Page 4 of Entangled
“Behave yourself,” Lilah hissed as she practically shoved me closer to the table, and every single set of eyes landed on me. I tried so hard to swallow my fear, but I was petrified. I hadn’tyet learned that powerful men could smell fear from a mile away, and some would be wicked enough to use that against me.
“Welcome to our very special auction tonight. This is our honorary guest, Soren, who will be yours for the right price.”
I think every bit of air I’d ever inhaled left my lungs at her statement, because what kind of fucked up horror movie scene did I just walk into? What did she mean I would be one of theirs for the right price? Did they all see me as if I was some cattle to be auctioned off at a fair?
Glancing nervously into every single set of eyes that now scanned me up and down, mine connected to a pair of eyes so blue that I felt like it would take one leap and I’d drown within them. They were attached to a handsome-looking man who gently smiled at me, as if to tell me everything was okay.
As Lilah introduced everyone around the table, the mystery man who sent chills down my spine spoke. “I’m Jude Peirano, and unfortunately for the rest of these men, you’ll be coming home with me.”
But it didn’t come easily to him.
“Let’s start the bidding off at three million,” Lilah had said. As if that kind of money was nothing. Which, I suppose, in the eyes of men like these with endless pockets, it was.
A man sitting at the far end of the table lazily lifted his fingers, like the effort was too much for him.
Lilah gave a nod in appreciation, and it was almost enough to make me sick.
“Three and a half million, anyone?” She asked, looking around the table at the array of men.
A man at the opposite end of the table made the same lazy gesture to put his bid in for my life.
It went on like this for a minute, each man seeing just how far the other would go to win. I nervously glanced at Jude andsaw a smug look on his face, but he hadn’t raised his hand yet to bid.
Sweat began to bead my forehead, because neither of the men in this current bidding war were people I wanted to go home with.
The first man looked well into his fifties and his hair had turned entirely grey, not a speck of color left.
The second man was far younger, with greasy, slicked back, dark hair and an equally greasy smile.
Each reeked of trouble and desperation for a woman’s touch—whether she gave it willingly or not.
“Five million dollars going once,” Lilah looked around the table. “Twice?”
“Ten million dollars.”
My mouth fell open as this came from Jude. Looking around the table, I could tell I wasn’t the only one who was stunned into silence.
Each man shook their head in disgust and withdrew their bids.
Jude was sitting at the head of the table, which was incredibly fitting in this moment.
And true to his word, ten million dollars later, I was signing a contract to be his bride.
At first I thought it was so charming of Jude to say that I was going home with him to all the other men, like maybe he was coming to my rescue with his words, but Jude Peirano was anything but kind and gentle.
And he did anything but rescue me that night.
2
KADE
“What the fuckdo you have to say for yourself?”
Matthias Luchetti was not one to be fucked with, and yet here was one of my father’s henchmen, pushing his buttons. That tends to happen when you lose a deal for my father, which in turn loses his money and his respect. Anyone who knew my father knew you didn’t get a second chance. He didn’t believe in them. Once you crossed him, you never saw the light of day again. It’s what made him one of the biggest and most influential crime bosses in Boston. He had one living soul who rivaled him, but he wouldn’t let it stay that way for long.
Standing at six feet tall, with a cleanly buzzed head and a Boston accent, my father had the ability to scare even the strongest of men. He sure did scare the piss out of me and my brothers when we were all growing up whenever we got in trouble. Even now, towering over him at six foot two, he still intimidates me.
We used to joke around that my dad was a giant teddy bear who was stern when he needed to be, but ever since our little sister was murdered several years ago at just twelve years old, hestarted to reserve that softer side of himself for my mother. He lost the best parts of himself when Ava passed away.
