Page 14 of The Auction

“I don’t want to borrow anyone from your collection. I want to talk about Anya.”

“Really? What about Anya?”

“Don’t say it like that.”

“Like what?” Kingsley shrugged innocently, oh-so-innocently.

“You could have warned me she worked for Vitale.”

“Did you need to be warned? She’s a pretty girl who doesn’t like you, not a criminal.”

“What game are you playing here?”

“One where nobody loses,” Kingsley said. “So what’s the harm?”

“The harm is Anya getting hurt. Did you know she has five brothers and sisters she’s trying to rescue from her father?”

“I knew she came from a big family. She never told me she was afraid for her family. Interesting she confided in you and not me. Isn’t it?”

It was a little interesting, but Daniel didn’t have time to analyze her motivations. “I don’t want her in this auction. Find someone else to be your token virgin.”

“That’s her decision, not mine or yours,” Kingsley said. “She volunteered. No one forced her. And I warned her several times that what she was signing up for might not be worth the money.”

“I’ll give her some money. As much as she needs.”

“You think she’d take it from you?”

“No, but you can say it’s from you.”

“She won’t take it from me, either. She won’t take charity. I’ve offered. Too much pride.”

“Why are you so determined to ruin her life?”

“Why are you so determined torunher life?”

Daniel was silenced. Kingsley had a way of punching one in the stomach without lifting a finger. He could do it with a single question.

Why was he so determined to run her life? He barely knew her.

“I know you’re trying to be a good man,” Kingsley said. “You’ve always been a good man. Too good for the likes of us around here. I knew that the day Maggie brought you to us, that you would never quite fit in. Your halo would keep getting caught on our pitchforks.”

A small smile crossed Daniel’s lips—quickly, then was gone just as quickly.

“You have a hero’s heart,” Kingsley said. “And you’re always looking for someone to rescue. You rescued Maggie from loneliness and now you’re hooked on rescuing women, like it’s a drug. You tried to rescue Eleanor from him. You saw how that worked out? Hmm? Now you want to rescue Anya, and I don’t remember hearing her asking anyone for help.”

Daniel glanced at the ground.

“Just because someone needs help, doesn’t give you the right to force them to take it,” Kingsley continued. “And if there’s one sin in this house—it’s forcing someone to do something against their will. The second Anya asks to be let out of the auction, she’ll be out. And if she doesn’t, she’s in. And if she won’t say it to you, I will—mind your own business.Tu comprend?”

With extreme reluctance, Daniel replied, “Je comprends.”

“Good man. Come on. I’ll walk you out.”

They started down the stairs, but when they hit the first landing, Daniel stiffened in shock. A sound he hadn’t heard in a year and a half echoed up to them.

But not just any sound.

A laugh.

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