ve ever seen at an event like this. I have my work cut out for me if I’m going to have a chance at winning Lilith.
Winning Lilith—that sentence makes my stomach curl. She’s not a possession.
Heat flashes in my eyes as she moves, causing her dress to flow and reveal more than I first thought possible. I can see down to her thin white bra and panties beneath the dress. Fuck, I want to possess her, though. Forget my talk about her not being property—I want to own her. I want to make her mine. It’s misogynistic and wrong, but damn, does Lilith play with my head and make me think things I’ve never thought about a woman before.
“Thank you all for coming,” Peter starts, like we’re here for a bbq and not the auction of a woman so her family can get by when any man here could just give her the money without a second thought. It’s nothing to them and everything to her.
I don’t have the cash unfortunately, otherwise I would do just that. I would give her all my money, even if it ended up creating more problems for me.
Peter continues, and I hold my breath, silently begging her to change her mind. In my mind, I plead for Lilith to put a stop to this before she loses herself completely.
I’ve seen it before. Others think they’re willing to do anything for money. They’re already willing to give their bodies and souls in hopes of finding a wealthy husband at the end of this. But they lose themselves in the process. In the end, they almost always beg Peter to get out of their contract.
It doesn’t happen to every woman. Some know what they want. They enjoy the attention, the sex, and they are never looking for love. They are happy with the money and to end up married to a powerful Retribution King.
I don’t know where Lilith falls. Will this end up destroying her or make her more powerful than ever? If it helps her family, I suspect she will never regret it. Her sisters are what matter to her more than anything. I didn’t have a lot of time to research her, but her love for her family was clear in every decision Lilith had ever made.
“I know many of you have attended several events like this before, so you understand the rules and how the weekend usually plays out. But this is different.” Peter pauses for dramatic effect.
What are you up to, old man?
Peter grins mischievously, proud to reveal his little secret, while Lilith is stoic. She doesn’t look surprised or blindsided at all.
So she’s in on it.
